DEAD, YET ALIVE IN CHRIST
Romans
6:1-14 (8/6/2017)
Introduction: "Christianity has an image problem," claim the authors
of Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about
Christianity … and Why It Matters (Baker). In interviews with
hundreds of 16- to 29-year-olds, coauthors Gabe Lyons and Barna Group president
David Kinnaman discovered that nearly half of unchurched young Americans hold a
bad impression of evangelical believers. They are especially bothered by, among
other things, evangelicals' conservative political activism, hypocrisy,
anti-homosexuality, and judgmentalism. The writers then explain how Christians
can turn their image around.”
Does
it really matter what non-Christians think about us? It
mattered to the Apostle Paul, what men thought. He taught the Roman church,
saying, “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.” Romans 14:13.
For the past few weeks we have been working through various themes in
the book of Romans. So far, we have looked at, themes such as, “All of life, a
Sacrifice, Knowing God’s will, Thinking differently, Sin, What’s the BIG deal,
and “A Biblical view of Homosexuality.” I closed my message last week saying,
“where sin increases, grace increases even more. Today we will pick up where we
have left to find out what are the implications of a life under the grace of
God. Dead, Yet Alive In Christ. Romans
6:1-14
This
is a dual definition of a who Christian really is. As weird as it may sound, a
“Christian is a Living Dead Person. You may wonder how that can be. Before we
delve deeply into our passage, let’s back up and see Romans 5:20-21, “The law was brought in so
that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased
all the more, so that, just as sin reigned
in death, so also grace might
reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.” Keeping that as the background Paul makes three profound assertions:
We are dead to sin, we are alive in Christ, and we are to take control over sin.
I. WE ARE DEAD TO SIN (Vs
1-2)
How
are we to understand a passage like this.? “The law was brought in so that the
trespass might increase. But where sin
increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in
death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Why did God want sin to increase? Increase here
does not mean to multiply or grow larger. God merely wanted sin to be made more
obvious, to be brought out into the open. God’s law highlights our sin so that
his grace can be highlighted even more.
The
grace of God is a free gift. Wherever sin increases there the grace of God
increases even more. In other words, God’s grace is unlimited, and is
abundantly made available to all sinners of all times. In the sixth chapter, the
Apostle Paul poses two rational questions, and provides his own answers. “What
shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no
means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”
What
does, “we are dead to sin” mean what are its implications? Death is the finality
of all matters. For example, “According to a legal doctrine in Massachusetts if
someone dies after conviction but before the completion of their appeal, the person’s
legal records in that matter are wiped clean. The recent tragic suicide ended
the former NFL player Aaron Hernandez's life and also his legal saga. According
to the above law he went to his grave as an innocent man.”[1]
Similarly,
when Christ died on the cross for our sins, all the records of our sins are
wiped clean. We are no longer held accountable to our past present and future
sins. Also, how a dead man can no longer commit crimes, as Paul would say, “We
are those who died to sin, how can we live in it any longer? This remains a
challenge. Let’s look at the second assertion.
II.
WE ARE ALIVE IN CHRIST (3-5)
The
first assertion of Paul is that ‘We are dead to sin.” In what sense have we died to sin? Paul claimed that in a
relationship with Jesus Christ, sin loses its authority over us. In other words, we are no longer slaves to
sin. It may still come knocking at our door, but God’s grace makes it possible
for us to refuse. We can choose not to sin and live a Holy life.
When Jesus was crucified, he in a
certain sense took us with him into death. By his resurrection, he raised us to
new life. The Apostle Paul identified in the death and the resurrection of
Christ. “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. This should be the
testimony of every born-again believer.
Our death to sin, and our being
alive in Christ is clearly demonstrated in the act of Baptism. Let’s see how
Baptism plays a significant role in this process of dying to sin and living in
Christ. “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. 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.”
What does baptism have to do with
death? Baptism symbolizes the dying of the old self and reminds us that we are
made new in Christ. We have three people confirmed to be Baptized this coming September.
It is going to be a beautiful occasion to witness. When they will be immersed
in the water, symbolically they will be dead to their sins and buried in the
water but when they come out of water they will come out to live in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
They will no longer carry out the
commands of their old master the devil, but now voluntarily serve their lord Jesus
Christ. This transition from our old sinful life into the newness of Christ, is
not instant and dramatic like for some people, but a lifelong process of making
God honoring choices. What does it mean to be alive in Christ? It means we are
made new persons in Christ. “Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old
has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through
Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18.
Being alive in Christ means to live
in the recognition of what Christ has done on a daily basis. It means giving up
on old, dilapidating habit patterns and cultivating spirit energizing new
habits. Developing spiritual disciplines such as reading the Bible, personal
worship and prayer, attending a bible study group, celebrating with saints
during Sunday worship service, giving generously to the work of God, sharing
our faith with others do not come easy. Cultivating these disciplines takes
intentionality and consistency, the end result is the freed-up life in Christ.
Living in Christ also means saying
good bye to certain friendships that are not right and choosing relationships
that will stimulate and encourage you to live God honoring life. You ask anyone
who is born again and living for Christ they would tell you, though at times it
is tough and challenging, but overall fulfilling and adventurous. Let’s look at
the third assertion.
III.
TAKING CONTROL OVER SIN (11-14)
The great evangelist of our times
once said, “Salvation is free but discipleship costs everything we have.” There
is a lot of truth in it. Salvation is a free gift from God. We are saved by
grace through faith and not by works. But everything afterwards requires effort
and discipline on our part. In our passage Paul exhorts believers to take the
control over sin.
“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. 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 6:11-14
These
four verses sum up Christian’s struggle against sin and their victory over sin.
Paul offers some practical suggestions in our fight against sin. The first step
to victory over sin is to consider that we are dead to sin and alive to God,
and by faith we are to live in the light of this truth. We are to firmly
believe in this truth. True believers are “in Christ” because they have died
with Christ and have been raised to new life with him.
Secondly, we are not to let sin reign
in our bodies instead are to take control over sin. The analogy here is like
putting a rein on a horse. A rein is a long, narrow strap
attached at one end to a horse's bit, typically used in pairs to guide or check
a horse while riding or driving. The horse riders know how important is to have
a rein on a horse. Similarly, if sin has
a rein on us then we will be obeying its orders, but if we have taken the reins
over sin then sin will no longer be our master. In other words, we will control
sin instead of sin controlling us.
Thirdly, the only way we can ever
take control over sin is by letting the control of ourselves go, by offering
every part of our body as an instrument of righteousness. In Chapter 4, the
apostle Paul reiterates this truth of God crediting to us or counting us as
righteous, eleven times. It is a powerful truth to hold on to as believers.
When we believe this truth, it will transform us. The reason why we want to stop sinning is not to become righteous, but because
we have already been made righteous in Christ.
Another reason why we want to stop
sinning is because we don’t want to hurt the one who loved us so much, and was
willing to die on the cross for us so that we might live with him forever. Dear
friends I want you to leave with these truths today. We all have sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God. Christ has set us free from our sin through
his death on the cross.
Therefore, now we are dead to Sin
through baptism and made alive in Christ. We live under grace not under law,
therefore we may struggle with sin momentarily, but it will never be our
master. We are to take control over sin and not other way around. Remember that
the only way we can master sin is not through striving but by resting in the
completed work of Christ. Amen
