ROMANS 6: 8-14
BECOMING ALIVE TO GOD
Paul started his explanation of the believer’s death to sin by helping us understand more of the significance of the historical facts of Christ’s death, burial, and Resurrection. We learned that the true believer has been "baptized" into Christ and, therefore, is united to Christ and a participant in the experience of Christ. Thus the believer has died, been buried, and raised again "with Him."
When Jesus Christ was crucified on the Cross two thousand years ago, not only was His blood shed for your salvation, but His body was broken for your deliverance. There thus are two elements in Communion. His shed blood grants forgiveness of our sin, while His broken body provides freedom from our sin. When Jesus Christ was crucified, our sinful nature was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed. When Jesus was nailed to the Cross, my old sinful nature was there with Him. When He rose from the death my new nature rose with Him. When the body of Christ was being broken physically, our sinful nature was being broken on that same tree. How can this be? It’s beyond me. Just like this wireless mike I’m wearing. I don’t understand exactly how it works, but it does so I keep using it. Although I don’t fully understand the death and resurrection of Christ, I’ve tied in to its reality and have found that when I apply it by faith, it works wondrously. [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson’s Application Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003, S. 925]
Whenever God declares a truth, Satan will deny it, saying, "Get real, how can that be?" At that point, I must decide whether to believe what God declares or believe what Satan denies.
I. SIN AND DEATH’S DOMAIN, 8-10.
II. DEAD OR ALIVE, 11.
III. ALIVE FROM THE DEAD, 12-13.
IV. UNDER LAW OR GRACE, 14.
Before we move forward let’s look at verses 6 & 7 again. Paul, who was ever practical even when theological, outlines three specific results of this divine transaction on our behalf in verse 6. "Knowing this, this our old man was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be made powerless that we should no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died is freed from sin."
The word translated "destroyed" or "powerless" in Romans 6:6 is katargeo. Katargeo does not mean "annihilated." It means "rendered inactive, or paralyzed." Our old sin nature is a quadriplegic. He’s paralyzed from the neck down. Thus, all he can do is deceive or intimidate us verbally as he whispers, "You have no choice. You gotta give in. You gotta gossip. You gotta overindulge. You gotta take another look. You gotta tell that lie. I’ve got power over you."
[The "old man" is the sinful nature which the Bible says has been crucified and thought dead it is still operative. It may be dead but it won’t lie down. The "old man" is "the man of old" or the pre-regenerate person. Christians can refer to their life as a.d. and b.c. b.c. is the "old man"; a.d. is the regenerate man raised in Christ. The person you were "before Christ" has been judged, condemned, sentenced, executed, buried, and finished with forever. The new man lives.]
We spend years going through psychoanalysis, trying to get victory. But Paul would say, "Victory is not a matter of positive thinking or imaging." It is a matter of appropriating what happened on Calvary two thousand years ago. The death and resurrection of Christ "is the point where victory begins." [Briscoe, Stuart: The Preacher’s Com. Series, Vol. 29 : Romans. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982, S. 131]
Notice also that there has been a powerful impact on the "body of sin" which verse 6 says has been "done away with." The human body which, while not sinful of itself, is very clearly the instrument of sin. Paul states that this body which is so susceptible to sin’s domination before union with Christ has, through Him, been placed in a position where sin’s domination need no longer be the norm.
This leads to the third practical fact in verse 6, namely, that believers "should no longer serve sin." Now that the "man of old" which previously controlled the physical body has been dealt with in Christ and the new man has come into being, the believer should recognize that he is no longer at the mercy of sin, or, literally, "a slave of sin." In fact, he has been "freed from sin" or "justified from sin." As we have seen previously, "justification" has a legal connotation. In the same way that a man who has been exonerated in a court of law has the freedom to walk out of court and take a cab to his home, so the "justified" believer, in addition to his technical justification, has the practical freedom to walk away from the dominating power of sin in his life. [To begin to understand this is to see how far those who believe they are saved to live as they wish have strayed from the truth of the all-encompassing gospel.] [Briscoe, Stuart: The Preacher’s Com. Series, Vol. 29 : Romans. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982, S. 133]
I. SIN AND DEATH’S DOMAIN, 8-10.
This emphasis of the believers union with Christ continues. Verses 8 to 11 endeavor to teach that what is true for Christ is true for believers. Verse 8 brings the reason for the believers future bodily resurrection into view. "Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,"
We [in some way] share in Jesus’ death and resurrection. If in His death He died to sin, then we, in Him, died to sin. If His death secures our deliverance from the penalty and power of sin if we believe and appropriate it in faith then we shall also live with Him. Just as the consequences of His death are ours so the consequences of His resurrection are ours also. To live with Christ includes two concepts: association with Him and conformity to Him. If we are deriving our spiritual life from Him the result will be that our life is like His.
[ "We believe" means that believers live by their faith in God’s redemption of the world in Jesus Christ. The wonder and reality of Christ’s death and resurrection can be realized only by a faith relationship with Him who died and lives, Christ the Lord, the Author and Finisher of salvation.]
Verse 9 guarantees us that Christ was master over death even when dying. "knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
Our faith is hitched to the cart of Christ’s resurrection. Since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again. Even death is not the master of Him who is life. Our faith is grounded in the risen Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the anchor of faith and the assurance of our future resurrection (1 Cor. 15:12ff.). Christ’s resurrection means that death no longer has mastery over Him. And if our life is in Him then death is no longer our master either.
Jesus lived in perfect obedience to the eternal God. Because He lived for God He did not live for self; because He did not live for self He knew no sin; because He knew no sin death held no mastery over Him. The cross swallows up the grave. Death can claim neither Christ again nor those who through faith "place their lives in His account" and grow into His likeness.
Faith in the resurrected Christ is thus no pipe dream, but the fulcrum of history, the hope of the ages, the clarion truth that in Jesus eternity beams brightly into the darkness and despair of human history.
Verse 10 teaches that the death and resurrection of Christ resound like a trumpet blast through the corridors of time-once for all (1 Pet. 3:10). "For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
[What does it mean that "He died to sin once for all?"] When Christ entered the world He came from the glory of heaven sinless, spotless, undefiled, and separate from sin. Immediately upon entering human society, He was confronted on every hand by sin’s power and presence. For thirty-three years He lived among the carnage and wreckage of sin. When He went to the Cross, He assumed our sin and bore the wrath of God against our sin; in fact, the Bible says that the Father "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us" (2 Cor. 5:20). Having come from an environment where sinlessness was normative to a situation where sin is pervasive, and having taken on His sinless self the load of a race’s sin, it comes as no surprise to us that He cried exultantly from the Cross at the end of His ministry, "It is finished!" and then bowed His head and dismissed His spirit. Christ’s sacrifice for sin was sufficient and final. He need never die for sin again. The nightmare of sin, the horrors of death and hell, the lethal tyranny of sin’s hold on people had been dealt with, and He could go to the grave anticipating His Resurrection with joy and delight.
In the same way, believers, united to Christ, can exult in the fact that all that must be done about their sin has been done in Christ. They, too, can cry "finished" and breathe a sigh of relief because for them the nightmare of constant sin is over and the tyranny of unconquerable sin is broken. For in the same way that Christ did not stay dead but rose to a newness of life to be lived unto the Father, we are raised too - to walk in a newness of life - His life!!!
II. DEAD OR ALIVE, 11.
It might be difficult to believe but verse 11 is the first command in the entire book of Romans! "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
First the believer must do some reckoning. The word "reckon" in this verse doesn’t mean what it means today—as in, "Well, ah reckon ah’ll mosey on down to the barn." No, the word "count" or consider means "to make a mental calculation." It’s actually an accounting term for calculating and computing. In Paul’s day it was used when someone put something into your account. "Count yourselves…" is a present imperative, urging us to constantly view ourselves in this light. It means "add up the figures and come to an irrefutable conclusion."
We are commanded to count two things to be true: First, we are dead to sin; second, we are alive to God. These truths must be considered carefully and continually. They’re already true but now must be appropriated and applied in order for them to be activate in our lives. The idea is that we are to keep on counting ourselves to be what God says we are by putting the truths of the Book of Romans into the calculator of our minds.
If indeed it’s true that your sin nature was crucified with Christ on the Cross, then you no longer are in bondage to it. God commands us to come to a conclusion based upon this fact.
If you WERE HUNGRY, I might tell you to go to McDonald’s. But if you had no money, you’d say, "I can’t. I’m bankrupt."
Then I might say, "Yes, you can. I put money in your account. Here is the deposit slip, signed by the teller and stamped with the bank seal.
But if you said, "I don’t believe that," your failure to reckon it to be so, to add it up, and to appropriate what I did on your behalf would keep you poor and hungry. But the reason for your poverty and hunger would not be due to my failure to provide for you. It would be due to your failure to believe what I did for you.
The same is true concerning appropriation. Jesus paid the entire penalty for our sin and paralyzed our sin nature. The question is not whether His provision is sufficient. The question is whether or not we reckon it to be true.
Let’s flesh this out. When you’re faced with a temptation, respond to it as a dead man would. You might want to say these words out loud: "I count myself crucified with Christ and therefore I am dead to this sin and alive to God. I consult my account and know that what Jesus has accomplished has been credited to me. I appropriate it and apply it to this situation." We need to talk theology to ourselves. Augustine, who was converted as an adult, was approached by the woman who had been his mistress. He turned and walked away quickly but she called out after him, "Augustine, it’s me! It’s me!" Quickening his pace, this new believer called back over his shoulder, "Yes, I know, but it’s no longer me!"
