Welcome to Reign of Grace. This program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And now for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad you could join us today. If you'd like to follow along in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from the book of Romans, chapter 6. And the title of the message is, Baptized into Jesus Christ. Baptized into Jesus Christ.

There are so many ways to understand the various words of scripture. Words have meanings, we know that, but one of the most important ways that gives us the truth of the matter about what words mean is the context. And that's a big, big part of biblical interpretation. When I read a verse and I see the words of that verse, what do these words mean? What do they mean in their context put together?

I wrote a book about that called Rightly Dividing the Word. which gives forth what I believe are the main rules of scriptural interpretation. You remember when the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, you know, he studied to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. A lot of people take verses out of context and they build a religion on it or an idea and it's wrong. So the word baptized, here in Romans six and verse three, the Apostle Paul, by inspiration of the Spirit, he says, know you not that so many of us as were baptized or are baptized into Jesus Christ are baptized into his death.

Now what does that mean? Now when we think of baptism, A lot of us, we think of the New Testament ordinance that Christ gave to the apostles before he sent them out in the Great Commission to go in all the world preaching the gospel to every creature and telling them the gospel and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And then we think about water baptism. That's an ordinance. It's a new covenant, New Testament ordinance, a command, in obedience to the command of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When I baptize a person, that's what I say. It's in obedience to his command. It's not for salvation. The ordinance of baptism is not for salvation. It's for those who have already been saved and are looking to Christ for their whole salvation. And it's a public identification. It's not the application of the blood of Christ.

No, the blood of Christ has already been applied to the elect, to the sheep, to the church. But it's a confession that His blood, His righteousness alone is my hope of salvation. I trust Him. I'm looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith.

And then baptism, the ordinance of baptism is for believers, not infants. And not even for little children that you drag down the aisle and scaring them and all of that. It's for believers, those who know the gospel and who believe. You don't have to be baptized to be saved, as some people say, but if you are saved, you're commanded to follow the Lord's ordinance for a good conscience. In other words, you want to follow Him, you want to obey Him, not to be saved. If you do it to be saved, it's nothing. It'll profit you nothing. Christ will profit you nothing. It's not pouring water on somebody or sprinkling water. It's baptism. It's going down into a pool of water, which indicates his death and his burial.

You're identifying with his death and his burial, and you come up out of the water, identifying, confessing that when he died and was buried and rose from the dead, he did it for you. And that's what believer's baptism is. But now the word baptized is used in many contexts. In the Old Testament, you see the word baptized used as identification with Moses in Israel. He baptized into Moses, and that's talking about the old covenant law that Israel was under. But here, listen to what it says here. Let's read in Romans six and verse one.

Paul had made it clear that salvation is of the Lord and not of the sinner. The sinner is the object. The Lord is the doer. The Lord is the prime mover. The Lord is the establisher and the finisher of all the requirements and conditions of salvation for His people.

In other words, one of the ways to state the gospel is this way, and I do it quite often. Salvation conditioned on the Lord Jesus Christ, who, as God manifest in the flesh, and as the surety, the substitute, and the Redeemer of His people, fulfilled all the conditions, all the requirements, all the stipulations, of God for the salvation of His people to ensure, not make it possible, to ensure their spiritual life and eternal life in glory so that not one of them will perish. Now, a lot of people believe in, and preachers preach, salvation conditioned partly on Christ and partly on the sinner. And it goes something like this, God loves you, Christ died for you, now the rest is up to you. Now, whatever the rest is concerning, it usually depends on their denomination. That's putting conditions on the sinner to attain or maintain salvation.

But that's a false gospel. The true gospel says that God's love ensures the salvation of his people by conditioning salvation on Christ. and sending Christ into the world to fulfill those conditions so that the sinner has no conditions on him either to attain or maintain salvation. Now, the biggest argument that comes back from unbelieving people is, well, if I don't have to do anything to earn it or merit it or attain it, then why should I obey? Why not just send the more? Well, this is what Paul's answering in verse 1 of chapter 6. Listen to it. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? He'd already defined grace. Look back at verse 21 of chapter 5.

That is, sin hath reigned unto death, Even so, my grace reign through righteousness, not yours, not mine, not any human beings unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. It's all in Christ. He's my all in all. He's my whole salvation. So since I have no part in attaining salvation or maintaining it, which I don't other than as the object, I'm the object of God's grace and grace is not just a doctrine, grace is a powerful principle in the heart. He says, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Verse two, God forbid. God forbid. If grace has got hold of you, if Christ has you in his hand, and he's in your heart, you won't talk like that.

