Let's open our Bibles to Romans
chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. Now, I'm going
to preach this morning on this subject. A new life in Jesus
Christ. A new life in Jesus Christ. Now last week, I preached from
the first few verses of this chapter on the old man and the
new man. The old man and the new man,
you remember. That message and this message
today is in line with what I've been preaching for several weeks
on the new creation. If any man be in Christ, a new
creation. We live in the realm of the new
creation created for us by Jesus Christ. The old man, he says,
is dead. Look at verse Verse 6, he says,
knowing this, that our old man is crucified. That's a past tense
verb. That refers to an action that
took place in the past and is not to be repeated. That's what
the tense of the verb is. Crucified, dead, not progressively
dying, but crucified. And it says with him, with Christ.
When he died, I died. When he was buried, I was buried.
When he arose, I arose. That's our position. If you're
a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that's your position
in Christ. He's your substitute. Stood in
your place on Calvary's cross. Obeyed the law unto death, even
the death of the cross. He was made sin, the scripture
says. He who knew no sin for us. Not for himself, but for
us. substitution you know that doctrine
of substitution is taught throughout the Old Testament it's it's replete
with the substitutionary death of Christ in types and pictures
of the blood of animals the first thing that God did when he spoke
in the gospel of the person of Christ in Genesis 3 15 concerning
the seed of woman is he removed the fig leaf aprons from Adam
and Eve, which represented, symbolized their works, man's attempts at
trying to make himself righteous, cover his nakedness, his shame. And you remember what God did
in Genesis 3, 21? He slew an animal and made coats
of skin. He shed blood. He told Adam,
he said, that's the issue. Sin deserves death. And the day
that you eat thereof, you shall surely die. And so death is the
result. Well, Christ died, it says here. It says in verse 5, for if we've
been planted together in the likeness of his death, that's
when he died, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection,
knowing this, that our old man is crucified. The old man, if
you remember, that's our former condemnation connection with
Adam under the covenant of works condemned. That's dead. You say,
well, Aren't I still condemned? Not if you're in Christ. Read
Romans 8, 1. There is therefore now what? No condemnation to
them which are in Jesus Christ, who walk not according to the
flesh, but according to the Spirit. Am I still condemned? Well, he
says in Romans chapter 8, he says, if God be for us, who can
be against us? What shall we say to these things?
He says, who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justified.
No, if you're in Christ, you're not condemned. That's right. Now that's your position in Christ. That's the new man. I'm in Christ. Now there's a lot of things about
me that you see and that I see that don't meet up to that. And that's the problem. That's
our experience, see? But look at verse seven. He says,
for he that is dead is freed from sin. That word freed there
is justified. Dead. Now, verse eight. Listen
to this. He says, he says, now if we be
dead with Christ, on down later, he says, or back up in verse
two, he says this, God forbid, how shall we that are dead to
sin? To be dead to sin is the same as being dead with Christ.
How are we dead to sin? How are we dead with Christ? Well, look at verse 8. Here's
our text. A new life in Jesus Christ. He
says, now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall
also live with him, live with Christ. To be dead with Christ
is to live with Christ, verse 9, knowing that Christ being
raised from the dead dieth no more. Now Christ on the cross,
he died physically, he was buried but he arose again and he dies
no more. And he says death hath no more
dominion, no more domination over him. Now we'll die physically
And even those who are on earth when Christ returns, there will
be the equivalent of physical death because 1 Corinthians 15
says, we shall all be changed in the twinkling of an eye. What
kind of change are we going to go through? Well, I can't really
describe all that to you because the scripture doesn't, but I
know it's the death of this body and the reception of a new spiritual
body. So he says, if we be dead with
Christ, verse nine, 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. Now, did you see that? That means he didn't keep dying
and dying and dying. You know, these people talk about,
well, I'm dying more and more to sin. First of all, that's
a lie. It's just not true. Our death
to sin here is related to Christ's death to sin. And I'll show you
that in just a moment. But it says, he died unto sin
one time. And you can talk, I mean, we
can talk about some glorious things in that, can't we? By
one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.
I love that, Hebrews chapter 10. But he died unto sin once. He didn't keep dying, and he's
not dying now to sin. He died one time to sin. His
death was enough to put away all the sins of all his people. And he didn't have to keep dying
and dying and dying. It wasn't like those sacrifices
under the old covenant. They had to keep offering them,
didn't they? They had sacrifices every day,
every week, every month. And each time, one time a year,
they had the Passover, the atonement, day of atonement, which uh...
related to the passover and those and the reason that they had
to keep going doing that over and over again is because the
blood of bulls and goats the blood of animal sacrifices could
never take away sin but the blood of jesus christ
the god man one time he took away sin he'd satisfied the justice
of god one time he brought in everlasting righteousness One
time. And that was enough. Why was
that enough? Because of who he is. He's God
in human flesh. You remember when the angel told
Joseph about the Christ child, Mary being with child. He said,
don't put her away. He said, this holy thing within
her womb He is the Savior of His people. His name shall be
called Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins. Well,
is He able to do that? Well, His name shall be called
Immanuel, which is God with us. So yes, He's able. Paul said
He's able to save to the uttermost. He died unto sin once. Death
has no more dominion over Him. And death has no more dominion
over we who are in Him The physical death that we suffer or will
experience is a passing over. It's a victory. It's what 1 Corinthians
15 says also. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is removed,
you see, by victory that we have in Christ Jesus who died unto
sin once. Now look at verse 10. He says,
for in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he
liveth, he liveth unto God. He lives forever as the God-man
seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavenlies. Now
look at verse 11. This is key. If we are going
to understand how am I dead to sin? How am I dead with Christ?
Likewise. Now you know what the word likewise
means? It means in the same way. In the exact same way. You know what reckon means? That
means account. You're taking an account. It's
like giving an account here. It's related to the word impute. Likewise, here's the way you're
to impute. A lot of times the word impute in the New Testament
is translated think. You remember in Philippians chapter
4 he says, think on these things. That's the same word used in
Romans for about impute, account. And what the Holy Spirit is teaching
God's people here who believe in Christ, is this is how we're
to think. This is how we're to account
ourselves, not because we feel it or see it or experience it,
but because God says it's true. And so he says in verse 11, likewise,
in the exact same way that Christ died unto sin, reckon you also
yourselves to be dead, and look at that next word, dead indeed
unto sin. Not part dead, not playing like
you're dead, not some legal fiction, dead indeed unto sin. Now, what a statement to say
to sinners like us. I mean, what a statement. You see, we are to account ourselves
as dead, we who are in Christ. Now, this is not for everybody.
I mean, I'll just be honest with you. The world today, in the
false gospel, tells you that God loves everybody, Christ died
for everybody, and you can apply these blessings if you'll just
do your part. That is not scriptural. Listen,
there's not even anything in this Bible close to that. It is just not there. And I'll
tell you, if you're serious about understanding these things, that's
where you better go, to the Scriptures, isn't it? Here's the thing that we have
to set on our minds according to God's Word. Do I really trust
Christ alone for all my salvation, for all the forgiveness of all
my sins, for my righteousness before God, for eternal life
and glory, or am I looking somewhere else? And for all who look to
Christ and rest in Him, this is how you are to think. Likewise,
reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. Just
the same way that Christ died to sin. In the exact same way
that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died unto sin. Now, ask
yourself this question. How did Christ die unto sin? Well now, He did not die unto
sin's corruption, and contamination and influence within himself.
Now why didn't he die to that? Because he had no corruption
of sin within himself. He had no contamination of sin
within himself. He had no influence of sin upon
his mind, his affections, his will. He never had a sinful thought. He never had a sinful motive.
He never had a sinful goal. Everything he thought, everything
he said, everything he did, everything he felt was in exact accordance
with God's standard of absolute perfect holiness. Now, all that's
redundant. Holiness, there's no such thing
as an absolute, un-absolute, imperfect holiness. But you have
to say it that way to get it through our thick heads. I'm
serious, mine too now. I'm not just you, it's me too.
Even when he was on that cross, I want you to go through sometime,
and I've been thinking about doing a series on this sometime
later on, the seven sayings on the cross. And you think about
our Lord hanging there on that cross, he was guilty? That's right. What is it to be
guilty? It means he deserved condemnation.
Deserved it. He deserved what he got. Not because he was a sinner or
made a sinner. No, sir. But because of my sins. And the sins of all his people
charged to him. That's why he deserved it. He
said, put it on my account. I'll pay for it. In fact, listen. If my debt is put to your account,
you're responsible for it. If you take it to your account,
you're responsible for it, I'm no longer responsible for it.
You are, if it's put to your account. The debt of the sins
of his people was put to his account and he willingly took
that and died. Now he's hanging on that cross,
he's guilty, he's under the wrath of God, justly. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him, Scripture said. But all that time he was hanging
on that cross, he never had a sinful thought. Never had a sinful motive. He never broke the law. His thoughts,
his sight, his motives were always perfectly holy. Do you believe that? I do. Because I want to tell you something.
If he had broken the law or sinned in any way or been contaminated
in his mind, he would have been immediately disqualified to die
for our sins. How did he die to sin? He died
unto sin's guilt and condemnation. How am I dead to sin? I'm dead
to sin's guilt and condemnation. Likewise, in the same way. You
say, well, do you feel like you're dead to sin, guilt, and condemnation?
Not always. Has nothing to do with feeling.
They come and go. They can be deceiving. But I know that I am. Why? I'll tell you why. My hope is
built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus'
name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
Now, my believing didn't accomplish that. My believing just changes
my thoughts towards it and my way of looking at it. My believing
didn't accomplish it. Christ accomplished it on Calvary's
cross, even before I was born, even after Abel was dead. He
accomplished it. He did it all. That's what grace
is all about. Christ who knew no sin was made
sin and so came under the wrath of God on the account of our
sin charged to Him. And He was dealt with by the
Father in terms of those sins in His sufferings and death on
the cross. And once He died and paid the sin debt in full, and
satisfied the infinite inflexible justice of God for all for whom
he died, what happened? God raised him from the dead.
And so in this he had a changed standing before God the Father
as our substitute. Look at verse 10 again. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. He
bore our sins in His own body on the tree. He bears them no
more. They're gone. He put it away.
Our debt was charged to Him. It's not charged to Him anymore.
He paid it in full. And now He lives under God. So
likewise, reckon yourselves. Now when we say He was changed
as to His standing before the Father, that doesn't mean He
changed in His nature as God. He cannot change. He's Jesus
Christ. the son of the living God, the same yesterday, today,
and forever. God cannot change. But as God-man,
as to his standing under the justice of God legally as the
substitute and surety of his people, what did he do? He put
our sins away. He bore them away just like the
old scapegoat in the Old Testament into a land where they never
come up again. He was made sin. Our sins were
charged to Him. He put them away. We become the
righteousness of God. Where? In Him. You read that in 2 Corinthians?
We become the righteousness of God in Him. As we are considered
in Him. Not in ourselves. So our standing before God in
Him was worked out in time by Him on the cross. By Him, by
Him, by Him. And as far as Christ is concerned,
sin is out of the way. It's a dead domain. Hath no more
dominion over him. No relationship to sin as sin
has no claims upon him in that he satisfied divine justice.
Now, our union with him does the exact same thing for us if
we're united to him. No longer in the sphere of sin
and death, but positionally in the sphere of resurrection and
life in Jesus Christ. Knowing this, he says, our old
man is dead. And that's not by experience,
that's not by feeling. That's just simply what God says. And doesn't that mean more to
you than your experiences and feelings, what God says? Doesn't
it? It should. I'm not saying experiences
and feelings are not important. They are. I'm not saying that
we don't have them. We do. But what settles the issue of
my standing before a holy God? Is it my experience and feelings?
