An Objection to Free Grace

Q: What does the Bible say about original sin?

The Bible teaches that original sin entered the world through Adam, affecting all humanity. Romans 5:12 states that by one man's sin, death entered the world and passed upon all men, indicating that all have sinned in Adam. This doctrine elucidates that due to Adam's transgression, every descendant inherits a sinful nature, resulting in guilt and condemnation. As supported by Psalm 51:5, we are conceived in sin, affirming the universal impact of original sin on humanity. In essence, all mankind is implicated in Adam's fall, which necessitates a Savior for redemption.

Q: How do we know Christ's substitutionary atonement is true?

The substitutionary atonement of Christ is affirmed by Scripture, illustrating that His death fully paid for the sins of His people. The concept of Christ's substitutionary atonement is rooted in passages such as Romans 5:18-19, which explains that through one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, and through one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. This underscores that Christ's obedience, culminating in His sacrificial death, was in place of His people, making them justified before God. Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 5:21 emphasizes that Christ was made sin for us, ensuring that believers are made the righteousness of God in Him. Thus, Christ's atonement is a foundational truth of Reformed theology.

Q: Why is grace important for Christians?

Grace is fundamental for Christians as it brings forgiveness, regeneration, and empowers a new life in Christ. Grace is at the core of the Christian faith, as introduced in Romans 5:20, where Paul states that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. This grace not only justifies believers but also grants them the transformative power to live righteously. Ephesians 2:8-9 illustrates that it is by grace that we are saved, underscoring that salvation is a gift of God, not a result of works, preventing any grounds for boasting. Thus, grace is essential for understanding one's need for Christ, receiving forgiveness, and living in a way that reflects God's holiness.

Q: What does being 'dead to sin' mean for believers?

Being 'dead to sin' means that sin no longer has dominion over believers, as they are now under grace. In Romans 6:2, Paul emphatically states, 'How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?' This phrase indicates that believers, through their union with Christ, have died to the penalty, guilt, and power of sin. While they still wrestle with sin's presence, they are liberated from its reign as a result of Christ's redemptive work. Therefore, being 'dead to sin' signifies that a believer's primary identity shifts from being a servant of sin to being a servant of righteousness, empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a life that honors God.

Q: How does baptism relate to a believer's faith?

Baptism symbolizes a believer's identification with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. In Romans 6:3-4, Paul highlights that baptism represents being baptized into Christ's death, signifying a believer's union with Christ. This physical act is a public declaration of the inward transformation and new life in Christ. As believers are immersed in water, it symbolizes the burial of their old self, while coming out of the water represents their resurrection to new life. Thus, baptism is not just a ritual but a testimony that believers have died to sin and have been made alive in Christ, reflecting the essential transformation that faith in Jesus brings.