Oh, I'm just gonna go sin as much as I want to. You see, man's natural way of obedience, let's say, worship and dedication, has to do with legalism, which is fear of punishment. If he doesn't do enough, or what I call a mercenary promise of earned reward. I'm serving because I want a bigger reward than what you get.

But God's people are not legalists and they're not mercenaries. They don't serve God for what they can get out of Him. God's people are grace people. Over here in Romans chapter six, Paul says that we're not under the law, we're under grace. And grace establishes these powerful motives. Love, grace, gratitude. That's why we serve God. That's what Paul over in Romans seven called serving in newness of spirit and not in oldness of the letter. Serving God. motivated by love. And that love that we have for God is imperfect love, but it's because He first loved us, His people now, not everybody without exception. That grace shows that before I even begin to walk in obedience to God, accepted in Christ, I am already blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1.3, grace abounds. And that brings me in my heart of hearts to express my gratitude, thanksgiving to God for what He's given me. none of which I've earned, none of which I deserve, because I'm a sinner. He put away my sins by the sacrifice of Himself. He purged them away by His one offering. He perfected forever them that are sanctified, them whom God set apart before the world began.

And so I'm grateful to Him And being grateful to God is more than just looking up into the sky and saying, thank you. We do say thank you. Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me thy great salvation, so rich and so free. But that's the motives of a child of God, a bondservant of Christ. So understand that grace is a powerful principle.

So God forbid, he says in verse two, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Now that phrase dead to sin, what does that mean? I know what dead is, you do. A dead body, you've been to funerals. Some of you may have been close to death. But what is it to be dead to sin? Well, let me ask you this. When you were born into this world, and you began to grow, it didn't take you long to express your sinful nature, did it? Right there. Some people say that you express it as an infant.

Listen, infants, babies are born in sin because we fell in Adam. And we grow up that way, unless God intervenes and gives us a new heart and a new birth, a new spirit. But sin, You were a sinner, and then if God saves you, what do you become? A sinner saved by grace. Over in Romans chapter seven, Paul dealt with that. That I still sin, and I will as long as I'm in this world. I'll be a sinner in myself until I die and go to be a voter, or until he comes back.

Now, I am righteous in Christ. based upon his righteousness imputed to me. And if you don't know what that is, write that down and make it your business to study it. Paul described it in Romans 4, 6, when he was quoting what David meant in Psalm 32. He said, David described the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth not, whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. he did that when he said, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity.

In other words, here's a person whom God does not charge his sins to his account. He sins and he's sinned in the past and he'll be a sinner as long as he's on this earth But he's a sinner saved by grace, and that grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. And God will not charge him in the court of his justice, God will not charge him with sin, so as to condemn him. Romans 8, 34, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who is it that God does not charge with their sin? His elect. And on what ground? Romans 8, 35. Who can condemn us?

It is Christ that died. If Christ died for you, you cannot be condemned. And if Christ died for you, you will be made alive in the new birth and brought to faith in Him. It is Christ that died, yea rather, is seated at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. He's our propitiation. So, When you look at this, what does it mean to be dead to sin?

If I still sin, if sin still, if that human sin is still within me and I have to fight it, I'm in a warfare. Every believer's in a warfare within himself. It's called the warfare of the spirit against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit. Read about it in Galatians chapter five and Romans chapter seven. There's a warfare. If I'm sinless in myself, I wouldn't have that warfare.

There'd be no rivals for the things of the Spirit of God, but there is. And the way we win the warfare is by looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. That's what Paul said at the end of Romans 7 when he said, who shall deliver me from this body of death? He said, I thank my God through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Thank God through Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Another thing too, is if you're sinlessly perfect in yourself, you know you're not ever gonna get sick again. Sickness is the consequence of sin. You're not really gonna grow older, but you know better than that. So how can I say I'm dead to sin? That's what Paul says now. No, we're not going to continue in sin thinking that the grace of God will be more abundant if I sin more. God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer there? What does he mean? Well, look, here's what he means.

Verse three, know you not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Now that word baptism, A lot of people say, well, it means immersion. Well, it does. The ordinance of baptism, we're immersed in water. But this is not baptism in water. This is baptized into Jesus Christ. We're immersed into Christ. Baptism, the word baptism literally means, or baptized means placed into.

