Dead to Sin, Alive to God: Not Under Law but Under Grace
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· 15 viewsSince we’ve been freed from the tyranny of sin, we can offer our members as instruments of righteousness.
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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.
For one who has died has been set free from sin.
Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
“Hold the door, say please, say thank you
Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie
I know you got mountains to climb but
Always stay humble and kind”…
“Don't expect a free ride from no one
Don't hold a grudge or a chip and here's why
Bitterness keeps you from flyin'
Always stay humble and kind” —Tim McGraw (Humble and Kind)
I would argue that many peoples conception of Christianity. Sounds something like this,
“You need to be a good person in order to be a Christian.”
“Be nice and be a Christian.”
But they never stopped to ask.
Is this what the Bible teaches?
Does the Bible teach that we need to be nice in order to be a Christian?
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.
The Bible’s testimony of us is that we cannot change ourselves on our own.
The Letter to the Romans (Second Edition) 1. “Dead to Sin” through Union with Christ (6:1–14)
One may as well tell a drowning person simply to swim to shore as tell a person who is under sin’s mastery not to let sin reign.
What hope is there for us if we cannot change ourselves?
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.
Death of the “Old Man” in the Death of Christ.
Death of the “Old Man” in the Death of Christ.
Our old self or “old man” has been crucified with Christ in His death.
What does Paul mean by the phrase “old man”?
He doesn’t just mean men.
It his way of referring to all humanity, but especially those who are still under sin.
Decision Making as an Unbeliever
I think one of the best ways to illustrate this is through decision making.
How did you used to make decisions before you came to Christ?
For many it just meant going with your gut.
Or maybe someone was hyper-rational.
But no matter how a person makes decisions, one thing is common between them.
They do what they most want.
It’s their “wanter” that directs them.
And a person’s “wanter” is geared toward sin.
“what was crucified with Christ was not a part of me called my old nature, but the whole of me as I was before I was converted.” – John Stott
Unsaved persons are directed by desires habituated into the body by their sinful natures. Christians are to be directed and rehabituated by God’s Word
We don’t just have bad habits that need to be worked on.
Romans 14:23 (ESV)
…For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
The death of Christ was our death to sin.
The purpose of His death was to bring the “body of sin” to nothing or “render it ineffective.”
Notice the purpose of this death though,
“We know this: that our old man was crucified with Christ, so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, with the purpose that we should no longer serve sin.” –Doug Moo
The Christian confidently kills sin because of the Christian has been broken off from his former manner of life.
His life in Adam is dead.
Which also assumes that his life in Christ is alive and well.
For one who has died has been set free from sin.
“Paul is citing a general maxim, to the effect that “death severs the hold of sin on a person.” –Doug Moo
The consequence of dying with Christ is freedom from sin.
Justification doesn’t mean liberation from sin.
All those who are justified are free from sin.
Justification is the basis of our freedom from sin.
We are justified by believing not by doing the law.
Those who are justified are free from the power of sin.
The Christian and the Power of Sin
Unbelievers are powerless to sin.
Believers are able by God’s grace to win substantial, significant, and observable evidence
Substantial Victory, not Perfect Victory.
Observable victory
Romans–Galatians Comment
when Christ died all who would eventually believe in him were reckoned to have died as well.
Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Resurrection Life and the New Dominion.
Resurrection Life and the New Dominion.
Future resurrection from the Dead
“Already–Not-Yet” of the resurrection. We have already been raised with Christ in one sense, but in another sense we wait to be raised.
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
We have the power and yet we don’t fully have the power.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
Sin and death ruled over Jesus in His earthly life.
Sin and death ruled over Jesus in His earthly life.
Sin and death ruled over Jesus in His earthly life.
We don’t often consider that sin and death ruled over Jesus.
When Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:13-17) and identified Himself with His people.
He identified Himself with His people in the flesh.
What does this mean?
Death had dominion over Jesus.
Death didn’t deserve to have dominion over Christ.
We know this because He died.
Though Christ was perfect, He was treated as a transgressor.
Though He was without sin, He was treated as one who had sin.
What does this mean for you and I?
The Football Team
Every year there are several players on the injured list for the Super Bowl winning team.
Every player from the winning team of the Super Bowl wins not only a ring but $171K just for being on the team.
Even if they didn’t play a minute.
Even though they were completely immobile, they won.
In the same way, we win in Christ’s victory.
Even though we are unable to earn anything, because we are united to Him, we win.
The reign of sin and death have ended.
For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
One-time death of Jesus Christ.
One-time death of Jesus Christ.
The death that Christ died, stands in contrast to the life that he lives.
Noticed the way that death is described of Christ in this verse.
The phrase “he died” is used twice in this one verse and is used to describe the whole action of His death.
He concretes this by using the phrase "once for all" to describe the death of Christ.
He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
But noticed the way that he talks about the life that Christ lives.
For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
His life continues eternally to God.
His life continues eternally to God.
“He lives” again is used her twice and describes the action that is continuing to happen in reality right now.
Jesus Christ is currently alive.
He is alive and ruling and reigning at the Father’s right hand.
Protestant Understandings of the Cross
If you notice there is a kind of cross or crucifix in which it shows Jesus is still there.
Typically, Catholic’s believe in their weekly mass that Jesus is being re-crucified all over again.
The Gospel of God: Romans Identification with Christ
That is why Protestantism repudiated the idea of a re-creation of the death of Christ in the Mass. That is why Protestant crosses are empty; there is no crucified Jesus on them. Christ is alive.
Unlike Catholics, we don’t picture Jesus still on the cross.
He is NOT still on the cross.
At Christmas, people are fine with Jesus still being thought of as a baby.
For MANY, they are fine with Jesus still being shown in weakness.
But the reality is far greater than all of this.
