I received this text as an assigned text on which I was to preach on 11/7 at Calvin Theological Seminary. I was given Romans 6:1-7; but I thought it needed to include more of the surrounding verses; therefore I expanded it. And here is my sermon from that; I actually preached it in a church first (Zutphen CRC) and then at CTS.
I. Introduction
In the history of the United
States of America; there have been many significant moments which have changed
and molded our country to who we are today. One of those moments came on
September 22, 1862.
President Abraham Lincoln issued
a proclamation, which began this way and I quote: “On the first day of January,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons
held as slaves within any State or any designate part of a State, the people
whereof shall then in rebellion against the United States, shall be then,
thenceforward, and forever free.” This certainly was a significant
event in the history of our country.
However,
the Union would have to fight for many months before slaves in the South could
claim their precious freedom. And after the final surrender of the Confederacy,
the assassination of a president, and a difficult political fight, the United
States ratified the 13th Amendment, which officially abolished
slavery in America. And on December 18, 1865 the news swept across the United
States of America: slaves are free! Well, at least they were officially free
from being slaves, but the practicality of their freedom was another matter.
An 11
year old slave at this time, Booker T. Washington recorded these events in his
autobiography saying, “The wild rejoicing on the part of the freed colored
people lasted for a brief period of time, for I noticed that when they returned
to their cabins; there was a change in their feelings. The great responsibility
of being free, of having charge of themselves, of having to think and plan for
themselves and their children, seemed to take possession of them. There was the
questions of a home, a living, a job, the rearing of children, education,
citizenship, and establishment and support of churches. Was it any wonder that
within a few hours the wild rejoicing ceased and a feeling of deep gloom seemed
to pervade the slave quarters? It was strange for them to think they had to
actually break the attachment from their “old Master” or “old Missus”. Some of
these people had spent half of a century with their masters and it was no light
thing to think of parting.”
You see,
though the slaves were officially free to go anywhere, little changed for them
in a practical sense. Legal freedom merely presented slaves with the
opportunity to live as free men and women. But turning their legal status into
an actual experience would require an internal transformation. Those who found
this challenge too daunting, chose the uncomfortable familiarity of slavery
instead. They didn’t want to break the bond between them and their Master and
become united to a new and free life.
Now
doesn’t this seem foolish to you? For us who haven’t experienced slavery like
this, it does seem very foolish. However, there are many Christians who do this
same thing today. Time and time again, they choose slavery over freedom every
single day. Having been set free, for them to live as free men and women comes
neither easily or naturally. It is a process and, like salvation, it must be
accomplished supernaturally.
And this
is what Paul speaks of in this section of Romans which we have read this
evening. He is speaking of breaking the bond of the old life in Adam and becoming
united to Christ. At the end of chapter 5, Paul boldly proclaims that where sin
increased because of the law; grace increased all the more, so that grace might
triumph over sin and death. Therefore, in chapters 6 and 7 of Romans; Paul
pauses for a moment and explains how this can be. In chapter 6:1-2 he responds
to an objection by the Jewish opponents in regards to this teaching of grace
triumphing over sin and death. And in vs 3-11 Paul explains this in fuller
detail by arguing that the knowledge of our baptism, our knowledge of the
crucifixion and our knowledge of Christ’s victory over sin and death supports
Paul’s teaching of grace triumphing over sin and death. Ultimately, what Paul
has written to the Romans in 5:12-21 is about the believer’s freedom in Christ
by being united to Him. And this same theme of union with Christ is what Paul
continues to explain in chapter 6. But before we go there; we must understand
the Jewish opponents objection to Paul’s teaching of grace triumphing.
II. We Died to Sin
vs 1-2
The
Jewish opponents of Paul were criticizing him for preaching and teaching that
the Gospel of justification by grace through faith without works seemed to
stimulate or even encouraged people to sin more than ever! Paul’s critics were
implying that Paul’s Gospel of free grace actually encouraged lawlessness and
put a premium on sin. They thought that free grace promised sinners the best of
both worlds: they could indulge themselves freely in this world and its
pleasures without any fear of forfeiting the next world because grace would
eventually triumph! They thought that grace gave believers a license to sin.
Therefore, just as the letter of Jude combats this; so too, Paul argues against
this based on the knowledge of the believer’s union with Christ.
In vs 1,
Paul raises the objection in the form of a question by asking, “What shall we say then? Shall we go on
sinning so that grace may increase?” So basically, in other words, he is
asking—“If grace is going to continually increase and if we want to make God
look good; why don’t we just continue in sin, so God can continually extend His
grace to us? Because then this would make God look really good!” or even, “Why
should we be afraid of sinning if God will forgive and let grace reign?” And if
we are honest with ourselves, people of God; there are many believers and maybe
ourselves who have asked something similar to this question that the Jewish
opponents were raising against Paul.
But Paul
answers this objection sharply in vs 2 by saying, “By no means!” By no means shall we go on sinning so that grace
might increase! When it is literally translated, Paul’s answer is: “Let it not be”. You see, this is an
unthinkable position for Paul; it is folly to even think this says the apostle.