Pray with me, please. Gracious Father, Lord, there are many of your
people who are in trials. Oh, dear Father, we pray that
you might show us Christ today, that we might look to Him, trusting
Him as our strength and our wisdom, Lord, You've called me to preach
Christ to Your people. And so I ask that You enable
me to preach Christ in Your power, that Christ might be a comfort
to us all as we look to Him, as we trust in Him, and as we
rest in Him. We praise You, Father, for sending
us a Savior, a Savior to save us from our sins so that we might
live for You I pray that all of your people might come to
Christ, that they might open their eyes, that you might open
their eyes to see their sin. And having seen Christ dying
in their place on the cross, they might know your love for
them. Not only your love for them,
but that love that transfers over even to our brethren. Oh,
dear Father, thank You for each one. In Jesus Christ we pray,
Amen. This morning I really have two
texts. I'm going to ask you to turn to both of them. They're
Romans 5, verses 12-21 and Romans 6, verses 1-10. But the first
verse that we will look at this morning is 1 Corinthians 15,
verses 45-49. So if you've got three fingers,
you've got three places to put them down. So if you open your Bibles, please,
to 1 Corinthians 15, verses 45-49, let me give you a statement of
a basic fact. A fact which you can always rely
on to help your understanding of Scripture if the Holy Spirit
would be your teacher. When we are first born, we are
all seen by God in Adam. Adam, who was our natural head
and representative. As Adam's descendants and because
of Adam's fall, we are all born with a sin nature. We are born
under sin, condemnation, and death because we're descended
from Adam. Adam who is the natural head
and representative of his descendants. But those sinners who see Christ
as their Savior will be born again if they see Christ. They'll
be born again. And when we're born again by
the grace of God, then God sees the believer in Christ because
Jesus Christ is then the born-again believer's head and representative.
Not Adam, but Christ if you're born again. In Jesus Christ,
we're born again, we are redeemed, and so we live in Christ. In Adam, we died. And in Christ,
we live. In Adam, we lost the way, the
truth, and the life. But in Christ, He is the way,
the truth, and the life. So if I can, let me say it this
way. Adam is a type of Christ in reverse. because the only way that Adam
typified Christ was as our substitute. As our substitute, Adam represents
the head of the human race. Jesus Christ is also the substitute
for his people. But Christ is a substitute in
a way that gives life rather than death. So except for their
both being our substitutes, Adam and Christ are opposites. They're
opposites from each other, but they are both covenant heads
of their people. In 1 Corinthians 15, beginning
in verse 45, Paul says, And so it is written, The first man,
Adam, was made a living soul, and the last man, that's Christ,
was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which
is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward, that
which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth
earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. As the earthy, such are they
also that are earthy, and as is the heavenly, such are they
also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. So by the sin of the first Adam,
The whole race of mankind was equally involved in the guilt
and the punishment, which was due their original sin. Although
they had no hand in that original corruption, they all became sinners
in Adam, because they inherited Adam's sin nature. But in the
same way, by the righteousness of the second Adam, who was Jesus
Christ, The whole church of God became righteous, although they
didn't actually do anything to make themselves righteous. Turn
to Romans 5 and verse 12, please. I pray that the Holy Spirit has
led you to see that because we are born with a sin nature, we
have no ability to make ourselves holy or righteous. We are unable
to keep God's law. Only Christ, only in Christ can
we be born again. It takes an act of God to regenerate
a sinner, giving him life, not Christ. So our text begins in
Romans 5, verse 12. And Paul says, Wherefore, as
by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
so death passed upon all men for all have sinned. It was by
Adam's transgression that sin entered into this world. By representation
and by imputation, sin and the results of sin, such as spiritual
death, physical death, darkness, disease, and enmity against God,
all entered into all men. So that when Adam sinned and
fell, we all sinned and fell in Adam. Sin was not only imputed
to us, but Adam's sin nature was imparted to us. We inherited
Adam's sin nature. As David said in Psalm 51, verse
5, Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. And in Psalm 58, verse 3, David said again, The wicked
are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they
are born, speaking lies. So with that understanding, I
pray that God has opened your eyes to see and to understand
it. So turn now please to Romans 5 and verse 18. I'm going to
come back to verses 13 to 17 in a few minutes, but really
those verses are just a parenthesis where Paul explains what he means
when he says, for all have sinned. We'll get back there, but for
now, let's skip to Romans 5 and verse 18 where Paul says, Therefore,
or because of Adam's sin, by the offense of one, judgment
came upon all men to condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the free gift
came upon all men unto justification of life. Therefore, as one man's
sin, as Adam's sin led to judgment and condemnation for the many,
those many that he represented, which is all mankind. So also
one man's obedience and sacrifice, Christ's obedience and sacrifice,
brought justification, redemption, and life to all that He represented. We weren't present physically
when Adam fell, but we were in his loins and we were in Adam
as the covenant head of the human race. Therefore, we all fell
in Adam and we were condemned. We may want to argue about Adam's
being our substitute so that we all became sinners in Adam. But this doctrine of substitution
is very important. And substitution is a major blessing
to us because it was Christ's substitution for us when our
Lord perfectly obeyed God's holy requirements of the law. It was
Christ's substitution for us when He satisfied God's justice
on the cross. And so we were in Christ, our
substitute, as His seed and as His covenant people. And therefore,
we are accepted by God as being made justified in Christ. Let's look at Romans 5.19 closely,
please. Because I wanted you to see a
couple of words in this verse. I want you to see the words were
made and be made in this verse. They're important words for us
to see because they tell us that Adam's sin didn't just put us
on trial or didn't just make us only acceptable or susceptible
to sin. Adam's sin as our substitute
didn't just lead us into sin. Oh no, by Adam's fall, we were
actually made sinners. Now look at Romans 5 and verse
19. Paul is speaking for God when
he says, for as by one man's disobedience, many were made
sinners. So the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. I want you to look at those words,
were made and be made. Because Adam sinned as our substitute,
many were made sinners. In the same way, with Christ
as our substitute, His obedience didn't just put us into a position
where we would be only savable or that would enable us to become
righteous before God by our own works. But in Christ, we were
made righteous. We were sanctified entirely on
the basis of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. This doctrine
of substitution is a blessing from God. It's a blessing to
me, and I hope it's a blessing to you. You see, I know that
I'm a sinner. God has sent His Son to die for
me as my substitute, to save me from my sin. Is that something
that you know as well? Is that something that you believe?
as 1 Corinthians 5.21 says about Christ, for He has made Him sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Then in Romans 5.20 it says,
Moreover, the law entered that the fence might abound, but where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Then the law came
in to reveal to us the evil that was in us by birth and by nature. As Paul says in Romans 3, verses
19 and 20, now we know that what thanesoever the law says, it
says to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped. We'll all be convicted of our
sin. We all can't brag about our righteousness because we
have none. All the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by
the law is the knowledge of sin." And then in Romans 7, verse 7,
Paul says, what should we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law said, thou shalt not covet. What the law does is it
takes away all of our excuses because the law reveals to us
that we are guilty sinners. Therefore, we have no excuse.
The law convicts us. But where sin overflowed, where
sin abounded and contaminated every natural ability of man,
the grace of God in Christ did much more overflow in justification,
in regeneration and in sanctification. Because as Colossians 1, verses
21 and 22 says, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in
the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unprovable in His sight. As Romans 8, verse
1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit. And so in 2 Corinthians 5.17,
Paul says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature. Old things are passed away, and
behold, all things become new. And in Romans 5.21, Paul says,
that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."
Every believer knows from experience that sin has such a strong power
over men in their state of nature that it's as though sin reigns
in death. Sin has dominion or controlling
and commanding power over its prisoners. So in a state of regeneration
and righteousness in Christ, we're set free from the law of
sin and death. We're set free and the grace
of God reigns and holiness becomes the governing principle of our
lives. As 1 John 5, verses 3-5 says, For this is the love of
God, that we keep His commandments And His commandments aren't grievous.
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this
is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is He that overcometh the
world but He that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? And
so moving on to chapter 6 in Romans 6, verses 12 to 14, Paul
says, Let not sin, therefore, reign
in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves
unto God, as though 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 you're
under grace. But before we go on farther in
Romans 6, let me go back to Romans 5, verses 13-17 if I can. As I said, this is a parenthesis
to see what Paul means when he says, for all have sinned. In
Romans 5, verse 12, Paul said that because Adam sinned, wherefore? As by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. Then in verses 13 and 14 of Romans
5, Paul begins to explain what he means by that all have sinned. Paul says, for until the law,
sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there
is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that
was to come, a figure of Jesus Christ. And verse 12 declares
that death has passed upon all men. No one can stop sinning. No one can escape sin's power,
because in Adam, all sinned. Even those who lived before the
law was given at Mount Sinai were sinners under condemnation.
But somebody might argue, well, where then is, where there's
no law, a man isn't accountable, are they? Well, if that's true,
then why did death reign? Why did people die? Why did even
infants die who didn't commit an act of rebellion against God
like Adam did? As I said when I began, Adam
was a figure or a type of Christ only in one respect. Both Adam
and Christ were substitutes for the people that they represented.
As we've already seen in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 21 and 22, God says
that since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection
of the dead. For as in Adam all die, Even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. So in Romans 5.15 Paul
says, But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For
if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace
of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man Jesus Christ,
hath abounded unto many. Although in one sense Adam is
a type of Christ. The fallen Adam and the judgment
which followed are not worthy to be compared to the grace of
God and the free gifts of life which we have in Christ. A comparison
isn't really possible because in Adam we lost all things. But
in Christ we gained much more than we lost. So as Paul says
in Romans 5.16, And not as it was by one that sinned, so is
the gift. For the judgment was by one to
condemnation. But the free gift is of many
offenses unto justification. The effect of Christ's obedience
can't be compared to the effect of Adam's sin. Because Christ
confers to his people much more than they lost in the fall. Jesus
Christ pardons not just one sin, but Christ, when He died on the
cross, pardoned all sins of His people. Christ justifies in a
way that every believer is made righteous, and so they can never
perish. All sinners die, but in Christ,
sinners have eternal life. As the Apostle says in John 10,
verses 27 and 28, My sheep hear My voice. And I know them. And they follow Me. And I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall
any man pluck them out of My hand." How can I stress the importance
of this? It is so extremely important
because it is so basic to our understanding of salvation. It is often something that is
very misunderstood And so many people are misled, not understanding
what it was that Christ accomplished on the cross. When Christ died,
He saved His people from their sin. He didn't make it just possible
for them to be saved. If they'd only keep the law that
they would be saved. Jesus Christ saved them from
all of their sin. When Christ died, all that God
would reveal Christ to as their Savior, all who would believe
and trust Christ by God's mercy and grace would be totally and
completely saved from their sin. All that Christ died to save
are saved in Christ. As Paul said in Romans 5.17,
For if by one man's offense death reigned by one, Much more, they
which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, and that one is Jesus Christ. So
if through Adam death reigned over us, much more shall those
who are made righteous by Christ reign with Him." As Paul says
in Romans 8, verses 16 and 17, the Spirit itself bears witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children,
then heirs. Heirs of God. Adjoint heirs with
Christ. If so be that we suffer with
Him, that we may be also glorified together. Now let's go on to
Romans 6 where we see that many will live in Christ because he
that is dead in Christ is totally free from sin. In verses 1-10 we have Paul's
argument against an objection. It's an objection about the sovereign
and free grace which believers have in Christ who saved them
completely from their sins. In Romans 6, Paul asks the question,
what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? Paul begins Romans 6 with an
objection which he knew would be presented against the gospel
of God's sovereign free grace. Some will say, well, if we're
justified by the grace of God alone, totally apart from any
works at all, are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
If it's when our sin is at its worst and when our guilt is at
its greatest, that God's grace abounds and it glorifies, then
why shouldn't we sin more and more so that grace may more abound? That's the question that Paul
is going to answer in Romans 6, and so let's look at it. To
begin with, sin of itself is not the cause of glorifying God's
grace. Sin is the cause of God's wrath. Sin is the cause of God's judgment,
not God's grace. God has been pleased to magnify
His grace in the pardoning of sin. It's not by the commission
of sin that grace is glorified, but by the forgiveness of it. God's grace is glorified by putting
a stop to the reign of sin, not by encouraging sin. Grace enables
men to hate sin. and to be done with sin, not
to love and to pursue after it. And so in Romans 6, verse 2,
Paul emphatically says, God forbid. How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein? God forbid is an expression that
Paul frequently uses. He uses it to express shock and
abhorrence at something. How shall we who are dead to
sin live in sin? Turn to Romans 7 and verse 15,
please. This is particularly interesting
to me because I know that I'm a sinner. If you knew the extent
of my sin, you would agree with me that I'm the chief of sinners. So in what sense are we dead
to sin? We certainly aren't dead to the
influence of sin, and Paul wasn't either. Because in Romans 7.15
he said, for that which I do, I allow not. For that what I
would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. And in Romans 7.19 he said, for
the good that I would do, I do not. But the evil which I would
