Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Romans 6:1-14

Welcome back to the book of Romans, the most comprehensive and detailed explanation of the gospel in the New Testament, the good news of salvation through Jesus. What have we learned so far? At the beginning of this book Paul spends a few chapters making the case for the universal need for salvation. Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, as it says in chapter 3. No one can approach God on their own. There is no hope of our good deeds somehow outweighing our bad ones, as the Muslims believe. No one will ever be good enough to satisfy a perfectly holy God. Our only hope is to humbly receive the salvation that he offers us, with Jesus having paid the penalty for our sin through his death on the cross. God’s own righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. This free gift that we don’t deserve is called grace.

Paul has gone into detail about the role of “law” in our lives. The Law establishes God’s standards and gives us a sense of where we don’t measure up. It is the brick wall that we run into if we think we are doing okay. It alerts us to our continual need for grace, at the core of the Gospel. We will never measure up; we will never be good enough – that’s what the law tells us. Last Sunday, Brian introduced the relationship between law and grace that comes at the end of chapter 5. “The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase,” it says in verse 20. “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” The law does not cause people to sin, it just gives them a realization of the sin in their lives. As Brian put it, the law was given to expose sin and to demonstrate how sinful sin really is.

The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. Jesus did this very thing in the Sermon on the Mount, didn’t he? He confronted the religious people who thought they were doing okay. He shook them up by saying that anger was as much a sin as murder and lust as adultery. All the people who thought they were righteous because they weren’t murdering or committing adultery were all of a sudden confronted by his raising the bar. Anger and lustful thoughts were just as sinful in God’s sight. People suddenly realized, we could be messing up all over the place! We can even sin by what we don’t do. That’s what James says in chapter 4: “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them.” Can you think of a good thing that you probably should have done but you didn’t do? I certainly can. Well, that is sin that separates us from God. We are always falling short. No one can be “good enough” to go to heaven.

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more. God’s grace is available to cover all sins. Nothing is too awful for him to forgive – or so small that he ignores it. Jesus paid for all of it. So, in light of God’s abundant, inexhaustible grace, let’s turn today to chapter 6.

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? –Romans 6:1

If God is ready to forgive anything, does it matter how we live? Maybe we could even be doing him a favor by giving him more opportunities to be gracious! How ridiculous, says Paul.

By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? –Romans 6:2

As I thought about this, I pictured God’s grace as like our being invited to a banquet by a king. It’s a huge gathering, with as much sumptuous food as anyone could possible want. How should we behave there? How about a food fight! There’s more where that came from. Let’s just have fun!

Actually, no. Does the thought of acting that way make you cringe? Sinning so that grace may abound is like starting a food fight at the king’s banquet. It is not just disrespectful, it is incompatible with our role as guests of the king. It just doesn’t fit with who we are.

God’s grace does more than forgive our sins, it puts sin to death in us. There is a difference between forgiveness and salvation. I heard the story of a man who told his young son not to play around a big hole in their backyard. Well, it was too irresistible, and the boy fell in and was unable to get out on his own. The father could have gone over and said, “That’s okay, son, I forgive you,” and walked away. The son might be relieved to escape punishment, but that’s not salvation, is it? Salvation is when the dad reaches down and lifts his son out of the hole.

Forgiveness delivers us from the guilt of sin and the punishment that we deserve. Salvation delivers us from the power of sin and allows us to live as we should. As believers in Jesus, we have died to sin, Paul says. How can we live in it any longer? The problem one may point out, of course, is that even as Christians we do sin. No one will ever live a perfect life. But our sin nature, which we inherited from Adam, was nailed to the cross with Jesus. So now we have a choice: we don’t have to obey that old nature any longer. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to resist sin. So this is also of grace, a gift we freely receive: the power of God to live the way we should. This is gospel.

