for us today to look to Romans
chapter 6. Romans chapter 6, and let's read
the first 13 verses. 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 you 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. 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. 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 doth 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 you 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. I have three truths that I want
to bring out to us from this passage of Scripture, these verses
which we've just finished reading. Three truths. First, I want you
to think and notice that the question in verse 1 reveals what
Paul taught about justification. Notice the question is, shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound. That question reveals
unto us very clearly what the Apostle Paul taught concerning
justification. Now to this point in the letter
of Romans, that's what the Apostle had dealt with. He begins the
letter showing us how that all the world, first of all Gentiles,
but then also Jews, are guilty before God. All men, every man
who is born a son of Adam comes into this world guilty of sin. He teaches us and shows us that
men are justified not by works of righteousness, which we do. That justification, what is justification? It is God declaring a person
to be righteous in his sight. It is God imputing the righteousness
of Christ. His absolute obedience and his
suffering at the hands of justice, that righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ is imputed or counted to be that of everyone who believes
in Christ. This question here shows us that
he had taught this. No one would ever have thought
to ask a question like this if Paul had taught that men are
justified by what we do. If he had taught that, if that
had been his teaching, if that had been the teaching of the
Lord Jesus Christ, If that had been the teaching of Peter or
anywhere in the Word of God that men are justified by our works,
then this question would never have occurred to anyone. Paul knew that this question
would occur to men who heard him declare clearly and plainly
that we are justified by grace. It's the grace of God. You notice
above that in chapter 5, in the last part of verse 20, he said,
but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. In other
words, you and I and all men by nature, we're full of sin. That's all we are. We're sinners
by nature. We're sinners by birth. We're
sinners by practice. That's our life. That's us. before
Almighty God. Now I know people don't like
to hear that, but it's true. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Sin, where sin abounded, it abounded
in me, it abounded in you. Much more, the grace of God abounds. The grace of God in providing
salvation of righteousness that we don't merit, and we certainly
do not work out ourselves, but one that is freely given unto
us, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ that is imputed
unto everyone that believeth. This righteousness is the righteousness
of Christ, it's imputed, and it is received by faith. Let me show you that in a few
verses here in Romans. If you look back to chapter 3,
I know you know this, but I want to go over it again anyway. Romans
chapter 3 and verse 20. This is at the, really the tail
end of Paul showing that all men are sinners. Where we began
here with verse 20. Therefore, because all men are
sinners by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh No man,
no woman be justified in his sight. For by the law is the
knowledge of sin. See, the law shows us that we
are sinners. The law has a standard, a holy
standard, but we don't measure up. We come short. And so Paul clearly says, by
the deeds of the law, by a person obeying the Ten Commandments
or any other part of the law, a person shall not be justified
in God's sight. Now you may be justified in your
neighbor's sight. You may look like a real good
person and you may be, relatively speaking, a very good person. But we're talking about being
justified in God's sight. And how holy, how good must you
be to be declared righteous in God's sight? You must be as holy
and as good and as righteous as God is himself. Think you
measure up? Of course not. We need a righteousness
provided for us. And that's what he's telling
us and showing us. But the righteousness of God,
now notice verse 20, or verse 21 rather, but now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Now what does he mean here? He
means the righteousness that we need, not by our obedience
to the law, that that righteousness was witnessed to by the law,
That's what the law told us, and by the prophets, that's what
they told us, all up until the time of the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Even, here it is, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, by His faithfulness,
by His obedience, unto all and upon all them that believe, for
there's no difference, For all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God. Now notice here, being justified
freely. Freely. It cannot be any clearer
than that. Being justified freely. You say,
well, I want to put my two cents in. No, when you do that, you
ruin. You ruin the work. It's all Christ. is not mostly of Christ, it's
all Christ. You are complete in Him. You
are accepted in the Beloved. And when man tries to add anything
to the work of Christ, to the righteousness of Christ, we just
mar his work. And God will not accept it. Being
justified freely by His grace, But notice, through the redemption,
through the sacrifice that is in Christ Jesus. This is what
the Apostle Paul preached. I want you to look back to Romans
Acts chapter 13, just a moment. We won't read all of these verses,
but let me give you the background here. The Apostle Paul is in
a synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia. They didn't know him, first time
he'd ever been there. And it was kind of a custom in
a synagogue when they had a visitor, someone come in that they didn't
know, they would ask them, do you have a word? Do you have
a word for us? Well, when they asked that of
Paul, you may be sure, I've got a word. I've got a word. And
this is kind of the conclusion after he speaks about the Lord
Jesus Christ, tells them who He is. Notice in verse 38 and
39, He said, Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren,
that through this man, what man? The God-man, through this man
is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by Him, By Him,
by His person, by His work, by His righteousness, all that believe
are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. That's what Paul preached. That's
what he taught. Look back to Luke chapter 18.
This is what the Lord Jesus Christ taught. Luke chapter 18 in this
parable. Luke chapter 18 and beginning
with verse 9. And he, that is the Lord Jesus
Christ, he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in
themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Now, that's
always the case. Always. When a person believes
and thinks that he or she is justified by what they do, by
their works, they always look down on other people. Always. They always look down on other
people. But when a person is justified,
as the scriptures teach, we realize, as Paul said, I am what I am
by the grace of God. And we don't look down on anyone. We might say, there go I, but
by the grace of God. He spoke this parable to those
who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised
others. And this parable is, two men
went up into the temple to pray. Could not have been more unalike
than these two men. One was a very religious man,
very respected man in religion, and he had a whole litany of
things he could brag on. that he did, and the other man
was a publican. He was looked down on by everyone
in society by being a publican. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, God, and that's who he was praying
with. He wasn't praying to God, praying
with himself, bragging on himself. talking about how good he was,
how righteous he was. I thank thee that I am not as
other men. Well, that's a lie. There's no
difference. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. I'm not as other men. They are extortioners and they're
unjust and they're adulterers or even this publican I'm not
like him. I'm not like this guy. He's a
publican. I fast. I give tithes. Blah, blah, blah. And the publican,
the publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as
his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, as if to say,
here's the problem. Here's the problem. It's not
my neighbor. It's me, O Lord, standing in
need. Have mercy. Smote upon his breast,
saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. Actually, that's
what it is. God be merciful to me, the sinner. Nobody else in this synagogue
or in this temple today may be a sinner. But this man said,
here's one, God be merciful. And that word merciful is the
same word which means propitious. That is, through a sacrifice,
through the blood sacrifice that he knew God had promised, the
Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world. God be
merciful, be propitious. propitious to me, the setter. Now notice what the Lord said.
I tell you, and I'm telling us the same thing. I tell you, this
man went down to his house, how? Justified, declared righteous
by the imputed righteousness of another. And that other is
the Lord Jesus Christ, received by faith. And it's all of grace. All of grace. Not mostly. It's
all of grace. Later in the letter of Romans
in chapter 8, Paul asked this rhetorical question. Who, who,
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God
that justified. with the righteousness of Christ
as my righteousness declared righteous by God Almighty. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? In fact, did you know the Lord
Jesus Christ, one of his names is the Lord our righteousness,
Jehovah Tiskanu. We find that in the book of Jeremiah,
chapter 23, the Lord our righteousness. And in 1 Corinthians 1, the apostle
Paul said, but of God is Christ made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. So that's the first thing I wanted
to point out to us. This question that Paul supposed
someone was going to ask, shall we continue in sin that grace
may abound? It shows us what Paul had taught,
that being justified or being saved, as we use that term most
often, it's all of grace. And it's all through the merit
and through the work of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Well, here's
the second thing I want us to see. I want us to see a very
important truth, a very important truth in Paul's answer in verse
two. Paul vehemently denies that a
person who is justified by Christ's imputed righteousness will continue
to live in sin. He said, God forbid, How, how
shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? A truly justified person experiencing
God's amazing grace and salvation will not see God's grace as a
license to sin. Sometimes you'll hear people
make a statement like that. They don't understand the gospel
and they'll say something like this, well if I believe what
you believe, what I've just said so far in this message, if I
believe that I just live out here in sin and degradation because
I'm saved and it's all of grace. Paul said that's not possible.
