A lesson by Pastor John Skaggs
Sovereign Grace Baptist Church
Date: 2-7-99
Sermon Number: Romans 32
Text: Romans 6:1-7
Risen With Christ
(Romans 6:1-10 NASB) "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might 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, in order 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 (since) we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, CERTAINLY we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, {6} knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should 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."
In our text for today the beloved and inspired apostle Paul continues to share with his readers something of the height and depth and width of the love of God for His redeemed people. Specifically Paul speaks of the great benefits which accompany our Justification through faith.
We have studied Justification on previous occasions. Justification is God declaring a believing sinner just in His sight by the righteous of Christ. In chapter six Paul begins to discuss Sanctification. Sanctification has to do with one being set apart from sin to God for salvation and then to a life of practical holiness. The scriptures we look at today have to do with an the internal issues of sanctification and their result, external change. When a person is saved God declares him righteous and then He begins to make him righteous in thought, word and deed. This process involves a fundamental and radical change in all our relationships physical and spiritual. In verses one through four Paul brings to our attention two major facts.
First, when God saves a sinner He separates him from his indwelling sin nature in such a way that the believer is no longer a slave to that nature. By Christ's death God has changed the relationship we once had with our old nature. As I have pointed out many times death frees one from all contracts and covenants. If my slave master dies then I am free to go on my way. This is the idea Paul wishes to convey with the words of Romans six. By faith we have become participants in all that Christ was and did. As He died for our sins we died also. We did not die for our sins rather we died to our sins. In other words the old, unregenerate, me that is the old man was crucified in Christ, therefore, he has no authority over me any longer.
The language in this passage has confused Christians for many years. We read Paul's words and then we reason, "If the old man is dead then why am I having so much trouble with sin?" If the old man is dead then why am I in this fight for holiness and truth." "Why is it so hard to live for the Lord like I want to?" We can move part way toward answering these questions by understanding that the death here described is not the death of annihilation. The old man is not gone in the sense of being no more. Rather, his authority has been removed from him. As you and I both know he still screams and hollers and makes demands. The difference between now and before we were saved is that we do not want to listen to him and we do not have to listen to him. His authority has been removed, his power to rule over us is gone. This is the first issue to consider when we are trying to think our way through the subject of sanctification. Our relationship to the old nature has been changed. As a compelling authority in our lives the old man is dead.
Second, having disabled the old nature God gives the believer a new nature. This nature becomes the predominant ruling nature in the Christian's life. Our relationship to this new nature is somewhat like that we had with the old. This nature has authority over us. We are vitally joined to this "New Man" and, as was the case with the old, we are in full agreement with him. We want to do the will of God as revealed in the Bible, therefore, we gladly cooperate with our new nature. Prior to faith the will of man is enslaved to sin, the flesh, and the devil. This is not a problem for the unbeliever. For he is pleased to sin and cooperate with his fallen nature. But when he is saved he is set free from that master to become the servant of another. God is our new Master and we serve Him through this new nature that is being constantly educated and led by the Holy Spirit. This is why the Christian can and will live for the Lord. All this is made possible and certain because we have been united to Christ by faith. Look with me at verse five.
{5} "For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, {6} knowing this, that our old self (old man, old nature, pre-salvation likes and dislikes, lusts and desires) was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; {7} for he who has died is freed from sin."
Remember that Paul is explaining why a Christian should not, will not, and does not want to live in sin. He says, "If you have become united to Christ," then the following things are true of you. The "If" in verse five does not speak of something that may or may not be true. Rather it is the "If" of a fulfilled condition. We could read it like this, "Since you have been baptized into Christ the following is true of you." Paul is speaking to Christians about what has, in fact, happened to them.
Now we look at the phrase in verse five "United with Him." The KJV says it differently, "Having been planted together in the likeness of His death." Both translations refer to what happens when a sinner comes to faith in Christ. He becomes one with Jesus. By grace through faith every Christian is united to Christ or baptized into Him, all that He was, all that He did, and all that He is today.
