I can remember the time when at the end of the service…people would be encouraged to come to the altar and pray…pray for family members…for issues in their personal lives…something that has virtually ceased in most churches… well at least in most Southern Baptist churches…because it gives the appearance that if I come down to the altar and pray people will think I have a problem.
That really is a Pastor’s hope for his church…that people realize they do have a problem and that’s why they’re here…if you aren’t aware of that…you’ve missed the whole point of Christianity!
The problem is…we want people to think we’re here at church because we are good people…that’s what good people do…they go to church …or because we don’t have issues in our life…again…the Christian life is a life free of problems …Christians don’t have problems.
We’re not here in church because we are all so good…because we’re not…or …that God has so blessed us that we have no problems…because we do…that goes along with being human…something we looked at last week that intensifies that is the inherent problem within us…a sin problem.
Paul dealt with the time between Adam and Moses…a time when there was no law…a time when sin was not identified as sin…the problem was people still died without knowing the reason why they died. Why did grandpa die…I can’t give you the medical answer but the Biblical answer is because of sin.
The purpose of God giving Moses the Ten Commandments was so that we might see how far we missed the divine mark…that’s what the Greek word sin means…it’s a Greek term in archery meaning to miss the bullseye.
God gave Moses the Law so that humanity could understand that there was a God-given standard of righteousness…and there was a penalty when that mark was missed…it’s called death…‘the wage of sin is death’.
It’s amazing the lengths people go to discredit the Bible and what it teaches …death for example…‘the wage of sin is death’ sounds pretty defining to me…BUT…people not wanting to accept the reality of a judgment at the end of their life come up with their own alternatives.
Bart Ehrman…onetime pastor and creditable theologian has now become an atheist who disputes the promise of eternal life and attempts to explain it away by suggesting that…the Hebrew Bible assumes that the dead are simply dead.
That when you die your body lies in the grave and there is no consciousness ever again…when we stop breathing, the ‘soul’ doesn’t continue on outside the body…because it doesn’t exist any longer…that’s how I get out of the reality that there is life after death…I just ignore the fact that it exists.
He goes on to say that the ancient Jews thought this was true of us all…No they didn’t…two examples…Mary at the grave of Lazarus told Jesus that ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day’ [John 11:24] … doesn’t sound like someone who thinks that the dead are simply dead.
Jesus gives the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to emphasize that there is life after death…the entire Bible is one of reconciliation…God wanting to reestablish the broken relations with man for eternity.
Revelation speaks of a new heaven and new earth where we will live for eternity …what foolishness to make a statement that is not supported by the Bible.
At the conclusion of chapter 5 Paul makes a comment about the law of Moses:
The law was brought in so that transgression might increase [20].
That was the purpose of the law? …you think that would have the opposite effect…knowing something is wrong would make you want to stop doing that… but here it’s suggesting…the law actually increases sin…how confusing is that?
If you know somethings wrong, you think you would stop doing it…but this verse is suggesting the more I know something’s wrong the more I want to do it.
BUT that’s not the meaning…the more people became aware of what sin was…the more their knowledge of what constitutes sin increased.
God’s Law expanded men’s awareness of their sins…it unmasked people’s transgressions…it doesn’t mean people purposely increased their sins…it means sin increased as people became more aware of what was considered to be sin…it increased their recognition of their deplorable sinful situation…and their need for reconciliation with their Creator.
The more men sinned…the more God’s grace increased…five times in five verses Paul mentions grace…Jesus chose to be the source of God’s free gift of grace…a choice that brings justification to everyone who receives it by faith.
Had a friend tell me he heard on TV that if you follow the Ten Commandments you could go to heaven…no grace needed there…I can do this on my own…this is not something new…the idea of people working their way to heaven… Jesus experienced this…the very issue Jesus had with the rich young ruler who asks:
what shall I do so that I may inherit eternal life?
