Well, good morning, everybody.
Glad to see you out this morning. I pray that God will bless you
because of being here, being around like-faith believers that
believe the same gospel. Pray that God will be glorified
as I deliver this message. that he be glorified, that Christ
be exalted, and that any boasting in the sinner's part will not
be there at all. The title of my message this
morning is Baptized into Jesus Christ. It's taken from Romans
chapter 6, and we're going to begin at verse 1 and try to go
through verse 5 this morning. pick up after a couple weeks
ago. We had ended our study in Chapter 5. The Apostle Paul, speaking of
this letter that he was writing or did write to the church at
Rome, had been inspired by the Holy Spirit to write, first of
all, the need of salvation. In Romans 1, in verse 1, He says,
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel of God. Also in Romans 3.20, it says,
therefore, by the deeds of law, there shall no flesh be justified
in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. So we see that there was a need
of salvation here as Paul began writing this letter to the church
there at Rome. Then he deals with the way of
salvation. In Romans 3 and beginning of
verse 21, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all them that believe, for there is no difference for all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. Also in Romans
5.21, that as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So he spells out the way of salvation
by Christ alone, how we can be justified before God based on
what Christ accomplished. Now, having finished his earlier
statements there in chapter five that we ended with a couple weeks
ago, concerning the doctrine of justification. He now begins
to refute the charge brought against the doctrine of justification
by the blood and righteousness of Christ alone as being a licentious
or immoral doctrine. Paul saw that whereas he had
affirmed in the preceding chapter that sin being made to abound
by the law in the condemnation of sinners, the grace of God
the more bound it in their justification and pardon. He saw that some
evil minds would rise up and object to the doctrine and say
that it would encourage men to continue in their sin and say
that by teaching this doctrine of justification by Christ alone,
that it would open up a door to all manner of sin and iniquity. and that others would abuse this
doctrine of justification by Christ alone and encourage themselves
in an immoral course of life as they walk this earth, all
upon this mistaken notion that the grace of God would be more
appealing by teaching this doctrine. of this is suggested here in
our chapter 6 verse 1 that we're going to study this morning.
Now, we'll begin at verse 1 where it says, what shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? This is the
objection Paul is dealing with here. Let's go back and look
at what Paul stated previously in Romans 5.20. as we go back to Romans 5.20,
where it says, moreover, the law entered that the offense
might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. Paul begins this verse by anticipating
one of the main objections unbelievers try to use against the reality
of salvation by God's grace and in Christ alone. It goes something
like this, and I know that a lot of you have been witness to gospel
to individuals, and y'all have had individuals say something
to you concerning after you tell them that salvation by Christ
alone, based on his righteousness alone, is not based on anything
you do or anything you've been able to do. They come back with
some sort of objection like this. Since God's grace in Christ always
abounds and exceeds against the abundance of sin, then we should
continue to promote sin so that grace might abound. This objection
also comes in the following form. If my salvation, my justification
before God, has nothing to do with my efforts to keep the law,
and to fight sin, does that mean that it does not matter what
I do or how I live my life? And this, of course, is an unregenerate
mind speaking these things. The root of this objection has
to do with the motivation. What actually motivates us in
seeking to obey God and following Christ and his truth? Unbelievers
are motivated mainly by legal threats of punishments or loss
of rewards as well as mercenary promises of earned rewards. God's
grace in Christ exposes and it renounces and removes such evil
motivations. Works and deeds inspired by such
evil motives are fruit unto death. Let's look at Romans 7, verse
5, where it says, for when we were in the flesh, the motions
of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring
forth fruit unto death. Such evil motives deny and they
pollute the grace of God. These evil motives deny the true
Christ and give sinners room to boast in things that they
do. They are the products of unbelief. When such evil motives
are taken away, as you tell them the gospel and this gospel that
we believe tells them that salvation is by grace alone, is by Christ
alone, were justified by what he did, it tells them that there's
nothing that I can do or being able to do. You're telling them
that anyway. The unbeliever is left with no motive for obedience
at all when you tell them these things. You take that away from
them. God the Holy Spirit uses the gospel of Christ to remove
the evil motives and replace them with God honoring Christ's
exalting motives. of grace, of love, and of gratitude
toward Christ. Works and deeds inspired by these
God-honoring motives are fruit unto God. Look at Romans 7-4. Whereby, my brethren, ye also
were become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should
be merit to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God, good works unto God. Those who accuse grace of promoting
or condoning sin do not know the reality of grace. Those who
would use grace as an excuse for sin have no grace in their
hearts at all. Our next verse, verse 2, begins
to answer the objection given by unbelievers there in verse
1. Verse 2 says, God forbid, Paul
says, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Paul says, God forbid, or may
it never be or perish the thought of something like that. It is
unthinkable and evil for one to use God's free and sovereign
grace to promote the fallen sinful human nature or sin itself. God's grace in Christ never condones
It never ignores or promotes sin. God's grace in Christ promotes
and enables us to go to war against all sin, not only immoral, outward
sins of the flesh, but also self-righteousness and religious pride that we all
have by nature. This is the warfare of the flesh
and spirit. In answering this objection,
Paul states the reality of grace when he says, how shall we that
are dead in sin, dead to sin, live any longer therein. We who
are in Jesus Christ are dead to sin. Therefore, we cannot
live any longer therein. Paul connects the motivation
to deal with sin and obey God without justification before
God in Christ. If we're justified from sin by
the death of Christ, we're dead from sin, dead to sin. And the
question is, how are we dead to sin? We are dead to the power
of sin to condemn us, because as Romans 8.1 says, there is
therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
Justified persons are dead to sin, inasmuch as sin is not imputed
or charged to them unto condemnation and death. They are discharged
from it. is not imputed to their account.
