Good morning. If you'll take
your Bibles and turn with me to Romans. Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. The apostle says,
what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound. God forbid. How shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know you not that so
many of us were baptized unto Jesus Christ, were baptized unto
his death? Therefore, we are buried with
him by baptism to death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we shall,
the word should should be better translated shall, we shall walk
in newness of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. Knowing this, that the old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead
is freed from sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him. knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion
over him. For in that he died, he died
once to sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ. Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body that you should obey the lusts thereof,
neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness
to sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive
from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. For you are not under the law,
but under grace. God had the blessing, the reading
of his word, we'll study from this passage in just a moment.
Let's go to God in prayer, give praise and thanks for his allowing
us to be here. Our Father, thank you for your
grace and mercy. Thank you for your kindness. I thank you for your word. so
many things, Father, that we could not ever know by our nature
or by our own reasoning, by our own logic. But by your grace
and power of your Spirit, you have given us a nature by which
we can discern the things of Christ. You have written these things
for us so these things are not to be guessed at, but simply
and plainly received by faith. I pray that you would do so today,
that you take these things as you have written them by your
apostle and reveal them to our hearts. Show us, Father, how things truly
are. as opposed to how we feel or
think about things. Our view and perception is so
tainted, Father, with sin and the flesh, so much we don't understand
of providence and the afflictions we face. But you have left us
so much in your Word to comfort us. You've left us so much in
your Word to give us hope hope of life and eternal life, hope
of righteousness and peace and joy and forgiveness of sins. You've given us so much. But
Father, we confess without your Spirit we could not know any
of these things. We could not enter into them.
This morning as we gather to worship you in Spirit and in
truth, we pray that you would give us the grace to do so. Every
heart, every person, I beg you to open the minds and understanding
of those that are lost, those who are outside of Christ, that
you would cause them to see their sin in need, and as we have,
that they might find it in Christ, all that we need. I need your strength. I need
your wisdom, your understanding, Pour into my lips those things
that you would have your people to hear. Take away those things
that you wouldn't. Open their minds and comfort
them. And please forgive us our sins. Lead us, Father, in paths of
righteousness for Thy name's sake. Pray for those that are
sick, others who are troubled, those who are not able to be
with us, those who worship in other places. I beg you to heal. I beg you to be with them and
strengthen them. And bless those pastors who preach
the gospel today. Bless their congregations as
I'm asking you to bless ours. Bless theirs. Be merciful to us. And we ask this in the name of
Jesus, our Savior, and for the glory of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen. Take your hymn book, your bulletins. We're gonna sing the hymn that's
in the bulletin. When I surveyed the wondrous cross, that's the
tune. If you would, please stand with
me as we sing this. We sing it to, when I surveyed the wondrous
cross. How wondrous are the works of
God Displayed through all the world abroad Immensely great, immensely small,
yet one strange work exceeds them all. He rolled the seas and spread
the skies, made valleys sink and mountains rise. The meadows cloved with native
green, and made the rivers glide But what are seas, or skies,
or hills, or verdant dales, or gliding rails to Wonders man
was born to prove the wonders of redeeming love. Tis far beyond what words express,
what saints can fill or range. ? Angels guest ? ? Angels that
hymn ? ? The great I am ? ? Fall down and veil before the Lamb
? The highest heavens are short
of this. Tis deeper than the vast abyss. Tis more than thought Can air
conceive? Or hope expect? Or faith believe? Almighty God side human breath. The Lord of life experienced
death. How it was done can't discuss. But this we know was done for
us. Blessed with this faith, Let
us raise our hearts in love, our voice to praise. All things to us must work for
good, for whom the Lamb has shed His blood. Triumphs may press of every sort. They may be sore. They must be sure. We now believe but soon shall
you the greatest glories God can show. I think you may be seated and
turn to page 423 in your hymn book. And we sing this to 04,000
tongues. Approach my soul, the mercy seat,
where Jesus answers prayer. There humbly fall before his
feet, for none can perish there. My promise is my only plea, with
this I venture nigh. Thou callest burdened souls to
Thee, and such, O Lord, am I. Bowed down beneath a load of
sin, by Satan sorely pressed. By war without and fears within,
I come to thee for rest. Thou my shield and hiding place,
That sheltered near Thy side. I may my fierce accuser's face,
And tell him Thou hast died. O wondrous love to bleed and
die, bear the cross and shame that guilty sinners such as I
might plead thy gracious name. Good morning. It's good to see
you. I am thankful that God has given us an opportunity to be
here together again. Continue to pray for Eric and
Angela. I did speak with him this week,
so I'm very thankful for that. Very enjoyable talk we had. Continue to pray for them as
he slowly recovers. Pray for their strength. Jean has made it through the
surgery, and so that was good news. God answered prayer. We're thankful for that, and
she's doing well healing. Pray for her as she continues
to heal. Chuck and Patty are in Lexington. They're worshiping
at Todd's this morning. Their granddaughter, I believe,
is looking at taking a scholarship to a university close by in Lexington,
and so they went down to visit. So Kimberly is there, and the
granddaughter and them. So I pray for them as they travel.
