We're going to begin chapter
six today of Romans, this beautiful letter that the Holy Spirit inspired
Paul to write on the salvation of our Savior, not just to the
Jew only, but to the Gentile, to all who believe in Christ,
to all who are justified by the just Jesus Christ himself. And
in Romans chapter 6, we begin with verse 1, which says, what
shall we say then? Now, this is after we looked
at this back here, where sin hath reigned. Let me read verse
20, moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound,
but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. that as
sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign to
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now,
when Paul wrote those words, he had experience, folks. Like many of you, our brother
Mike, a lot of his knowledge is still based on what he knew
at one time in his religion that he practiced before God opened
his eyes to the truth. And some of us were that way
too. I have never had that experience. God called me out of darkness
from the religion of John, not some other religion. And so when
John came onto the scene, when he left that religion of John
and God drew him to himself, I didn't have any background
from where I came from to consider what Paul did. And what happened
was Paul Signer, as we're released, or when the Lord revealed his
truth to Paul, knowing what Paul knew from the religion that he
had once walked in, he naturally came to him, well, you know,
people are gonna ask this question, well, why shouldn't we just go
out and sin more? Why don't we just go ahead and
sin? If grace abounds so much more, Paul, if what you're saying
is grace is so much more a more sensuous, more lascivious life.
Well, he says here in chapter six, verse one, what shall we
say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? See, that's a question that Paul
is basing. He knows somebody's gonna think
that. He knows somebody's gonna think that. And the Holy Spirit
inspired him to write that down, and now he's gonna answer that.
This chapter begins with an objection which Paul knew would be presented
against the gospel of free grace. Someone might say, if we are
justified by the grace of God alone, apart from any worse,
what is it to keep us from continuing in sin? They like to call us
antinomian, lawless people. We don't live by the law. And
that's not the truth at all. We do live by the law of faith.
That's what we read back in chapter three, verse 27. Where is boasting that is excluded
by what law of works? Nay, but by the law of faith.
We love God's law. God's law is great, and I'd love,
you know, if I could live the way I wanted to, I'll bet you,
I'll bet you, every one of you are probably sitting here thinking
the same thing of yourself. If I could just live the way
I wanted to, wouldn't that be awesome? The day's coming, folks,
when we will live the way we want to, and that's when the
Lord takes us out of this world. We leave this world, we go to
be with our Father in heaven, will be just the way we want
to, perfect in every way, huh? If that were the case, if someone
might say that we were justified by grace alone, if where our
sin is worst and our guilt is greatest, God's grace abounds
and is glorified more, then let us sin more, and more grace would
be glorified. Henry Mahan points something
out about that. He says, to begin with, sin of itself is not the
cause of glorifying God You catch that? Sin is not the cause of
it. No. Sin is the cause of wrath
and judgment. That's what sin is. It's the
cause of wrath and judgment, not grace. And God has been pleased
to magnify His grace. Isn't that what it is all about?
Isn't that where we see the grace of our God? It's not in what
we sin. It's not in what we do. It's
in His, what He has done to rectify us unto Himself because he loves
us. That's the grace of God that
we echo. That's the grace that is magnified.
Sin doesn't glorify anything. It is not the commission of sin
that grace is glorified, but the forgiveness of it. Grace
is glorified by putting a stop to the reign of sin in God's
people, not by encouraging it. Grace enables men to hate and
to be done with sin, not to love and to pursue it. I can tell
you there's a lot in my life right now, a lot in my life right
now that I'm ashamed of that I was not ashamed of before.
I'm ashamed of my doubt. I'm ashamed of the fact that
I don't believe the way I want to. I'm ashamed of the fact that
I don't live according to the Lord as I want to, like we just
mentioned a moment ago. People think that sin is just,
you know, killing somebody, stealing something, lying. Folks, sin
is everything we do in this flesh. Everything we do. We do it in
the short of the glory of God. That's what sin is. That's what
sin is. In verse 2, Paul writes this.
He says, God forbid, God forbid that we walk in sin. How shall
we that are dead to sin live any longer therein. We're in
Romans chapter six, verses one, and now verse two. Folks, God
forbid, God forbid is an expression that Paul frequently uses throughout
the scriptures, many times in several places. He uses it to
express shock. In other words, what? How dare
you think that? I've said this before. People
who say that we're lawless, and that we could just go out and
sin willy-nilly as much as we want and not have to worry about
it, they don't know God. They have absolutely no idea
who God is. They have no experience of what
grace is. Amen, brother. Amen. It takes
God to do it for us. God forbid that we would walk
in sin. Paul uses that as an expression
of shock. How shall we who are dead to sin live in sin, he says? Have you ever wondered in what
sense are we dead to sin? Have you ever wondered about
that? How does Paul write that we're dead to sin? That's what
it says, that how shall we that are dead to sin? How am I dead
to sin? It sure seems like it's alive
in me, doesn't it? Doesn't it to you? It seems like
my sin is ever before me. Isn't that what David said? Paul
says, O wretched man that I am, that means he sees his sin ever
before him. Isn't that what that's talking
about? How am I dead to sin? First off, we are dead, first
off, we are not dead to its influence. This might help us to understand
how we are dead to sin. Turn over to chapter seven, just
the page over to the right, and look with me at verse 15. Romans
chapter seven, verse 15. For that which I do, I do allow
not. For what I should, for what I
would, that do I not. But what I hate, that I do. So
obviously we're not dead to the influence of sin, are we? Paul
wasn't. That's what he's talking about
here, the sin that's in his flesh. Look at another verse here, verse
19 of that same chapter seven. For the good that I would, I
do not. But the evil which I would, which
I would not, that I do. Sin, we are not dead to the influence
of sin, nor are we dead to its presence. Look at verse 21. Paul
declares his presence of sin in his flesh right here. He says,
I find then a law that when I would do good, evil, sin is present
with me. We're also not, we're not dead
to the effects of it. Look over at verse 24. Here's
the effects. See how we saw that? We see the
influence. We saw the presence of it, and
now we see the effects of it down here in verse 24. Oh, wretched
man that I am. Oh, wretched man that I am. Look the effect that sin has
now upon us. We're not dead to that. We're
not dead to the fact that we stand in the corner beating our
chest and saying, Lord, have mercy on us. In Psalms 51.3,
our Lord taught us to pray. Actually, you know what? Let's do that. Let's turn over
to Psalms 51. Hold your place there in Romans. We're gonna
come back to it. Turn over to Psalms 51. We're not dead to the presence
of sin. We're not dead to the influence
of sin. And we're definitely not dead to the effects of sin.
So what is Paul saying when he says we are dead, we that are
dead to sin? Over here in Psalms 51, 51 verse
3 says, for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is
ever before me. Our Lord taught us to pray these
words, didn't he? Over in 1 John 1 verse 9, forgive
us our sins. Isn't that what the Lord teaches
us through those words? He teaches us that we're dead
to its penalty and guilt. Sin cannot condemn us. Isn't
that what we read in the eighth chapter of Romans? There is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8,
verse one, or over in verse 33, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect. Isn't that what our Lord is teaching
us there? This is being dead to sin. We
are dead to sin as a master, as a master who rules over us.