not do, that's exactly what I do. Nor are we dead to the presence
of sin. Because in Romans 7, verse 21,
Paul said, I find then a law that when I would do good, evil
is present with me. Nor are we dead to the effects
of sin either. Because in Romans 7, 24, Paul
cried out, O wretched man that I am, who should deliver me from
the body of this death? And apparently, David, King David
had much the same problem with sin because in Psalm 51 verse
3 he said, I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
And when our Lord taught us to pray, our Lord Himself told us
to ask our Father in Heaven to forgive us our sins. Now turn please to Romans 8 and
verse 33 and 34. No, the sad truth is that we are all sinners, even
we're sinners after we have been born again in Christ. We're still
under the influence, still have the presence and the effects
of our sin. So then in what sense are we
dead to sin? Listen to me carefully, please.
I hope and pray that you can hear this. As believers who trust
Christ's righteousness, not trusting our own righteousness, but Christ's
righteousness, we are dead to sin's penalty and we're dead
to sin's guilt. When we are in Christ, sin no
longer condemns us. In Romans 8, verses 33 and 34,
Paul asks, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifies. Who is He that condemns? It is
Christ that died, yea, rather, is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. And
we are dead to sin because sin no longer rules over us as our
Master. Jesus Christ is our Lord and
Master. And we are dead to sin as a course
or as a way of life. When you're in Christ, Sin is
no longer looked on as a friend, but we look at sin as an enemy.
Turn to 1 John 2, verses 15 and 16, please. Well then, you might
ask, how shall we who have this attitude towards sin actually
live in sin? People are said to live in sin
when they give themselves up to sin. when they are bent upon
sin or when sin is their pleasure and their delight and when they
offer no real resistance to their sins. Living in sin and justifying
sin are contrary to the Spirit of Christ, but they aren't contrary
to the likes and the desires of this world. It really comes
down to this. Who do you love? Who do you love? The Apostle said in 1 John 2,
verses 15 and 16, love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life is not of the Father, but it's of the world. Oh, dear
Father, restrain the sin that's in me. Cause me to love you more
that I might not ascend against you. Then going back to our text,
in Romans 6, verses 3 and 4, Paul asks, Know you not that
so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into
His death? Therefore we are buried with
Him by baptism into death. that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in the newness of life. Now, Paul isn't changing
the subject here, but he is beginning to tell us how the Spirit of
God's love works in the saints of God's hearts, uniting us with
Christ. And oh, how important it is that
we should be united in union with Christ. Let's look at verses
3 and 4 of Romans 6 closely because in these two verses, Paul gives
us a full answer to the objection which is set forth in verse 1.
Do you remember what the objection was in verse 1? Paul raised it
with this question. What shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin that grace may be abound? And so now Paul
is going to show us that the sanctification of the believer
rests on the same foundation as his justification. We are
one with Christ in Christ's death. How were we justified before
God? We were justified because Christ
died for our sin, weren't we? And it's also true that because
Christ died for us, we are sanctified. This is important. Our sanctification does not rest
in one iota on the law. Sanctification does not rest
in our ability to keep the law. It rests on Christ. For both
our sanctification and our justification We rest on our union with Christ
and our union with Christ comes when, by the grace of God, we
are made to see the love of Christ in His death for our sin on the
cross. Are you looking at verses 3 and 4 of Romans 6? There are
two baptisms mentioned here in these two verses. First, in verse
3, Paul says that we are baptized into Christ. Now, this isn't
just a figure. It isn't just an expression.
Believers are literally and actually baptized into Christ. There's
a real union or an immersion, if you will, into the Lord Jesus
that is worked in us by the Holy Spirit of God in which we are
actually made one with Christ and it relates to our trials
and to our sufferings by which we are united in Christ. Not that we suffer anything like
Christ suffered. I don't mean that. But just as
a believer undergoes the suffering of his trials by faith, he's
drawn closer to Christ. Closer and closer until there
is a oneness or there is a union with Christ. That's what Jesus
was praying for in John 17 verse 23 as He was about to go to the
cross. Jesus prayed to His Father and He said, I in them and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as
thou hast loved me. And in Mark 10 verses 38 and
39, when James and John came to Jesus and they asked Him if
they could sit with Him in glory, one on the right and one on the
left, Jesus said to him, you know not what you ask for. Can
you drink of the cup that I'm drinking of? Can you be baptized
with the baptism that I'm baptized with?" He's talking about His
own death. And they said to Him, we can. And Jesus said to them, well,
you shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of and the baptism
that I'm baptized with shall ye be baptized. And they did
suffer. They both suffered great trials
as all the apostles did. Died a martyr's death, each one
of them. In Galatians 2, verses 20, Paul
says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. Paul would die for Christ. But
