Romans 6.1-2 Grace is Greater
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Grace is Greater
Grace is Greater
Romans 6:1-2
Introduction
Antinomianism- they believe that sin is not that big of a deal, because Grace is a big deal.
This belief system says sin does not matter because God’s grace is available.
Very few of us would fall into this belief system. The truth is however, that the church has in its membership people who believe exactly like this. They may be in pulpits, Sunday school classes, and choirs. The problem is they live no different than the world. They dress, talk, purchase, walk joke, work and play with the same impulses as the non-believer. Here is the problem, the greater influence these people have in the church, the more like the world the church becomes.
Antinomians are people who believe that Grace is an excuse for their sin
(ESV)
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
6 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?
Have you ever had the thought, “I know what I am doing is a sin, but, if it were not for God’s Grace I would be in trouble”.
In one way you would be right, we are all sinners, if it were not for God’s grace we would all be in trouble. But in another way, you would be wrong. Let’s look at today’s text and see why.
Grace- are we free from sin or free to sin?
I want to look at a question and then ask that God really speak to you today as you are honest with your answer to this question.
Here is the question.
Is Grace an excuse to sin?
Every church since the founding of the church some 200 years ago has had to answer this question. Look at verse 1
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
This verse could read, what do you say about that? This verse points us right back to chapter 5 verse 20. …where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
Or, where sin increased and increased, grace increased even more. Sin grew higher, but grace even higher. Great sin, greater grace…
Paul anticipated what they were going to say. In verse 1 he says “I guess we can continue to sin so that grace can continue to grow” … that’s the word we were talking about earlier…antinomianism. Since God is glorified when his attributes are expressed, then let’s sin even more and God can really show us how he is. Listen, it doesn’t work like that.
Ex…One of the most famous antinomians in history is a man named Rasputin. That’s a nickname given to him by local villagers. It means “debauchery, immorality”. When he was 22 he made a spiritual pilgrimage to Greece. He sat under the influence of an antinomian sect known as the flagellants. They believed sinning was necessary for salvation. - the more you sinned the more secure your salvation was.
2 years later, Rasputin went back to Russia as a holy man. He loved immorality and had an unusual ability to cure the sick. He believed that a person should become physically exhausted from immorality, and drunkenness, and it was in that state a person would receive God’s grace.
Eventually he traveled to Petersburg, met the imperial family, Czar Nicholas, and his wife Alexandra. Their son had an incurable disease. It seemed like just having Rasputin there helped their sons condition, so he was welcomed in the family.
Even after the royal family found out about Rasputin’s immoral lifestyle, Alexandra defended him and would not do anything about it. That’s when the rumors started to fly that there was something going on between the two. When WW1 broke out Czar Nicholas took personal command over the army leaving Rasputin and Alexandra alone. They were given great power. Economy started to fail, public moral reached an all-time low. eventually rioting erupted. Government officials plotted to kill Rasputin, and the finally killed him.
The Czar lost all credibility along with Queen Alexandra. A revolution started the Czar and his family were over thrown and killed. The Royal head was filled with a leader named Lenin, who brought in communism.
One historian wrote that if there had been no Rasputin, there would not have been a Lenin, if no Lenin, there would have been no propagation of Communism.
Listen, false theology, which deceived one man and then the royal family and then a society ultimately opened the way for nearly 100 years of communism to dominate about a billion people.
Mainline churches in America have already abandoned biblical theology. If antinomianism can deceive one man, influence a government and deceive so many, then it is probably a danger to us too.
So, Does the presence of grace excuse the practice of sin? Do we have freedom to sin, or freedom from sin?
Paul asks in , are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? Look at his response in verse 2… By no means!
Some versions say, “God forbid”, “Certainly not”, the John Phillips version says “what a ghastly thought”. We could even pull out our parents words to us as kids…” don’t even think about it”
3 questions about Gods grace.
The 2nd part of says…
…How can we who died to sin still live in it?
There are 3 questions in this one phrase…these 3 questions should stop us in our tracks from ever going down a path that destroys the meaning of Grace.
Have you forgotten what happened to you?
Have you forgotten who you are?
Have you forgotten where you belong?
Have you forgotten what happened to you?
How can we who died to sin still live in it?
In other words, have you forgotten that you have died to sin. You don’t want o continue sinning the way you have in the past you died to sin.
Paul uses that expression over and over.
V3…baptized into his death
V4…buried with him through baptism into death
V5…united with him in a death like his
V7…For one who has died has been set free.
V8…Now if we have died with Christ
V11…Consider yourselves dead to sin
Over and over he sues that expression, we have died to sin.
Now there are 5 thoughts about being dead to sin. We still struggle with sin, and how can we struggle with something that is dead? There are 5 thoughts on this, 4 of them are errors in thinking that are common.
