Changed to Be Holy
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2026 Theme - Saved by Grace, Changed by Holiness.
Text: Romans 6:1-14
CHORUS
I’ve been changed, I’ve been reborn,
All my life has been rearranged;
What a difference it makes
When the Lord has His way
All my life, praise God, has been changed.
Though my sins were as scarlet,
They’re white as snow,
I was bound, but today I am free;
I was lost in the darkness,
But now I’m found,
I was blind, but now I see.
Those words capture the testimony of every genuine believer in Jesus Christ.
When Christ saves, He does not merely forgive. He changes.
Something real happens. Something lasting happens. A new life begins.
Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome to give believers a clear, confident understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In chapter 1, Paul argues that the Gentiles stand guilty before God and are in need of conversion.
In chapter 2, he turns to the Jews and makes the same charge.
Then in chapter 3, Paul brings his argument to its unavoidable conclusion: everyone, everywhere, is a sinner and desperately in need of redemption.
In chapter 4, Paul introduces the doctrine of justification by faith alone, using Abraham as his primary example.
In chapter 5, he explains the glorious result of that justification. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we now have peace with God. God’s wrath has been fully satisfied through Christ’s sacrificial death, and believers are reconciled to Him by grace.
That truth raises a natural and important question.
If our sins, past, present, and future, are fully forgiven by grace, does that mean we are now free to live however we want?
Romans chapter 6 exists to answer that question clearly and decisively.
And this is where we will spend our time this morning. Learning to understand that Holiness is a call to change.
Last week’s main idea was this:
All Christians Everywhere Are Called to Be Holy.
This week, Paul presses that truth further.
Main Idea: All Christians Everywhere Must Change to Be Holy.
Last week, I tried to make this clear: holiness is not a call to pharisaism. It is a call to Christlikeness.
The more the character of Jesus is formed in your life, the more holiness will be evident.
Holiness is not about external rule-keeping. It is about a transformed life shaped by Christ.
That raises an important question.
What role do we play in this process of change?
How do believers grow in Christlike holiness?
As we walk through Romans 6:1–14, Paul shows us three ways believers are called to actively live out the change God brings as He grows us in holiness.
1. Change Your View of Sin (vs. 1-4)
Sin is not our friend.
Sin is not to be trusted nor embraced.
We must avoid it at all cost.
Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul.
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.
Paul is employing a literary technique called diatribe.
It was a common Greco-Roman teaching method in which a speaker:
1. Anticipates an objection
2. Voices it as a rhetorical question
3. Then forcefully refutes it
This technique allows Paul to control the conversation and expose faulty reasoning before his readers can settle into it.
Simply stated, Paul is telling his readers that any Christian who has the idea that, because one is set free by the grace of God, one is free to sin more!
What? This is as absurd as one can get!
Paul uses a phrase in verse two that he uses nine other times in the letter to the Romans.
μὴ γένοιτο (may ge-noi-ta) is the strongest possible Greek denial.
“Absolutely not!”
“May it never be!”
“God forbid!” (KJV)
Paul uses it when:
God’s character is questioned
Grace is twisted into license
The law is misunderstood
Israel’s future is denied
Notably, Romans 6 contains two of the ten occurrences, showing how critical sanctification is to Paul’s gospel logic.
He goes on in verse two to argue that if we have died with Christ (Gal 3:20), how can we live in sin?
Sin is the very thing Christ died for.
Why would we, who love Jesus and desire to be like him, allow sin to thrive in our hearts and minds?
Ladies and gentlemen, we must not be intrigued by sin.
We cannot be enthralled by our iniquity.
We must change our view of sin.
Sin gave the death sentence to Jesus.
If you are a follower of Christ, you followed Him into death.
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Paul is like - Hello! Don’t you understand the significance of being in Christ? That if He died, we died?
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.
Get the point? If we are in Christ, we die with Him.
We were buried with Him.
And most importantly, “We live a new life in and through Him.
So if we are in Christ, in this sense.
And Christ is living in and through us, would the sinless Son of God participate in sin?