There was a day when we freely, freely gave in to the will of
sin. Today, we fight against it. Do we do it good? Are we good
at it? No. Are we getting better at
it? Maybe, if it's God's will. I
remember a time when I didn't care about it. I remember the time when I didn't
have any thought about unbelief of God or any shame of not worshiping
the true and living God. I had no shame of saying God's
name in vain. I was a truck driver. That's
what truck drivers do, truck drivers and fishermen. We are
dead to the rule that sin has over us. We actually fight back
at it. We actually try to turn away
from it now. It actually bothers us now than
in ways it didn't before. Christ is our Lord now. We are
dead to sin as a course of life. Sin no longer is looked upon
as a friend, but it's now looked upon as an enemy. How shall we
who have this attitude towards sin actually live in sin? Persons are said to live in sin
when they give themselves up to it. I'll use this as an example. I've shared with you folks, you
folks know, and I know it's past seven years now, so. Whatever
that length of time goes by where they can't convict you anymore,
I'm praying that's still applicable to taxes. But there was a time
when I was a tax cheat. There was a time when I would
mark everything I thought I could get away with on my taxes. And
hope and pray that I wouldn't get audited. When the Lord called
me out of darkness, I almost, this woman here, almost fell
out of the chair at a tax office one day. And our tax lady said,
how much did you give to the church last year? Because I had
given to the church every year, even though I wasn't going to
church, even though I had never given a dime to any church anywhere.
How much are you going to give this year? Zero. What? I'm serious. Didn't that
what happened? You about fell out of your chair.
Lord hadn't called her out of darkness yet. She was still wanting
to claim all that we used to claim. That's what I'm talking
about. I'm not trying to tell you I'm
a better person. I'm just trying to tell you I don't like doing
that anymore. I don't like, it bothers me to
have those kinds of thoughts in my mind. It bothers me to
question my Lord and what he brings my way. I don't give myself
up to it anymore. I fight back. When sin is in
our presence and delight is in it, when we offer no real resistance
to it, then living in sin and justifying sin are contrary to
the Spirit of Christ and the like of the world. Turn over
to 1 John, 1 John chapter two. This is what it's talking about
over here, just the other side of Peter, 1 John chapter two.
Look at verses 15 and 16 with me. Love not the world, neither
the things that are in the world. If any man love the world and
the love of the Father is not in him, For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and
the pride of life is not of the Father, but it is of the world. That's what that's talking about.
Do we still live in the world? Do we still give in to the lust
of our flesh, the lust of our eyes? If you're not fighting
against it, then you're living in the love of sin, and the Father
is not in you. Back in our text, Romans 6, verses
3 and 4 together, we read these words, Know ye not that so many
of us were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his
death? Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from
the dead, did you catch that? Like as Christ. Just as he was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, Even so, we also should walk
in the newness of life. All those sins were put away.
All the sins that we will commit have been put away. I don't know
about you, but that helps me walk better. I'm not trying to
bring your attention to what John is doing. No. If I'm gonna
bring your attention to anything, I want to bring your attention
to Christ and what he's done. But because of that, I want to
walk better. I want to walk towards my God
better. That's where my joy is. Is it
yours? Paul's answer. This is what Paul's
answer is right here, what we just read. The objection that
was set forth in the question that he brought up in Romans
6 verse 1, he's showing us that sanctification of the believer
rests on the same foundation as his justified union with Christ. We're justified in him, are we
not? Therefore, let us walk like we are. The believer rests on
the same foundation as his justified union with Christ. There are
two types of baptisms that it's actually speaking about here.
There are two baptisms. First on, we were baptized in
Christ. This is not a figure. but an actual experience. It's
a real union with Christ. That's what it means to be baptized
in Christ, to die in him in the grave. When he died in that grave,
you and I died with him. When he arose from that grave,
we arose in him. That's what it means to be in
Christ. I wasn't there that day. I didn't
actually get buried. Did you? My spirit did. John Reeves, in every name for
whom our Lord went to that cross for, died in our Savior that
very day. And we were raised that very
day for him. That's what it means to be baptized
in Christ, in him. Secondly, we were baptized in
water right here in the flesh, in the body that we walk in,
right? I believe everybody here has been baptized. That is what
the meaning of our baptism is. We are confessing. We are confessing
to those around us that we are identified with Christ in his
death, we are identified with Christ in his burial, and we
are identified with Christ in his resurrection. We are dead
to the old life, it is buried, and we rise and walk as new creatures
with new hearts, new hearts that desire, new hearts that hate
sin and desire to fight it, Why? Because he who first loved me
said so. He tells me it's good for me.