I'm glad to hear that they are worshiping the Lord this morning. That makes me so excited. It's
good that you go visit family, but I'm glad that if you go,
I hope you have a place to worship. good, and I'm sure they will
be fed. I ask your prayers for me. As I enter into this sixth chapter
of Romans, this is a chapter that if we can only see it by
faith. This is another aspect of God's
Word that is vitally true, but it must be seen by faith. It
must be seen as the word of the living God testifies to us. People take this and they'll
twist this and try to bend it back to the law, and that's never
the intent of the apostle. In fact, you're going to see
he's going to double down on this truth, that we are not under
the law by any means whatsoever under grace. Pray for me as I
preach this to you. I hope the Lord be gracious to
not just put this continue in your heart. I need, when I'm
studying this, I need this myself. I need this myself. This is vitally
important for my comfort and my stability in trouble and especially
when I sin. When we sin. This is the comfort,
this is the motivation by which we are constrained from sin. Not a motivation to sin, but
one that constrains us. And so if we are to be constrained
from sin, we must keep this in mind, we must keep this in view. And I pray that God would do
that for us today. Is there any other request that
needs to be mentioned? Joan Luce. Anyway, pray that God be gracious. I read the letter and it just
breaks my heart. It breaks my heart that we live in a day when there's
so few messengers. There's so few men who will rightly
deal with the things of God in honesty. People going out into eternity
and so worried about a stupid election. So dead gum concerned
about which way the country's gonna go and where their money's
gonna go. Have no concern or value for
their souls. Would to God we would put as
much thought and energy into the gospel of Christ. I know that's how I feel. Just
like God told his servant, I have 7,000 men that have not bowed
the knee to Baal. In a country of over 2 million
people, God said, I've reserved 7,000 for myself. In a country of 300 million,
how many has God reserved to himself? But I am hopeful that there will
always be a remnant. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace. That's the only way it could
be. There would be no remnant had
there been no election of grace. But because there is, there is
a remnant. And I know God will call his
people and save them. I am sure of it. And this is
the means he'll do it, the most unlikely means. Preaching. The most hated and despised means
of men. Preaching. Don't preach it. I don't want to hear anybody
preach. Okay. That's the only means God
chose to save people. So, pray that God would send
men into the harvest God would thrust, I like that word because
that's the way we're put out here. He throws us out here.
He thrusts us out. I pray that God continue to bless
our congregation, hedge us about, regardless of anything that happens.
I know this, if God's willing, On November 6th, I'll preach
the same gospel to you. I don't care what happens. I'll
preach Christ to you. Because he reigns. He gives men to govern, but they
only govern at his disposal. They only do what he commands
them to do. And if he don't want them to
do it, they won't do it. Our God is sovereign. Good thing we don't elect God,
huh? Man would have tried to kick
him out a long time ago. as religion's thoughts anyway,
elect God, make God your Lord, make Him your Savior. You don't
make Him anything. God is Savior. God is Lord. God's people are thankful for
that. I am. I'm thankful. I'm so thankful. Let's go to him in prayer. This morning we plead for mercies.
Tender mercies. We are a weak and needy people. Consider our frame that we are
but dust. We are in ourselves without strength. It is in you we live and move
and have our being. I plead for the mercy this morning
of the ability and strength of the inner man to receive what you have written for us. By grace, I pray you would give
us such faith as to believe and trust only in the Lord Jesus
Christ and His blood, His righteousness, His resurrection, and His intercession. I ask you for grace upon this
people, this congregation. Keep us in unity and love for
one another, forgiving one another even as you have forgiven us
freely. I pray for grace upon your people
wherever they worship this morning. These things I'm asking of you
for us. I ask also for them that you would give them the same
mercies. Be with you, preachers. Give
us liberty. Open the hearer's ears. And yes,
Father, do your most wonderful work, the saving of a dead sinner. It is the most glorious work
that is ever seen among men, is the salvation of a sinner. Use the message as you please
to comfort your people and save the lost. I plead for men to
be thrust into the ministry, that there be many who are preaching
the gospel of thy grace in a time of great need. Truly, this is
a time of famine. But I know your arm is not short
to give us your word. and to open the hearts of men.
I beg you for grace upon this country, not just for good rulers,
but Father, that the gospel might be preached in this place again.
Men would be quickened by the power of the Spirit, humbled,
and laid before Christ's feet in faith. I plead you, forgive us our sins.
In His name we ask. Amen. Alright, take your Bibles, turn
with me to Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. Looking at verses 1-14 this morning,
I've entitled this message, Dead to Sin and Alive Unto God. If there's one thing I would
hope by the power of the Spirit this morning, is that every believer
should receive this as a truth, whether you feel it or you don't,
A lot of times we won't feel this, we won't recognize this.
