New Master

Results of our death with Christ

Vs 8-9 “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him" (vv. 8-9).

Paul wants us to grasp the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Remember, we died when He died for He died as us in our place for our sin

So logically, if we are identified with Christ in His death, then likewise we are identified with Him in His resurrection.

The two go together.

The same incredible power which raised up Christ from the dead (1:4) is at work in the believer’s life today.

I don’t think you understand…

The power that it took rise from the grave was tremendous.

Only God can do that. No man has that kind of power

But that same power is at work in the believer’s life.

With that power we need not be enslaved to sin and the flesh

If we are enslaved, we are refusing to allow Christ’s resurrection power to do its intended job

This statement does not refer primarily to the coming resurrection at the last trump, but has immediate application to the present power of the indwelling Holy Spirit who ministers to us the blessings and the benefits of Christ’s resurrection.

Paul wants us to grasp not only the significance of Christ’s resurrection but also its magnificence.

Verse 9 "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him."

One of the great shortcomings of some churches lies in their inadequate concept of Christ.

They present Christ either as an infant in the arms of His mother, or as still on the cross.

But Christ is no longer in the cradle, in the arms of the Virgin, on the cross, or in the tomb.

He is alive from the dead and forever beyond the power of death.

The fact that death has no more dominion over Christ is the basis for Paul’s argument that sin has no more dominion over us.

"He died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God" (v. 10).

If we are to enjoy victory we must first appreciate the victory of Christ.

Then we must (2) appropriate the victory of Christ.

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (v. 11).

It is one thing "to know" (v. 9); it is something else "to reckon."

Many people have a general knowledge of the truths of these chapters but never enter into the good of them because they fail to reckon them true in experience.

The word "reckon" is "to count, compute, to take into account."

To recognize it as an accounting term will help us understand what Paul is saying.

Suppose a businessman were to say to his accountant, "What is the total sum needed to meet this month’s payroll?"

After some calculation his bookkeeper says, "Twenty thousand dollars, sir; but there’s a balance of only five thousand dollars in the bank right now." "

Make out the checks," the businessman might say, "but do not give them to the men until you receive further word from me."

Then the businessman pays a call on his banker, arranges for a loan of thirty thousand dollars, and calls his accountant and says, "You can now pass out the checks. The bank has more than covered the payroll."

Presently the first employee calls at the office for his paycheck. "I’m sorry," says the accountant, "I cannot let you have this check right now. The total payroll is twenty thousand dollars and there’s only five thousand in the bank. Here, you can look at the ledger and see for yourself."

What would that accountant be failing to do? He would be failing to reckon, failing to take into account the fact that adequate provision had been made for far more than the needs of the payroll.

And, of course, by failing to reckon, he would be dishonoring his employer and would be putting himself in a false position.

At Calvary God made adequate provision for the sinner. He dealt fully and forever with all aspects of the question of sin.

We have to reckon this to be so.

We have to take this into account in the moment of temptation.

God says that the believer has died to sin. He assures us that adequate provision has been made in the death of Christ and in our identification with Him for any temptation that might arise.

We may look at ourselves and say it’s not possible. I’m a nasty sinner. I’ll always struggle with this sin

But God has provided adequately by his resurrection. We have access to that very same power.

Thus, through Jesus Christ our Lord we have been delivered from the domain of death, with that we have also been delivered from the dominion of sin.

Deliverance from the Dominion of sin

In the remaining verses of this chapter sin is set before us in two graphic illustrations.

It is likened to an old monarch, but an old monarch who is now defeated;

And it is likened to an old master, but an old master who is now deposed.

Sin, the Old Monarch, Is Now Defeated (6:12-14)

As we think of our deliverance from the dominion of sin, we discover three principles.

There is (1) a physical principle involved.

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof" (v. 12).

Sin expresses itself through the organs of the body and through this channel reigns in both the natural man and the carnal man.

Reign: metaphorically to exercise the highest influence, to control

This should not be characteristic of the believer; for his body is set free from the reign of sin.

But according to the wording of this verse a believer can allow sin to reign, but it ought not so to be

In order to enjoy this victory, the believer must cooperate with God and determine that by God’s grace sin will not be sovereign in his body

Paul says it this way in 1 Corinthians 9:25-27: "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached unto others, I myself should be a castaway" (1 Cor. 9:25-27).

Temperate: to be self-controlled, continent

1a) to exhibit self-government, conduct, one’s self temperately

1b) in a figure drawn from athletes, who in preparing themselves for the games abstained from unwholesome food, wine, and sexual indulgence

An athlete will bring his body into subjection to his will to keep fit for the fight or the race.

Can the believer do any less in order to win through to victory over sin?

In addition to the physical principle, there is (2) a moral principle involved.

"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin" (v. 13a).

Three great words in this chapter summarize the secret of the practical principles of victory

These words are "know," "reckon" and "yield."

Paul tells us that we are not to yield to sin.

We are not to permit our eyes to look with lust, our ears to listen to gossip, our tongues to employ vileness and untruth.

There has to be an act of the will in this regard, for as moral agents we are responsible for the use to which we put our bodily members.

Then there is (3) a spiritual principle involved.

It is not enough to make a resolution that the members will not be yielded to sin.