Thinking that grace gives us a license to sin overlooks God’s purpose in the
plan of salvation; it overlooks God’s means of saving sinners and it overlooks
the understanding of God’s grace. You see, grace is neither diminished nor
withdrawn because of sin. And Paul is stating that the goal of grace is to
destroy sin; not to live in it.
Therefore,
Paul makes another statement and another question in vs 2 in response to his
opponents. He says, “We died to sin; how
can we live in it any longer?” Now this phrase here is an important phrase.
You see, if we don’t understand this phrase; then we will completely miss the
point of this passage. There are two observations that must be noted to help us
fully understand this. First, Paul uses the personal plural pronoun “we” to include himself and all those who
are believers—to whom he was writing and for us today. He doesn’t have to
supply this pronoun because it already is in the verb; however, by adding it;
this is a way of emphasizing a point in the Greek.
And secondly, the word “died” in the Greek is in the Aorist
tense meaning that this death is referring to a single action that has taken
place and is completed in the past. So basically what Paul is saying is that if
you are a believer, Paul is talking to you—he is saying that you have died to
sin. And since this point is important to understanding the rest of the
passage; we must pause and ask ourselves a few questions—as a believer, do you
understand that you have died to sin? As a believer, do you realize that since
you have died to sin that you cannot live in it any longer?
Paul is saying that the Gospel he
preaches doesn’t cause people to sin or encourage sinful behavior because all
believers have died to sin. And in the remainder of this passage; Paul argues believers
have died to sin, therefore they cannot live in it any longer.
III. Knowledge of Our
Baptism vs 3-4
Moving on to verses 3-4 Paul turns to the
subject of baptism to support his point that believers have died to sin. He
assumes that what he is going to say is common knowledge for the Christians in
Rome when he writes, “don’t you know”.
This is common Christian knowledge that all believers are to have, therefore
this shouldn’t be anything new to the first time hearers of this letter in Rome.
And even us today; this should be common knowledge that all believers should
know.
You see, when we are baptized
into Christ; we died to sin. Now Paul isn’t teaching that baptism somehow
magically destroys the power of sin; rather, what Paul is teaching is that
baptism is an outward physical sign of the inward spiritual reality of the
person being baptized.
In the
early church baptism was done very often and it was done by way of
immersion—where the believer would be completely immersed in the water—they
would go under the water and be fully submerged in it. And then, as they rise
out of the water; it was the mark of the completion of their baptism. Now I am
not arguing that we should only immerse people at baptism because this is not
what Paul is arguing for either; it was just how the early church did it back
then. You see, baptism was a sign of a person being buried with Christ as he or
she would go down under the water and it was
sign of rising to new life in Christ as they came up out of the water.
This dying and rising were outward physical signs of an inward spiritual
reality of the person being baptized.
And
because through our baptism we have been buried with Christ and risen to a new
life in Christ; now we are united to Christ in His death, in His burial and in
His resurrection as vs 5 states. And this union with Christ is done by the work
of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, minds and lives. The Holy Spirit empowers us
to live a new life in Christ so that we no longer desire sin.
Our
baptism signifies our union with Christ; and if we are in union with Christ; many
believers ask the question “now what?” “Now what are we supposed to do?” Well,
at the end of vs 4 Paul says that “we too
may live a new life.”
But you
see, this is not always the way that we want it. We are like the freed slaves
in 1865 who didn’t really want to be free; they would still rather be united to
their Master. This should not be people of God; for to go back to our old way
of sinning is complete foolishness. We have been given a new life to live in
Christ in which this life acknowledges and knows that we died to sin. So let me
ask you people of God; since Paul claims that this is common knowledge; do you
know your baptism and what it signifies? Do know that your baptism has united
you to Christ in His death, burial and resurrection?
When we
know these things people of God, our death to sin makes so much more sense.
IV. Knowledge of
the Crucifixion vs 6-7
And
secondly, our death to sin makes sense when we also have knowledge of the
crucifixion as Paul says in vs 6-7. When Paul refers to the “old self” in vs 6; he means our union
with the first Adam who was the author of sin; and this union with Adam—this
old self has been crucified with Christ—our old self is dead. And Christ, the
author of salvation, took the “old self”
of believers and brought it to the cross for us because we could not die to sin
ourselves. Therefore, since our “old
self” is crucified with Christ; believers died to sin.
And the
result of this crucifixion is two-fold: first, in vs 6 Paul states that “the body of sin might be done away with.”
The “body of sin” which Paul speaks
about is the rule of sin that lives in the world and in the body still to this
day—“the body of sin” is the
Christian’s actual inclination to sin. As we are eagerly awaiting the day of
the glorification of our bodies when Christ comes again; we know that sin is
still in this world; therefore we must deal with it appropriately. And also in
vs 6 is the second result of this crucifixion of the old self which Paul says
is “that we should no longer be slaves to
sin.” We no longer have sin ruling over us. Sin is no longer our master and
we no longer have to submit to its authority. We now have a new Master and we
have now submitted ourselves to another authority—namely the Lordship of Jesus
Christ. We are no longer united with the first Adam; for he brought death as
Paul says in chapter 5. We are now united to Christ and given new life.
