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Claiming Your New Life Romans 6:1-14 |
June 20, 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum |
Some years ago I heard Rush Limbaugh being interviewed and as the subject turned to his wealth he was asked to identify his favorite extravagant purchase. Limbaugh said that by far the purchase that had given him the greatest joy and satisfaction was a gift for his mom. He said he took her to lunch and gave her an American Express card with no credit limit of any kind and told her to use it for anything that she wanted. Then he said that he waited about a month and called his accountant to see how his mom was using the card and the accountant told him that it had never been used. Limbaugh said he couldn't believe it.
So, he took his mom to lunch again and explained that he really wanted her to use the card. In fact, he wanted her to stop using her other cards altogether and use this card for all of her purchases. He told her that he had more money than he could possibly spend in his lifetime and he was hoping that she would use this card not only for her regular expenses but also to buy anything that she wanted.
Then he waited about a month and called his accountant again and found out that she'd used the card once to buy a dress. So, the dialogue and pleading continued over an extended period of time and Limbaugh said that he was thrilled to finally discover that his mom had booked a cruise for herself and her girlfriends and had charged the whole trip to her new American Express card.
Mom was finally catching on to the fact that this new card could truly change the quality of her life.
As we come, this morning, to chapter 6 in our journey through the book of Romans, it's clear that Paul's focus has changed. Through the first 5 chapters Paul helped us understand, FIRST, the dire situation that sin had created for all of us namely, that we had become enemies with God and were destined to receive His wrath and judgment and, SECOND, God's astonishing remedy for our dire situation namely, "justification by faith," that is, that by placing our faith in what Jesus accomplished for us we can be made right with God. Through his death on the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, God then credits His own righteousness to us and, in a once and for all time decision, God declares that we are justified. And that means that we don't do anything to get right with God. We simply have to believe what God has done for us through Jesus. That was Paul's focus throughout the first five chapters of Romans.
Now, in chapters 6-8, Paul shifts his focus to help us see that once we are justified…once we get right with God…our lives are going to change. Paul wants us to understand that getting right with God produces substantive, qualitative changes in our life. But, he also wants us to understand that it is critically important for us to choose to participate actively in the change process.
It's kind of like this: When you put your faith in Jesus, God gives you an American Express Card called "justification." And this card can lead to a wealth of wonderful changes in your life. In fact, it can lead to a whole new life, provided that you use it the way that God intended you to use it. And as we come now to chapter 6 Paul is going to begin to show us how to use our "justification card" to reap in our lives today all of the benefits that God intends for those who have been justified.
Key Question Asked and Answered
Two week ago, when we were last in Romans, we saw Paul close chapter 5 with a powerfully eloquent discourse on the magnitude of God's grace. And in his concluding statement he wrote, "…where sin increased, grace increased all the more…" And as we move on to chapter 6 it's clear that Paul has realized that some who read that statement will be tempted to pervert his intended meaning. So, to head off any misunderstanding, he raises and answers a key question.
He writes in verse 1, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" In other words, if sin leads to a greater outpouring of God's grace, then maybe we should just sin at will so that we can experience more and more of God's grace. Now, on one level this sounds like such an absurd misinterpretation of scripture that it's hard to imagine that any serious Christian could come to such a conclusion. Yet, I can't begin to tell you the number of times that I have encountered Christians who, in practice, have treated God's grace as a free ticket to continue to engage in their favorite sins.
But Paul's response makes it clear that he does not share their interpretation. Is grace an invitation to sin? He responds in verse 2, "By no means!" Other translations say, "May it never be so!" In the strongest language possible Paul says that this whole line of reasoning is completely absurd. Why? Because, as he writes in the remainder of verse 2, "We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" Then, in the verses that follow, he explains what he means by this interesting notion of being "dead to sin."
The Importance of our Union with Christ
And he begins his explanation by asking us to think about the meaning of our baptism. And what is baptism? In it's essence, baptism is a statement about the profound union that exists between Jesus and those who have been justified by their faith in him. And the way we make this statement about our union with Jesus is by symbolically reenacting His death and resurrection.
So, Paul writes here, in verses 3-5, "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…(This is the "new life" that being justified makes possible.)…If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection."
So, the point is that God establishes a spiritual union between Jesus and those who believe in him. And this union is so strong and so powerful that Jesus' death actually becomes our death and Jesus' resurrection actually becomes our resurrection. So the question is, in what sense is that true? In other words, what was it about us that died when Christ died and what is it about us that is resurrected when Jesus was resurrected?
Well, Paul answers those questions in the verses that follow. In verses 6-7 he writes, "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-because anyone who has died has been freed from sin."
In other words, when we come in faith to Christ and accept by grace the gift of salvation our "old self" dies. And what is our "old self?" It's the life we lived before we believed in Christ and were united with Him: a life characterized by rebellion against God and indifference to God's glory and a life dominated by our sinful nature. But, once we are united with Christ that "old self" dies.
And when our "old self" dies verse 6 says that "the body of sin" is done away with, which simply means that our "sinful nature" begins to lose its power to dominate our lives as our new nature…the one that God is growing in us through our union with Christ…grows progressively stronger in us.
So that's the part of us that died with Christ. But what about this question of us being raised with Christ? Well, Paul began to answer that question in verses 4-5 when he wrote, "…just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life…(there's that "new life," again) …If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection."
Then, in verses 8-10, he continues to speak to the issue saying, "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."