Brothers and sisters this is so important. Just as we were in Adam sinning as he sinned and then suffering the consequences of sin with him. So also we were with the second Adam as he did all things pleasing to God. In Christ we are righteous as He is righteous. In Christ we have died as He died. In Christ we have risen from the dead as He rose from the dead.
This last fact is revealed in the statement, " . . certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." The Bible teaches that the dead in Christ shall rise from the dead because Jesus rose from the dead. Believers shall possess a glorified body like that which Christ now possesses. But Paul's subject in this passage is not the physical resurrection of believers, even though that is a wonderful certainty. Rather, his subject is still Sanctification. He is still arguing the case for the change salvation brings to the believing sinner. So when he says that by faith we have participated in Christ's resurrection we must interpret his statement in a spiritual sense.
Jesus rose from the dead to walk in newness of life. In other words He did not have the same relationship with His human nature that He had before. He did not have the same relationship with sin and death that he had before. He walked in newness of life. His relationships with sin, death, the devil, and with the people around Him were now changed. Never again would He be tempted in the wilderness by the evil one. Never again would die for the sins of His people. Never again would He have to deal with the infirmities of the flesh. These things had all changed because He had died and had risen from the dead. He lived a new and different life or as our text declares, "He walked in newness of life." This is exactly what happens to the Christian.
(Romans 6:4 NASB) "Therefore WE have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order 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 BE ALSO in the likeness of His resurrection."
The word "might," in verse four, doesn't mean maybe. Rather it speaks of the certainty described in verse five. In other words, just as we have become partakers of the benefits and results of Christ's death we shall also share the benefits of His resurrection. That is we will also walk in newness of life. Things have changed. In Christ I died to sin. Or the authority that sin had over me was broken. In Christ I have risen a new man with new desires, a new nature, and a new Master. It is impossible for the believing sinner to go on living as he once did for all his relationships have changed. Further, it is impossible for the believing sinner to go on living in sin because this would be contrary to the goal of Christ's redemptive work.
Remember why Jesus died in the first place. (Matthew 1:21 NASB) "And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people FROM THEIR SINS." This was Christ's mission. He came to save His people FROM their sins. He died to save us from the penalty for our sins which was eternal death. He died to save us from the power of sin which reigns over every unbeliever. Finally He died to save us, or remove us, from the presence of sin which will occur at our death or the second coming of Christ which ever comes first. If the saved are not saved from their sins in this way then Christ has failed to redeem sinners. He has failed to obey His Father. That, brothers and sisters, is impossible. So, every truly born again believer in Jesus Christ will be a changed person. I do not say he will be a prefect person but he will be a changed person. Where as once he fought against anyone and anything that might try to reform him. Now, he fights to reform himself. It is his daily desire and struggle to live a life pleasing to the God who saved him. The old man has been crucified and the new man has taken up the position of authority. If this is not so, the person in question is not saved. Consider yet another text.
(Ephesians 1:4 NASB) " . . just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that WE SHOULD BE HOLY AND BLAMELESS before Him." God saved us to make us holy positionaly and practically!
Look with me also at Ephesians 2:10 NASB. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus FOR GOOD WORKS, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." We were baptized into Christ and His death. We have also risen with Him to walk in newness of life. That is, we have died to sin and been raised up new men and women who want to, can, and will "walk through this life putting forth every effort to obey our Father."
The following text speaks of God's goal in saving us. (Romans 8:29 NASB) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined TO BECOME CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;"
I hope this speaks as clearly to you as it does to me. The goal or purpose of our salvation is that we be conformed to the image or likeness of His Son Jesus Christ the Lord. God determined that Jesus would be the first of many brethren just like Him in the sense of wanting to conform to the will of God. Jesus died to make us holy in thought and deed like He is. What then are we to say of those who claim Christ's name but in no way seek God's glory? What are we to say of those who claim to be Christian but whose relationships to sin, self, the world, and the devil have not changed? There are only two conclusions we can come to. Either Christ has failed in His assignment to save them from their sins or they have never actually been saved. Which do you think it is? Of course, the answer is clear, the man or woman who continues to practice sin as a life style knows nothing of God or of His Christ. We tend to make this very difficult but the Bible says it is very easy to identify the children of God and the children of the Devil. Go with me to 1 John 2:3-29 NASB.