Sin cannot exert its damning power over them. It is crucified,
abolished, and made an end of by Christ. Again, how can believers
say we're dead to sin? We know that we're still subject
to the presence, the influence, and power of sin in our character
and conduct. We know that in this life, we'll
never be free from sin in these areas. We know that we're now
just as much in need of the blood and righteousness of Christ to
cleanse us from all sins as we ever were. And we will continue
to need Christ's righteousness no matter how much we grow in
grace and knowledge in this life. Dead to sin here does not refer
to a believer's character and conduct. It refers to the believer's
state before God in Christ. It refers to a believer's oneness
with Christ, by whose blood he has been justified from guilt,
from the guilt of sin, and cleansed us from the legal defilement
of sin that barred us, that barred our way to God. A justified sinner
is not guilty and not subject to condemnation because of sin. The law of God cannot condemn
a justified sinner based on his sins. Now, that's a strong statement
and one that needs to be answered. Now, let's state that question
there that needs to be answered is, why can't the law condemn
a justified sinner? The answer is because Christ
paid for those sins at the cross by the shedding of his blood
and thereby satisfying law and justice on his behalf, on all
those that God gave him, that he went to the cross and paid
that sin debt on their behalf. That's why the law cannot condemn
a justified sinner. There is no condemnation to a
justified sinner. The key to all of this is found
in Romans 6, beginning at verse 10. where it reads, for in that
he died, speaking of Christ, he died unto 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 our Lord. When Christ died unto sin, he
died to the guilt and legal defilement of the sins of his sheep that
were legally imputed and charged to his account. He had no sin
in his character and conduct. Christ's death was due strictly
because of the elect sin being charged and imputed to his account.
Look at 2 Corinthians 5.21, a verse that we're well familiar with.
For he, God, hath made him Christ to be sin for us who knew no
sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. But likewise here in verse 11,
as you begin verse 11, or in the same manner reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. As Christ died unto
the guilt and defilement of sins imputed to him, all whom he represented
died to the legal and defilement of sin in him, as we were represented
by him, as he was our surety, as we were in his loins from
eternity, as he came here to Work out that salvation on the
behalf of all those that the Father gave him. Look at 2 Corinthians
5.14. For the love of Christ constraineth
us because we thus judge that if one died for all, all he represented,
then we're all dead. In time, in each successive generation,
all of Christ's sheep are able to see this when they're born
again by God's grace. and given faith to believe the
gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. Although
believers have yet to struggle with the remaining presence,
influence, and power of sin in their character and conduct,
they do not have to struggle with the legal guilt of sin or
with the possibility of being condemned by God. Look at Romans
8.1. says, there is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. It is from this truth
that God, the Holy Spirit, by the Apostle Paul, seeks to encourage
God's people not to let sin reign and control their lives. God's
people do not walk after the flesh. They do not walk after
the flesh. They walk after the spirit. They
see that there is no hope in anything that they do or that
they might be unable to do to gain eternal life. They see that
Christ is all of their salvation. He alone accomplished salvation
on their behalf. Any other motive that a person
might have is legal, and it's an abomination to God, thinking
that you can do something or being able to do something. to
gain your salvation. It's an abomination unto God.