he's talking here not just about his death, but I hear him talking
about the suffering in his trials. He is crucified with Christ in
the suffering of his trials. Hear me carefully, please. If
by faith you're able to identify with Christ's death, then as
you live for Christ, you will suffer. And in your suffering,
you will be drawn closer to Christ out of your greater need for
Christ. Some believers suffer the effects
of their sin. And in that suffering, they are
drawn closer to Christ. Other believers suffer great
pain, great loss. They suffer persecution. And
those things draw them closer to Christ, that suffering. but the faith of a believer will
always cause him to identify with Christ in his trials, drawing
them closer with Christ as one in Christ's death for their sin.
Again, I say to you, as clearly as I know how to say it, look
to Jesus Christ. Look to His death for your sin.
That's where we see the love of God and what we want most
of all in our trials is to see the love of God for us. The difference
between those who live in Christ and those who are of the world
isn't whether or not we suffer, but it's in who or what they
love. Believers, as they suffer in
their trials, look to the cross of Christ by the faith of Christ.
because there they see the love of Christ for them as He obediently
went to the cross to die for them. Unbelievers, on the other
hand, look to the world because they love the world. Turn to
Matthew 22 and verses 37 to 40, please. We are baptized into
the death of Christ when we can identify with His suffering for
our sin. And some of that same love of
Christ also acts in a believer when he can relate to the suffering
of his brothers and sisters in Christ. So when we can identify
with Christ's death for our sin, it sort of opens a door for us
to identify with others with their suffering. That's the way
of love. That's the way Christ's love
works in a believer. We love Christ because He first
loved us. And so, in Christ, we are made
able to love others as ourselves. That's the work of God's love
as the Holy Spirit teaches us of Christ and often we are taught
of Christ in our suffering. Once a lawyer asked Jesus a question.
And when he asked that question, he was tempting Jesus. He said,
Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? And in
Matthew 22, verses 37 to 40, Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul
and with all thy mind. This is the first and the greatest
commandment. And the second is like it. Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang
all of the law and the prophets. I never read those verses, those
two commandments, without being convicted of my lack of love. I'm convicted of my sin and my
lack of love. That's what I'm trying to say.
But the closer I draw to Christ out of need, the more I see Christ's
love for me. I don't know whether I love Christ
more But I do know that as I experience the face of Christ working in
me, as I see His love and I see His faithfulness to me, I draw
closer to Him. I want to be one with Christ. I want to do that which He enables me to do I want to be willing to suffer
the trials of living for Him which is what I believe it means
to be baptized in the death of Christ. Though I still sin, I
can no more be an ally of sin than Christ can because we're
one. We are in union as one. We are one in Christ's death.
We are one in His burial and we are one in His resurrection.
And the second baptism that James 1, verses 3 and 4 mentions is
that we are baptized in water. Turn now please to Philippians
3, verses 8 to 11. What is the meaning of water
baptism? When we are immersed in baptismal
waters, We are confessing that we have identified with Christ
in His death. We have identified with Christ
in His burial. And we have identified with Christ
in His resurrection. We are confessing that we are
dead to the old life. It's buried in Christ, our old
life. And so we are risen again to
life in Christ so that we walk as new creatures in the newness
of a resurrected life with new hearts and new principles and
a new way of life. All things become new in Christ. In Philippians 3, verses 8 to
11, Paul said, Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them
but done, that I may win Christ. and be found in Him, not having
mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection
and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made comfortable unto His
death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead." Really, those two baptisms are very similar in
many ways. The biggest difference in the
two of them is that in the first, the Holy Spirit works in your
heart as you are baptized into the death of Christ. And the
other is a baptism in which you testify to the church of what
God has done in your heart as in Christ you died, were buried,
and rose again to a new life in Christ. But both are very
real baptisms. And the second is a testimony
that the first has taken place. as the work of God in your heart
and in your soul. Then in Romans 6, verse 5, Paul
says, For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His
death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.
The nature of baptism is a burial which signifies not only being
dead with Christ and the blessing resulting from the union with
Christ's death, but are being dead to the world in sin, even
as Christ did away with the sins that He bore for us on the cross. Turn to 2 Corinthians 5 and verse
17. I'd like for you to see something
that I think is very important. The end of baptism is a resurrection. The person being baptized doesn't
remain buried in the water. but he rises up out of the water
even as Christ rose up out of the grave. And the testimony
