Baptism, Life, and Death
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION:
There is an old movie from the 80’s called Weekend at Bernie’s
Two employees discover that their boss, Bernie is dead
They spend most of the film trying to convince everyone around them that Bernie is alive
I’m not endorsing this film, but
the premise is funny because their efforts go horribly wrong
These things are absurd because dead men and the living do different things
TRANSITION
Open your Bibles to Romans 6
The first 4 chapters of Romans were about
our creation and purpose before God
our sin & guilt before God
our inability to do anything about it
The saving work of Jesus Christ
God saved you all on His own
You are saved by grace through faith
Faith is belief in action- works cannot save you, but if you are truly saved you will do good works
Chapter 5 started a new section, that is
if you are saved, certain things become true about you:
you have peace with God-you are no longer His enemy
you have access to the Father and to His grace
You have been freed from death by the life that He gave
IF YOU ARE SAVED you are no longer dead, you are among the living. This is where we pick up today
Romans 6:1-11, please stand
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
for he who has died is freed from sin.
Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
PRAY, Invite church to sit!
LISTENING GUIDE!!
As this passage opens, we are confronted with a common heresy:
PARTY HARD SATURDAY, PRAY HARD ON SUNDAY!
“The greater the sin, the greater the glory of God in forgiving and the more I can experience His grace; therefore, I should keep sinning more and more.”
I don’t need to worry about my behavior, and my life style, my choices, because God will forgive me no matter what, since “I’m saved”
Have you ever heard someone say that? Hopefully you haven’t said it yourself-it is easy for us to start to live like this...
Look at what Scripture says is the problem with that:
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
I love this passage, because Paul is explaining some things that are crucial for us if we are going to follow Jesus, and he puts them in a way that should be easy for us to understand, and the first is this
If you are dead to sin, you cannot live in it
If you are dead to sin, you cannot live in it
The truth of what we talked about in the introduction that we also see here is this: dead men don’t act like the living, and the living don’t act like the dead!
REMEMBER: Since FAITH is APPLIED BELIEF
If you are following Christ by faith, you will not sin as before
What does it mean to be dead to sin?
If you are in Christ, you are a new creation... but that means that the old self died
A KEY THING TO REMEMBER ABOUT SIN IS THAT SIN IS SOMETHING DEAD MEN DO
If you are dead to sin, your sin life is dead and buried
If you are dead to sin, sin is no longer in your life
You cannot be alive and dead at the same time
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
What this means is that if you belong to Christ, sin no longer is to be a part of your life
It doesn’t mean you won’t mess up
It does mean that sin is a disappearing thing in your life
As you become more and more like Christ, sin should be disappear more and more
This concept is critical to the life of a believer
If you are in Christ, the fruit of His life and your death to sin will be evident in your life
Our understanding of sin, death and life is so crucial, God has given His church a permanent picture of it in the way of the command of baptism
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
This passage puts helps us to understand life and death through the Baptism that Christ commands us to. In fact, this is the next key to remember this morning:
Baptism is a picture of my death and resurrection
Baptism is a picture of my death and resurrection
Baptism is an outward symbol of an inward change
Getting Baptized is not an empty ritual and rite of passage: It is a testimony and a declaration!
Baptism doesn’t save you, it proclaims your salvation
It is a fixed point in your life meant to remind you of what has happened to you since coming to Christ
Verse 3 points out that in baptism, we enter into Christ’s death!
As you go under the water you are buried with Christ
This is why we say that sin is dead and buried
It went under the water with you and was buried beneath the blood of Christ
The death of your sinful self is the first half of the picture of Baptism. Let’s look at the second:
Look at verse 4 again
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
for he who has died is freed from sin.
Friends, even as our death to sin through Christ is celebrated in our submersion in baptism, our next key to understanding is that:
If I am alive in Christ, the life I have is Christ alone
If I am alive in Christ, the life I have is Christ alone
As Christ was raised, you are raised as you arise from the water!
You are freed from sin because it is buried with Christ, and you are alive with Him
Before Christ, you were dead and that dead man sinned,
The dead man or woman you were has been buried if you are in Christ
In Baptism, as you come up out of the water, we’ll often say “arise and walk in newness of life”
If your life of sin has ended in Christ, the life that you live is the life of Christ
Look at Galatians 2:20 with me
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
What does it mean that you have risen with Christ? What does it mean that you are a new creation, living by faith in the son of God?
It means that your life is no longer your life-It belongs to Christ
It means that you have been freed from the slavery of sin to serve a new master
It means that Jesus is the one who is calling the shots in your daily life
Coming up out of those waters at your Baptism is a picture of you rising with Christ
Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
If you are alive in Christ, you have been freed from sin for a purpose-to live for service to God
analogy of rebuilding and engine to blow it up.
This is why verse 11 says
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
If all of these things are true about you
If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ...
if you are dead to sin, and alive in Christ
Why are we told to “consider yourselves dead to sin?”
It’s because living by faith means making the choices that are obedient to Christ. Remember, Jesus said,
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
This is our last point this morning, and it is a call to application in our lives, that:
Dying to sin is a choice, and a fruit of salvation
Dying to sin is a choice, and a fruit of salvation
Baptism is such a clear picture of your death and resurrection in Christ by grace through faith
Since faith is applied belief, choosing not to sin is an act of faith
Since sin is our natural choice, consistently choosing not to sin is something that we are only capable of in the Spirit,
The Spirit moving to make you more like Jesus is proof of His presence in your life
INVITATION: And so our call to response this morning is simple:
If we are alive in Christ, it is time that we no longer enslave ourselves to sins
As Christians, Jesus has freed us from our sins so that we can be like Him
Are you ready to be free this morning? Free from sin? Free from death? Free from what only Christ can save you from?
Are you ready to live like you are alive, and not just living? This morning you can be free to do so!
Whether you have turned to Christ in faith already, or you are ready to turn to Him for the first time, you can be freed from your sin today.
Today you can choose to begin your journey of obedience. Be free from the sin that enslaved you to death. Choose this morning to live like someone that is alive.
PRAY