As Bill says in the back, it's evil to sit and listen and believe
such God-dishonoring doctrine. And by nature, you know, I can
remember when I first started believing the gospel, sitting
down and started hearing these sort of things about even the
religion that I used to be in and some of these other religions
that you know. calling them evil. It just kind of didn't sit right. But that's right. It's evil.
It's evil in the sight of God. It goes against what Christ has
done. It's saying that he really didn't accomplish what God sent
him to accomplish. That there was something left
for you to do. It dishonored Christ in every way. All who
are justified in Christ shall be born again by the Spirit.
in time. This is the fruit of our justification
in Christ, whereby we're made spiritually alive or regenerated
or raised from the dead, given light, brought from darkness
to light. Hereby we're dead to the power
of sin to keep us in unbelief and to keep us in darkness, which
produce all of those dead works and all of that idolatry that
we're in. Sin still has power to influence
us, and sin still keeps us from being perfectly conformed to
Christ in ourselves. But it cannot keep us from believing
and resting in Him for all of our salvation. Resting in Christ
for all of our salvation. It cannot keep us from doing
that. That's the fruit and effect of what Christ accomplished at
the cross and in time. In time, we'll be able to see
that salvation, based on what Christ did, didn't have nothing
to do with what I did. And we stop going about to establish
a righteousness of our own, and we flee to Christ for all of
salvation. Now, next verse, in verse three,
says, know ye not that so many of us, as we're baptized into
Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Paul describes our
union with Christ in his death, that same secret union that took
place in eternity and still remain in his death. The last part of
verse three says, baptized into Jesus Christ and baptized into
his death. This does not refer to the ordinance
of water baptism, whereby believers confess Christ before men. Baptized
here means placed into and refers to our union with Christ in his
death. Christ is the representative
and substitute of all his people. When he died, we all died in
him as he died for us. When he was buried and rose again
on the third day, we all were buried and rose with him as he
was raised again because of our justification before God. Look at Romans 4.25. But for
us also, it says, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe
on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification, or because
of our justification. Our union with Christ in eternity
at the cross and in his resurrection assures assures our union with
Him in spiritual life and faith that motivates us to fight sin
and obey Him by grace and by love and by gratitude for what
He's done for us. Our next verse, in verse 4, here
says, Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism unto death,
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Paul explains the necessary connection between our legal objective union
with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection, with our spiritual
subjective union with him in the new birth. Both are necessary
in salvation. One, our union with him in his
death is the ground, the basis of our salvation before God.
The other, our union with him in our new birth, is the fruit
and result of our salvation. Both glorify the Father as they
both are to the praise of the glory of his grace in Christ. Neither our justification before
God in Christ nor our new birth can be attributed to our goodness,
to our power, or our works in any way. It is all of grace and
by grace. to walk in newness of life here,
as our verse says in verse four, is to walk as a justified sinner
by faith in Christ, resting in Him, and seeking to follow and
obey Him as motivated by grace, love, and gratitude. And all
the while knowing that there is nothing that we can do or
being able to do to sever that relationship with Christ, which
is eternal. That relationship is eternal.
Now last verse here we'll deal with this morning. Verse 5 says,
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
we shall also in the likeness of his resurrection. For if,
it says here, signifies a fulfilled condition and could be stated
in view of the fact. in view of the fact that we've
been planted together with him. The only if that is a condition
for our salvation is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
he fulfilled that condition. To be planted together in the
likeness of his death simply means that Christ died for us
as our representative in surety. If we are one with him and that
we share in a death like his, then we shall also be one with
him, and that we will share in a resurrection like his. The
Lord stated it this way in John chapter 12 and verse 24. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it bideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. He went on to say in John 12,
32, and I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. Christ's death for his
people will without fail bear the fruit of their resurrection
unto life both in the new birth and in their final glorification.
Now as the elect by virtue of our secret union with Christ
from all eternity, as our head and representative with whom
we were crucified in whom we died representatively, shared
in his death, enjoyed the benefits of it, and feel its efficacy,
and through it, we become dead to the law, to sin, and to the
world. Now, this is a gospel. This is a gospel that we believe
that salvation is based entirely on what Christ did when he came
to this earth, went to the cross, represented us, justified us
before the Father. And after believing a gospel
like this, and as people, when you tell them this gospel, they
say, well, we might as well go ahead and do anything we want
to do then if we're not saved based on something we do. I hope
you see this morning how dishonoring that is to God to say something
like that after seeing that Christ has paid that debt. He's worked
out that salvation on our behalf. And God forbid, God forbid that
anyone that would believe this gospel would go out and send
them more, that grace may abound. And I pray that God would use
this message to the saving of His elect and edifying of all
believers.