He tells me I'll live a better life if I can. He'll tell me
things, he tells me it goes much easier for me when I do it his
way. We don't do it, if we don't do it his way, it's only because
he allows us. It's only because he has a purpose
for us to do whatever it is we're going to do. He had a purpose
for Jonah to run from him. When he sent Jonah to go and
preach to Nineveh, And Jonah ran? You think he did it because
he had more power over God? No, God had a purpose for him
to let him go. God had a purpose to let him
go. So that he would learn salvation is of the Lord. So that he would
die in the belly of the fish and be raised again to the salvation
of Christ Jesus the Lord. Just as you and I must do certain
things We are dead to the old life, it is buried, and we rise
to walk as new creatures with new hearts, new principles, and
a new life. Turn over to Philippians chapter
three, verses eight through 11. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. This is Paul. He's talking about
all the things that he could have, because he had been circumcised
of the eighth day. He was of the stock of Israel.
He was of the tribe of Benjamin. He was the Hebrew of Hebrews,
as we read in verse five. He's saying all of that stuff,
yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered,
and the loss of all things, and to do count them but dung, that
I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may
know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death if
by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Look back at Romans chapter three. Read with me what I just pointed
out a moment ago. Read with me verses 27 and 28,
Romans chapter three. Where is the boasting then? It
is excluded. By what law? What law is the
boasting excluded with? Of works? No. The law of works. If you could do the law of works,
you'd have a right to boast, wouldn't you? No, no, it can't
be that. Nay, but by the law of faith. Our Lord says, whosoever believeth
shall be saved. Whosoever believeth shall have
eternal life. That's what faith is, folks.
Believing, trusting. We must go through the trials
that we go through because it brings us more and more. We grow
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
grow in our faith, in our trust, our belief, in the knowledge
of our Savior, Christ Jesus. Therefore, we conclude, verse
28, that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the
law. Back in our text in Romans chapter
six, we read in verse five, for if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness
of his resurrection. The nature of baptism is buried. That's why we don't sprinkle
water on people. Baptismal means buried. And it's
a representation of Christ being buried. Christ didn't have a
little dirt sprinkled on him. He was put in the ground, was
he not, in the belly of the earth for three days? Isn't that what
the scripture tells us? He was buried. If you want baptism,
you gotta go into the water and be buried. We were buried in
Christ. All of our sins were buried with
him. Burial signifies not only being dead with Christ and the
blessings resulting of that union, but are being dead to the world,
dead to sin. Even as Christ was done with
the sins he bore, our sins, we are dead to them. The end of
baptism is what? What's the end of baptism? What
happens? You're brought up out of the water, isn't that what
it is? Signifying that like Christ, we've been raised again from
the dead. The person does not remain buried in the water, but
he rises even as Christ arose. And that's in the likeness of
his resurrection, no longer under the control of sin. Sin had been
left behind. Christ buried it with the flesh
of his body. He had arose, leaving all that
sin where it was in the ground, and self under the power and
the influence of the Holy Spirit. Look over 2 Corinthians chapter
5. We won't be much longer here. And look with me, if you would,
at verse 17. This is what it is to be risen
again in our Savior. Therefore, if any man be in who? See that in Christ? Once again,
we see it in Christ. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. New. The reference here is many
also. be to live after the resurrection,
as it says in Romans chapter six, verses eight through 10.
Back in our text again in Romans, we look at verse six, Paul writes
this, he says, knowing this, knowing that we were baptized
in Christ is what he's talking about, that our old man was crucified
with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin. We don't serve sin anymore. Sin,
we were bound to sin before, folks. Christ has freed us from
sin, from the guilt of it, from the effects of it, from the costs
of it. He's freed us from our sins. It's called our old man because
it was with us from birth, and that's our old nature. It's a
nature we received from our father Adam, and it consists of parts
and members such as our will. Our will was bound by our nature
at that point. We would not come to Christ.
