Alright, Romans chapter 6. I'm going to read the first 14
verses and continue in this subject of sanctification. I want to talk tonight about
the foundation of sanctification. Next week I hope to end it up
because the reason I'm doing this is because there is so little
understood about it. And we as believers in believing
in the grace of God get accused all the time of continuing in
sin as being licentious, as being antinomians. And that's why Paul
answers these questions here. He 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 ye not that so many of us
as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, like
as Christ is raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father.
Even so, we also should walk in units 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
our 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
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise,
reckon, count ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin
therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it
in the lust thereof, neither yield ye your members as instruments
of unrighteousness unto 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. Now, Paul is dealing here with
the accusation that because we're justified freely by the grace
of God in Christ, and because we're sin abound, well, look
what it says there in verse 21, that as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, he's showing us here that
because of the relationship that we have to these two Adams, the
first and the last Adam, as we were constituted sinners, regarded
as sinners, and fallen in Adam, in the Lord Jesus Christ, our
last Adam, all believers are constituted righteousness or
justified. Look what he says back up there
in verse 18 of Romans 5. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, or that one sin, Judgment came upon all men to condemnation.
Even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon
all under justification of life. And so when we are justified,
we're also sanctified at the same time. And I want to talk
about the foundation of our sanctification. Since the abounding grace of
God reigns through righteousness in our Lord Jesus Christ. Men
raise this objection. They raise this objection to
what we have in Christ. And they don't know what sanctification
is. They don't know what it is to have a relationship with Christ.
And all they know is works and merit. and doing the best they
can, trying to stop from their sin, trying to make their peace
with God, trying to work out their own righteousness. But
the first thing they say against us is, since you believe that
you're saved by grace and that you're justified, well, then
that means that you can live in sin all you want to. Ain't
that what they say? What shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound? And that's the first
thing they say. Grace abounds in over sin. Well,
let's just sin some more so we can get some more grace. And
that's the first thing against justification in our righteousness
in Christ. That we have this by the merit
and the person and the work of Christ, the first thing they
say is, you're licentious, you're an antinomian, you're without
law. And I've been accused of this, I couldn't tell you how
many times, and I'm sure you have. This doctrine, this blessed
truth of our righteousness by faith through the Lord Jesus
Christ, that one doesn't give an encouragement to sin. And
that's what they say it does. If grace abounds, why not send
more? And so grace will abound more.
If a superabundance of grace is given where sin abounded,
why not continue in sin in order to get more grace? And I tell you, if justification
be by grace alone without works, why in the world would you want
to stop sinning? Why not continue in it? And that's
why they don't understand the relationship we have with Christ.
And this not only shows us the true meaning of justification
to regard as righteous, it don't change our nature. Justification
don't change our nature. Sanctification don't change our
nature. It's something that God regards
us as being, regarded as righteous, set apart. And it's not means
to make righteous or even make good. And God's grace is glorified,
listen to me, not in putting away sin, not in us committing
sin. Grace is glorified in putting
a stop to the reign of sin. And the thing is, is if a man
has been saved by the grace of God, been regenerated by the
grace of God, made of the taker of the righteousness and the
nature of Christ, Then that man, that woman, cannot no more continue
in sin than God can or Christ can. Because our nature has been
made new. We're united to Christ. And we'll
see that. And that's why Paul says, so
I'll tell you what, since your grace abounds, let's just sin. And let's so we can get more
and more grace. Let's just abound in this sin. God will give us
a whole bunch of grace. Let's just sin some more. And
God will give us some more grace. But oh, look what he says. Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. He answers
with abhorrence. He expresses shock at such an
idea. And how shall he, when that's
what he goes on to say in verse 2, God forbid, how shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein? How can you be dead
to sin and live in sin at the same time? And in what sense are we dead
to sin? That's a good question. When he says we're dead to sin,
in what sense are we dead to sin? Well, I know this much. We're not dead to a sin fluency.
Are we? Sin still influences us. Look
in Romans chapter 7 verse 15. See what I'm telling you. So,
you know, this is the only thing, this is the thing about believers,
the thing about when God does something for us, we want to
be honest with ourselves and we want to be honest before God,
honest with the Scriptures. Now, we're dead to sin, but there's
something we're not dead to. It's influence. Look what it
says in Romans 17, 7, 15. For that which I do, I allow
none. What I do, I say, oh, no, no,
I shouldn't do it. Oh, I just don't know how to
do it. For what I would, that do I not. For what I would, I
don't do. But what I hate, what I hate,
I do. Look down at verse 19. For the
good that I would, I do not. Oh, how often would we do good
Thank good, act good, believe good, say good, everything we
want. We want to be good, do good,
act good towards others, toward ourselves, toward our wife, toward
children. Now, but the evil, which I would not, I do. So sin still has influence over
us. And not only that, we're not
dead to its presence. Look down there in verse 21 of
this chapter. We're not dead to us by fine
dental law, this principle that when I would do good, when I'm
ready to do good, evil's right there with me. And not only are
we not dead to its influence, not dead to its presence, we're
not dead to its effects upon us. Look what he says here in
verse 24. And he cries out, O wretched
man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? Well, like David who said, I
was shaken in iniquity and in sin, my mother conceived me. But when it says back over here
in Romans 6 that we're dead to sin, we can't live any longer
there, what does it mean? We're dead to the penalty of
sin. And we're also dead to the guilt of sin, that God does not
hold us guilty. God does not, the penalty's been
paid and God does not hold us guilty of sin. Now if He held
us guilty of sin and treated us as if we were guilty of sin
after saving us by His grace, what peace and comfort would
we ever have, what peace and joy would we ever have if He
ever, ever treated us as if we were guilty for anything we thought
sin or done? Because I just got to tell you
what we went into. But we're dead to sin as our
master. We're dead to sin as our master
who rules over us. Christ is our Lord. We're dead
to it as a course of life. It's our enemy now. Sin's our
enemy now. Live it in sin, and to continue
to live in this world, give one's self up to it, and to delight
in it, is to continue in it. But all be love it. Can we? How can we? live in something
and continue in something so repugnant to God, so repugnant
to Christ, so repugnant to our new nature. Our union with Christ
keeps us. Our union with Christ keeps us
from the penalty of sin, and our union with Christ will also
keep us from living in sin. I didn't say it would keep us
from committing sin, but living in it. living in it, continuing
in it, regarding it as if it's something that's not serious
enough to be dealt with. And then he goes on to say here
in verse 3 and 4, he says, No, you're not, though so many of
us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His
death. Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death,
that is, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we should also walk in newness of life.
And what Paul said, are you ignorant? Are you ignorant of our oneness,
our union with the Lord Jesus Christ? You know, you ought to
know. And he talks about that Semitism baptized into Christ. And this is a spiritual baptism.
It's not water baptism. This is being baptized into the
body of Christ, our being joined to Him, united to Him by the
Spirit of God, where Christ is made of dust, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and wisdom. By one Spirit, we're baptized
into one body. Paul says, the life that I now
live in the flesh, how do I live it? By the faith of the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me. And that's our spiritual
baptism. And this, listen to me, this
is our actual experiences. This is our actual experience.
We have been joined to Christ. Believers can no more be joined
to sin and live in sin any more than Christ can. And then it
talks about, therefore, in verse 4, we're buried with them in
baptism unto death, like as Christ is raised from the dead. Our
baptism in water is just emblematic of this union with our Lord Jesus
Christ. As a dead man cannot continue
in sin, neither We who died and was buried and rose again in
Christ. And that's what he said over
in Ephesians 2. He says, God has quickened us
with Christ. We were crucified with Christ,
quickened together with Christ, and raised up together with Christ,
and even now sit in heavenly places in Christ. And people
want to go back. You know, I'm dealing with this
so much, and I'll tell you why. You know, people say you got
to receive sanctification like you do justification. And sanctification
is something that you get on down the road. But you can't
be justified without being sanctified. That means you can't be sanctified
without being justified. They go hand in hand. This is
our salvation. This is where God declares us
to be something and sets us apart and makes us to be something.
And, oh beloved, listen, in our Lord's death, and that's what
He says, our Lord's death and burial and resurrection deals
with our sinfulness as well as our sins. His death and burial
and resurrection deals with what we are as well as what we do. You know, I'm telling you, when
He gave us His nature, He dealt with what we are. He says, I'm the vine, you're
the branches, because I live, you shall live. Oh my, our sanctification, our
sanctification, our wholeness, call it what you want to. Rest
upon the same foundation as our justification, our union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. His death, and talk about Him
being dying here, buried by baptism into death. His death put away
sin once and for all. And not only that, but it was
the death of sin itself, of its power, of its penalty, and he
was raised again. And look what it says, as he
was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we also
should walk in newness of life. He was raised And he is a newb. He had a different body. He's raised from the dead. And
as he was raised by the glory of the Father, and as we walked
and raised in Christ, we walk in newness of life. And there
must be death before you can walk in this newness of life.
And I'll tell you something. You can't walk in life unless
you got it. And if you have life, it's new.
It's something you never had before. And it's something that
God gives to you. And that's what so many people
are trying to do. They're trying to walk in life, and they can't
walk in life because they don't have it. And he says we walk
not only in life, but in newness of life. It's a new life. Do you remember when you passed
the death of Noah? It's a new life, and then we
come here in the Gospel, and it's always new. Just ever fresh. Always. I hope I'm making sense. And then look what he said here,
goes on to tell us about our sanctification, how our union
with Christ makes us holy, foundation of our holiness, foundation of
our sanctification. For if we've been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. Now when you plant something
together, and you put them close enough together, they'll rise
up together and become one. And that's what he's saying here,
as we were planted together in the death of Christ. When Christ
was planted in the grave, we were planted in the grave with
Him. Huh? And when you take something and
put it close together, they combine at birth, and they come up, and
their roots are intertwined together, and they grow up into one plant.
Well, that's what he's saying, we were combined with Christ. in the likeness of His death. And oh, beloved, then look what
it says here. Just as we were planted in the
likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His
resurrection. And what is the likeness of His
resurrection? I want to show you something. Look over here
in 1 John 4.17. You know, I heard Scott Richardson, the
first man I ever heard deal with this verse of Scripture. And
the next week after he'd done it, every preacher just about
went home and preached it. And a fellow priest was here
a while back, and somebody said, boy, that's the best message
I ever heard. And I said, well, the first place I heard it preached
was Scott Richardson. But here it is. We're talking
about, you know, in the likeness of his resurrection. We're in
the likeness of his resurrection right now. And look what it says
here in 1 John 4, 17. Here it is, our love made perfect. that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world."
Now, that don't say, as he is going to be, or as he was. It says, as he is. So are we. We're at, in this world. In this world. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is not in the world, so we're not in the world. Our Lord
Jesus Christ is not in the flesh, we're not in the flesh. Our Lord
Jesus Christ is not under the law, we're not under the law.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is not in the place of sin, we're not
in the place of sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ sits at
the right hand of God, so we sit at the right hand of God.
Whatever He is right now, that's what we are. Ain't that funny? Oh, back over here in Rome. Oh my, and even in our future
resurrection, we're going to be raised in the likeness of
His resurrection. And then he says in verse 6 here,
again, knowing, these are things that we know, knowing, not supposed,
not hoping, not thinking, knowing this, that our old man is crucified
with Him. that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Now, beloved,
this old man was crucified with Christ. What old man are we talking
about? So the body of sin might be destroyed. And this body right
here is what he's talking about. This body right here. The body
as the servant of sin, as the instrument of sin, might be rendered
powerless to sin. kept from serving sin anymore. And it says here, destroyed,
destroyed, brought to a state of inaction and impotence. Sin
is robbed of its power over us. Now that's what he's saying here.
He said this body right here, that we're used to using all
of its members, every instrument we have, our hands, our feet.