So, the point is this: because we are united with Christ we now share in his post-resurrection life. And as Jesus' resurrection life is a brand new life so our life with Christ is also a brand new life. And the primary distinction between our new life with Christ and our old life without Christ is that, in our new life we have been freed from the dominating power of sin.
So, does that mean we will never sin again? Absolutely not. But it does mean that we don't have to be slaves to sin. We don't have to be controlled and dominated by sin. So, the bad new is that as long as we live in the flesh we will continue to do battle with the sins of the flesh. But, the good news is that because we are now united with Christ we are well equipped to win these battles.
The Nature of Our Life Long Battle with Sin
But before we look at the strategy for winning our battle against sin, I want us to examine the nature of this battle. In verses 12-14 Paul offers one of the clearest explanations of our daily battle against the allure of sin, which you will ever see. And as we read these verses I want you to understand that what Paul is describing here is the reality of your daily life as a Christian. I'm going to read short portions of the passage and offer some commentary along the way about several key words.
Beginning in verse 12 he writes, "Therefore do not let sin reign…" First key word, "reign." The word "reign" implies royalty. It tells us that there is a king involved in this battle and there is an enemy who is attempting to unseat the king from His throne.
Who is the enemy who is attempting this coup? Second key word: "sin." Sin is working to organize a rebellion so that sin can gain control of both the throne and the kingdom and you are being urged to jump into this battle and keep that from happening.
Paul continues, "Therefore do not let sin reign…("Where?")…in your mortal body…" And now we understand why we're being urged to jump into this battle. Folks, the kingdom that is under attack is you. Key words: "your mortal body." Sin is trying to gain control of your life.
Now, remember, that these words are being written to Christians who as we read earlier, have "died to sin." We have been freed from sin's power to dominate our lives. That's a fact. Because of our union with Christ, we have sufficient power to resist sin. But we must actively and daily resist because sin has not retreated from the battlefield. Sin is still fighting to control your life.
And as Paul continues, he reveals sin's battle plan. He writes, "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires." Key words: "evil desires." Sin is actively working in your life to turn loyal soldiers into traitors who will betray you in a heartbeat. And these soldiers are called, "desires."
God has gifted you with a whole host of desires that are designed to be a blessing to you. But sin is actively working to corrupt them so that they will work against you.
--The healthy desire to provide for your family, when corrupted by sin becomes greed.
--The healthy desire to enjoy good food and drink, when corrupted by sin becomes gluttony.
--The healthy desire to be your best, when corrupted by sin becomes envy of the success of others.
And on and on it goes. Sin is actively working to capture and corrupt your God given desires.
But it's important to remember that a corrupted desire does not automatically lead to a victory for sin provided that you, key word, do not "obey" that corrupted desire. The key is to recognize when a desire has been corrupted and then choose not to obey it. And you can make that choice because you are united with Christ.
Now, as we move to verses 13-14 Paul is going to identify the only king who has the legitimate claim to the throne of our lives. He writes in verse 13, "Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." Paul says, "Folks, you have the power to decide who will be the king of your life. So, as you contemplate that choice-remember where you used to be, remember where you are today and remember who brought you there."
--So, where did you use to be? You used to be headed for death, judgment and the wrath of God because of sin.
--And, where are you today? Today, you've been completely forgiven, you've been completely justified and you're heading for eternal life.
--And who brought you there? God, who refused to give up on you, refused to stop loving you and refused to put any limitations on what he was willing to do get you saved.
So why would you choose to offer yourself to sin when, instead, you can choose to offer yourself to God?
Finally, in verse 14, Paul writes, "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." And now we see the constitutionally mandated authority under which this kingdom operates. Key word: "grace." This is a kingdom in which the primary governing principle is not, "law," but "grace."
And that means that while I will no doubt lose the occasional battle with sin, I can always recover to fight again because this is a kingdom of grace. Failures don't have to be final, because this is a kingdom of grace. I don't have to beat myself up over my failures because God is always there to lift me up by His grace.
So that, my friends, is the big picture of the daily battle in which every Christian is called to be engaged.
The Victory Strategy
And now that we understand the nature of our battle with sin we're ready to examine the strategy for victory. And Paul reveals a 3-stage strategy in verses 11-13.
We see stage one in verse 11 where he writes, "…count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Key words: "count yourselves." His point is this: you have now been well grounded in the truth and the truth is that if you are a Christian you are in fact "dead to sin" and "alive… in Christ Jesus." So claim that as the guiding truth of your daily life and head into every day with the confident assurance that you are dead to sin and alive in Christ.
Then, move on to stage two which we see in verse 12, "Therefore, do not let sin reign…" Key words: "do not let." Now that you know that you are alive in Christ resist sin by the power of Christ. Throw yourself into this battle with the confident assurance that you are not fighting alone.
Then, move on to stage three which we see in verse 13, "Do not offer…your body to sin…rather offer yourselves to God…" Key words: "Offer yourselves to God." Take this battle to a completely higher plane by reminding yourself that your choices are not limited to "Should I sin?" or "Should I not sin?" There's a third choice available to you and that is, "Should I offer myself to God, today?" Folks, you can go a long way toward winning the battle with sin before it even begins if you will simply start every day by offering yourself to God. "Father, my greatest desire is to please you, today. Use me, today, as an instrument of righteousness to further your glory and honor."
Folks, if you have placed your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord…
…you have been justified;
…you have died to sin;
…and you have been untied with Christ.
It's time to let go of the old life, because we have a whole new life to live.
© Copyright 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum