Alive To God

Children’s Bible Page 1227

The past two Sundays, we jumped ahead to Romans 12 to focus on our covenant commitments as members of this church family,

And now, I’m excited to begin Romans 6 as we come back to walking through our series through Romans that I’ve entitled, “It’s All About The Gospel.”

Because trusting in the good news of Jesus Christ is not just the most important thing you will ever do in a single moment in time, but it also the most important thing you will continue to do throughout each day of your life and eternity.

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone, and as the conversation went along, it got harder and harder to believe that what this person was telling you was actually reality?

One time, early on in my journey at the Crossfit gym, a guy came to one of our workout classes who none of us had ever seen before.

And the whole time during warmups, he was talking nonstop about his outstanding physical accomplishments in the gym throughout the years.

Now, I certainly don’t do anything too impressive when it comes to the gym, so I’m not one to judge, but I’ve never tried to convince anyone otherwise like this guy was obviously trying to do.

Well, when it finally came to doing the workout of the day, not too surprisingly, the guy struggled through it like we all did, actually, he had it worse because he had not been coming regularly like most of us had.

You see, it was all just words, until it was time to experience the reality.

Maybe you’ve had a similar situation where someone has really built up an experience with their words, but when it came to actually doing it, you realize it was just words, it wasn’t reality.

So far, throughout the book of Romans, we have considered the great sinfulness of humanity exchanging the glory of God for the glory of self and other created things.

We have considered our own personal sinfulness that leads to death and the righteous judgment of God.

We have then considered the matchless grace of God in sending His only son to die in our place for our sin in order that all who trust in Him will be made right with God.

And we have just begun to consider how this news changes our outlook and attitude.

Yet now, as chapter 6 begins, Paul is going to pose a question that I am sure the Jewish opposition posed to him, and it is a question we have probably all considered at one time or another:

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

I mean, if God’s grace to save sinners and forgive sin is as super abundant as Paul says it is, why not continue to sin so that God can continue to pour out his super abundant grace?

But, as we will see, this idea is just words, it is not reality.

Let’s read it together:

Romans 6:1–14 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. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 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. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

1. Believers Share In Christ’s Death and Resurrection

During the ministry of Jesus, his Jewish opponents accused him of being a drunkard, a glutton, and a friend of sinners.

And now, they are accusing Paul of spreading a message of grace that leads people to live immoral lives with no consequences since he says God’s super abundant grace will simply forgive them.

But the truth is: they were just words of opposition, they were in no way reality.

Now, if the gospel was simply a formula where you plug in your sin plus God’s grace equals forgiven eternal life, then the opposition may have a point.

But, the gospel is not simply words plugged into a formula, the gospel is the work of a personal God who has sacrificed his one beloved son on the cross then rose him in the resurrection to bring our spiritually dead hearts to life!

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

Paul uses the most emphatic negative he can use to say: By no means!

How can we who died to sin still live in it?

One of the most commonly used phrases in the New Testament to describe a genuine believer is the phrase: in Christ.

If you have trusted in Jesus for your salvation, you are in Christ.

This is your spiritual home, your identity, your dynamic: you are in Christ.

There is a real, tangible spiritual union of being in Christ.

If you remember in Romans 5, all humanity is in one of two categories spiritually: you are either in Adam symboling sin and death, or you are in Christ, symbolizing God’s righteousness and life.

And Paul is going to use the picture of Christian baptism in order for us to grasp more fully this reality of being in Christ.

Verse 3: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.

Think about it: we say all the time that the gospel is that Jesus died in your place for your sin.

The execution he endured was scheduled with your name on it.

The burial should have come with your name on the headstone.

That’s why in baptism you are buried underneath the water identifying with the death and burial of Jesus in your place.

And just as you died and were buried in Christ, in your baptism, you are also brought back up from that burial like verse 4 says:

just as Christ was raised from the dead to the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Remember when Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that he must be born again?

He said that because our spiritual reality is dead in sin until God the Holy Spirit raises us to spiritual life when we trust in the gospel and identify with Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Yet, now that we have been raised to spiritual life, we can now walk in that newness of life each day.

Now, when our spirit is dead, we are completely enslaved to sin.

All we can do is sin.

And if that sounds way too dramatic to you, remember that the primary sin over all other sins is not giving all glory to God, and when you are spiritually dead, even if you are doing things that seem outwardly good, they are sin because they are not motivated by the glory of God.

But verse 5: if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Just as sure as you were dead in sin, you are now as sure spiritually alive as Jesus is alive!

Verse 6: Because our sins were placed on Jesus on the cross, our old sinful self was crucified with Christ, in order that we are no longer slaves to sin.

Verse 7: for one who has died has been set free from sin.

In being crucified with Christ, you have died and been set free from enslavement to sin.

You see, before salvation, it is as if your spirit is locked in a prison cell and you are chained to the wall of sin.

At salvation, your chains are broken and removed and the prison cell door is flung wide open.

Now, you can still sin and choose to stay in that prison, but you also have the ability by the Spirit of God to walk out and be free.

Verse 10: For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.

