Life after Justification

Intro

So far we have seen that all of humanity is sinful. That no one can save themselves. That God has made its possible for sinners to be saved through there work of Jesus Christ. And that salvation is the act of justification by God.

Romans 6 starts a new section in our total redemption.

We were slaves to sin.

John 8:34 NASB95

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

Romans 6:6 NASB95

6 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;

We never had to stop sinning to be saved because we are incapable of stopping.

But now, the old sinful Adamic nature has passed and all things have become new.

We have seen thourghly how we have been justified.

Now the attention turns to the next crucial christian doctrine.

Sanctification.

What is sanctification? Put simply is it the believers victory over sin.

We were saved by grace, so the question is:

Romans 6:1 NASB95

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

And the andswer~:

Romans 6:2 NASB95

2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

So how does the christian experience victory over sin?

God gives us 3 ways:

1: Know

Romans 6:1–10 NASB95

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 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. 5 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, 6 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; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

The repetition of the word “know” in Romans 6:1, 6, and 9 indicates that Paul wanted us to understand a basic doctrine.

Christian living depends on Christian learning; duty is always founded on doctrine.

If Satan can keep a Christian ignorant, he can keep him impotent.

Justification by faith is not simply a legal matter between me and God; it is a living relationship.

It is “a justification which brings life”

I am in Christ and identified with Him. Therefore, whatever happened to Christ has happened to me. When He died, I died. When He arose, I arose in Him. I am now seated with Him in the heavenlies!

He is dead to sin (vv. 2–5).

Romans 6:2–5 NASB95

2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 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. 5 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,

This means that the believer has a new relationship to sin. He is “dead to sin.”

Galatians 2:20 NASB95

20 “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.

If a drunk dies, he can no longer be tempted by alcohol because his body is dead to all physical senses.

He cannot see the alcohol, smell it, taste it, or desire it.

In Jesus Christ we have died to sin so that we no longer want to “continue in sin.”

But we are not only dead to sin; we are also alive in Christ.

We have been raised from the dead and now walk in the power of His resurrection. We walk in “newness of life” because we share His life.

This tremendous spiritual truth is illustrated in the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11).

When Jesus arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb four days; so there was no question about his death.

By the power of His word (“Lazarus, come forth!”) Jesus raised His friend from the dead.

But when Lazarus appeared at the door of the tomb, he was wrapped in graveclothes.

So Jesus commanded, “Loose him, and let him go!”

He had been raised to walk “in newness of life.”

In John 12, Lazarus was seated with Christ at the table, in fellowship with Him. Dead—raised from the dead—set free to walk in newness of life—seated with Christ: all of these facts illustrate the spiritual truths of our identification with Christ.

Too many Christians are “betweeners”: they live between Egypt and Canaan, saved but never satisfied; or they live between Good Friday and Easter, believing in the Cross but not entering into the power and glory of the Resurrection.

Colossians 3:1 NASB95

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:3 NASB95

3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

It is clear, then, that the believer cannot deliberately live in sin since he has a new relationship to sin because of his identification with Christ. The believer has died to the old life; he has been raised to enjoy a new life.

The believer does not want to go back into sin any more than Lazarus wanted to go back into the tomb dressed again in his graveclothes!

2: Reckon

Romans 6:11 KJV 1900

11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In some parts of the United States, “to reckon” means “to think” or “to guess.” “I reckon” is also the equivalent of “I suppose.”

But none of these popular meanings can apply to this verse.

The word reckon is a translation of a Greek word that is used forty-one times in the New Testament—nineteen times in Romans alone.

It appears in Romans 4 where it is translated as “count, reckon, impute.”

It means “to take into account, to calculate, to estimate.”

The word impute—“to put to one’s account”—is perhaps the best translation.

To reckon means “to put to one’s account.” It simply means to believe that what God says in His Word is really true in your life.

Paul didn’t tell his readers to feel as if they were dead to sin, or even to understand it fully, but to act on God’s Word and claim it for themselves.

Reckoning is a matter of faith that issues in action.

It is like endorsing a check: if we really believe that the money is in the checking account, we will sign our name and collect the money.

Reckoning is not claiming a promise, but acting on a fact.

God does not command us to become dead to sin. He tells us that we are dead to sin and alive unto God, and then commands us to act on it. Even if we do not act on it, the facts are still true.

3: Yield

Romans 6:12–23 NASB95

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The word yield is found five times in this section (Rom. 6:13, 16, and 19), and means “to place at one’s disposal, to present, to offer as a sacrifice.”

According to Romans 12:1, the believer’s body should be presented to the Lord as “a living sacrifice” for His glory. The Old Testament sacrifices were dead sacrifices. The Lord may ask some of us to die for Him, but He asks all of us to live for Him.

There must be in the believer’s life that final and complete surrender of the body to Jesus Christ.

This does not mean there will be no further steps of surrender, because there will be.

The longer we walk with Christ, the deeper the fellowship must become.

But there can be no subsequent steps without that first step.

Why does the Lord want your body?

To begin with, the believer’s body is God’s temple, and He wants to use it for His glory (1 Cor. 6:19–20; Phil. 1:20–21).

But Paul wrote that the body is also God’s tool and God’s weapon

Romans 6:13 NASB95

13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

God wants to use the members of the body as tools for building His kingdom and weapons for fighting His enemies.

The Bible tells of people who permitted God to take and use their bodies for the fulfilling of His purposes.

God used the rod in Moses’ hand and conquered Egypt.

He used the sling in David’s hand to defeat the Philistines.

He used the mouths and tongues of the prophets.

Paul’s dedicated feet carried him from city to city as he proclaimed the Gospel.

The Apostle John’s eyes saw visions of the future, his ears heard God’s message, and his fingers wrote it all down in a book that we can read.

But you can also read in the Bible accounts of the members of the body being used for sinful purposes.

David’s eyes looked on his neighbor’s wife; his mind plotted a wicked scheme; his hand signed a cowardly order for the woman’s husband to be killed.

Conclusion:

These three instructions need to be heeded each day that we live. KNOW that you have been crucified with Christ and are dead to sin. RECKON this fact to be true in your own life. YIELD your body to the Lord to be used for His glory.

Now that you KNOW these truths, RECKON them to be true in your life, and then YIELD yourself to God.