So he's saying, know you not that so many of us as were immersed into Jesus Christ were immersed into his death. We were placed into Jesus Christ, we were placed into his death. So what it has to do with is our identification with Christ as his sheep, the elect, as the church, that when He died on that cross, we were identified with Him, we were placed into Him. He was and is our representative. He died for me. Our surety, He died for my sins, imputed to Him. Our substitute, He took my place, our Redeemer. He paid the price to redeem me, to ensure my salvation.

That's what it means. And when he died, we were baptized into him, we died. And that's what we express and confess when we get into the pool to be baptized in water. And so he says in verse four, he says, therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. When he died, I died.

Now that's a legal matter, see? That's a forensic matter. He's my representative, my surety, my substitute, and my redeemer, those four things. And that means he's going to be my life giver. And I'll be immersed into him by faith in him, God-given faith. So he says, therefore we are buried with him by baptism, verse four, 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. Having been justified by his righteousness imputed, justified by his blood, We're going to be raised up to walk in newness of life.

And when does that happen? When we're born again by the Spirit. When we're given life from the dead. By nature, we're totally depraved, sinful, spiritually dead, no eyes to see, no spiritual eyes to see, no spiritual ears to hear, no spiritual heart to receive and submit to Christ. But when the Spirit comes and brings us under the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, and He gives us life from the dead, the very life of Christ, the resurrection life of Christ, He literally raises us from the dead spiritually. That's our spiritual union with Christ. That's our spiritually being placed into him. And he gives us faith to believe and receive and submit to Christ and his righteousness alone.

And he says, look at verse five. He says, for if we've been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Now several things about that. First of all, that's referring to all of God's chosen people there. The only way we were planted together in the likeness of His death is when He died for our sins. And that's the elect of God, that's the sheep, that's the church.

We were not planted. Somebody says, well, we could say we're planted together when the seed of the word is planted. That's the new birth. That didn't happen to all of us together. Abel, he was born again before I was born again. And Noah, and go on Moses and Abraham, they were all, see we weren't planted together in that sense in the new birth, but as the death of Christ, he represented all of God's chosen people.

So that we can say as in Romans 8.34, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? And so we are dead to sin, those who believe are dead to sin in the same way that Christ died to sin. in a legal way because he suffered. He suffered, he bled, he died, but what he did, he went under the justice of God for his people and drank damnation dry.

And here's the second thing about verse five. If he died for me, then I'm gonna be resurrected with him unto life, unto glory. Read it again, verse five, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. So that means we're raised again with him.

And verse six, he says, 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 the old man there is our former connection in Adam in a state of death, a state of sin, depravity, and death.

In other words, my sins were crucified with Christ. I was crucified with him. I wasn't there personally. I didn't do the suffering, but he did it for me. So my old man was crucified with him. That henceforth, that the body of sin, everything about my sin was destroyed legally, I still have sin in me. And it'll be destroyed eventually when I go to be with the Lord.

But it was destroyed legally so much so that it cannot be charged to my account. It's not on the account books. Only things on the account books of God's people is the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ. The blood, the Lamb's book of life. The blood of the Lamb.

And so he says that henceforth we should not serve sin. God didn't do this for His people just so they could go willy nilly into the sinful life that they had before. God did it to motivate them not to serve or be a slave to sin. And so we're to fight sin. We're to keep our eyes on Christ. We're not to let thoughts of condemnation enter in because we're to look to Christ as our salvation.

And so he said in verse seven, for he that is dead is freed from sin. Now that word freed there means justified. And remember what justified means. It means to be forgiven of all my sins on a just ground, and to be declared righteous in God's sight on a just ground. And the just ground of forgiveness is the blood of Jesus Christ, his satisfaction to God's law and justice, and the just ground of righteousness is his righteousness imputed to me.

So he says in verse eight, now if we be dead with Christ, We believe that we shall also live with Him. There's another verse that says, if we're dead with Christ, if we're justified, we're gonna live with Him. We're gonna first live in the new birth. Life given to the dead in the new birth by the Spirit. And then in the end, when Christ comes again, or if we die, we're gonna live then too. We're gonna live as Christ.

Christ is living. He's a living Lord. He was raised from the dead. He ascended to the Father. He's now seated at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for his people so that they cannot be lost. They cannot die and go to hell. And we're gonna live with him. So he says, we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Verse nine, knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more. No more death. Christ cannot die again. He died once. Death hath no more dominion over him. And my friend, as we stand in Christ, death has no more dominion over us, for in that he died. He died under sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth under God.

I hope you'll join us next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969 or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening today and may the Lord be with you.