Jesus was made our sin on the cross, in order to crush sin for all who believe, but resurrected to defeat sin, Jesus now lives perfectly to God.

Energized and identified with God the Father, He being God himself.

You see, while being baptized does not save you, it is an outward sign and symbol of the spiritual reality of being in Christ, through His death and resurrection.

It is an obedience to symbolize that you identify and are now empowered and motivated by the very life of God.

You are baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in beautiful community with them.

The tension for me as a pastor is to display the proper importance of being baptized and taking the Lord’s supper while also reminding us that these are signs and dramatic pictures of our salvation commanded by our Lord Jesus to participate in but they are not means to salvation, for salvation is by faith alone in God’s grace alone.

But, this does not mean we should devalue the ordinances of the Lord Jesus.

John Calvin used to respond to temptations of the devil and temptations to sin by saying out loud, “Be gone from me, for I have been baptized into Christ!”

You see, the gospel is not just words plugged into a formula, the gospel is real dynamic unhindered relationship and identity with the one and only God of the universe through identifying with Jesus’ cross and resurrection.

It is what theologians call regeneration. The bringing to life of the human soul by the power of the Spirit of God at the moment of conversion.

So, in light of this reality of the gospel, what should we do?

2. Consider Yourself Dead To Sin and Alive To God

Verse 11: So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ.

It’s interesting, Paul is saying, this is your reality, so daily remember your reality, and daily walk in light of your reality.

We don’t always walk in light of our reality do we?

I want you to imagine a multimillionaire digging through the dumpster behind a restaurant trying to find something to eat.

That guy is not living in light of his reality.

Or imagine me telling Robin that I am going to single handedly build an extra bedroom onto our house.

If you know me, you know I am not living in light of my non handy man reality.

In the same way, when we sin as believers, we are not living in light of our reality.

When we sin, we are not living in light of the reality that we are dead to sin and alive to God.

We are not living in the reality that sin is what was killing us.

Sin is what nailed Jesus to the cross.

Sin is what steals the joy and intimacy away from life in Christ.

Sin is what hurts you and those around you.

But the life of God in us says:

I am more than a conquerer.

He who began a good work in me will bring it to completion.

I have been raised with Christ empowered to walk in newness of life.

I have been created in Christ Jesus for good works that I may now walk in them.

I will rejoice in all situations knowing that God ultimately works all things out for my good and his glory.

Greater is He who is in me than he that is in the world.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

These are just a small fraction of the promises of the life of God in you.

Listen to what Peter writes in:

2 Peter 1:3–4 ESV

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

You see, we place a lot of needed emphasis on placing our faith in Jesus in order to be saved, and so we focus on the day of our salvation.

And we also place a lot of needed emphasis on the day when we die or Jesus returns to make all things new when we will be glorified in the presence of his glory forever, so we focus on our final day.

But, in Romans 6, Paul is focusing on the reality of the gospel in leading us to live life between the day of our salvation, and the day of our homecoming, he’s focusing us on all our days in between, and he is saying, “In light of your salvation of being in Christ, consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ.”

Cling to the precious promises of God speaking to the reality of who you really are right now, and walking in light of who you are.

Now, the fact that you are no longer a slave to sin does not always feel like reality does it?

I know it doesn’t always feel that way to me.

Even when I am pursuing holiness and godliness in my thoughts, words, heart, and motivation, sin still seems to cling so closely trip me up so often.

I seem to constantly fall into the same old traps that I thought I had learned better. I thought I had prayed through sufficiently. I thought I had found joy in overcoming.

It is in no way easy to always believe that you are dead to sin and alive to God.

That the truth and reality is that in Christ, you never have to sin.

That He always makes a way of escape.

That with every temptation, the super abundant grace of God is not primarily there to forgive you after you sin, but it is there to empower you to say “no” to sin before you ever do it!

This is not easy to see and believe.

That’s why I love the old King James version of verse 11 that says: Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

You see, at all times, you must consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God, but in moments of great temptation, you must reckon yourself dead indeed to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

To reckon something to be true gives this idea that you must wrestle through it.

You must cling to this truth with all your might even when you cannot see it as if in pitch black you cannot see the hand in front of your face.

Remember, back in Romans 4, being saved by grace through faith is like Abraham being promised a son in his old age.

How many times after God promised a son, and Abraham and Sarah just kept getting older and older, how many times must God’s promise have seemed like mere words with no true reality behind it?

How many times must they have been tempted to doubt and give up on this promise?

Yet, instead, in the midst of every sin and failure, in the midst of taking two steps forward in faith to only then seem to fall three steps back, in the daily and constant battle of sin, flesh, and the devil, reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God.

Wrestle with it as if you are Jacob fighting with God, unwilling to relent until He blesses you, because being alive to God is your reality!

Reckoning yourself alive to God means you can have confidence in temptation.

For you do not having to run back out to the dumpster of sin looking for something to satisfy your sinful desires,

For you have been seated with Christ and you have been granted every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Reckoning yourself alive to God means you can be confident that when you do sin, your sin cannot steal the life of God away from you.