That's just not possible. When a person is truly born of
the spirit of God, God forbid, how shall we who are dead to
sin, live any longer therein. This doesn't mean, now let me
say this, this doesn't mean that some who profess to believe everything
I've said thus far will not take this truth and use it for a license
to sin. And I say that because in Jude,
the epistle of Jude, verse 4, The apostle tells us that some
have crept in. In other words, some have come
in among believers. They've crept in unawares. They
profess to believe in Christ, to believe the gospel, but they've
turned the grace of God into lasciviousness. So I'm not saying
that no one who professes to believe this may not use this
as a license to sin. But what I am saying, no one
who truly experiences the grace of God will live in sin. Why? Because he's dead to sin. That's what he says. God forbid,
how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer? Therein. Now here's the very important
truth that I said I want us to see in Paul's answer. Here's the truth. There is a
union. There is a union which exists
between Jesus Christ and every true believer. There's a union. Just as in the human body there
exists a union between the head and the members, so in Christ's
spiritual body there's a union which exists between Christ,
who is the head, and every believer who is a member of his spiritual
body. Now, this is called a mystical
union. When you read in theology books
on this subject, you're going to see that. This is a mystical
union. And by mystical, it means mysterious. Mysterious. And there's no doubt,
it is mysterious. And in this mystical union, there
is what is called a vital union. A vital union. In other words,
in the new birth, when a person is born of the Spirit of God
and Christ is formed in that person, and he becomes a living
branch in the living vine, then that union is vital. You, to have life, to be saved,
for me, for you, for anyone, we must be in union with Christ. He is life. And there is no life,
eternal life, everlasting life, apart from Christ. We must be
in union with Him. That's the reason it's called
a vital union. And this vital union, some of
the writers, they speak of this as an open being in Christ. In other words, when you experience
God's grace and are granted faith and repentance and believe in
Christ, then you are openly in Christ. You're openly, you profess
faith in Christ. You profess that you are trusting
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are openly in Christ. You have a vital union with Christ. You are in Him by faith. He is in you by His Spirit. The day, it's an open union,
but listen, this union began way, way, way back. I mean so far back that time
did not even exist. It began, as we like to say,
and the scripture says, before the foundation of the world. As the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians
1, according as he hath chosen us in him, in Christ, before
the foundation of the world. You see what I'm saying? This
union began way back there. Mystical. Mysterious. But there comes a time in our
life when we are born of the Spirit of God and believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And now this is an open union. It's open to you. It's open to
others. That you are a member of His
spiritual body. John Gill, he wrote of this eternal
union under four heads. Let me just give them to you
in passing. First of all, he said there's an election union
in Christ. Number two, there's a conjugal
union between Christ and the elect. He's the bridegroom. These
are his bride. There's a federal union between
Christ and the elect. And there is a legal union between
Christ and the elect. You might ask me this question.
You might say, well, where do you see that in Paul's answer? Okay, this is where I see it.
This is where I see that this union exists in Paul's answer. The question is, shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound? Paul's answer is, how shall we
that are dead to sin live any longer therein? How did we become
dead to sin? How did we become dead to sin
unless we are in union with Christ? That's the only way. That's the
only way that a person becomes dead to sin. And that is because
we are in union with Christ and when Christ died, we died. Now there's two questions I want
us to think about. First of all, how did Paul and
all believers become dead to sin? Well, it's because of this
mystical union between Christ and his elect. When he died,
they died. Let me bring this down to you
and I today. When Christ died, if you are
a believer, you died. That's right. You died. I want you to look with me at
Paul's statement in Galatians 2. You say, well, preacher, I'm
having a hard time following you. Well, stay up with me. Galatians chapter 2, I want you
to see what Paul said. Before we read this statement,
I want to, and you, or most of you at least, are familiar enough
with the Scriptures. You know what I'm going to say
is found in the Word of God. I'm not just making this up.