You are dead to sin. Now whatever that means, and
we're going to get to that in just a minute, what exactly that
means. But whatever that means, listen. You are dead to sin. It is a truth. It is a fact. It is a work of grace and not
of merit. And secondly, you are alive unto
God. You are alive unto God. Whatever
that means, it's so. It's so. And that's what Paul
tells us in This 11th verse, he said, Reckon yourselves to
be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Now, this chapter begins with the
question, what shall we say then? The apostle is laying forth with
a view of all that He said before. What are you going to say to
what I just said? What are you going to say? And
what did He say before? He said this, that we are all
by nature dead. That's what He had said before,
that none righteous know not one, there's none that understandeth,
there's none that seeketh after God, They are altogether become
unprofitable, none that doeth good, no not one. Therefore what? By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified in this sight, for by the law is only
what? The knowledge of sin. So we have
that principle, that's set. We know this. What are you going
to say to that? Where did it come from? We read this last
time in chapter 5 and verse 12, this sin nature came from one
man. Wherefore, as by one man, one
man, sin entered into the world, result, death. You're going to
find this throughout the scripture. Death is always the result of
sin. Death is always the result. Sin is the cause, but death is
the result. When Adam sinned, he died, but
that was not isolated to Adam. That transferred from Adam to
Eve. It transferred from Adam to his
sons and then dispersed throughout all humanity. All have sinned. You know, I don't remember my
first sin. I don't remember it. I don't
remember when I committed it. You know why? Because I didn't. He
did. Adam committed the sin and his
sin was charged to me. And so then seeing we were all
made sinners by a representative, why was this so? Because God
before purpose that we should be saved by a representative. You see that in chapter 5 and
verse 19, for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. Well, how then are sinners made
righteous? That's a question that must be
answered to anyone who knows their sin. Sin leads to death. I'm dead. I cannot help myself. Is there any hope? Yes. Here it is. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. So Paul lays this out. You're
only a sinner by a representative. And death was passed to you by
a representative. So then if you are ever to be
made righteous, it must be by this man, the representative,
Jesus Christ. And so it must be by grace, seeing
none of us merited it, could merit it, none of Adam's race,
being dead, could ever desire it or seek after it or know it. So we learn that the eternal
purpose of God was that by Jesus Christ many should be made righteous. Now then, what is the law? He
said it had the law in verse 20. Moreover, the law entered
that the offense might abound. The purpose of the law always
is this, to magnify transgression. Never, never to redeem. Never to make righteous. The
law cannot make you righteous in any way. The law only magnifies the guilt. That's it. That's all it can
do. It was added because of the transgression,
but where the sin abounded, here's the glory, you that believe,
you that are justified, here's the glory of it, where sin abounded,
and it did. It did. Through every single
pore of my body, sin abounded. There was not one part of me
that was not contaminated. There was not one ounce of me
that was not dead in trespasses and sins. It abounded so much,
Paul says, it reigned. It ruled me. When you first found out about
your sin, what did you desire to do? You desired to correct
it. You desired to do something righteous. What did you find?
I found I couldn't do anything righteous. It reigned. It could not have ruled me. Paul
said, when I would do good, what? Evil is present with me. You
found that to be true? Yeah. But where sin abounded, listen
to this, grace did superabound. Wherever there was sin, the grace
of God through Jesus Christ superabounded in forgiveness. Superabounded
in pardon. So removing my sin and guilt,
as we're going to see, God can't see it. That's how much it abounded.
It abounded so much. Grace super abounded over our
sin and guilt and brought what? It brought righteousness. Not
just any righteousness, not a righteousness you can earn, the righteousness
of God that Christ earned. That's the righteousness that
the grace of God has given to us. Where there was only sin and
guilt, God gave righteousness. And where there was only death,
God gave eternal life. Therefore, here is our hope and
joy that grace now reigns. When sin reigned, I couldn't
get out of it. But now listen to this, because grace reigns,
I can't get out of it. Can't fall off this rock. I do
often fall on the rock, but I can't fall off of it. That's because grace reigns unto
eternal life. This is our hope and joy, that
we are free from sin's guilt, from sin's power, and my hope
is this, one day we will be free from sin's presence. All of its effects. One day we'll
be free from all that. That's our future hope. And all
of this was by what? Grace. Unmerited favor. You didn't deserve it. You didn't
earn it. You couldn't. Here's God's grace. He chose
you in grace. He redeemed you by grace. he called you by grace and he
will keep you by grace we've just in case there's somebody
out here listen don't know what grace is Grace is the unmerited
favor of God. That's what it means. And to
start putting works in it, Paul said you change the very definition
of the word grace. It's either of works or it is
of grace. It is not a combination of both. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. When I say it's of grace, I'm
saying it is 1,000% all of God's unmerited favor that I'm His
and I'm saved. If I make it to heaven, it will
be by grace. This is what God says about grace.
Grace reigns. He says that in the last part.