Isn't that correct? My will would have led me off
and down that road of destruction. What about yours? Because my
old will, the old man, was bound by the nature that I was born
with, the nature of sin. My old nature, My old member,
my mind, my mind was bound by sin. My affection and my actions. Look at Ephesians chapter 4 verse
22. Beginning at verse 21, actually
read these words. If so be it that ye have heard
him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that
ye put off concerning the former conversation. Now that word conversation
means your walk of life. your way of life. You put off
the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according
to the deceitful lusts. We can read in Colossians chapter
3, beginning at verse 8, But now ye also put off all things,
anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your
mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the
old man with his deeds. Folks, our old nature can never
be improved. It must be destroyed. It was
crucified daily by the spirit and grace of Christ that his
reigning power might be subdued. It remains with us until death,
but we shall not indulge. We shall not indulge it nor make
provisions for it. But daily we crucify it. We serve Christ, not sin, as
we see back in our text, verse 16. Know ye not that to whom
ye yield your service to, obey his servants ye are to whom you
obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? And now, in verse seven of our
text, we come to this meat of our study. It says, for he that
is dead is freed from sin. This is not a physical death.
We shall one day die physically and we shall be freed forever
from the presence of sin when the Lord takes us out of this
world. But the reference here is the fact that being one with
Christ in his death under the curse of the law, having paid
the penalty in full, we are totally clear of any penalty. We are
totally clear of the curse that was upon us. We are totally clear
of the charge from the war that is within. We are totally clear
from the deeds that we have done, but we are free from its dominion,
from the guilt of it and from the punishment of it and on account
of it. Now, let's close with Romans
6, 8 through 10. 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
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. If those who believe are one
with Christ in his death, and that's what the scripture tells
us, if they have a sure hope of living forever with him, the
reference here is to life after resurrection. Christ having been
raised from the dead will not die again. He died once, that
was all he needed to do. It was effectual. He died and
we died in him, so that means our death was effectual too.
Because it was in him. That's how come our righteousness
is effectual. It's not ours, it's the righteousness
of Christ. Isn't that right? Isn't that
what the scripture tells us? The reference here is to life
after resurrection, He will not die again, so neither will those
who have died in him and are risen with him. The law, sin,
and death have no charge against us anymore. He was charged for
us. For the full price he had paid
it, the law is honored by him and justice is satisfied. That's
what we read over in Romans chapter eight, verses 32 through 34.
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God the left? It is God that
justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, brethren, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. He died to sin once because in
that death, he fully satisfied every charge. He satisfied God
the Father's demand for justice. The proof of that is Christ was
raised from the dead. He's no longer dead. He sits
on his throne. All those people, some say over
500, witnessed witnessed our Lord after he had
arose from the dead, he walked among them. But he only showed
himself to his people. He didn't show himself to the
reprobates. He lives unto God in an unbroken fellowship with
him, and as we now live in him, our fellowship with him is unbroken
as well. Now let me close with a statement
from Henry Mann. He said, if you do not see complete
deliverance from sin's curse, do you hear that? If you do not
see that our Lord completely did it all, everything, if you
don't see it being as done, if you don't see us being delivered
from the guilt of it and the dominion in Christ, sin will
continue its hold and reign over you. If you cannot see complete
deliverance in Christ, you will open the door to unbelief and
doubt. and leave room for attacks of
legalism and self-righteousness. If you don't see the grace of
God in his complete salvation of you, you leave yourself open
to fall prey to those who teach you gotta do something. You gotta
get up and do something. God's done all he can, now it's
up to you. If you don't see the complete salvation in Christ
and as it being done, You leave room for attacks of self-righteousness. See what I've done? See the change
that's in me? See how much a different person
I am than I was then? That's self-righteousness. Folks,
don't leave yourselves open to that. Trust in Christ. Trust
in Christ alone.