that he makes in his baptism is that in the likeness of Christ's
resurrection, he is no longer under the control of sin and
self, but he is under the power and the influence of the Holy
Spirit. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians
5 verse 17, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new." But the reference here is also to
life after resurrection as in Romans 6, verses 8-10. Paul says
that knowing this, and I'm making a contraction here. It's not
a single verse. You won't find it all in one spot. But you'll
find it between verses 8-10. Paul says that knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed so that henceforth we should not serve sin. Wasn't
it great how I lumped all those together? I hope you can follow
it. Our old man is crucified with
Christ. That old man is our old man because
it is with us from birth. Our old man is the old nature
which we received from our father, Adam. And this old man consists
of parts and members such as a will and mind and affection
and actions. In Ephesians 4, verse 22, we're
told that you put off concerning the former conversation, the
old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. And in
Colossians 3, verses 9 and 10, we're told to lie not one to
another seeing that you have put off the old man with his
deeds and we have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of Him that created him. This old nature can never
be improved and so it must be destroyed. Our old man will be
crucified daily by the Holy Spirit and by the grace of Christ so
that its reigning power might be subdued. So this old man which
is sometime called our flesh remains with us until death.
But because of our love, we won't indulge it. We won't make any
provision for it. But we will crucify it. As Paul
said in Galatians 5.24, they that are Christ have crucified
the flesh, or they've crucified the old man, with the affections
and lusts. We serve Christ, not sin. As Paul asks us in Romans 6,
verse 16, know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants
to obey, His servants you are to whom you obey, whether of
sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. Then returning
to our text in Romans 6, verse 7, Paul says, For he that is
dead is freed from sin. Now this isn't a physical death.
We will die physically someday and then we'll be freed forever
from the very presence of sin. But the reference here is to
the fact that being one with Christ in His death under the
curse of the law, Jesus Christ having paid the full penalty,
we are then made totally free of any penalty, totally free
of any curse, totally free of any charge against us that the
law can make. We are not free from the presence
of sin or from the burden of our sin or from the continual
war with sin or even from sin in our best deeds. But we are
free from sin's dominion. We are free from the guilt of
it and from the punishment on account of it. As Romans 6, verse
8 to 10 says, now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that
we shall also live with Him. We'll live in union with Christ. knowing that Christ being raised
from the dead dieth no more, death has no more dominion over
him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once. But in that
he liveth, he liveth unto God." So since believers are one with
Christ in His death, they have a sure hope of forever living
with and in Christ for eternity. The reference here is to the
life after the resurrection. Christ having been raised from
the dead will not die again, so neither will those die again
who died with Him and are risen with Him as their substitute.
The law of sin and death has no charge against us because
the full price is paid. The law is honored and justice
has been completely satisfied in Christ, in Christ who is our
substitute. As Romans 8 verses 32 to 34 says,
He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us,
for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemns? It is Christ that died, yea,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Jesus Christ died to sin
only once because in that one death, He fully satisfied every
charge that could be made against us. And so now our Lord and Savior
lives under God in broken fellowship with Him. And oh, how I pray
you can see and hear these things of Christ. Because if you don't
see in Christ completely, completely, deliverance from sin's curse
and sin's guilt and sin's dominion, then sin will continue its hold
on you. It will continue its reign on
you. And if you can't see your complete
deliverance in Christ, then you will open the door to unbelief
and to doubt and you'll leave room for attacks from legalism
and self-righteousness. For all things, we should look
to Christ. because all that we need is in Christ. O gracious
and merciful Father, as we are in our trials, as we walk through
this world of sin and death, may You enable us to look to
Christ, enabling us to trust only in Christ. And may You restrain
the sin that is in us that we might be one with Christ, serving
You in Christ and for Your glory. Amen.

An Objection to Free Grace

What does the Bible say about original sin?

How do we know Christ's substitutionary atonement is true?

Why is grace important for Christians?

What does being 'dead to sin' mean for believers?

How does baptism relate to a believer's faith?

Sermon Transcript

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An Objection to Free Grace

What does the Bible say about original sin?

How do we know Christ's substitutionary atonement is true?

Why is grace important for Christians?

What does being 'dead to sin' mean for believers?

How does baptism relate to a believer's faith?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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