And the scriptures talk about his instruments as weapons, As
weapons, we used them as weapons. We used our tongues as weapons.
We used our eyes, we used our ears, we used our hands, always
to do something evil, to do something wicked, to do something mean.
Our feet, our whole body was nothing to do with but to sin. And he says this body of sin
was destroyed, the body because of sin that don't have the power
over our flesh that it once had. Would anybody agree with that? Sin does not have the same power
over this physical body that makes us us that it once did. And here's the difference. Now,
let me tell you something right here. I know what you're all
thinking. You're saying, what sin is he talking about? I'm
talking about S-I-N. Sin. It's nature. Now, a lot of people call sins
sins which are not sin. And that's the difference between
people who believe in the grace of God and stay to the Scriptures.
We know what the Scriptures name what sin is. And all you've got
to do is find out what sin is, read what the Scriptures say.
And I'm not going to tell people what's right for them, what's
wrong for them, what's sin for them, what may be not sin for
you may be sin for me, and what ain't sin for me may be sin for
you. There's things of indifference. And so what we're talking about
here is that sin in its very nature, sin as it is and has
power, has lost its effect over this body. And here's the fact
of it. Look what he says in verse 7.
For he that is dead is freed from sin. A man is dead, what's sin going
to do to him? What's sin going to do to a dead
man? Huh? A man that's dead, go out there
and tell him what he ought to do, the obligations he ought
to have, and the things he ought to be doing, and how he ought
to be living. Tell him all those things. But a dead man, He's
freed from sin. He's released from all obligations. All ties are broken. Death sets
a man free from sin, and we become dead to sin. It's penalty, it's
power, and it's pleasure, and all because of our union with
Christ. And then look what he says in
verse 8. Now, if we'd been dead with Christ, where'd we die? Where did we die? We died with
Christ. Talking about this union again.
Talking about the foundation of our sanctification. If we've
been dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with
Him. If we're dead with Him, we live with Him. Huh? And then look what he says. He's
going to prove it to us here in verse 9 and 10. Knowing that
Christ, being raised from the dead, He ain't going to die anymore.
He ain't going to die anymore. No reason for Him to die anymore.
That's why this business of backsliding and being lost again is so reprehensible,
so Christ-reject, so dishonorable to God, such a reprehensible
doctrine, is because it says here that Christ being raised
from the dead died no more. And if a man gets lost again,
that means that Christ would have to suffer for his sins again.
And here it says that Christ Being raised from the dead dies
no more, and death has no more dominion, no more power, no more
reign over him. Why? He died under sin once,
and he doesn't have to die anymore. And he has actually put sin away,
beloved, and here it says that death has no more dominion over
him. And here's what happened. For in verse 10, in that he died,
he died under sin once. Sin was put away once and for
all. So sin was put away in Christ. And we died with Christ. And
Christ ain't gonna die anymore. And now that He died unto sin
once, but now He lives unto God. He's alive unto God. God raised
Him from the dead. He's united with God. He sits at the right hand of
God. He's one with the Father and the life. Watch what He says
here now. Likewise reckon, or count yourselves,
Also, to be dead indeed unto sin. Christ died unto sin once. Well, reckon yourselves to be
dead unto sin. But also, alive unto God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. How else are we going to live
except through Christ? How else are we going to approach
God except through Christ? How else are we going to call
on God except through Christ? How ever are our sins going to
be put away except through Christ? How is that going to happen?
Huh? Oh my. And it doesn't say sin
is dead to us, but in Christ we're dead to it. And we reckon
it's so in faith. And then he says in verse 12,
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should
obey unto lust thereof. Let not sin reign in your body.
In your body, and he's talking about this body that's to die,
destined to die. And what he's saying here, we
must not let this body that is so temporary, so frail, nothing but dust, we must not
let it be our king. And that's what he's saying here.
You know, this old body's frail, it's temporary, it's just dust.
Is it going to be our master? Is it going to rain over us,
this body here? And then he goes on to say, neither
yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin.
And you look over in the margin, it says it's arms, weapons. Don't use them as weapons. Don't
use them as that. Neither yield your members as
instruments, your body as members of instruments. Don't turn your
body over to sin. Don't let your body, your mind,
Your tongue, your lips, your hands, your feet, your heart,
your will, your affections, your understanding, don't let it be
yielded as weapons. Oh, no. That's why Paul said
over in Galatians, they that are Christ, they that are Christ,
have, not are going to, have crucified the flesh and the deeds
of the flesh. And, oh, beloved, now listen
to me. These are not things that we
ought to do. These are not things that we need to do to be Christians,
or good Christians, or better Christians. This is the way we
are as believers. This is the way we are right
now. And that's the difference, you see. People keep saying,
well, we're going to do, we're going to do, we're going to do.
No, no, no, we're not going to do anything. Christ did it all.
I'm not going to be more sanctified than I am in Christ. Not going
to be more justified than I am in Christ. Not going to be deader
to sin than I am in Christ. Not going to be more alive unto
God than I am in Christ. No matter what I'll do. You got that? I love it like
that. And that's why our sanctification,
our justification and our wholeness is based on our union with Christ. And then he says here, not only
yield your members as instances of unrighteousness unto sin.
Don't do that. Don't act unrighteous. Don't
at all but yield yourselves unto God. Give yourselves up. Lord, here I am. How many times
do we say that? Lord, here I am. I need you. Oh, I need you every
hour. I need you, Lord Jesus. I need
you. I got up, sat down on the porch the other morning and I
said, Lord, if I'm not saved, save me now. If I'm not free
from sins, free me now. If I'm not pure, purify me now. If I don't know you, make me
know you now. I need you. I want you. I've
got to have you. And that's why he says, yield
yourselves up unto God. How? As those that are alive
from the dead. We're not dead anymore. We're
alive to God in Christ. And your members, as instruments
of righteousness, use our eyes to look in the Scriptures. Use
the eyes of our faith to look to Christ. Use our hands to do
for others. Use our hands to pick up the
Scripture. Use our tongues to call on God
and express love. Oh my! Huh? And then look what
a blessed promise. In verse 14, look what it says. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. That word dominion means reign,
authority, power. Why must sin have dominion over
you? For you're not under law, but
under grace. Here's your sin. Lord, whatever
you tell us, that's what we'll do. Face of Jesus. Oh boy. Alright. You say you're
going to do it? They didn't get it out of their
mouth until they were rebels against God. If you're going
to face God in law, you're going to face Him as somebody's got
to do it. But we're not under law, but under grace. We're not under a covenant to
do, but a covenant that's done. And true holiness, true sanctification
is not the result or product of law, of us doing, but of grace
in the heart. Grace in the heart. And I'm going
to pick up right there next week, and I hope I say the last thing
about this subject. Because I think it's really important.
And when you get accused, the next time somebody tells you,
you know, and I have many times people have told me, You know,
and they'll look at you doing something, and you say, boy,
if them folks would say, they wouldn't do that. If they'd say,
they wouldn't do that. Beloved, salvation is not in
doing. It's in doing. And our motive
for what we do is based entirely on something else. Is that not
right? Our Father, in the blessed, glorious
Name, Oh, the holy name. The strong name. The lovely name. Precious name. That name, oh
God, that's above every name. That name that, where you said,
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
We call upon His name right now. Call upon that name. That name
that has your attention, that name, that person, that blessed
one who sits right now at your right hand. That one you've given
all power and authority and glory, invested everything in. Lord,
we come to you in Him. And Father, we thank you for
this, your Word. Your Word is so powerful, so
quick, sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces, divides asunder. the soul and the spirit and the
thoughts and intents of our heart. I pray, Lord Jesus, that you
would take tonight what's been said and cause it to bring forth
fruit, cause it to be effectual. I know if it's left up to what
I say, it won't mean anything if they just heard my voice.
Lord Jesus, let them hear your voice. We ask these things in
Christ's name. Amen. Amen.