Romans 6:1-10
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From Sin and Death To Life In Christ
From Sin and Death To Life In Christ
Romans 6:1–10 (ESV)
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
Main Proposition:
Statement of Doctrine or Application
Once we are alive in Christ we can never go back to being dead in our sins
Intro:
Statement of proposition
In Romans 5 We see Paul tell us the benefits of coming to that saving faith in Christ. We can see how our lives were changed, we can see the progress or our sanctification in our new lives in Christ and how we can have total confidence knowing that this is an eternal change. In 5:12-21 Paul tells us when sin and death started (In Adam) through Moses and how it ended with Jesus Christ. How it is only through Christ’s righteousness can we be saved and come to that saving faith. Paul is always pointing us back to Christ. In every aspect of his epistle.
Other texts that support
Why Paul is the perfect person to write this epistle:
12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
We all know the story of Paul: He was the up and coming Pharisee, he was a Jew true and true, persecuting Christ’s people and His church. Paul knows what these Jews are thinking, what their geared towards, what their mindset is focused on, where they are going to show resistance and we see him time and time again knock down those walls.
What happened to Paul next? Christ appeared to him and EVERYTHING in his life changed.
A complete 180.
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Here we can see where every single one of us started out. We were dead in our sins and just as we said last week we were washed by the blood of Christ and given a new regenerated heart that is capable of loving and glorifying God
Why does this matter?
Paul begins his lesson in chapter six with a lesson on sanctification
He is going to argue and answer that in spite of our sinful past, all of God’s elect will experience spiritual holiness and peace.
We saw in past chapters Paul putting an emphasis on growing more like Christ, going from dead in our sins and transgressions to being alive in Christ
With that life in Christ we are geared towards glorifying and worshipping Christ and God. We are no longer slaves to this world.
We no longer want to please this world, we are no longer satisfied with what this world has to offer and today we are going to go further into what sanctification looks like for a believer and how one should aspire to live a life that glorifies Christ.
Here we will see the shift from justification to sanctification.
Main Point #1: Paul’s Question
Statement
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
Prove
This is a very similar question that was asked earlier in this epistle in chapter 3 verse 8
8 And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
This is an important question that is being asked especially in the light of what we just read in chapter 5.
Paul knows exactly what the thought process is of these people so he goes ahead and asks the question that he knows is on their minds?
What he has been talking about “justification is given to us by God’s grace which is a free gift that is unmerited, undeserved, unearned”
That this doctrine would lead people to believe that okay “well, if I can’t earn God’s grace than that gives me free range to sin or that this doctrine will give people encouragement to sin.”
The more sinful I am than the more grace that God gives me and it will ultimately give God more glory
If we want more grace , then we should commit more sin
WRONG (Buzzer sound)
What have we learned about sanctification over the last few weeks?
We’ve talked about how sanctification is the process in which the true believers of Christ are freed more and more from the practice of sin.
The more we are sanctified into Christ the less we are of the world and want to please the world.
Our freedom in Christ breaks the shackles of sin in the world.
We no longer wish to be satisfied by the world, but by living a life that is glorifying to God
Flowers in texts
5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world?
We see Paul over and over again explain different aspects of the same argument the same way.
We are looking for consistency in Scripture and we get it throughout.
His goal when asking these questions is to prevent any potentially false conclusions to any of his particular arguments.
He is knocking down any attempt for someone to say “Hey wait a minute, If Paul said this than that means I can do that and still be in good standing with God.”
Illustrations
There are plenty of times when I am sure all of you guys have been told specifically by your parents not to do something, but you thought process is…they never said I can’t do that though…
We try to justify in our minds loopholes that we think can get us around something.
I want you to think about that in terms of your walk with Christ
Do you try to justify sin in your life? Do you try to find loopholes to do something you know is not right. Something that is not specifically spelled out in scripture or specifically told by your parents, so you try and justify it in your head.
That is not a good place to be because sin wants to find out where you are weak, where there is room for it to move in your life.
Once sin knows where it can move freely in your life it will.
The question that Paul asked he has the answer for it and we see it in Verse 2
Main Point #2: Paul’s Response
Statement
2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Prove
We see Paul respond the same way over and over again “By no means”
We see it 10 times in Paul’s Epistles.