(Jesus answers using the only way known at that time…the Ten Commandments) You know the commandments: ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY, Do NOT DEFRAUD, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER [Mark 10:17-20]
COUPLE THINGS…If you think the 10 Commandments are no longer in effect…that they’re out of date…they’re NOT…how do I know if something from the Old Testament is still applicable today… it’s repeated in the New Testament…and especially if God repeats it…good bet it’s still in force.
20 And he (the young man) said to Him, (Jesus) “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth.”
Really? …here’s the problem with keeping the Ten Commandments…if it was possible to not break any of the Commandants…to live your entire life and not do anything that violated those Ten…then kudos…that might possibly be the reason for the man’s answer I have kept all these things from my youth.
Problem is…in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus raised the bar…and in doing so Jesus exposed all the ways we have never and can never measure up to the law.
The Ten Commandments is not about following a set of rules…it has to do with the desires of your heart…by raising the bar Jesus wants us to recognize that as humans we can never elevate ourselves to a level that is acceptable with God.
Sinful behavior is only the outward sign of a much deeper problem…a problem that resides in a sinful heart, mind and will.
The standard is not doing the best we can do…the standard God has set for us is…be holy for I am holy [1 Peter 1:15] …that’s the standard.
Jesus didn’t come to do away with the Law…He came to raise the bar…Jesus didn’t raise the bar so you can jump higher, but so that you can see your need for Him and recognize the magnitude of the grace and love He bestows on us.
Having revealed the purpose and benefit of God’s abounding grace…Paul in 6:1 asks a question that he thinks may be on the minds of some of those listening:
Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
A rhetorical question posed by the imaginary dialogue partner from chapter 3.
If God in His grace has been so generous to forgive us of our sins…lets help God to be even more generous.
Another example of people twisting the Bible to satisfy their own sinful nature and behavior.
In the early part of the 20th century a Russian monk named Rasputin taught… lived…and believed the idea that those who sin the most require God’s grace the most by giving God more opportunity to forgive them…so why not just continue in sin that the grace of God may increase.
Those who are not in Christ live under the rule of sin…they have no option to do otherwise…they cannot avoid sinning…BUT for the Christian it is absurd to think that sinning is doing God a favor and for the Christian who thinks that and desires to continue in sin, Paul’s question is directed at them [1].
Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
Is followed up by a similar question in [15]:
Shall we sin because we are not under (the) law but under grace?
Paul’s answer is the same in both verses…in fact this is the third time Paul has used the same reply… ‘May it never be’.
The word ‘never’ used in all three of Paul’s responses is μή…this two-letter word rules out any possibilities…indirectly…or hypothetically …that there might be a hint of a chance that question could be true…the answer is an emphatic NO…it denies the idea that sinning allows God more opportunity to forgive us.
That’s one of the issues with ‘easy-believeism’ …if God’s salvation is given on the basis of faith…all I have to say is “I believe”…and God in His infinite grace forgives me…I can then live life any way I please because God forgives me.
From a purely secular viewpoint, grace is dangerous…because of that very reason…if you tell people that God saves and accepts them apart from how they live…they have no motive to be obedient.
That’s the reason many people don’t emphasize grace…that’s why many Churches don’t emphasize grace.
In their opinion…if they believe their position in Jesus is settled because of what Jesus did on the Cross…then the motivation for holy living is gone.
In verse 2 Paul asks the question that I believe goes along with the faulty notion that I can live however I want…which is in agreement with the proposed notion of the Lordship Salvation debate:
How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (2)
That question destroys the idea that because I’m saved, I can live however I want …I’m going to count on God’s grace of forgiveness and live however I want.
Something I have great difficulty with is why someone who claims to be a Christian continues to let sin dominate their lives…I’m not referring to the occasional sins we commit…there are two types of sins:
Sins of commission…things that you SHOULD NOT do but you do anyway.
acts of outright disobedience.
Sins of omission…things that you SHOULD do but you don’t do…things God expects us to do, but we don’t do them.