Many people have tried this method of living, with little or no success; for victory does not rest ultimately upon our moral resolve but upon a spiritual principle.

Notice the three steps involved in translating the principle into practice.

We must give in to God’s will.

"Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (v. 13b).

The word yield means to present or to provide. To place a person or thing at one’s disposal

It is only as we give in to God that we have the victory.

Think for a moment of a much misquoted verse from the book of James: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).

Quoted that way, this verse is simply not true.

The devil is not going to flee from us; he is not the least bit afraid of us; he is more than a match for us.

What the verse actually says is this: "Submit yourselves unto God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

That is quite different.

It is as we yield, as we submit to God, that we swing wide the door for the outpouring of His power.

His Spirit is resident in every believer; but only as we submit to Him does He liberate us from the shackles of sin.

There is a very important principle here.

We are so made that when we are tempted we have to give in; but notice this.

We do not have to give in to the temptation. Instead, we can give in to God, and in that act of yielding know complete victory from all the power of sin.

The next spiritual principle is to get hold of God’s Word.

"For sin shall not have dominion over you" (v. 14a). That is God’s Word—"sin shall not have dominion over you."

We must get a firm grasp on that.

It was God’s original plan for man to have dominion (Gen. 1:26); but when in the garden of Eden Adam surrendered his sovereignty to Satan, he doomed his posterity to slavery to sin.

Since then, however, the Lord Jesus has invaded the arena of human affairs, come to grips with our old enemy at the cross, and restored our lost dominion.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you," said the Lord Jesus, "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin... If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:34, 36).

We need to get hold of this clear Word of God, "sin shall not have dominion over you."

Simply trust God’s word

Barak said he would not go unless Deborah went with him

God had already told him that the enemy was delivered into his hand but Barak said, I refuse to obey unless…”

If God has said it, we just need to trust it.

Sin SHALL not have dominion over you Sin, the old monarch, is now defeated. There is one more step to the realization of this truth. We must go on in God’s way.

"For ye are not under the law, but under grace" (v. 14b).

In other words, continuing victory for the emancipated believer does not depend on his own efforts but on the abundant supply of God’s grace, sufficient for every need.

Sin, the Old Master, Is Now Deposed (6:15-23)

Paul’s next illustration is that of master and slave, for emancipation from the old master brings (1) a new liberty.

This new liberty begins with an attitude.

Paul says, "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid! Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (vv. 15-16).

No person can expect victory who doesn’t really want victory.

No person can expect victory who has a soft attitude toward sin.

Illustration: no one can expect to lose weight who really doesn’t want to

No motivational speech will get them to lose weight, no friend, no program.

It comes down to the desire of the individual

The moment they want it, they will start to make the necessary changes

God expects sincerity as much today as He did when He said to rebellious Israel, "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart" (Jer. 29:13).

God is not going to bring us into the blessedness of this new liberty unless we really want it.

The attitude that grace gives us license to sin, makes deliverance from its power impossible.

So long as that attitude is indulged, sin will remain the master and we shall remain the slaves.

If this new liberty commences with an attitude, it consummates in an attainment.

"But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness" (vv. 17-18).

Nearly two thousand years ago the Lord Jesus came down into the slave market of sin, paid the full price of our redemption and set us free.

Our decision to believe the gospel bears permanent results provided it is no mere intellectual assent to truth but "from the heart."

It should be observed that the doctrine and the deliverance go together.

Paul speaks of "that form of doctrine" as playing a vital part in our emancipation.

The word "form" suggests a mold into which molten metal is poured so as to take its destined shape.

The believer is the molten metal, the doctrine or teaching of the gospel is the mold.

Wuest reminds us that it is not "that form of doctrine which was delivered you;" it is rather "that form of doctrine into which you were delivered."

When we were saved, God cast our inward natures into the mold described in Romans 6.

The gospel not only delivers us from the penalty and power of sin; it shapes our character as well.

We have been delivered from sin’s mastery and delivered over to the truth. As Paul puts it, "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."

Our old man does not define us. We are made into a new mold.

Emancipation from the old master brings more than a new liberty; it brings (2) a new loyalty.

"I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness" (vv. 19-20).

The scriptural comparisons introduced by the expression "as... even so" should always be noted.

Think, for example, of the parallel drawn by the Lord Jesus in His conversation with Nicodemus: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up" ( John 3:14);

Or of the parallel He drew in His great Olivet Discourse: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matt. 24:37).

"As," says Paul, "ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness... even so now yield your members servants to righteousness."

Once we were loyal to the old master and yielded our members as slaves to sin. Now we must be loyal to our new Master, who has purchased us with His own life’s blood at Calvary, and yield our members as instruments of righteousness.

Emancipation from the old master brings (3) a new longevity, in fact, a new quality of life altogether.

We are to be ashamed of the old way of life. Paul says, "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death" (v. 21).

There was nothing lasting about the old life of sin.

On the contrary, it hurried us along to certain death. In contrast with this, we are to be assured of the new way of life.

"But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (vv. 22-23).

Our emancipation from sin guarantees unqualified success in this life, "fruit unto holiness;" and unqualified security for the next life, "eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

The old master shamed us and paid us the wages of death. The new Master makes us holy and gives us life forevermore.