1. Believers die to the attraction of sin.
This can easily be proven wrong by simply reading Paul’s letters to believers who were converted to Christ and are still tempted.
(ESV)
For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
(ESV)
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
No, you hear me, we are dead to sin, if we are alive in Christ, but our fleshly body still gives us trouble…
2. believers die to sin on a daily basis
someone may be able to argue for this point. The holiness movement sure has. They believe that you crucify your old self was a secret to victorious Christian living. The problem is, it’s the wrong starting point. It begins with man’s efforts and not Gods. It is impossible to crucify yourself.
3. A believer’s sin nature is eradicated.
This is a teaching that says a person becomes perfected in righteousness. That confuses the perfection of Christ with our perfection. It also ignores …
(ESV)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
4. Believers die to sin by renouncing it.
In other words, a Christian can reach a point in his spiritual journey where he simply renounces sin so it has no effect on him. it is true that a believer renounces HIS INVOLVEMENT with sin and flees from temptation, the flaw is, this view starts with what man does instead of what Christ did.
5. Believers died to the reign of sin.
(ESV)
so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The reign of sin is what controls every person before they come to Christ, then the reign of Grace takes over in their lives.
It would be like being held prisoner on a pirate ship and that pirate treating you like an animal. Then the navy rescues you, puts the pirates in chains in the bottom of the ship. On your journey back home that pirate is still yelling orders at you and telling you what to do. You can obey him if you want, but you don’t have to because he is not your captain anymore. You don’t have to follow his orders anymore you have a new captain.
(ESV)
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
to say you must sin denies the truth of Grace,
to say that you will never sin again denies the need for grace
to say that you do not have to sin is to understand the power of Grace.
So, don’t forget what happened to you.
Have you forgotten who you are?
…How can we who died to sin still live in it?
What Paul is saying here is… you belong to God, so why see how low you can go? In other words, a true believer can no longer live in sin, because he no longer feels at home there.
When you are changed by the power of God, you are changed deep within. There are places you used to go, that you used to feel comfortable in, that you just done want to go anymore.
There are things you used to do before you met Jesus that you used to be perfectly fine with, now you just don’t feel comfortable doing them anymore. There are things you used to say before you met Jesus, and you don’t feel comfortable saying those things or even being around people who do.
When you truly meet Jesus, you don’t live in sin, because you don’t feel at home there anymore.
The antinomian lives in sin, not because he wants to display God’s grace as a son of God, but because he truly loves the filth of sin. He reveals, in his love and defense of sin, that he is not a believer at all. Have you forgot what happened to you? Have you forgotten who you are?
Have you forgotten where you belong?
…How can we who died to sin still live in it?
(MSG)
2 I should hope not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? 3 Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? . . .
By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Let me tell you this, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have been redeemed by the lamb of God who suffered the penalty to pay for your sin.
A lot of times we think we will keep from sinning if we remember what it will do to us.
(Take you where you don’t want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay.)
but in reality what we need to remember is we need to keep from sin because of what it did to Christ!!!
It’s not a matter of what sin will cost you, but what it has already cost the savior.
John Piper says we shouldn’t give sinful thoughts more than 5 seconds before we mount an attack with our mind.
1st 2 seconds-we shout “No get out of my head!” then the war begins in our minds, we should do everything possible to get those thoughts gone. How do we do that? Replace the sinful image with a more powerful image.
For example. In the first 5 seconds of a temptation, say get out of my head and then picture the image of the crucifixion. Christ dying for you on the cross. Picture the flesh hanging from his back because of the 39 lashes. Every time pushes upward to breath, splinters tearing at his already hanging flesh. He tries to pull away from the wooden cross and the massive spikes rip at his wrists. And as he pushes up with his feet, his bones touch bone in his pierced feet so he screams in agony. There is no relief. He cries out more, his throat raw from the agonizing thirst. He loses his breath and thinks he is suffocating, but his body involuntarily gasps for air and all of his injuries unite in pain. In torment, he throws his head back in desperation, only to drive those thorns ½ inch more into his skull. His voice reaches a pitch of pain and sobs break over his pain-wracked body as very cry brings more and more pain.
I’m not thinking of sinful thoughts anymore, I am at Calvary.
Conclusion
Understanding grace does not mean that you go out and sin all you want, understanding grace mans that you never want to sin again.
If you are here, and you are understanding grace today, why don’t you accept Gods free gift of grace? Jesus died for your sins, you don’t have to keep living in guilt over what you have done, let God’s grace take that from you. Give your life to him today.
Believer,
Do not forget what happened to you, in Christ.
Do not forget who you are, in Christ.
Do not forget where you belong, in Christ.
Christ, the second Adam, the Sovereign Lord of the redeemed race.
If you are not walking with Christ as you know you should turn back to him today.