This morning we are starting a new series leading up to Thanksgiving called “Unshackled”. We are going to look at our relationship with sin, our relationship with Christ, and what all this means for Christians as we walk daily with Christ. In honor of Thanksgiving, we are going to approach this series like you approach the Thanksgiving meal. When you get called to dinner, you get to take a look at the entire spread before you jump in, and then you get to enjoy each part of the dinner–one course at a time. That’s what we are going to do today as we look at the 6th chapter of Romans. We are going to look at the entire passage first, and then look at one verse at a time to see exactly how we have victory in Jesus.
Romans 6:1-11
Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
Paul had just finished presenting the doctrine of justification by faith (being made right with God and being freed from the punishment of sin, by grace alone through faith alone). He knew that there were going to be two natural responses to the revolutionary idea that true salvation is found by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Both responses would be in error and would tend to present themselves as extremes. On one hand, people would fall into legalism as a response to this doctrine. In the time before Jesus, and in times since, religion has established rules in order to “find god,” or “find salvation”. In other words, in every other religion you have to work to obtain your salvation. When the truth was revealed about true salvation that is only found through Jesus, the natural tendency was for people to try to add those “religious rules” to the doctrine of grace. A perfect example of this is when the Judaizers were adding circumcision to the Gospel in the church at Galatia. They were strongly rebuked by Paul in his letter to them. Sometimes the response would be to add to those rules that come from outside of God’s word in order to “help” grow our relationship with Him. Either way, it was a misunderstanding of what grace was all about. Paul wanted to set anyone who took that view straight. He did so by addressing the other view as well, which was a 180 degree turn from legalism. It was the view that grace was a great excuse to embrace debauchery. There was a group that thought since they had been saved by grace there was nothing else left to do except whatever they wanted to do. If what they desired happened to be a sin, then praise the Lord. God’s grace would come shining through and would be put on display for all to see. In their minds, salvation was just a mere “Get-out-of-Hell-free Card”. This was a tragic twisting and misunderstanding about the truth of God’s grace and how it should impact the life of a believer. Paul understood there would be some who would make this argument, and in the process, try to corrupt the church, so he addressed it blatantly with an emphatic “NO!!!” He explained that this is because we have trusted in Jesus and been justified by our faith in Him. Our relationship with sin has changed.
This change isn’t one to take lightly. It is a monumental change in our relationship with sin and it’s because of the dramatic change in our relationship with God. Paul says you are dead to sin, so what business do you have with it? His statement reminds me of the angel's response to the women who were visiting Jesus’ tomb that wonderful Easter morning, when they said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Paul is stating the same here and asking those who have been saved the very same question. This might have been a shock to those who would hear this because they did not realize they weren’t supposed to sin now that they had been saved, but rather they were dead to sin.
To illustrate what he means by this, Paul reminds believers of their baptism by immersion. It says in this translation “joined with Christ in baptism”. I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding about baptism, for we need to know what Paul means here. We identify with Christ through baptism, representing what Christ did for us between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Baptism doesn’t save, but it is a step of obedience and a powerful testimony to all who are present to see, and be reminded of, what Christ has done for us as Christians. Paul says it’s this symbolic baptism that shows the truth of what happened when we were saved. We were dead in our sins, but because of the power of God through the blood of Jesus Christ, we were raised to live a new life. Paul starts showing how our relationship to sin was changed. We were once dead in our sins, but now we are dead to our sins because of Jesus. Since we were united with Christ in His death, as He died for our sins, we will also be raised to life as He was. Our new life begins at the moment of salvation and that new life is a spiritual new life. It will also be a physical new life the moment a believer takes their last breath this side of eternity. It’s at this point Paul hits us with the biggest truth yet: our relationship to sin used to be that of a slave and master, but because of the blood of Jesus, that relationship is dead as well. We are no longer slaves, but rather we have been set free. In our old lives we were controlled by sin. It would drag us around and control every part of our lives, but now we are free from its control. It’s through Jesus we have been set free. It’s through the cross of Christ that there is victory over sin. Our relationship with sin has been changed forever, because our relationship with God has been changed. We were enemies with God and friends with sin, but through faith in Jesus, by His grace, we are now children of God and enemies with sin.
Our sins were nailed to the cross when Jesus died. They are all dead and paid for, and we have been released from the prison that sin caused in our lives. Jesus paid the price for our sins but how do we know the payment cleared? Paul tells us that in verse 9 when he talks about the surety of our freedom from sin because Jesus is risen. The power of death was defeated, and He lives forevermore for the glory of God. So, you don’t tiptoe around with sin hoping you are no longer a slave. You don’t claim the promise with your mouth, but rather you live it out like the truth that it is. You are no longer a slave to sin. Sin in the life of a believer is now a choice. We have to live the truth that we have victory over sin because of the blood of Jesus.
If you have ever read Romans, you know that Paul shares a lot of knowledge about the doctrine of Salvation. Paul knew that knowledge would lead to Christian learning, and Christian learning leads to Christian living. Paul also knew that Satan loves to keep Christians ignorant because an ignorant Christian is a useless Christian. They might have a spark in their lives as they begin the sanctification process becoming more and more like Jesus, but without knowledge, that spark will soon fade and will never have a chance of growing and spreading. That’s why Paul takes the time to address our relationship with sin. We are all going to struggle with it in our lives, and we might just want to give up when it comes to fighting it. Paul wanted us to understand that we are no longer slaves. We are free in Christ and need to live that truth out each and every day. What does that look like in our lives? It starts with a head of knowledge and a recognition every day that leads us into thanksgiving that we have victory in Jesus over sin. We have to make a decision when it comes to sin in our lives, especially those we struggle with. We can’t give up, we have to fight, knowing that this sin is only going to lead to the destruction of ourselves, our families, our children, and our church. We have to fight it every step of the way. Just remember Lazarus. He was dead and had been dead for a while when Jesus came and brought him new life. Later that same day, was Lazarus trying to put back on his grave clothes and go hang out in the tomb? No, rather he was in the presence of Jesus talking and sharing a meal. This is our reality when it comes to sin in our lives. We were once dead in sin, but through faith in Jesus Christ we are now dead to sin. Let’s live like it.