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.—Romans 6:3-4

In a similar vein, Paul writes to the Galatians

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.—Galatians 3:26-27

This verse serves as an explanation of what it means to be baptized into Christ. We put Him on like a set of new clothes. We become identified with Him. Others can look at us and see Jesus. We also identify with His death. Our old nature, the one that resists God and wants to go our own selfish way, is put to death. We are buried with Him through baptism into death. This is not talking about Jesus’ baptism; it describes how we join Him in his death. There was no water involved with His death or burial. But why was it important that Jesus was buried? He said, “It is finished,” shortly before He died. His work was complete. Why couldn’t He have just come back to life at that point? He needed to be buried to show that He was truly dead. He was not resurrected directly from the cross. In the same way we were buried with Him to indicate that our old selves are truly dead.

However, even if we are baptized only once, death and resurrection are something that we need to experience every day. Our sin nature will keep trying to rear its ugly head, and we need to keep reminding ourselves of who we are in Christ. Our old self is dead; we are now living a new life in Christ.

Martin Luther explained Romans 6:4 this way: “It means that the old Adam in us should be drowned by daily sorrow and repentance, and die with all sins and evil lusts, and, in turn, a new person daily come forth and rise from death again. He will live forever before God in righteousness and purity.”

This needs to be a daily experience, not a one-time event. Jesus referred to this process, too, in Luke 9:

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.—Luke 9:23

Denying ourselves means saying no to our sinful nature. Taking up our cross daily does not just mean enduring hard things, it means putting all that we are and have on that cross each day in submission to the lordship of Jesus: our plans, our abilities, our desires, our possessions, everything and everyone we hold dear. We offer it all to God to use as He pleases. The cross to Jesus meant absolute submission to the Father, and if we want to be His disciples we need to follow that example. It includes being willing to suffer for Him. As it says in 1 Peter 4:

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.—I Peter 4:1-2

The suffering of Christ bought our redemption, freeing us from the power of sin. In the same way now, God can use suffering in our lives to free us from the desire for sin. Then we won’t be trapped in living for “evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.” I have spoken before about the redemptive value of suffering, so I won’t go further into that now.

We have been buried with Christ through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. After death comes the resurrection.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.—Romans 6:5-10

This new life is a life of freedom. A person who does not know Christ has no choice about how they live. They may try to do good works, but it is impossible for them to escape from selfish motives – even if their motivation is just to feel better about themselves. If they aspire for something more it is because the Holy Spirit can work even in an unbeliever to give them a glimpse of who God is and what His purposes are for us as humans created in His image. But it’s our relationship with Jesus that gives us the power, as well as the desire, to live the way that we should.

Jesus died once; after that, death would no longer be able to touch Him. His resurrection is permanent; our new life in Him is also eternal. He died to sin once and that was enough to cover the sins of everyone for all time. The life He lives, He lives to God. That should be the reality for us, too.

Do you believe that your “old self” – your sin nature – was crucified with Jesus? That is the reality. We have died with Christ. Paul states it boldly in Galatians 2:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.—Galatians 2:20

When Paul talks about being crucified with Christ, he is referring to his old nature. It is dead, and it has been replaced by a new nature: Christ living in him. Paul is no longer in control of his own life. He is no longer ruled by worldly desires. His body is still alive, writing this letter to the church in Galatia, but he is living moment by moment by faith, in submission to Christ. Since Jesus gave Himself for him, he would give himself to Jesus and live for God’s purposes and not for his own.

