Dead To Sin, Alive To God

Dead To Sin, Alive To God
 
Romans 6:1-14
6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion 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. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
 
The essence of our salvation lies in both grace and faith. Grace means we did not get what we deserve, condemnation and death, because a sinless Christ received, what He did not deserve, God’s righteous wrath! He who holds the “keys of heaven, earth and hell” died once and for all and in doing so “His grace delivered us not merely from punishment but from sin’s power.” In his letter to the church of Rome, Apostle Paul states that the law was brought in so that trespass might increase, when sin increases, grace increases even more (Romans 5:20).
 
While it would be “foolish” to place oneself under the works of the law (Galatians 3) does this mean that Paul is suggesting that the believer is now free to go on sinning so that grace might increase and further display the glory of God? Also, if the law and its righteous decrees are not to be followed, what then is to be the Christian’s benchmark on how to live a holy life, pleasing unto God? In Romans 6:1-14 Paul states the answer to these questions are to be found in knowing what it means to have union with Christ in His death, resurrection and walk.
 
 
 
 
 
 
WE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW:
 
Imagine for a moment what it must have been like to be a Gentile believer during the time of Apostle Paul. How would one feel hearing Paul and Barnabas at Antioch… argued with the “Judaizers” over their teaching that grace and faith were not enough to become saved, one must also be “circumcised according to the custom taught by Moses” (Acts 15:1)? Wouldn’t one be worried that if this one command could be added what would stop some of those Pharisee believers (15:5) from enforcing the full 613 commands of the Old Testament?
 
Any Gentile that tried to place themselves back under the works of the Law for Paul was cursed, for it was by faith that Abraham was credited as righteous in God’s sight (Galatians 3:6) long before he was circumcised and under the law (Romans 4:11).
 
The first four chapters of the Book Of Romans, makes it very clear that we cant save ourselves. We are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23) But because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross…by faith we are justified freely by God’s grace.
 
Jesus has done for us what you and I cannot do! Jesus has won for you and I, Gods full approval. We cannot have grace without the cross. But because of the cross, we have full access to God’s grace!
 
DO WE HAVE LICENCE TO SIN?
 
This brings us to the main question Apostle Paul is trying to answer in today’s passage:
 
Romans 6:1
6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
 
While union with sinful Adam brought us condemnation and death, union with a sinless, resurrected Christ brings us justification to be eternally adopted into God’s family.
(1 Corinthians 15:21) God does not reckon us “righteous” or acceptable as a member of His family based on our deeds (Titus 3:5) but on Christ’ (Romans 5:18) who has never sinned and fallen short of His glory!
 
Critics, who considered Paul to be an antinomian (3:8; Acts 2:21), feared that his view of grace would lead to rampant sin and an utter disregard for holiness! After all, if the basis of our forgiveness, salvation and acceptance into God’s family is solely based on the deeds of Christ, then why not indulge in the short-term pleasures of sin and in doing so let the grace of God shine even brighter? To keep Christians from distorting grace and making it a license to sin, Paul reminded believers that their union with Christ in death and resurrection means they are obligated to walk as He did!
Union with Christ in His Death (verses 6:2-3, 6-7)
 
Romans 6:2-7
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
 
Grace is not a license to sin because of our union with Christ in His death. “When Christ died, believers in some crucial sense died in and with Him.” Even though baptism is not the means of obtaining union with Christ it symbolically attests to our “old self” being crucified on the cross with Jesus. Those who are united with Christ are no longer condemned and have been freed from the entanglement and power of sin. Even though the old self has been crucified it is a “slow and agonizing death” that leaves the believer open to being influenced by their old nature.
 
While it is possible for believers to still sin, they are to rejoice that in their union with Christ in His death the claim of sin to rule over our lives has been eternally broken. Since those who are part of this new creation order (2 Corinthians 5:17) have died to sin they are not to go on living in it because the “I” of the life of Adam no longer lives inside the believer, only Christ (Galatians 2:20)! The reason why we do not sin so that grace might increase is because when Christ died, we died and therefore are not justified to continue living sinful lives.
 
Union with Christ in His Resurrection: (8-11)
 
Romans 6:8-11
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion 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. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
One day, the sin that still dwells in our unredeemed bodies will be eradicated/to do away completely. Until then, we are to draw on the power of the Spirit to put to death the sin that still wants express itself, and obey God for His glory.
 
 
Grace is not a license to sin, also because of our union with Christ in His resurrection. On the third day Christ, who did not live for self but to do the will of God the Father, in His sinlessness, He rose from the dead and forever conquered the grave and the mastery of sin and death. In doing so Christ paid our debt and provided the means in which those who believe in Him might have new life in Him.
 
Those who participate in Christ’s resurrection are born of the Spirit and now have God’s assistance to grow into the likeness of His Son. Since our old lives have been crucified with Christ Paul states... the believer is not to continue to live as if nothing happened. But to obey Gods commands, to secure the salvation they already have, so that their deeds might reflect thanksgiving for grace and point the world to God the Father in heaven. Surely, He who died once and for all has the right and expectation that believers would be holy as God is holy.
 
In Conclusion:
 
Walking with Christ: (verses 12-14)
 
Romans 6:12-14
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
 
Paul finished this section of his letter by concluding that grace is not a license to sin but the means of justification and sanctification! Even believers are still “diseased, irritable, and inclined to self-assertion and self-distraction,” this does not mean that sin has mastery or is to be the lord of the believer’s life. The death and resurrection of Christ has broken the power of sin and as such has freed the believer to choose which master, Satan or God that they want to serve.
 
Even though “sin wants to capture and rule over” the believer, through the power of the Spirit, one can chose to surrender one’s mind, heart, body and soul to faithfully obey one’s Creator! While the law demanded righteousness but could not produce it, grace removes condemnation and He who is faithful and has freed us… has enable us to be holy as He is holy. Considering Paul’s teachings will you continue in sin or will you resist the passions and “subtle suggestions of evil,” embrace faithful obedience and draw nearer to God so that He might draw hearer to you? Will you choose to live your life dead to sin and alive in Christ?  Let Us Pray: