DYING TO SIN
Text: Romans 6:1-11
It is said that Martin Luther once gave an interesting analogy. The analogy goes like this "The old Adam is a mighty good swimmer". The point of the analogy is that the old Adam "… doesn’t drown easily in the baptismal waters". (William H. Willimon. Worship As Pastoral Care. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1979, p. 159). That point is well made and runs parallel to the saying, "die hard" which means to hold on to life and to fight to the last. When old and bad habits die, it is a good thing. When old and bad habits "die hard" it is a bad thing because the old Adam is still swimming in the waters of baptism.
Dying to sin and sinful behavior is something that we will wrestle with till we die. When I was twelve, I once asked my mother what I had to do to get the Devil to leave me alone. She answered, "The Devil will keep trying to tempt us to sin until we die".
Baptism marks the end of the old way of life when we were slaves to sin. Baptism also marks the new life that we live in Christ as we die and continue to die to sin. Baptism gives us the gift of life through faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism gives us a new understanding wherein we live our lives with an attitude of gratitude. Baptism is also the place at which we begin a journey of living a sanctified life that lasts a lifetime.
THE GIFT OF A NEW LIFE
Baptism illustrates the death of an old way of life and the beginning of a new life through faith in Jesus Christ. There are a lot of people who live their lives as if their baptism were like insurance against the fires of hell. Baptism represents a new way of life that is a relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus died for our sins on the cross so that through His atoning sacrifice we could be become slaves to righteousness where we were once slaves to sin apart from the righteousness of Christ.
I used to work with some people that were Christians or at least claimed to be. They went to church on Sunday. However, they used to argue with me that they could sin now and get forgiven for it later. That kind of thinking cheapens the costly sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for us---as He paid the price for our sins. That kind of thinking is more like "fire insurance" than anything else. To have a relationship with Jesus means that we should "die to sin" and not continue to "live in it" (Romans 6:2).
By traditional definition, "Baptism is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace". There are people who will tell you that unless you are immersed that you have not been baptized. Those people are arguing about the mode of baptism. There are three modes of baptism, sprinkling, pouring and immersion. It is not the mode of baptism that matters so much as what the baptism is symbolizing---the place at which the old way of life dies and the new way of life through faith in Jesus Christ begins. Regardless of the mode of baptism, there is nothing magical about the water that one is baptized in or with.
There is the story about a Presbyterian pastor and a Baptist pastor who got to talking about Baptism and how it should be done. The Presbyterian pastor asked the Baptist pastor "if it was enough to baptized up to the chin?" He said "no." "How about up to the nose?" "No." "The eyebrows?" "No." Finally, the Baptist minister said, "You don’t seem to understand, he must be immersed in water completely until his head is covered." "That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all along, said the Presbyterian pastor, "it’s only a little water on the top of the head that counts." (Eleanor Doan. Speaker’s Sourcebook. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988, pp. 27-28).
To embrace our baptism means that we are receptive to God’s Spirit. The Bible tells us that the unpardonable sin is to resist God’s Spirit. Mark 3:29 tells us that whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is when one absolutely rejects God’s offer of salvation consciously and knowingly hardens himself or herself against repentance and the possibility of forgiveness.
THE ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
God wants us to be grateful for His the gift of His saving grace. The way that we show that we are grateful for God’s gift of grace is by living a life that is in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8). The way that we show that we are living a life that is in keeping with repentance is to "die to sin" and not "continue to live in sin". Just because someone has been baptized does not mean that he or she will live right. Nobody can live right unless he or she is embracing through faith the gift of God’s grace through Jesus Christ and "walking with God’s Spirit" (Galatians 5:25, Romans 6:4).
God wants us to have an attitude of gratitude. We have an attitude of gratitude when others look at the way that we are living and see our goodness and righteousness and want to thank God for it (Matthew 5:16). There are times, in fact times that we may not be aware of it that our good deeds will inspire others both Christian and non-Christian alike. Our witness will either persuade or dissuade those around us.
There is the story of a convict who had served his time and was about to be released. During the time he was serving his sentence, he had been converted to the Christian faith. But, he also lived out his Christian faith with integrity. As he was getting ready to walk out of prison, having completed his sentence, he was handed a letter from another prisoner. He opened the letter and read its contents. The other convict had been watching and waiting for the converted convict to mess up. The letter closed by saying that because of the faithfulness of his witness, he too, had accepted Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. (Theodore W. Engstrom. 227 Heart Reaching Illustrations. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1953, pp. 85-86).
THE JOURNEY OF SANCTIFICATION
Baptism is a journey toward perfection. As a baptized people, Christians are called to live in such a way that they will try to be better people tomorrow than they were today. God did not ever intend for us to stand in one place. I once read about a curse that the native people of a certain island will say as a curse to another person. Their curse goes like this, "May you stand in one place forever". God wants us to succeed.
“Johnny Cash once did an album called “American Recordings.” On the album cover is a picture of two dogs. One dog is black with a white stripe. The other dog is white with a black stripe. The two dogs are meant to say something about to say something about Johnny Cash.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Cash explains what the two dogs mean. “Their names are Sin and Redemption. Sin is the black one with the white stripe; Redemption is the white one with the black stripe. That’s kind of the theme for the album, and for me, too. When I was really bad, I was not all bad. When I was trying to be good, I could never be all good. There would be the black stripe going through.” ” (Cited from: Craig Brian Larson. ed. Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers & Writers. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996, p. 184). It is when we walk with God that we can work on our "black stripe" of imperfection.
Sanctification is an ongoing journey and not a destination. Sanctification means to "set apart" and "make holy". That is why sanctification is a journey and not a destination. Sanctification is the journey home. It is the journey that we are making toward our heavenly home with God’s help through the inspiration of His Holy Spirit. In the words of the American poet, Robert Frost, “the woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep” (from Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening). Sanctification is a journey that lasts a lifetime wherein in we remember that God does not break His promises as we try to keep ours to Him in devoted service, producing fruit in keeping of repentance (Matthew 3:8 NIV).