This is the strongest statement for refuting something that was said
There is a sense of outrage that anyone would ever begin to think that statement was true
Like people saying Lebron is a better basketball player than MJ
Its a “Pshhh whattt? Did he really just say what I think he said” moment
When people say that Parks and Rec is better than The Office “Pshhhhh whattt???”
When people in NC tell me that Jimmy Buffet is better than Frank Sinatra… Blasphemy
We are not to sin more, but live a life that is as close to Christ as possible. We will never be perfect, but a truly changed life will want to be obedient to God’s laws.
This is part of the sanctification process. Our growth towards Christ and our withering or running away of our want to be more like the world
When we come to Christ and are born again with a regenerated heart, the person that used to be alive is dead.
In a sense we are crucified with Christ so the new life is just that : “New”
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Paul is telling the Corinthians the same thing as he is telling the Romans.
You cannot be alive in your sin and Christ at the same time.
You cannot have two masters. You are either a slave to yourself or Christ
Paul is trying to show the Romans in very basic terms that when someone truly comes to that saving faith in Christ, they are not the same person anymore.
It is not by the doing of ourselves, but by the power of the Holy Spirit that is indwelling in our hearts and souls
If it were up to us we would always be a slave to our sins and be people that only wanted wordly virtues
Nowhere does the text say that death to sin becomes a reality when we physically die; it becomes a reality when our old self dies with Christ in our conversion.
The call to resist sin is based on what has already become a reality for believers through participating together with Christ in his death
When Paul says that we have died to sin; he is not exhorting believers to cease from sin; he is proclaiming to them the good news that they have died to sin.
Illustrations:
As you guys get older you will see that what you thought was funny, scary, entertaining no longer has the same effect on you.
For you seniors that are in here are you the same person you were 4 years ago? Do you still have the same interest in music, movies, friends?
Have you matured?
In the same way spiritually we are moving away from the world and closer to Christ.
Main Point #3: Paul’s Reasoning
Statement
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
Prove
Verse 3:
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
What I want to think about in the early part of this third point is that if Paul is making this claim, if he is going into this kind of detail then this ideology of sin = more grace must have been going on at this time in Roman churches.
If Paul is giving this much attention to this than in his mind it is very important for us to follow.
First off, We are baptized into Christ
We are permanently immersed into Him and made one with Him.
We are not talking about the physical baptism that a believer receives. Paul is speaking of the spiritual immersion of believers into Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
At this point all true believers are one with Christ.
Our conversion from death to life
It is very important for all of us to understand that baptism does not save. There is no saving power in being baptized. It is a public display to show that you are one of God’s elect, but it does not guarantee you salvation. There are going to be a lot of people that were baptized, but still did not have a regenerated heart and that saving knowledge of Christ.
Paul is talking about the spiritual immersion that happens when someone comes to that saving faith.
Verse 4-5:
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
Paul is referring to baptism because it symbolizes the dying and rising of Christ
In the same sense we are “buried and raised” as a symbol in Baptism
At Baptism i.e. (conversion) the death of Christ becomes ours because we share the benefits of His death
Paul is arguing that grace cannot possibly lead believer’s to sin more because by dying with Christ the power of sin has been broken.
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Here we have Paul saying the exact same thing to the Colossians.
What makes baptism so powerful is the fact that faith in Christ is an essential element in baptism
Without that faith in Christ, the application of water mixed with the right words would not do anything.
As we see the second half of verse 4 the true purpose of our conversion: God’s glory. That is the true reason behind people becoming followers of Christ.
“We too might walk in newness of life”: Does that sound like someone who is still living the same sin patterned life that they did before they came to know the Lord?
People want to argue come as you are, God loves all, but in reality the newness of life that is being talked about here is a life that is completely different and changed.
Everything that Christ did points us back to God: birth, miracles, prayer, his death, his resurrection and his ascension. That has to be our main focus when it comes to sanctification. It is all God’s glory.
Paul is pointing us straight back to what the real meaning of Christ being risen: The Father’s glory
But how can believer’s walk in the newness of life if they only share in his death and burial, but what about his resurrection?
Paul answers that in verse 5: If we are united in the likeness of his death, then we are also united in the likeness of his resurrection.
Because of our mended relationship with Christ, believers are able to walk in newness of life because of the power of Christ’s resurrection.