Back to verse 10: The death he died he died to sin, once for all.

That means Jesus died once defeating the power and dominion of all our sins: past, present, and future.

Do not spend time after sinning wallowing in sin, heaping sin upon sin saying maybe you will trying to pursue righteousness again starting next week.

No! After sinning that first sin, repent and reckon immediately!

Reckon yourself alive to God!

You are alive. You are alive to confess. You are alive to ask forgiveness. You are alive to change and walk in newness of life.

He who began this good work in you will be faithful to complete it.

Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God.

in verses 12-14, Paul is going to describe to us the action of our will that we must take as we reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God.

3. Daily Present Yourself To God, Not Sin

Verse 12: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.

Before you were saved, sin reigned in your body. Sin was king. Sin was sovereign.

Now, in Christ, sin still calls to us. It still tries to wield its power and control.

But, what Paul is saying is: sin has no right or dominion over you, so don’t act like it does!

Don’t offer back over the right to someone who has no right to you.

It’s as if you had grown up not under parents but under an evil taskmaster.

You were constantly maligned, hated, caused to labor in slavery daily.

But, then imagine, that the king of the land rescues you and frees you to a life of freedom, and that evil taskmaster is chained in a jail, and He is screaming for you from that prison, and too many times, you are tempted to given into his calling after you because it seems familiar and what you have known.

But Paul is saying, sin is no longer your taskmaster, so do not let sin reign in your body as it it was.

Do not obey sins’ passions, they have no right over you anymore.

Yes, you still carry around this old body of sin that will finally die, but your soul is alive to God to obey His passions in freedom as you have been born to spiritual life in order to do.

Notice, because it is this old body that still desires to sin, Paul says:

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.

It’s the same command we read again in

Romans 12:1 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Why must we continually present our bodies, yield our bodies, lay our bodies down before God as a living sacrifice?

Because it is this old body that still lusts, and desires, and want to go after sinful desires.

Verse 13 paints for us this picture of reporting in to our boss, our captain, our leader in order for us to receive our orders that we might then go and do them.

Before we were saved, we liked to think that we were independent and free to think and act freely, but no.

We are created and dependent creatures, so before we were saved, we woke up every morning and immediately presented our bodies before our own sinful passions and said, “Sinful passions, what orders do you have for me today?”

What is my assignment? What is my mission? And we received those sinful orders, and we fulfilled them throughout the day, living out our day in unrighteousness as we lived motivated by self and sin, not God and His glory.

Yet, now that you are a saved child of God, you now have a choice.

When you awake, you still have that old tyrant of a taskmaster calling out to you from his jail cell, and you can choose to walk that way, bow yourself to what is old and familiar, and lay your body down in order to receive his orders then go and follow those orders.

You can do that even though He no longer has any right to you and no dominion over you, you can still choose to give him that power and authority.

But Paul says, as you reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.

Don’t bow down before that imprisoned tyrant who has no more rights over you.

Don’t run back out to the garbage dump as if that is the only option you have for food!

Instead, present yourself to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

So, in Christ, when you wake up, your reality is that you are a child of God, your king is Jesus, he has brought you under His gracious reign, sovereignty, and dominion by his death on the cross and your justification in His resurrection.

So, when you wake up in the morning, present your body before King Jesus first thing and receive your righteous orders from the God who will supply you with super abundant grace to fulfill those orders as you lay your body before Him and receive His grace.

In His grace, we come before His throne room in prayer to receive grace and help in time of need which is always our present reality, and as we bow ourselves before Him, we receive his orders of righteousness to then go and follow them as He goes with us throughout the day.

And listen, as you receive your righteous orders as a good soldier, as you go to fulfill this righteousness, you are going to hear that old tyrant’s call from the jail cell at many points, and He is going to be yelling things like:

“You’ve already failed!”

“There is no way you are going to be able to keep this righteousness thing up!”

“You’ll be back soon enough!”

“You’ve already failed so many times!”

“You are never going to succeed in righteousness!”

And listen, if you were still under the dominion of the law,

The law that says, “Obey these commands, and be blessed. Break a command, and be cursed.”

Yes, we would all be cursed under the dominion of that harsh taskmaster forever, because we have all failed under the law.

But verse 14:

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

In sin, Satan took the opportunity through the law to be our tyrant and taskmaster reminding us that we have failed and can never do enough.

Yet, in Christ, we are no longer under the law but under grace. Grace rules over the life of the believer.

And Jesus says:

“My mercies are new every morning.”

“I have created you for good works for you to walk in them.”

“I will never leave or forsake you.”

“Though you sins are as scarlet, I have made you white as snow.”

“This world and this age will end and give way to eternal life where you will be freed from not only the power and dominion of sin, but you will then be freed from the very presence of sin to live with God apart from all sin and the old self for eternity.”

Are you in Christ?

Have you identified with Him through baptism?

If so, reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God.

As I pray, in your heart, present yourself before your gracious savior and say, “Lord, I am here to report under your gracious rule, what orders of righteousness would you have me pursue today?

Let’s pray.

(Elder at couch.)