United in death
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Romans 6:1-14
Romans 6:1-14
This morning we are turning in the book of Romans to chapter 6. Last week we looked at the end of chapter 5, we had been in Romans 5 for a few weeks. One of the things that I said introducing Romans 5 was that there are going to be several passages of scripture that really do not fit into modern Christianity well in the book of Romans. In fact, almost all of Romans 5-12 lack what we want in a sermon. They don’t deal at all with felt needs. We want recipes for a better life, we want to know biblically how to raise better families, we want to know how to handle our finances, how to deal with our government, and the Bible deals with each one of those things - just not here. Not in Romans 5-12.
And so, this might be a time when we check out. This might be a time when we decide to 1-2 skip a few 99 Romans 12 back to the good stuff.
I urge you not to do that.
This should not be a time when we check out. These passages are some of the most important and foundational passages that exist in the entirety of scripture.
I will also tell you, I make no claim to understand all of this book. I am wrestling with it. I pray that God would bring me back to this book during my time as a minister, some time later when I have better understanding of His love and grace so that I do it more justice. But I know this is where He would have us this morning. Because these truths are so vital to our lives as believers.
Learn this stuff. Try hard to understand it. I will try to weave in situations to bring understanding and application, but the doing - is between you and the Lord. And there is always doing to be done. As we develop understanding - we build our trust in the lord, in what he is doing and has done.
Let’s pray.
As we read this passage, there is a sermon here, without any help from me. Paul shares a feeling, he explains himself, he goes through some exposition and gets really deep into the theology, he explains the implications on our lives and then gives exhortation.
What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?
Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin,
since a person who has died is freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him,
because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over him.
For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.
And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.
For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.
Paul has just finished chapter 5 with this truth
The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more
so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul goes through this beautiful explanation of grace and how it interacts with sin. When there is sin, there is grace. When there is more sin, there is exponentially more grace. You can not out sin the grace of God.
When you sin God sees the need for grace in your life and pours it out of his abundance of it. Rivers of grace. oceans of grace.
And when that is taught correctly, it should provoke some funny thoughts in our minds.
Grace should be understood, taught, and preached in such a way that it causes people to thingk that sin is a good thing - because it makes God look better.
Paul - knowing that, asks the question for you. Should we keep on sinning? And then answers it.
What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
How can we who died to sin - still live in it.
And then he starts to go into some deep theology. This is the stuff God wants us to understand. This is the stuff that was written - not to fly over - but to think about, to contemplate, to build off of. This is foundational Christian truth. Paul asks the question. Do you know what it means to be a christian?
You are gathering as the church, don’t you understand what it means to be be a christian? You are asking about sin, contemplating the idea of sinning not less - but more! Don’t you know?
Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.
Now some of the water gets muddy here. Our understanding of baptism gets messy. I don’t want to go too far into baptism this morning - but I will say this. Baptism does not do the work of salvation. There is nothing holy about the water from the spigot that we fill the baptismal with.
As with a wedding, the rings do not do the work, they are symbolic of what the hearts and spirits of people are doing.
Paul uses baptism here referring to the point of conversion for a christian. Potentially referring to a separate experience as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 where it says we are baptized by one spirit into one body. Water baptism is an instruction we received from the Lord in the great commission - to baptize in the NAME of the father, the son, and the HS - which seems like it could be a different thing. The Eunuch got baptized immediately after hearing the gospel - the early church made water baptism a priority as part of conversion. And it should be - we are deficient in that. Baptism is an important part of the christian experience.
So much so - that without being there, without being a part of the church in Rome, he expected them to understand Baptism. Baptism is not the point of this passage, though we can stand to learn a lot about baptism from it.
This experience - the beginning of our salvation - as soon as we become part of the body of Christ - we are united with him. And in that, we died with him.
Pastor - I have a pulse. I have not died.
If you are a believer, if you are a christian, united with Christ, you have died with him. We are no longer the old person. When I hear the gospel, God gives me faith to believe the gospel, I respond to the gospel, I am baptized into the body, I die - I am born again. I am a new creation. The spirit in me is now united with Christ.
And in that, your spirit, is dead to sin. And we know we are dead, because we are buried.
You only bury things that are certainly gone. Our old self is buried.
Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.
We are united with Christ in death, burial and in Resurrection.
You had an identity with Adam - Paul wrote about that in Romans 5. You have a new identity with Christ.
And in that you died to sin.
Do you know that you have died to sin?
Most often when you talk to a believer about sin, it is something that they are working on, struggling with, working through.
But that isn’t our reality. Our reality is DEAD.
DEAD.
Multiple times in this passage we are told we are dead.
Vs 2. We who died to sin.
Vs 6. WE KNOW we were crucified with him.
Vs 8. Now if we died...
The death is reality, and it has a lot of implications in our lives. The implications are
vs 4. we walk in the newness of life
vs 5. We are united in ressurection.
vs 6. Our enslavement to sin is destroyed.
Vs 8 We live with him.
Vs 10. If he lives, we live. The life he lives, he lives for the glory of God.
Because He died, we died. Because He was buried, we were buried. Because he was raised from the dead, we are also.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
What does all of that really mean?
When someone dies, the people who are left have to settle their affairs. Before they can do anything, they need proof from the government that the person really died. Once that is obtained - you have to deal with all of the good things and the bad things they left behind. When we die with Christ, it is the same for us. Our old self passed away, but there is still plenty of junk to deal with. There are good things that come out of the death of me. But there is still plenty of nonsense to deal with.
But I don’t owe my debts. I can’t sell myself to sin any more. I don’t owe sin anything.
This is a foundational understanding for us as believers, even if we aren’t talking about sin. We are UNITED with christ. We are tied to him in victory.
When the enemy comes around, he’s powerless in my life. I’m not part of his kingdom any more.
And because of all of that we come to verse 12.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.
And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.
For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.
There is a decision we make.
Do not let sin reign.
We have power over sin.
Do not offer any parts of you to sin.
We can’t let this happen. We cannot stand here as believers and say “I am dead to sin, I am just going to let it borrow my mouth for a few minutes to mess someones day up quick.”
I am dead to sin… Im just letting it borrow my hand for JUST a second to steal something. My body needs it.
My old self is buried, I am gonna let it use my mind for a little while to lust.
I am a new creation, a brand new man. Who could really use a few nights of drunkeness, I will let sin use my stomach for that.
That doesn’t make any sense! Dead people don’t need any of that.
If we are alive - give ourselves, like Jesus did it says in verse 10, to live for God.
My dead self doesn’t need these hands, Ill let them go to work for the lord. MY dead self don’t need a check, I am going to let God spend up.
Sin doesn’t rule over you. You are under grace.
We know we are a church who are called to share the gospel. As we study through Romans, I hope that we are seeing the gospel more clearly. It isn’t just close your eyes and raise a hand if you want to ask Jesus into your heart. It is so much more than that. It is dying to sin, and having the power over it. It is being crucified with Christ and resurrected with him.
Worship team.
When we deal with sin - we need to
Remember that we are Justified.
Realize our position in Christ - Dead.
Refuse to offer ourselves up.
Rejoice that we are under Grace.
Communion.
This morning we celebrate communion together. And as we do that - we celebrate everything Paul wrote about in Romans 6.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread,
and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we do for you.
May he make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Amen.