To claim to be a Christian and then to continue in a flagrant lifestyle that is in opposition to God’s commandments is the intent of: How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
There is death in sin, and death to sin…a person is said to live in sin when they make sin their business…when sin reigns in their lives and has dominion over them…when it dictates and controls how they live…when sin is their life, they delight in it…the result is death in sin.
BUT…as Christians we are dead to sin…a person who is both justified and sanctified is dead to sin:
…sin cannot exert its power over them
…it does not reign in or have dominion over them
…it’s no longer a pleasure to them
…it’s not their course of life
…its power is weakened
…those who are dead to sin cannot permanently live in it.
As Christians because of our sin nature…we do commit sins of commission and sins of omission…we’re not free from sinning…at times sin may have an influence in our lives…at times we may commit occasional sins…yet we cannot consistently live in sin…it does not have a dominating effect on our lives.
Which is suggested by the question…How shall we who died to sin still live in it? …it’s impractical…when someone lives a lifestyle that is in direct disobedience to God’s purpose which is…be holy for I am holy…that should cause us to question that person’s commitment to Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Salvation is more than the mere acceptance of Jesus for salvation…it implies a lifestyle that is characterized by faith and righteous living.
When you made the decision to become a Christian, you gave up the right to yourself…you now belong to God.
That idea is illustrated in Paul’s explanation of the nature of baptism beginning in verse 3.
3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death—symbolized by our being immersed under water—in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead —symbolized by being raised out of the water—we too may live a new life
5 For if we have been united with him in a death…we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his (how can you say there is no resurrection from the dead) 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him—the symbolism of being baptized—so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
11 consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus:
Read about a pastor who held off from preaching through Romans for 33 years …and after 45 years in the ministry he still struggles with what Paul is saying in chapters 6 and 7.
Could be I’m just simple minded but looking at what Paul is saying in [3-11] can be put another way… ‘don’t live in sin as you used to live because you aren’t the same person that you used to be.’
Paul is revealing that our union with Jesus is completely opposed to a life of continuing sin…the verb tense of the phrase ‘continue in sin’…is in a present active tense form making it clear that Paul is not describing the occasional sin we sometimes commit…but the practice of habitual sin.
Our identification with Christ in His death and resurrection frees us from the slavery to sin and allows us to walk in newness of life.
Here’s the problem…as humans…we can’t feel being crucified with Christ…we can’t feel being identified with Him in His death and resurrection…we can’t feel being freed from the slavery of sin…it’s something you believe.
Paul knows that we’re prone to forget our new position in Christ…which is the foundation for holy living…and so he hammers it home in these verses.
do you not know [3]: The implication is that Paul is dealing with fundamental concepts that every Christian should know. OK…let me share them with you.
As many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. [3]: The Greek word for baptized is “to immerse” …when a person is baptized, they are immersed in water…no sprinkling…no pouring.
Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death [4]:
Water baptism is “acting out” the believer’s identification with Jesus in His death…burial…and resurrection…the immersion into water is an image of Christ’s death …and of the Christian’s death to sin…the coming out of the water signified the Resurrection of Jesus and the Christian’s birth to the new spiritual life in Christ.
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 [5]: We are raised to a new spiritual life as He was raised to a new physical life.
How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? [2] …This explains why salvation by grace through faith is not an excuse to continue in sin.
“From this and other references to baptism it is plain that Paul did not regard baptism as an ‘optional extra’ in the Christian life.” (Bruce) It is one of the two ordinances Jesus commanded of the Church before His ascension.
count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus: [11]
What does that mean? I am dead to sin and freed from the slavery of sin.
Paul’s flow of thought is that we must change the way we think about ourselves …I might not feel that I’m being a part of Christ in His death…but I have the assurance that I am…we must no longer think of ourselves as being self-reliant …self-serving and independent.
Baptism pictures the spiritual union that we have with Christ in His death and in His resurrection…that we have become united with Him…we must think of ourselves as alive to God in Christ.