Believer’s have the power of the Holy Spirit indwelled with them.
Verse 6:
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Now Paul is hammering home the idea that believers have died to sin
Who we were in Adam is now dead. We are no longer slaves to sin, the shackles that we wore are no longer there
We are made alive in the last Adam (Christ)
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
We see the same message to the Romans, Colossians and Galatians. He is developing the same type of letter because he knows that this is a human problem not just a Jew problem or just a Gentile problem.
As we talked about in almost every chapter leading up to this:
There is no exception to the race, place or face. All of us are sinners, every one of us was once dead in our sins and those who have come to a saving faith in Christ are now alive IN CHRIST.
There is no distinction between anybody. Jews, Gentiles and Greeks we are all grafted into the tree.
A question that might pop up: Well, Michael you just said that believers are dead to sin, IF believers are dead to sin why do they still sin? and that is a great question and I have the answer for it right now:
Believers are enabled to walk in the likeness of Christ, but our physical resurrection is still future. Since the resurrection is still impeding, believers are not liberated in every aspect from the world.
We are given the power to overcome sin, we are no longer slaves to our sins or the world. We have the power of the Holy Spirit in our hearts now.
We are always growing closer and closer to the image of Christ
Verse 7:
7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.
As we have seen that our old self is dead
Paul is talking about the people that have believed in Christ as their Lord and Savior
Our old self was a slave to our sins, a slave to our world, BUT because of our new life in Christ we no longer have to walk in sin and the pollution of this world.
Paul is encouraging the Romans in verse 7. When you come to Christ you are free from your sin. You will no longer be a slave to yourself or the world
We have a complete switch of who we are: Give examples
Verse 8:
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
If we are dead with our sins, we have a newness of life
If we have died with Christ we will also live with Christ
This is the part that not a lot of people recognize or talk about. In order for our justification or our debt to God to be paid Christ needed to defeat death. If we are going to be resurrected in the future Christ needed to be resurrected (physically). That is when God said “okay, I accept this payment.”
Here we see Paul make another shift from dying with Christ to living with Him.
“If” puts the emphasis on us. Its not an everybody kind of thing.
“If we have died with Christ”
We are not just talking about a future resurrection, but how we currently live our lives now
The importance of living a life that is obedient to God
Verse 9:
9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
The presupposition for Paul’s entire argument is that believers live together with Christ.
So what is true of Christ is true for all who believe in him.
The power of Christ’s resurrection is that has pierced the present evil age so that those who belong with Christ share in his triumph over death.
Death cannot reign over the God’s elect
Christ’s resurrection demonstrates that he has defeated death forever.
Verse 10:
10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
Verse 10 advances the argument by explaining why the dominion of death has ended.
We see two words over and over again and that is death and sin. You cannot have one without the other. They are so closely related that you cannot separate them.
One cannot rule without the other
The only way that Christ could defeat death was by overcoming the power of sin.
This verse explains that Jesus that Jesus overcame the mastery of death because when he died and rose, he broke the power of sin once and for all.
Here Paul is not saying that Jesus was himself sinful
But as the last Adam he voluntarily experienced death as the consequence of sin in order to breaks it’s dominion.
Now that he has defeated sin Christ lives his life for the glory of God
Since believers are incorporated into Christ they will live together with him in resurrection power
Christ’s resurrection was the seal of his victory and the promise of life for believers.
This is the one thing that we can have 100% confidence and assurance in
Application:
Pray for the continued growth in your faith Christ
Faith in Christ is going to be the jet fuel that makes your baptism worthwhile
As Believers we are to walk in a newness of life because we are living a life that is new, changed and different
Is your attitude towards Christ different?
Are the patterns of your life different?
Are you living a life that is closer to Christ and God or the world? Only you can know that answer
If you have not come to that saving faith in Christ, Pray to God to reveal himself to your hearts
Pray to receive that faith in Christ
Discussion Questions For Romans 6:1-10
What is the main purpose from Romans 6 that Paul is trying to get through to the Romans?
What does Paul mean by “Walk in newness of life”? How can a former sinner see their life change before and after coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ?
Why is it important for Christians to believe that Christ physically rose from the dead?
What can we apply to our lives from Romans 6 that will help us grow glorify God and enjoy Him Forever?