Part of living by faith is to believe in the completed work of the cross, even when we fall short of how we ought to live. Hebrews teaches us that “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” We have faith in Jesus. We do not see Him, but we know Him and love Him, and we have confidence that we will spend eternity with Him. Similarly we can be assured about what his death means for us here and now. Even if we don’t always see it, our sinful nature has been put to death and we are clothed in his righteousness. We live by faith in that sense. Jesus died to sin once for all; now he lives to God. By faith we accept what that means for us:

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.—Romans 6:11-12

So what does it mean to count ourselves dead to sin? It doesn’t mean that we just imagine it. It means that we accept and live out this reality by faith. Satan may try to deceive us into thinking that we are the same as we ever were: that we will never be able to change, that some attitudes and behaviors are simply out of our control. But we don’t need to let sin reign in our bodies and control our actions. We are alive to God in Christ Jesus – and that makes all the difference. This is an important truth to remind each other of, as part of functioning as the Body of Christ. We need to see each other as Christ sees us, always offering hope and giving each other the freedom to change. We sometimes quote 2 Corinthians 5:17 on its own: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” But when we see a “therefore,” we ought to always stop and ask, what is it there for? Verses 14-16 provide the context:

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.—2 Corinthians 5:14-17 (ESV)

The love of Christ controls us. So how does that affect how we view and treat each other as believers? We regard no one according to the flesh. We don’t see them as weak and sinful, stuck in old ways, never changing. We so easily hold each other back by regarding each other that way! Are you the kind of person who likes to categorize others? “That’s just the way she is.” “I know the kind of person he is – he’ll never change.” We may think or assume those kinds of things rather than articulate them. Let the love of Christ control us! He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him. Is that your prayer – and expectation – for your brothers and sisters in Christ? Do you think the best of them and trust God for the best for them? Do you see them as a new creation? Do you accept that their old has passed away, anticipating the new that Christ has worked in them?

I think of some people that I still regard according to the flesh. I don’t expect them to change. I’ve learned to accept them the way they are and think that’s a good thing. It’s true – I can’t be the one to change them. But I can believe in the Holy Spirit at work in them to conform them to the image of Jesus. He never gives up. In fact, when God looks at them he sees them clothed in Christ, in all of his perfection.

Back to Romans 6. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. We do not need to assume that sin has control over us. Paul repeats this thought again in chapter 13 and reminds us how to get beyond giving in to sin:

Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.—Romans 13:14

As we focus on Christ we will turn away from gratifying sinful desires. In one sense, the clothing with Christ is something that God does, imparting to us His righteousness in the process of justification, but it is also something that we do ourselves, day by day, as we choose attitudes and behaviors that are Christlike. Paul lists some of these in Colossians 3:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.—Colossians 3:12-14

These virtues will become part of our identity, something that people notice about us, more significant than the physical clothes that we wear. This kind of clothing ourselves with Christ will keep us from thinking about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. Continuing on in Romans 6,

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.—Romans 6:13-14

So many aspects of “who we are” are susceptible to sin. We may think we are “making progress” in one area, only to have the Holy Spirit reveal how wretchedly sinful we are in another. We are responsible for dealing with each part as He shows it to us, lest it become an “instrument of wickedness” and end up serving the purposes of Satan instead of God. The wages of any sin is death, including the death of our spiritual life. But as we offer ourselves to God to use for His purposes, He brings us from death to life. Every part of us can be an instrument of righteousness instead and bring Him glory. This is only possible by His grace, a reminder that there is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor.

Being under the law means living a life of “should.” I should do this; I should do that. It’s about our self-effort, trying to meet a certain standard in order to feel good about ourselves. Being under grace means living under a humble acceptance of what Jesus has already done and doing the right thing because of our love for Him. We are motivated by love rather than guilt. Jesus came to fulfill the law. The law is not abolished, but we are no longer living under the burden of it, dragged down by a sense of not being good enough. Sin can feel like our master in that situation, as we focus on getting rid of every sin in our lives by simply trying harder. God comes in with his grace and sets us free, reminding us that we have died with Christ. Our lives can then be motivated by our love for Him, not a desire to keep a set of rules.

I would like to close with this quote, attributed to John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress. It sums up what we are talking about here, the difference between law and gospel.

“Run, John, run, the law commands, but gives us neither feet nor hands. Far better news the gospel brings: it bids us fly and gives us wings.”