How does Jesus view sin?
He has a lot to say about it. Here are just two examples.
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
Paul’s argument is rooted in union with Christ. Because we are united with Him, our relationship to sin has changed.
Sin is no longer something we can treat casually or accommodate comfortably.
Jesus consistently described sin as enslaving, defiling, and destructive.
Those who belong to Him learn to see sin the same way He does.
Union with Christ reshapes our desires and our responses.
That is why holiness is not legalism.
It is Christlikeness.
When Christ’s life is at work in us, sin loses its appeal.
A changed relationship with Christ produces a changed view of sin.
Paul’s question in verse 2 presses us:
“How can we who died to sin still live in it?”
Picture sin like a condemned house. It has been declared unsafe and unfit for living. Someone who once lived there has been legally relocated and given a new address.
Going back to that house would make no sense.
Sleeping there would be unthinkable.
That is Paul’s point.
When we were united with Christ, we died to sin.
Sin is no longer our address. It no longer owns us.
So the question is simple: why return to a place we no longer belong?
Romans 6 forces us to move beyond abstract theology and ask honest personal questions.
Paul is pressing us to examine how we think about sin in light of who we are in Christ.
Ask yourself this week:
Where am I still calling a condemned house “home”?
Is there a sin I have grown comfortable with rather than willing to confront?
What sin have I renamed, excused, or tolerated instead of putting to death?
Have I softened the language around it to make it feel less serious?
Where do I keep saying, “This is just how I am,” instead of saying, “That’s who I was”?
Am I living out of my old identity instead of my new one in Christ?
Romans 6 is not asking whether believers will ever struggle with sin.
Scripture is clear that the struggle remains.
What Romans 6 presses us to consider is whether we are willing to surrender to sin’s presence or whether we are learning to resist it in light of our union with Christ.
Christians fight sin because they are alive in Christ.
They pursue holiness because sin no longer fits who they are.
A changed view of sin is one of the clearest evidences that new life has begun.
Review:
All Christians Everywhere Must Change to be Holy
Change Your View of Sin
One helpful way to change our view of sin is to remember our new position…
2. Change Your View of Freedom (vs. 5-11)
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.
There is an important connection between death and life in this verse.
We know experientially that life is destined for death.
Some lives last longer than others, but inevitably everything dies.
The only hope that reverses this pattern is found here.
If we are united with Jesus in His death, the certain promise is that we will also be united with Him in resurrection life, because He was raised from the dead.
Paul is clear that this is certain. Our future resurrection is guaranteed because Christ has already been raised.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
If Jesus was resurrected, and He most certainly was, then all who are united to Him will also be resurrected.
Union with Christ secures both present transformation and future hope.
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.
IDENTITY - “We know that our old self was crucified with him…”
The “old self” refers to who we were in Adam, our identity and standing as sinners under sin’s dominion.
Paul is not saying our sin nature has been removed.
He is saying that the person we were before Christ, defined and ruled by sin, was decisively judged at the cross.
Through faith, we are united with Christ in His death.
POWER - “In order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing”
The “body of sin” describes the whole person as sin once exercised control through us.
“Brought to nothing” does not mean eradicated, but rendered powerless and dethroned.
Sin still exists, but it no longer reigns as master.
FREEDOM - “So that we would no longer be enslaved to sin”
This is the purpose and result of our union with Christ.
Paul is emphasizing emancipation, not sinless perfection.
Believers may still struggle with sin, but they are no longer enslaved to it.
7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.
Here is the good news.
Because we have died with Christ, we have been set free from sin.
Sin no longer rules us or defines us.
It may still tempt us, but it no longer has authority over us.
United with Jesus, we are no longer bound. We are free.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Paul now lifts our eyes beyond freedom from sin to life with Christ.
Those who die with Christ also live with Him.
This is a life transformed by His presence.
As we live with Him, we begin to look like Him.
Holiness is simply the outworking of Christ’s life in us.
Changed by Christ, we are changed by holiness.
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.
Paul wants us to know something with certainty.
Christ’s resurrection is not temporary.
He will never die again.
Death no longer has dominion over Him.
His death decisively dealt with sin once for all, and His resurrected life is now wholly devoted to God.
This matters because our hope for holiness is not fragile.
It is anchored in the finished and permanent work of Jesus Christ.
And because we are united with Him, what is true of Christ is now true of us.
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Paul now turns from explanation to exhortation.
Because these things are true, we are commanded to embrace a new way of thinking.
We are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
This is not pretending. It is believing what God has declared to be true.
Holiness always begins in the mind.
Right thinking about our identity in Christ leads to right living for the glory of God.
Paul teaches that true freedom is grounded in union with Christ, not in human effort or personal resolve.
Because we have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection, sin no longer rules us.
The presence of temptation remains, but the authority of sin has been broken.
This freedom is a change of ownership.
We have been set free from sin so that we might live to God.
Life with Christ is a life shaped by Christ, and that shaping produces holiness.
Freedom that leaves a person unchanged does not reflect the freedom Paul describes in Romans 6.
Paul also makes clear that freedom must be embraced by faith.
Believers are commanded to consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
When our thinking aligns with what God has declared to be true, our living begins to follow.
Obedience grows out of identity.
In short, biblical freedom is not the permission to sin.
It is the power to live a life that reflects Christ.
Imagine a prisoner who has served his sentence and is legally released. He is truly free.
But imagine that, out of habit, he wakes up the next morning and sits on the edge of his bed waiting for instructions.
He still asks for permission to leave the room.
He still lives as though the guards are in charge, even though they no longer have any authority over him.
Nothing has changed legally, but everything feels unchanged mentally.
That is what Paul is addressing in Romans 6. Sin is no longer our master.
The chains have been broken. The authority has been revoked.
But if we continue to think like slaves, we will live like slaves.
Christian freedom is learning to live in light of what is already true.
We are not pretending to be free.
We are learning to walk as free people because Christ has already secured our freedom.
Romans 6 calls us to live in light of the freedom Christ has already secured.
This is not about pretending sin no longer exists.
It is about remembering that sin no longer rules.
Consider these questions this week:
Where am I still thinking like a slave instead of living like someone who is free?
Are there patterns of thought or behavior where I assume defeat before I ever act?
What temptations to sin feel automatic because I’ve stopped believing I have a choice?
Freedom in Christ means obedience is possible, even when temptation is strong.
How can I intentionally “reckon” myself dead to sin and alive to God each day?
Freedom grows as we align our thinking with what God has already declared to be true.
Christian freedom is not learned overnight. It is practiced daily.
As we learn to believe what God says about us in Christ, obedience becomes less about pressure and more about living in step with our new identity.
Review:
All Christians Everywhere Must Change to be Holy
Change Your View of Sin
Change Your View of Freedom
3. Change Your View of Your Life (vs. 12-14)
Explanation: Unpacking the Truth
Paul now moves from what is true to how believers are to live. The word “therefore” signals that verses 12–14 flow directly out of everything Paul has already said. Because we have died with Christ, because we live with Christ, and because sin’s authority has been broken, Paul calls believers to live differently.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
This verse assumes something crucial: sin is no longer king.
Paul is not warning believers about an undefeated enemy, but about a dethroned one.
Sin still seeks influence, but it no longer has the right to rule.
Paul locates the battle in the “mortal body.”
This reminds us that while we have been made new in Christ, we still live in a fallen world with unredeemed flesh.
The issue is not the presence of desires, but whether those desires are allowed to govern our lives.
Holiness grows as believers refuse to give sin a ruling position.
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.
Paul sharpens the exhortation by focusing on intentional surrender.
Believers are commanded not to present their members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness.
Sin does not operate in the abstract. It expresses itself through yielded minds, mouths, hands, eyes, and feet.
Paul then calls believers to present themselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.
That phrase anchors obedience in resurrection reality.
Our obedience does not flow from fear or obligation, but from new life.
We no longer belong to the grave. We belong to God.