No. It's what God says. And what does he say? He says,
this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him.
Hear what he has to say. He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you what? Rest. Are there ever any times in your
life that you're not at rest? Be honest. A lot of times I'm
not at rest. But I'm always at rest in Christ.
You see the difference? Does that make any sense at all?
I mean, I go through life, and you go through life, and listen,
we don't know. We may feel good today, but now
tomorrow may be different. Right now, you may be experiencing
things in your life that none of us know about that's just
tearing you up. You ever been there? But you
know what? You may feel torn up, but that
doesn't change one degree your standing in Christ. That's the
rest that God talks about. And I love that. I love that
it's based on nothing else but God's Word. I love that. Because
you know why? Because then I can bank on it.
Then I can really rest in it. The gospel. Think about it. Our
justification. I mean, I'm right before God. Does that mean I do everything
right? No. I do a lot of things wrong. But
I am right before God by what Christ accomplished on the cross. and based on His righteousness
imputed, charged, accounted to me. And one day in my life, God the
Holy Spirit came, and He brought me under the preaching of this
message of grace, the gospel, the true gospel. I'd been under
a false gospel for many years. Set my mind to study in that
false gospel, and He revealed it to me. He revealed Christ. God's Word, known, believed,
submitted to, is revealed. Not true because I... Listen,
you know what? It was true before I believed
it. It didn't become true because I believed it. And it was effectual
before I believed it because the power of it is what brought
me to believe it. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and the Greek also. For therein
is the righteousness of God revealed. That's what we're talking about,
the righteousness of God here in Christ. As it is written, the just shall
live by faith. From faith to faith, as it is
written, the just shall live. Redemption. Brought, bought, lock, stock
and barrel out of slavery to sin and darkness. The imputation
of my sins to Christ. He took my debt. His righteousness
to me. He gave me His merits. Reconciliation
to God. He brought us together by the
cross. Pardoned my sins. And all of that was true of me,
legally and positionally, before I ever knew about it. And if
you're in Christ, it's true of you, before you ever knew about
it. Our old man has been once and
for all crucified, put to death by divine agency and power. What is that old man? Remember
now, that's our former position in Adam. Condemned by the covenant
of works and our former unregenerate selves that connected us with
Adam in spiritual death. That's gone. The old man was
crucified with Christ. He's as dead as dead can be.
How do you know that? There's therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ. But look on. He says that he
did all that for a reason. Look at verse 11 again. Now all of that glorifies God
in Christ, but there's the result of it, there's the fruit, there's
the effect of it. Look at verse 11 again. Likewise,
or in the same way, reckon or account you also yourselves to
be dead indeed in the sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. What comes out of that standing
with God in Christ? I'll tell you what, life. Spiritual
life for his people. Read back over and go across
the page to verse 18 of chapter 5. We read this at the beginning. Here he says, therefore as by
the offense of one. Now you know who the one there
is. That's Adam. That's the context tells you
that. You know back there in verse 12. He says, wherefore
as by one man's sin entered into the world and death by sin. And
so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned or literally
all sinned, that's the tense of the verb. Adam represented
all his human family, his descendants. So verse 18, it says, by the
offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation.
Now that's the old man right there. That judgment of condemnation
in Adam. And he says, even so by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men under justification of
life. That's the new man in Christ. The offensive one, Adam, he brought
the whole human race down, ruined by the fall. The righteousness
of one, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, the God man. And what
did he do? He justified his people. He removed
our guilt and made us right with God. And what comes out of that? Look here. Justification of what? Life. Or it could be translated
unto life. But look at verse 19. For as
by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous. That's it. And so the old man
was crucified with Christ. What Christ has done for us as
a result of our union with Him in His death on the cross. Now
that's not our experience. Like I said, you weren't even
there when that happened. I wasn't there when that happened. It's
not what we feel, but it's our position before God and our relationship
with Christ. He's my substitute. He's my surety.
And so our old man was once and for all crucified, completed
in the past, never to be repeated. We're not in the process of crucifying
the old man. That's already done by Christ.