You know that. The Scriptures teach that when
Christ died, that we were crucified with Him, we were buried with
Him, we were raised with Him, and yes, my friends, we are already
seated in the heavenlies in Christ. In Galatians 2 and verse 20,
Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. Now, how did Paul, there
was two other men crucified alongside of Christ, but Paul wasn't one
of them. How was Paul crucified with Christ? Because he was in
union with Christ. Because Christ was a federal
head, the representative man of all of God's elect. And when
he was crucified, Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I. What does he mean
there? I live, yet not I. Not the old
Paul. The old Paul who was a persecutor,
who was a blasphemer, who was injurious, who was a Pharisee,
a self-righteous man. Oh no, he's not saying he lives
any longer. No, I live. Yet not I, but it's
Christ that liveth in me." Didn't we just sing that hymn a few
minutes ago? Christ liveth in me. He liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I continue to live in this world, in this body,
But I do so by the faith of the Son of God." In other words,
Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith. I live
day by day continually looking to Christ, trusting in Christ,
believing in Christ to give me strength and grace day by day. Well, back in our text, here's
the second question. The first question was, how did
Paul and all believers become dead to sin? Because we were
in union with him. And when he was crucified, we
were crucified. In what sense? In what sense,
then, are believers dead to sin? Well, there's only one way that
believers are dead to sin. Not to its power. Now, some of
the writers, they seem to think that this means that a believer
is dead to the power of sin. That's not true. That's not true. And that's a denial of the scripture.
The scripture says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us. And that was not Paul's testimony
either. If you look in chapter seven
and verse 21 here of Romans, This doesn't sound like he was
dead to the power of sin. He said, I find then a law, a
principle within him. I find this is still true of
me. And I'm sure you find the same
thing, don't you? When I would do good, evil's
present with me. It's still here. Believers We're
crucified with Christ. We've become dead to sin, but
not to the power of sin. We've become dead to the guilt
of sin. The guilt of sin. If we, we're not dead to its
power, but we are dead to the guilt of sin. We'll never be
charged with sin because our sins were laid upon Christ. Look in 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter
2 and verse 24. 1 Peter 2 and verse 24. Who, speaking of Christ, who
his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that
we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose
stripes you are healed. So we're not dead to the power
of sin, but we are dead to the guilt of sin. We'll never be
charged with sin. Christ took the sins of his people
in his own body, bore them on the tree, and thank God he carried
them into the grave with him. And when he came out of the grave,
the scripture says we're justified by his resurrection. We're justified
because God declared by his resurrection that the penalty, the payment,
everything was paid. It was all paid by our substitute. Now, I've taken more time than
I should have up to this point, so I don't know what to do. I'm
not through. I'm not through. But I want you
to look back here in Romans chapter 6. I want to point out something,
and I hate to point this out in a way because I'm going to
say something derogatory about the King James Translation. And
you know I love the King James Translation. But I want you to
look in verse 7. Why? I don't know. But they chose
to use the word freed. For he that is dead is freed
from sin. If you have a marginal reading,
you will notice in your margin the word justified. That's the way it should have
been translated. That same Greek word is used
15 times in the book of Romans, and in every other place, it
is always translated justify or justified. And that's what
it means here. Because you are dead, you died
with Christ, you are justified from sin, not free from sin.
We still have temptation to sin, we still fall into sin, we're
still guilty of sin, but we're freed from the guilt of sin before
God. I'm gonna just skip on to the
last part, and here's the third thing I wanted to show us. What's
the result? What's the result of being crucified
with Christ, being dead to sin? Is the result that we never need
to be exhorted in the way we live? Is it that we never need
to hear exhortations concerning our conduct? No, no. And if you look here, there's
three things that Paul says that we should do. This is what I
want us to see this morning. Verse 11, reckon. Count this to be so, that you're
dead to sin. You say, well, I don't feel.
Count it. That verse in Isaiah that says,
say ye to the righteous, it is well with thee. I don't feel
like it's so well with me. Count it to be so. Count it to
be so. Why? Because God said it. Reckon
yourself to be dead indeed unto sin. Number two, and these build
upon one another. Therefore, let not sin reign
in your mortal body. It does remain there, but it
no longer reigns. It's no longer on the throne.
There's now a new nature, a new creation in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in
your mortal body. And number three, do not present
or yield the members of your body unto sin, but unto righteousness. Make that practical. Members
of your body, your mind, your eyes, your mouth, your hands,
your feet, don't yield the members of your body unto unrighteousness,
but yield all of these as instruments of righteousness. That's our
responsibility. That's what we are exhorted to
do. Well, thank God for his great salvation. Let's
turn to number 318. I need thee every hour. And let's stand as we sing this
hymn, number 318.