Romans 6:10 (ESV)
the life he lives he lives to God.
Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Declaration of Identity: Dead to Sin, Alive to God.
Declaration of Identity: Dead to Sin, Alive to God.
“So then” the believer is with comparative force to “consider” or “reckon” ourselves dead to sin.
This is only the second COMMAND used so far in Romans.
The believers posture towards sin is to view sin the same way Christ has viewed sin.
Jesus Christ has died to sin, and has been raised to live to God.
In the same way then, believers are to view their own lives.
Don’t miss the assume reality that Paul just laid down.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
“Think of yourself as dead to sin, and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Don’t miss what Paul is doing here…
He is giving the declaration of WHO GOD says we are.
He is telling us what is true of those who are Christians.
“The COMMAND does not refer to the dying. Over this we have no control, since Jesus Christ has died for us and we only receive the gift of his dying and are drawn into it.
The object of the COMMAND is that we should take this death into account, take it seriously, and thus make the gift become a gift in which we participate.”
—Thielicke quoted in Doug Moo
Putting on the Uniform of the Christian
Research is clear that dressing determines performance.
Forbes magazine has even written about this..
“[T]he researchers found that when we feel good about how we look, we perform better in our work.”
The funny thing is, the same thing works for the Christian.
The difference is what we are getting dressed up in.
What the Christian gets dressed in matters deeply.
It’s not outward clothing.
It’s a message.
Paul does the same thing again in Colossians 3…
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
This is the declaration of the reality.
But then follows it up with the command.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:9–10 (ESV)
…seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
The high calling of the Christian, conferred upon him in Christ by which he is to reckon himself dead to sin but alive to God, is itself a powerful motivation to holy living. Putting on the uniform is itself a potent factor that the Holy Spirit uses to bring about change.
So, where does the Christian find confidence then?
Our circles waffle somewhere between
“You need to be more self-confident”
Or in some Christian circles
“You shouldn’t be so confident!”
“Confidence is a bad thing, get rid of it and be less confident.”
But I am fearful that both of these alternatives fail.
They fail because the Christian is meant to be confident.
The problem is where the confidence rests.
If the confidence rests in me, then it is on shaky ground when someone criticizes me.
If the confidence rests in my job, then remove the job and the confidence evaporates.
But if our confidence as a Christian rests upon Christ, then the Christian can truly be confident.
The Christian is meant to be confident.
But confidence always assumes a foundation.
And any foundation other than Jesus Christ, is a shaky foundation.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Command from Identity: Kill sin, live righteously.
Command from Identity: Kill sin, live righteously.
As Paul does, in other places, he puts the declarations of God before the command of God.
So the logical progression is, "you have died and been raised in Christ, so don't let sin rule your life."
In our former lives we were enslaved to sin.
We lived under the rule and reign of sin.
The command for you and I follows the promise that we have already died to sin in Jesus Christ.
Sin’s power has been broken over us in the gospel.
To continue to submit to SIN would be like an army that has won living in surrender to a defeated foe.
The foe has already been defeated.
Submitting to a defeated foe is an oxymoron of the Christian life.
For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
The imperatives continue to be elaborated as where the members of our mortal bodies are given to.
This includes the mind, the heart, and the body.
What we give ourselves to reveals where we reside.
Notice what Paul says in verse 13…
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
The word for “instruments” or “tools” brings a military overtone with it “weapon”
The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
The Christian is now free to give their members to a new commander.
Whereas before they were servants of Satan, they are now servants unto Jesus Christ.
There is a negative and positive command here.
Romans 6:13 (ESV)
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness,
Don’t use your members as tools to sin.
Don’t use your members as tools to sin.
DON’T give your members to tools for unrighteousness.
We need to put off or put to death having instruments in the service of Satan.
Resurrection in a Graveyard and Ignorance
As one theologian compared this to…
“Imagine God coming to a cemetery and raising people from their graves, and then the people walking out of the graves refusing to acknowledge him as God.”
You can almost picture it can’t you.
All of these people walking out of their graves
“That’s what it would be like if a person who is justified, buried with Christ and then made alive, disregards the one who has raised him from the dead. No, we are to yield ourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead.” —R.C. Sproul
Romans 6:13 (ESV)
…but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
But offer your members as instruments of righteousness.
But offer your members as instruments of righteousness.
DO give our members to tools for God’s service.
The word for “instruments” or “tools” brings a military overtone with it “weapon”
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
Notice the weapon that Paul described here.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
“Onward, Christian soldiers,
marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
going on before!
Christ, the royal Master,
leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
see his banner go!”
—Onward Christian Soldier
“As the soldier has ever his arms ready, that he may use them whenever he is ordered by his general, and as he never uses them but at his command; so Christians ought to regard all their faculties to be the weapons of the spiritual warfare: if then they employ any of their members in the indulgence of depravity, they are in the service of sin.”
John Calvin, Commentary on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Chapter 6)
Notice again how Paul returns to the POWER.
He reminds them again of the POWER to take up these weapons.
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
The word for “dominion” can also mean “rule” or “reign” or even “master.”
Notice that Paul assumes that sin already has dominion over us.
Sin already has mastery over all humanity.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Paul concludes this section by grounding what he has spoken in the reality again that we are not under the mastery of sin.
Sin is no longer our master and ruler.
Sin is not our master any longer.
This is because we are NOT under law but under grace.
The Christian and Obedience
The Christian has great encouragement to “present our members as tools of righteousness.”
We have great encouragement because we know that because of Christ, God accepts our poor and imperfect obedience.
God is not a heavy task master waiting for us to slip up.
Rather, we can have confidence that God is willing and ready to forgive past transgression because He is merciful.
Since we’ve been freed from the tyranny of sin, we can offer our members as instruments of righteousness.