The word “instruments” carries the idea of tools or weapons.
Every part of our lives is actively being used in service of something.
Holiness involves consciously offering our lives to God for righteous purposes.
14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Believers are no longer under law, but under grace.
The law could reveal sin and command obedience, but it could not produce transformation.
Grace forgives, empowers, and reshapes the heart.
Living under grace does not weaken holiness. It makes holiness possible.
Changing your view of your life means recognizing that every day, every choice, and every part of you now belongs to God.
You are no longer living as someone enslaved to sin, but as someone raised to new life in Christ.
Paul’s commands in verses 12 and 13 rest firmly on the promise of verse 14.
He calls believers to live consistently with the reality already established by grace.
Sin no longer reigns.
Its presence remains, but its authority has been broken.
Holiness grows as believers live in light of that changed rule.
Paul’s language shows that the Christian life involves intentional participation.
Believers actively present themselves to God.
Every part of life is yielded for righteous purposes.
Grace does not produce passivity. It produces willing obedience shaped by gratitude and trust.
This obedience flows from identity. Paul describes believers as those who have been brought from death to life.
Resurrection life carries a new direction. Lives shaped by grace increasingly reflect the character of the God to whom they belong.
This is where 1 John 3:6–10 reinforces Paul’s point.
John describes the evidence of new birth. Those who abide in Christ experience a transformed pattern of life.
Ongoing, settled rebellion no longer fits who they are.
New life expresses itself through a changed way of living.
Paul’s conclusion is clear.
Life under grace reshapes how believers live.
Sin’s dominion has ended, and a new life has begun.
Holiness is not an added requirement.
It is the natural expression of life lived under grace.
Think about a tool. A hammer, a screwdriver, a power drill.
The tool itself isn’t neutral in practice.
It is shaped by whose hand it is in and what it is being used for.
A hammer in the hands of a builder creates something useful.
The same hammer in the hands of someone angry can destroy.
The difference is not the tool. It is the ownership and the purpose.
That is Paul’s point in Romans 6.
Our lives are instruments.
Every part of us is being used for something.
The question is not whether we are being used, but by whom.
When God brings us from death to life, our lives take on a new purpose.
We now belong to Him.
Holiness grows as we yield ourselves to the One who created us and redeemed us to be used for righteousness.
Romans 6 calls us to see our lives differently. We are no longer people trying to manage sin.
We are people who belong to God and have been brought from death to life.
Consider these questions as you move through the week:
Who am I yielding myself to each day?
My schedule, habits, and decisions reveal who truly has my attention and allegiance.
What parts of my life am I still holding back?
My thoughts, words, relationships, time, and desires are all instruments meant for God’s purposes.
Do my daily choices reflect resurrection life?
New life leads somewhere. Grace reshapes how we live, not just what we believe.
Living under grace means intentionally offering ourselves to God.
Holiness grows as we stop seeing our lives as our own and begin living as people who belong to Him.
Review:
Restate the Big Picture:
All Christians Everywhere Must Change to be Holy
Change Your View of Sin
Change Your View of Freedom
Change Your View of Your Life
Romans 6 reminds us that the Christian life is not about becoming someone new through effort.
It is about living as someone new through grace.
When our view of sin, freedom, and life changes, holiness follows.
Conclusion
Church family, holiness is not something we chase in order to belong to Christ.
It flows from belonging to Him.
We have died with Christ, and we now live with Christ.
His life is at work in us, and because of that, our lives are being changed.
When our view of sin changes, we stop making peace with what Christ died to defeat.
When our view of freedom changes, we stop living like slaves and start living like those who are truly free.
When our view of life changes, we begin to yield ourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.
This is the life of holiness Paul describes in Romans 6.
It is not a heavy burden. It is the joyful expression of new life under grace.
So believe what God says is true about you in Christ.
Refuse to let sin occupy a place of authority in your life.
Yield every part of yourself to God as an instrument for righteousness.
And walk forward in grace, trusting God to continue His transforming work.
Don’t live like who you were. Live like who you are in Christ.