He says, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. So what is he getting at? He's
getting at this comforting situation. If it's of grace, then there
is nothing I can do to unmerit this favor. I didn't merit it
to begin with. I didn't earn it. I didn't bring it to myself and
I am sure as heck not going to be able to keep it. So then nothing that takes place
in time or eternity, no man or demon, no angel or devil can
ever overthrow the reign of grace. Isn't this joyous? Isn't this
great? No matter where I go. I don't
care where you go. You didn't do anything to get
grace. You're not going to do anything to keep it. God gives
it to us. It's free. You're never going
to come to a point where you earn it. Ever. I know this. Every believer desires to live
without sin. Suppose it were possible. How much of you living
without sin contributes to this? It doesn't. It doesn't add to
it at all. And listen, nothing you do as
far as sin in this world is going to remove you from it. It's grace. Listen, if some sin were to remove
you from this grace, then it wasn't grace to begin with, was
it? It was works. But if it's grace, there's nothing
you can do to remove it. It rains. Man, you want to see? Look at
Lot. God gave that illustration to
that man. I imagine he never wanted to be written in Scripture.
You suppose he desired his life to be written out like that? And I'll tell you this, had not
the Word of God told me he was justified, I wouldn't believe
it. But Scripture says, and just
Lot. Now how could that be? That man
was vile. He lived in a world of sodomites
and compromised the gospel. He was horrible. Committed incest
with his own daughters. How did Lot make it? The same
way you make it? By grace. By grace. So nothing
then can overthrow this grace. So Paul says, what are you going
to say to that? What are you going to say to what I just said?
Because he doubles down in Romans Romans 8, doesn't he? He says,
who shall separate me from the love of God, Saint Christ Jesus?
I'm persuaded that nothing can do that. Why? Because we are
saved by grace. We are not under the law, but
under grace. Now then, he said, what shall
we say then? Now, he's anticipating what the
legalist will say. This is what religion in this
generation says to such a statement as that. Well, if you believe that, then
you're going to have a bunch of immoral people in your congregation. They're going to say something
like, well, if grace abounds, if where sin abounds, grace did
much more abound, let me sin more that grace may abound. shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound. They say if the whole is of God's
grace and none of man's salvation is dependent upon his obedience
to the law, if God's grace super abounds to forgive and pardon
and wash the sins without any merit or work to keep himself
in the favor of God, Surely this would cause men to indulge themselves
in sins all the while saying, Grace, grace. Now listen to me. I have known men of such character. They would have come in and say,
Oh, grace, grace! And their lives had no sense
of restraint. No sense of it. I've met men
like that. They say, Grace, grace! Man,
there ain't no restraint in their sin. How many people look back
to a certain instance in their life? They look back to some
decision they made, some feeling they had. I remember even my
own brother, he would remember he saw a vision. He told me he
saw a vision. There was no restraint. I've
met men like that. Jesus tells us about those people.
He said, not everyone that sayeth to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
the kingdom of heaven. But what do you say to such a statement of grace?
You that have been justified by the grace of God. What do
you say to such a statement that says, Shall we sin that grace
may abound? What do you say to that? God forbid. That's the answer
of every true person who is saved by the grace of God. God forbid
that I should continue in sin. It was sin that caused my ruin. It was sin that brought every
pain into my life. Every sorrow of every experience
is because of sin. Every grief, every loss, every
heartache is a direct result of sin. Sin was the cause of my Savior's
pain. Sin was the cause of my Savior's
grief. How in the world will I continue
in such a thing? That is never the desire of one
saved by grace. Now in the following verses the
Apostle then will explain his answer. Look at what he says.
He says, God forbid, here's his answer. How shall we that are
dead to sin live any longer therein? The Apostle will explain this.
Why grace does not encourage sin? Why is it? The mind of man, that would just
be reasonable. In the experience of fallen man,
it is definitely reasonable. You take a man, you put him in
your house, you give him food, you give him clothes, you give
him everything he needs. That man will become lazy. That
man will use you and abuse you and take advantage of you. That's
our experience with something like that, isn't it? But in this matter of grace,
it is just the opposite. It is really true. Why is that? Because God gives
us a nature by which that is true. And it is the gospel of God's
grace that restrains us from sin. It doesn't give me liberty.
It restrains me. It convicts me. I think he says in Titus, it
says, the grace of God teacheth us that we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world. That's what grace
teaches me. The opposite of what men say it teaches. They say
it teaches licentiousness. What does God's word say it teaches?
It teaches us to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this
present world. That's what grace teaches. Why is that? Here's his answer. First of all,
believers, listen to this and receive it. You are dead to sin. You are dead to sin. How shall
we who, listen to this, are right now, presently, in this place
and in this body, dead to sin? How is that? That's not how I
feel. Is that how you feel? What about
your experience? What if somebody followed you
around, would they be able to say, now that person is dead
to sin? Can you say that? It seems to go against every
experience that we have about this subject. We are dead to
sin, but this can only be seen by faith as it is true. Now what
does the Apostle mean by this? Because I think it's vitally
important we understand what he means. First of all, I'm going
to tell you what he doesn't mean. It doesn't mean that the believer
is free from the presence or effects of sin. Are you free from the effects
of sin? Mom, you were complaining about your knee. What does that
show you? You're not free from the effects
of sin. We're sick. We hurt. We have pain. What is
that but the effect of sin? You're not free from the effect
of sin. What about the presence of sin?