Yes we
still sin, but we do not need to sin. And we will sin less and less as we go on
in the Christian life maturing our faith. And when Christ comes again, and we
are in our glorified state, we will be able not to sin. We will not be tempted
by sin or be able to fall into sin. For if we died to sin now; then we will be
dead to sin for eternity.
Therefore, this begs the
question, people of God; as a believer, do you know that your old self in Adam
was crucified with Christ? As a believer, do you know that this crucifixion
broke the rule of sin on your life and now you no longer have to be a slave to
sin?
For if anyone has died with
Christ; then we are freed from sin.
V. Knowledge of
Christ’s Victory vs 8-10
And
thirdly as Paul explains in vs 8-10; we must have the knowledge of Christ’s victory.
When Christ was crucified; He took our “old self” to the cross and we were
given new life just as when Christ was given new life when He was resurrected
from the dead. And through this resurrection, Paul says that “death no longer has mastery over Him [Christ].” You see, Christ triumphed over sin
and death when He was resurrected to new life from the dead. And so too says
Paul, if we died to sin, then “We will
also live with Him.” For our baptism has united us to Christ; therefore we
share in all that Christ did as far as His death, His burial and His resurrection
and we share in all that He has in the Father.
Commentator
James Montgomery Boice says that this is a way of speaking of our present
resurrection. Indeed there will be a future resurrection, but this is not what
these verses are about; they are referring to an experience of the resurrected
life in the here and now. You see, this is what Paul has been writing
about—being dead to sin means that we cannot go back to that old lifestyle—we
died to it; therefore, how could we go back?
When a believer has been united
to Christ; he or she has died to sin. He or she is on the way to God and can
never return to his or her former state of existence. We are united to Christ
and we can never be plucked out of this union. We are united to Him forever!
Praise be the God for this good news!
And once
again, it begs the question of us people of God; as a believer, do you know
that Christ has been victorious over sin and death?
If so, then surely you know that
when you died to sin; you were united to Christ in newness of life.
VI. Our Response
vs 11
Since we
have been united to Christ and we have knowledge that we died to sin; Paul
exhorts his readers for this first time in this letter to respond to what God
has done. Therefore, in vs 11 Paul names our response saying that we need to “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to
God in Jesus Christ.” You see, if we died to sin; then we can be assured
and confident that we have been made alive to God in Jesus Christ. We can count
on it.
And
there are two realities in vs 11 that Paul says that we must count on: the first
reality is being dead to sin and the second reality is being alive to God. Now,
we have already examined these two realities throughout this passage; but here
is a quick summary: being dead to sin means that we died to the old life in
Adam and now we cannot go back to it. If we go back to the old life of sin in
Adam; it is like an adult going around acting like a toddler; or a married man
going back to the life of being a bachelor. It may work in some areas and for a
little bit of time; however, for the most part; it just doesn’t work the way
that it should.
And the
second reality is being alive to God which completes the parallel in vs 5 where
we discussed how now we are in a present resurrection state; and this is where
vs 11 has brought us to. It tells us that just as we have died to sin, so also
we have been made alive to God in Jesus Christ. Being alive to God means that we
are now reconciled to God; we have become new creatures in Christ; we are freed
from sin’s bondage; we can no longer be satisfied with this world and its
pleasures; and we are pressing forward to a sure destiny and new goals.
Therefore,
we are now pilgrims here on earth. We are passing through like the author of
Hebrews says of Abraham in chapter 11, saying that we are “Looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and
builder is God.” (vs 10).
VII. Conclusion
In
conclusion, we now return to the opening question that Paul asked of the first
listeners which also is asked of us today; “We
died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” How can we live in sin any
longer if we have died to it?
And now we should be able to
answer this question; possibly this way; “I know that I am united to Christ in
my baptism. I know that my old self has been crucified with Christ on the cross
and I know that Christ has become victorious over sin and death and I am united
to Christ in His life, in His death and in His resurrection. Therefore, how can
such a person as I who has died to sin and been made alive to God in Jesus
Christ live in sin any longer?!”
However,
just as the freed slaves in America in 1865 couldn’t grasp the fact and gain
the responsibility of living as freed men and women; many believers; many
Christians today are the same way—we have been freed from slavery and given a
new life.
Yet we often find ourselves
desiring slavery over freedom. We have desired to stay in union with our old
self in Adam rather than being united to Christ to experience newness of life.
People
of God; if you are a believer, you can have the confidence that you have been
removed from your former state of being united to Adam to being united with
Christ. Our job is to reckon it so, to count on it.
Therefore we must answer the
Apostle Paul’s question of “How can we who died to sin live in sin any longer?”
We must answer,
“I can’t! I died to sin and a person like me has better
things to do than to keep on sinning.”