It's not what we're doing. It's something that was done
for us by Christ. But the fruit of the crucifixion
of that old man is what? that the body of sin might be
destroyed, the old man and the body of sin, those are distinct
terms. And so what is he talking about? Well, look at it again.
Verse 11. And I know I keep repeating this,
but I want you to see it. Likewise, reckon you also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Spiritual life comes in our experience. That's the new birth. See, ruined
by the fall, redeemed by the blood, and then what? Regenerated
by the Holy Spirit. That's the new birth. Now that
regeneration by the Holy Spirit is the fruit and the result of
being redeemed by the blood of Christ. That's what it is. I've talked to several people
about that subject. You see, the new birth, being
alive unto God, is not the completion of what Christ did on the cross,
but didn't finish. No. What did He say in John 19.30
when He was hanging on that cross? Anybody remember it? It's finished. It's complete. What was completed? The old man was crucified. The
new man established. Sins put away. Righteousness
forever and ever. And you know, there was no possibility
that that wouldn't happen. Christ coming, Christ obeying
the law, Christ going to the cross, Christ dying, buried and
rose again. There was no possibility that
that was not going to happen. How do I know that? Because the
Old Testament saints were already justified based on it. David said, Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without worse. You know when
David said that, Christ hadn't even come yet? But He did come,
didn't He? So the old man's dead. Now what's
the result of that? Look at verse 12 now. He says,
Let not sin therefore reign or rule in your mortal body. What's
the mortal body? You know what mortal means. It
means dying. That's this body of death, right
here, you see before you, right there you're sitting in that
body. You have a soul, you have a spirit, you have a body. This
physical body, look over at Romans 8 and verse 10. Listen to this. If Christ be in you, the body,
look at it again, Romans 8, 10, if Christ be in you, the body
is dead because of sin, that's the mortal body. But the Spirit, the Holy Spirit,
is life because of righteousness. You see, the death of this body,
this physical body, this mortal body, is the consequence of sin. But the death of this body does
not mean condemnation. Why? Because the Spirit is life
because of righteousness. We have life, spiritual life.
We really don't know a whole lot about that. We know a few things because
God teaches us. We know the results of it. And
I've told you before, I said, these preachers who get in there
and they try to analyze that and it's almost like they're
trying to draw up some kind of a physiological chart for you.
They can't do it because they don't have God's word. All we
know is the results of it. And the main result of it is
this, we know our sinfulness and we know Christ. and his righteousness. And so look what he says, let
not sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it
in the lust thereof. Now, if I'm dead to sin's contamination
and influence, then why does he tell us here not to let sin
reign in our mortal bodies in the lust thereof? You know what
lust is, don't you? Lust is an unlawful, sinful desire. Now
here's what Paul says here. He says the same people who are
dead to sin, dead with Christ, have to fight off unholy, unlawful,
sinful desires. So what's he talking about? He's
talking about our position in Christ, dead to sin, the old
man's crucified, and our experience here on this earth as born again,
regenerated sinners. We still have what? What does
the Bible call it? What do we have in us? What does
the Bible call it? The what? The flesh. What is the flesh? Well, sometimes when the Bible
speaks of the flesh, it's talking about physical things. This hand here is flesh, skin
and bones, blood, nerves, all of that. There's nothing sinful
about that in and of itself. Christ had that, didn't He? As
man. He had a hand, He had skin and bone and flesh. Listen, when
they nailed Him to that tree, Some people say they nailed it
through his palms because that's what he showed Thomas, the palms
of his hands. Some people say it was back here. It doesn't
matter. It went through flesh just like it would go through
your flesh and it was a terrible, terrible torturing pain. When they flogged him with the
cat of nine tails, I mean it tore the flesh off of his back. So there's nothing sinful about
this flesh per se, but other times, the word flesh, and the
context determines the meaning, refers to the sinful human nature,
the sinful human desires. And so here he's talking about
a person, one and the same, not two different people, and not
two people in you. He's talking about the same person
who's alive under God, who's dead to sin, but still has to
fight sinful desires. Sinful thoughts. Your best efforts
to love Christ. Do you love Christ? That's one of the effects of
life, new life. Your best efforts to love Christ.