You're not free from the presence of sin, are you? John said this, if any man say
he hath not sinned, he made God a liar. Not just so. There's
a whole group of people that believe, really believe, that
they are 100% without sin. John said you made God a liar,
the truth is not in you. But what do we do? Those who
have experienced the grace of God and as Paul said are dead
to sin, what do we do? We confess our sins. And yet
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. We daily seek forgiveness, hourly
seek forgiveness of our sins. And you know what? We got it.
And I'll tell you why you got it. Because you're dead to sin.
That's why you get it. Because you're dead to sin. Now
the Apostle testifies throughout this chapter what he means. He
means that we are dead to the guilt and the penalty of sin. That's what he means by this.
You are dead to sin's guilt and penalty. And this is only one way by virtue
of our union with Christ. There's only one way you've been
dead to sins, penalty and guilt, by your union with Jesus Christ. Look at verse 3. He said, don't
you know, know you not, that so many of us, as we're baptized
unto Jesus Christ, we're baptized unto his death, When you were baptized, what
do you think you were doing? What were you doing? Were you
just following an ordinance? You know what you were doing?
Don't you know, Paul says, what you were doing? You were testifying
of what I just said. You're testifying when you stand
in the water. You are identifying your union
with him. You are confessing Faith, by
faith you are in union with Him, that when He came into the world,
you were in Him. So every righteous deed He ever
did, every righteous thought He ever thought, you did. Just like every sin, the sin
that Adam committed, you did. Even so, the righteousness which
Christ did, you did. So you stand in the waters, you're
confessing faith in his death. When you are immersed into the
water, this is a picture of what you're confessing. You were baptized
into his death so that when he died, you died. You are confessing that by His
death, He redeemed you from your sins. And as you are in the water,
you are confessing you were buried with Him. When He laid in that tomb, you
laid in that tomb with Him. And when He rose again from the
dead, when you come up out of the water, you are confessing
to everyone that sees this. I am risen with Him. I am one
with Him. And you do this by faith, showing
your union with Christ. That's what Paul is testifying.
You were baptized into the death of Christ. So we confess and believe that
just as I was made a sinner by Adam, so I trust this, that I
was made righteous by the obedience of Christ, As we were immersed in the water,
we were immersed into His death, so that as He was immersed in
my sin. Consider the immersion of Christ
in death. It's just like Joseph Harp penned
in that hymn. It's so far beyond words that
the Lord of life took human breath. The Lord of life experienced
death. I can't fully express that, but
it's not just the dying of the body he experienced. He experienced
the wrath of God for our sins. He died under the justice of
God for our sins. That's exactly what Paul was
saying in 2 Corinthians 5.21, that God hath made him to be
sin for us. and being made sin, He immersed
Himself into the wrath of God for us. It was on the cross that He bore
our sins. Now, how many of our sins? Listen to me, if there's one
thing left for you I wouldn't stand here. I wouldn't
give you any hope. There's no hope if there's something
left for you to do. There's nothing. This is what
He did. He paid it all. All our sins. Listen, this is
another way of putting it. I'm going to show you what Paul
says about it. He bore me in His own body on the tree. My
whole depraved nature He bore in Himself on that tree. Look
what Paul says. Look at verse six. Knowing that our old man is crucified
with him, that the body of sin might be
destroyed. He bore us in His own body on
the tree. The old man was crucified. And
what is the result of this? What is the result of this? The
body of sin was destroyed. The body, the whole embodiment
of my sin was forever put away. Destroyed. Gone. I like this hymn, it says, Behold
the man upon the cross, my sin upon his shoulders. He said,
My sin, it was my sin that nailed him there until it was accomplished. His dying breath hath brought
me life. I know that it is finished. How do we know this? I know it's
finished because he bore my sin. He who was immersed in the depths
of God's wrath and sorrow that cannot be expressed, after he
had satisfied the justice of God, my Savior said, it is finished. That's how I know. Therefore, all who are given
to Jesus Christ of the Father, every elect sinner that was chosen
and loved of the Father, were in union with his Son, And when
he died, they died. They died to what? They died
to the guilt and penalty of sin, never to be brought again. And so we who are dead to the
guilt and penalty of sin, I want you to know this. You are dead
to sin forever. Forever. What was the penalty of sin?