"And by this we know that we have come to know Him, (We know that we have really been saved from the wrath to come, that we are really Christians.) if we keep (guard, watch over, and strive to obey) His commandments. {4} The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; {5} but whoever keeps (guards) His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: {6} the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to WALK IN THE SAME MANNER AS HE WALKED. (The proof of salvation is found in ones daily life. Do you walk through this life seeking to please your body, your lusts, your appetites? Or do you walk through life concerned at every turn with what God might be pleased with? This is what Christ was concerned with and it is the way true Christians walk as well.) . . . {9} The one who says he is in the light (saved by faith in Christ) and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. (is not saved at all) {10} The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. {11} But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. . . . . {15} Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (This is the tale-tale mark of the unbeliever. His all in all is this world and the things in it. The love of the Father is not in this person.) {16} For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. {17} And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever. . . .{29} If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him." No unbeliever can practice, as a life style, a righteous life. No unbeliever can live for the Lord. He cannot because he is enslaved to his body under the influence of his sin nature and the devil. Therefore, when we see someone striving against sin to walk in a path of righteousness for His names sake we can be confident that this person is a Christian.
(1 John 3:3-14 NASB) {3} "And everyone who has this hope (The hope of the second coming of Christ. Everyone who has this hope . . ) fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (Here we are reminded that purity is not just God's desire for us it is ours desire as well. Everyone who is saved purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure.) {4} Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. {5} And you know that HE APPEARED IN ORDER TO TAKE AWAY SINS; and in Him there is no sin. {6} No one who abides in Him sins; (continues to sin) no one who sins (continues to pursue sin as a life style) has seen Him or knows Him. {7} Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; {8} the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. THE SON OF GOD APPEARED FOR THIS PURPOSE, THAT HE MIGHT DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL. {9} No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (The Holy Spirit lives in every Christian convincing him of sin, righteousness, and judgement. Being a new man with the desire to please God the Christian cannot go on in sin. He just cannot.) {10} By this the children of God and the children of the devil are OBVIOUS: ANYONE who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. . . . {14} We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love (his fellow Christian) abides in death." Those who do not love the people of God are not saved by faith in Christ. The point of all this is that when a person is saved he is changed. All his relationships are different. God has built this into salvation so that we are not just saved from punishment for sin, we are delivered from sin itself. This has taken place because we are partakers in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Lets conclude by reading through the remainder of Romans chapter six.
(Romans 6:8-23 NASB) Now if (since) we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, (Once again this speaks of more than the coming resurrection of all believers. At this very moment we live with Christ or walk in newness of life with Him. We believe this because of what our Savior has done and been through on our behalf.) {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. {11} Even so (in like manner) consider yourselves to be dead to (separate from the authority of ) sin, but alive (or joined) to God in Christ Jesus. {12} Therefore (because the above things are true of Christ and of you) DO NOT LET sin reign in your mortal (physical) body that you should obey its lusts, {13} and DO NOT go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but (or instead) present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, (which we are because we have risen from spiritual death in Christ) and your members (body) 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! (That would be contrary to God's whole purpose in saving you.) {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 (that you are saved) present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. (As we resist sin in all its forms and purposely give ourselves to what is right we will be sanctified. That is, we will become more and more Christlike.) {20} For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. (You were not bound in spirit or desire to pleasing God.) {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. (The end of our former way of life was eternal death. There was no real benefit to look forward to.) {22} But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, (Even if we lived two hundred years actively pursuing sin we would gain nothing for our trouble except death and the wrath of God. On the other hand Christians who fight daily to think, speak, and act as Christ would gain a great benefit, their own sanctification.) and the (final) outcome, (is) eternal life. {23} For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
What can I say in light of these wonderful truths that would be better than that found in Romans 12:1-2? "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to PRESENT YOUR BODIES a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. {2} And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
This is the pathway to the sanctification that God has promised, that Jesus has purchased, and that Christians desire. All who are in Christ are being made holy in thought, word, and deed.