Would you claim that they are perfectly sinless without any
corruption of sin? Would you claim that? I hope
you wouldn't. I know people who would now.
Well, I'll tell you something, if you would claim that, when
you get to the judgment, you just plead that. Because it'll
work if it is truly sinlessly perfect. You know better than
that. Look at it in verse 13, he says,
neither yield ye your members. What are our members? That's
your eyes, your tongue, your mind, your hands, your feet.
That's what he's talking about. as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin. What's he saying here? He's saying
fight sin. Because you are dead to sin,
because the old man is crucified, fight those remaining influences,
that sinful human fallenness, the flesh. He says, yield yourselves
unto God, and look here, I love this, as those who are alive
from the dead. In other words, yield yourselves
to God, fight sin, and submit to God, not in order to be saved,
but because you already are. Not trying to establish your
own righteousness, but because Christ has already established
all of it for you. and your members as instruments
of righteousness unto God. Righteousness unto God. That's
our goal. That's our desire. David said,
I'll be satisfied when I awake with thy lightness. He says in verse 14, look at
this. He says, for sin shall not have
dominion over you. It shall not dominate you. Now
what does he mean by that? Well, you see there's a colon
after the U there. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. That means the following is going to tell you what he
means. And why is that important? Look here, look at verse 14 again.
He says, For sin shall not have dominion over you. Now jump across
the page to Romans 7.14. You there? Romans 7.14. He says,
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin,
enslaved to sin. Now, doesn't that sound like
a contradiction? I mean, over here he says, sin shall not have
dominion over you. And then over here in 7.14 he
says, I'm carnal, fleshly, that's what that means, sold under sin. Well, he's talking about two
different things. You know, I'm talking about the
same thing. Over here in Romans 6.14, he's
talking about our position in Christ. How do you know that? Well, look at it again. He's
going to tell you what he means. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. Here's what I mean. For you're not under the law,
but under grace. That's what he means. The law
cannot condemn you. Why? Because Christ has put your
sins away. The law cannot demand obedience
from you in order to make you righteous. Why? Because Christ
has already done that. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. That's what he means. He's talking
about our position in Christ. What I am in Christ, the new
man. That's the way I'm to think. You see what he's saying? Now
over in Romans 7, 14, he's talking about what I am in my own experience
here on this earth. What I am in myself. Paul said
it in Philippians 3, I've not yet arrived. I know what I am in Christ because
God said, and that's the way I'm to think, but in myself,
I'm not yet arrived. I'm like David. I'll be satisfied
when I awake with his likeness. John said, it does not yet appear
what we shall be. So go back to Romans 6, 14. He
says in verse 15, what then we shall we sin because we're not
under the law, but under grace. And he says, God forbid. Now
am I to go out and promote sin, encourage sin, just throw caution
to the wind because the law cannot condemn me for sin and because
I already have a righteousness that answers the demands of God's
law and justice? And the answer is God forbid
that you should think that way. If your thoughts of your position
in Christ as being not guilty and righteous leads you or motivates
you not to fight sin in yourself, not to go to war with it in the
warfare of the flesh and spirit. If your thoughts of your position
in Christ and the grace of God lead you to sin the more, then
you have never experienced the grace of God in your heart. There is a warfare of the flesh
and the spirit. Bible doesn't say there's a warfare
of the old man and the new man in us. It says there's a warfare
of the flesh and the spirit. You say, well, do we sometimes
act like the old man? Yeah. I'll show you that next
time. Not next week. We've got a guest speaker coming.
But I'll show you that. Yeah, we sometimes act that way.
And we have to think the way God tells us to think. That's
why he's given us his word. That's why we have the presence
of the Holy Spirit within to keep us constantly thinking the
way we need to think from God's word. That's the warfare, the
flesh and the spirit.