Isn't it death? Isn't that the penalty? The soul
that sinneth it shall surely die. The wages of sin is death. Sin reigned unto death. Death is always the result and
penalty of sin. So what is my confession in baptism? And the confession of every day
of my life? What is my confession? That by Jesus Christ I am now
free from the penalty of death, never to be brought on me again. I like this. God being just can never demand
twice payment for sin. Never. If God punished my sin
in Christ, He can never punish me for my sin. That's unjust. So when he's saying this, we
shall we sin that grace may abound? God forbid that we should ever
think of such a thing. Why? Because I'm already dead
to sin's penalty. I'm dead to sin's penalty by
the death of my Savior. How in the world can I ever live
in it? And he's stating an impossibility. You realize you cannot ever live
in sin anymore? If you're dead to it, you can't
live to it. You're dead. And so what's the song of every
believer? Listen, this is your song. When
I say you're dead to sin, this is what you can think about.
Romans 8. There is therefore now no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus. Listen to me, there is therefore
now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation
right now to those who are in Christ Jesus. Right now there
is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? I've
already died. The law cannot demand twice death.
I've already paid the price for sin. In my substitute, in my
representative, you are dead to sin. You are dead to sin. Over there in Romans 8 verse
4 it says this, that, this is the reason, there's no condemnation,
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us.
You that are, you without condemnation, you know why? Because the law
is satisfied with you. The law is completely satisfied
with you. By Jesus Christ, our surety,
we have fulfilled the law, and that law now is fulfilled in
us. Listen, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
We're not seeking to be justified by the flesh, are you? I'm not
seeking to be justified by the flesh. I'm seeking to be justified
through faith in Christ, which is the work of the Spirit. The
Spirit's work is faith in Christ. See now then that I have by the
grace of God through the death of Christ been freed from the
curse and penalty of sin. Look at that in verse 7 of your
text. Are you dead to sin? Listen to
what it says. He that is dead is freed from
sin. Are you dead to sin? What does
God tell you you are? You are free from sin. You are free from its guilt,
from its burden, from its curse. Now the question is, how can
we live any longer therein? The truth of the matter is to
us who believe in the grace, salvation by grace of God, It's
just not reasonable. Paul deals with this kind of
thought in Romans chapter 12. He said, Beholding the mercies
of God. Isn't it just reasonable to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holding and accepting one another
to the Lord? Isn't that your reasonable service? To us who believe, that's
just reasonable, seeing what He has done to remove us and
free us from sin. That we should ever want to go
back in it? No. No. But I want you to see that
the apostle is not making a reasonable argument here, he's telling you
a fact. He said, how is it possible if
you are actually dead to sin that you can live in it? What
does he mean by that? Well, he's talking about the
impossibility of this because God has created in us a new nature
that can no longer live in sin. He's telling you, since you have
died in Christ by the grace of God, you are now risen in Christ. God has given you a new life. And that's what we say. You must
be born again. Well, he's talking about the
new birth. John tells us in John, it says, "...and many as received
him, to them gave he the right to become the sons of God, which
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but
of the will of God." We were born again by the will of God.
We were given a new nature that can no longer live in sin. This is because we who died with
Christ were buried with Christ And consider that burial for
a moment, you that died with Christ, buried with Christ. I want you to see this, that
your sin by His burial testifies that God cannot see your sin. When someone dies, we put them
away from our sight. Don't we? We put them in the
ground, away from our sight. That's what burial is for. When Christ was buried, our sins
were forever put out of God's sight. Forever put out. What he said
by the old man is destroyed. The old man of sin is destroyed.
When he was buried, God forever put our sins out of his sight.
Now listen. He didn't put your sins out of
your sight. Did he? No. He didn't put them
out of your conscience, but before God, who has a pure eyes and
to behold evil, will never charge you with sin. Never charge you
with sin. This is the effect of grace. So as we walk before the Lord,
we cannot live in sin, even because God has removed it. And then
what the writer of the Psalms says, he says, so far hath he
removed our sin from us. How far? As far as the east is
from the west, an infinite distance. That's how far he's removed our
sin from us. Over in Jeremiah chapter 50. Jeremiah chapter 50 and verse
20, it says, In those days and at that time, saith the LORD,
now this is what God says, listen, The iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for, and there shall be none, the sins of Judah, and
they shall not be found. How is that? They were buried
with Christ. Our sins were punished in Christ,
and when He died, we died under the sentence of sin once. But
now then that He's buried, He's put them away. He's put them
away. And so as we are baptized into
His death, we are then what? Raised. Now when you're baptized,
you fall into His death, you're confessing to be in His death,
do you stay down there? What if Christ stayed in the
tomb? Why do you think men try so hard
to prove He didn't rise from the dead? Because they know this.
If he didn't, then our religion is vain. what they're trying
to prove. But we know this. He did rise
from the dead. This is why we come up out of
the water because we are confessing that not only did I die with
Him, not only were my sins buried with Him, but now as He is ascended
into the very heavens where He now lives, we live by virtue
of that union with Him. Paul says this in another place
that our life is hid with God in Christ. Where's your life?
How sure are you of your eternal life? How sure are you that you'll
live eternally? I am so sure of it because he
lives and my life is tied to his. This is the effect of grace,
that your salvation is totally tied to his. Your life is tied
to his. And so he says in verse three
again, he said, no, you not as many of you were baptized into
Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore, we are
buried with him by baptism into death. And like as Christ was
raised from the dead by the glory, by the power of God, even so
shall we walk in newness of life. The word should is better translated
shall. It's not an iffy statement. It is a statement of fact the
Apostle was making here. That just as sure as Christ rose
again from the dead, you were going to walk in newness of life. You too, recently, by grace of
God, believed on Christ. Was there any chance you were
going to miss that? No. There was no chance you were
going to miss it. Because as He lived, He determined
this. You should walk in newness of
life. You're going to walk. You're going to be a new creation. God determined this by grace. Many of us for years kicked and
spit against the gospel of God's grace. And then in a moment of power,
In a moment of gracious power, you that did not believe now
believe. Why? Because you were given a
new nature by which you are able to believe. Paul says in Ephesians
4.24, put on, you that believe, by faith you do this, by faith
you put on this new man. And listen to the nature of this
new man. This new man can only walk in
newness of life because he is created after God in true holiness. That nature can do nothing else
but walk in newness of life. This is what the grace of God
has done. He's created in us a nature by which that cannot,
cannot sin. This new nature, this new man
is created in the image of God. How do you know that? Go to 1
John. Hold these passages dear to you. I just told you in John
chapter 1, if any man say he hath not sinned, he's made God
a liar. Every believer confesses that
he has sinned. Yet what does John say about
us in this new man? Look at chapter 3 and verse 8. Verse John 3 and verse 8. He
that commiteth sin is of the devil. For the devil sinneth
from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God
was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Listen to what he did. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit what? Sin. Why? How is this possible? Here's how. For his seed remaineth
in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. So what's
the truth? That which is born of God doesn't
sin. Go to chapter 5. Look at verse 18. We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not. But he that is begotten of God
keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not. Look at chapter 4 and verse 17. Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because...
Here's why you're going to have some hope in the day of judgment.
Because as he is, And I just told you, He died unto sin, He
was buried, He rose again. How is He? When you think of
Christ, how is He? Does He have any sin? None whatsoever. How is He? Perfect! His love is perfect! His grace
is perfect! His justice is perfect! Everything
about Him is perfect! How is He? John says, As He is. Listen to what he said. So are
we. Now, I know this. When we die,
we're going to ascend into the very presence of our Savior and
we shall be like Him completely. Actually, this new man, this
new man that He's created, It's going to ascend up to heaven
and it's going to be just like Him. His body is going to go
to the earth. One day this body is going to come back and we're
going to have a perfect body and a perfect spirit. And we're
going to be a complete whole man in heaven just like Him. But notice this, John doesn't
stop there. He's not talking about future
things. Look what he says, As He is, so are we when? How are
you like Him right now? As He is, so are we in this present
world. Is it any wonder that Paul is
saying we're going to walk in newness of life? Can the new man walk in any other
way? Is it possible for the new man to walk any other way than
in newness of life? It's not. Therefore, we walk in newness
of life because He's given us a new heart, a new mind, a new
spirit, and by by which we now believe in Him. Do you believe
in Him? Why is that? Why do others not? Because you have a new heart
by which you can believe. Why do you love Him? Why is it
that you desire to serve Him? Is there anyone who is saved
by grace that does not desire to serve Him? We all desire to
serve Him. We want to. It's by this new
man we seek to put off the old. By the power of his grace, we
no longer desire to live and yield our members to sin, but
to God. Why is this? Because this is
a work of grace in us. The joy of this, that I am free
from the guilt of my sin, but now because of his life, he has
given me life. Because of this new creation
that he has made, I can never live any longer in
sin. Now, again, does this mean we're
sinless? Does this mean the influence
and presence of sin is gone? No. Why? Why the dichotomy? Why is it that in this sense
the scripture is telling you that You are perfect. You are
as Christ. And in this other sense, it tells
you, if you say you are without sin, you made God a liar. Why is that so? Because in you,
believer, there are two distinct natures warring within one another
in one body. I've only got two hands. But
there are two natures in this body warring as to what these
hands should do. I got one mind, yet there are
two natures struggling in my mind, warring with one another constantly. It is the desire
of the believer to live without sin. It is our constant struggle
to love God and to serve God. I came across this. Don wrote
this a long time ago. It's a hymn. It's called What
a Paradox I Feel. He said, Two armies within my
soul, both flesh and spirit, seek control. Both grace and
sin resolve to reign, this daily war within maintain. Grace bids
me seek the Lord in prayer, though sin would drive me to despair.
Sin drags me downward to the earth, while grace uplifts my
heavenly birth. The Spirit truly loves the Lord,
His house, His people, and His Word. But still my heart with
sin is tried. The flesh will never step aside. What a paradox I feel. A heart
of flesh, a heart of steel. In love with sin, with sin at
war, myself, I love myself a whore. Anybody else? Anyone else? Do you have this struggle within? This is the life of the believer. The flesh lusteth against the
spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary
one to another. So what? You cannot do what you
won't do. Times our faith will soar to
heaven, We, like Peter, at times could walk on the water, but
the slightest wind, the slightest difficulty, and we sink. Why
is that? Because we are people of two
natures. Sin is mixed with all I do, and
we confess with Paul, O wretched man, that I am. But here is the promise of God. Go back to your text and look
at this quickly with me. Here's the promise of God. Look
at verse 9. Knowing that Christ, being raised
from the dead, dieth no more, what does He tell me? Death hath
no more dominion over Him. Death hath no more dominion over
him. What does this mean for me? Verse
14, For sin shall not have dominion over you. What does the resurrection
of Christ prove? It proves this, that death is
abolished. Remember when Lazarus died? Lazarus died. What did the Lord
tell Mary? He said, Whosoever liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. Why? Just as death had no more
dominion over him, death has no dominion over you. When this
body dies, you don't die. When this body dies, you don't
die. You don't die? Why is that? How can I prove
that? Here it is. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. What is the result of sin? Death. The reason I'm not going
to die is because of this. Sin doesn't have any more dominion
over me. It doesn't have any more power.
It doesn't reign. I'm out of that kingdom. That
kingdom is no longer the kingdom that I'm serving. I'm in another
kingdom now, ruled by another Lord. It has no more reign over
me. I like this. Somebody here in
America, and they're a citizen here, they never traveled to
another country, never did anything wrong in another country, and
yet another country would call over here and say, hey, we're
going to put you to death. It'd be kind of funny because
you don't have any jurisdiction here. You don't have any right
to take me. And so when the guilt of sin
comes, guess what? It's not going to affect you.
You're removed from the guilt of sin. You are in another kingdom,
a kingdom of grace and mercy. Sin shall not have That is, it
shall not reign unto death. It has no hold. It cannot triumph
over the grace and pardon of God. It cannot disrupt your peace
with God, nor can it ever contaminate the righteousness that Christ
has given you. Why is this true? Because Christ
died once. I'm going to read these to you.
I know I'm running long in Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 9. In verse 26,
he says for, let's see, verse 12. Hebrews 9 and verse, well,
if I'd be in the right chapter, that would help. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood he entered in, listen, once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. How many
times did he do that? once. Verse 26, for they must have
often suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in
the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
10. It says, by the witch will we
are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. Verse 12, but this man, after
he'd offered one sacrifice for sin, sat down forever at the
right hand of God, henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified. You see, he by his death has
forever put away sin and the consequence of sin, death, forever. And seeing grace reigns in our
life, Our life is tied to Him, we may
be sure then of heaven and eternal life. Therefore, believer when you doubt, and
you will. When you sin, and you will. When you feel the guilt, and
you will. when the consequences of your
sins come in and God chastens you, and he will. How then are we to see this paradox? You are dead to sin, and yet you don't feel dead to
sin. You are alive to God, and yet you feel dead. What's the remedy? Verse 11,
look at it. Verse 11. Likewise, reckon yourselves to
be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God. What is he saying?
He's saying impute that. Charge that to be so because
it is so. Charge it to be so. Why? It is
so. Reckon yourselves to be indeed
dead to the penalty and the power of sin over you, which is death. You're dead. You've already died.
You can't die twice to this. But more than that, you are now,
by the grace and power of God, alive unto God. And because you are alive unto
God, Paul said then, this exhortation, let us then render our members
to service God. To serve God. Isn't that just
reasonable? After the grace of God has already put away your
sin, given you life, and nothing can remove you from that. Now,
does that move you to sin? Does that gospel move you to
sin? Seeing His love and His grace
and His power and what He's done doesn't move us to sin. It moves
us in the opposite way. What believer does not want to
love Him more? Do you love Him enough? Are you thankful enough for what
He's done? And yet, your failures have nothing
to do with this. It will not interfere. You, in
the eyes of God, because of Christ, are made whole. And that last verse, he says
this, he said, the reason this is so is because you are not
under the law, but under grace. Isn't this what religion would
turn this into? An opportunity to preach law?
Religion would turn this into an opportunity. Shall we sin
that grace may abound? No! You should go back to the
law. Paul takes this opportunity to tell you this. Because you
are free from sin, you're free from sin for this reason. You're
free from the law. The law has no hold over you
whatsoever. Why? You've obeyed it. You've already
obeyed it in Christ. You've already satisfied it by
his death. It doesn't overpower you. You are dead to sin and
alive to God. You are dead to sin, you are
alive to God. You are dead to sin, and you
are alive to God. Reckon that by faith to be so,
regardless of what you think or feel or experience. And this gives us the motivation
to not sin. I pray God will bless this to
you. This end be dismissed in prayer. My Father, dismiss us with your
own mercies and kindness. I beg you, forgive us our sins. Thank you for what you've done
in Christ by grace. Put away our sin, given us life. Give us grace to constantly reckon
it to be so. In Christ's name, amen.