The believer must understand that "in Christ" he is no longer totally at the mercy of sin but is alive to all the power and life of God Himself. There is a great difference between realizing that on the Cross Christ was crucified for me and on the Cross I was crucified with Christ. One brings salvation from sin’s condemnation the other brings deliverance from sins power.
The life that was in Jesus is made ours by means of His Cross when we make the decision to identify with Him. If it is difficult to do this it is because we will not decide definitely about sin. We must decide that we do not want it in our life. The weakest saint can experience the life of the Son of God if he is willing by faith to grab hold the power of Christ’s death and resurrection, make it his own by applying it to his life.
III. ALIVE FROM THE DEAD, 12-13.
Verses 12 &13 hum with energy and urgency as believers are call to action. The cross and resurrection of Jesus have broken the power of sin, and believers at last stand before a real choice. We now can choose not to sin. After counting on what Christ has done, we can stop allowing sin to reign supreme in our lives. When this is understood, the believer must make some decisions to make. The one found in verse 12 is the command not to let sin use our earthly bodies. "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
"Therefore" indicates that as a consequence of our calculating and counting, stop allowing sin to rule as king in your life. That’s what the word "reign" means. We’ve been transferred to a new kingdom so we should no longer allow sin to have supremacy in our lives. Whenever a believer "obeys" the passions of his body and succumbs to temptation, he sins, but he is not obliged to succumb and he does not have to sin. The Puritans used to say, "God does not take away our ability to sin; He gives us the power not to sin." If television sets were made without on/off switches and we were chained to our seats in front of them and our eyes were held open by mechanical means, we would have no option but to watch everything on the screen. But we all have the option to watch or not to watch. It requires a choice to turn off the set. "In Christ" we have been given the "off" switch—the ability to say "no" and the instructions how to do it.
Sin is viewed as an armed tyrant who exacts obedience. But Christ has stopped sin’s despotic drive in its tracks. Because of Christ’s resurrection and assurance that God is for them, believers are now free. They are not to return abjectly to their gangster lord. Paul calls us to arms! Christians must not allow sin reign unopposed in their lives.
The reason we must be vigilant about sin is because if we’re not, it will seek supremacy in our lives. Jesus put it this way in John 8:34: "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin."
Don’t excuse sin, refuse it! Don’t dabble in it because sin will always take you further than you were planning to go and it will keep you longer than you were planning to stay. Sin entices and then it enslaves.
Some of us are way too cozy with sin. Sure, we’re saved but frankly not much has happened since our conversion. Instead of fighting, we often fall. That reminds me of the little boy who fell out of bed one night. His mom heard him crying, ran into the bedroom, picked him up and put him back in bed. After tucking him in, she asked, "Honey, why did you fall out of bed?" To which he answered, "I guess I stayed too close to where I got in." Friend, are you staying too close to where you got in? It’s time to stop so we can start knowing, growing and showing.
The appeal to the Romans in verse 13 is that since Christians are dead to sin, let them henceforth live to God! "and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."
The Bible says it both negatively: "Do not offer" and positively: "but rather offer." To "offer" means to place at someone’s disposal and was used of presenting offerings for sacrifice and therefore has the idea of yielding, or "relinquishing one’s grip."
What’s he talking about specifically? Our body parts. Instead of yielding to our yearnings, we must yield every part of our body to Christ. The word "instruments" or "members" in some versions, means "weapons." That means that our body parts are either weapons of wickedness or weapons of worshipful warfare. Because there’s a certain "gravity of depravity" which pulls us down spiritually, it’s critical that we offer our bodies to Him. If we don’t we’ll end up serving sin.
The tenses of the verb "offer" are themselves instructive and might be paraphrased, "Do not continue offering yourselves to sin, but offer yourselves up once and for all to God."
Paul becomes even more specific when he gives instructions concerning individual members of the body. We sin when we "yield" or "present" our tongue to say the wrong word, our hand when we take something that does not belong to us, our sexual organs when we commit adultery, our minds when we harbor uncharitable thoughts. When we take sin seriously, we begin to see how sin cannot operate in our bodies without our giving over a particular member of the body for a specific sin. If the believer is adequately aware of this, he can begin to say "no" to a temptation, not only in a general sense but in the very specific sense of refusing to present the member necessary for the committing of sin. It is important to recognize that Paul gives both a positive and a negative side of this action. When we refuse to present the member as an instrument of unrighteousness, we may feel that we are left in a vacuum, so we need to remember to present the newly redundant member to an action that will further the work of God. When my tongue is required by the old sinful propensity within to engage in critical conversation half the battle is won when I refuse to participate, but the other half is won when I take the opportunity to say something helpful and positive instead.
After appreciation and appropriation we need application. When I really understand what Jesus did for me as He yielded His body on the Cross I need to apply it to my daily life. So here I am, walking into the store, and there it is in a shiny wrapper, fifteen percent larger than last year: a Three Musketeers bar—my favorite—with that deep chocolate covering and the light gooey stuff in the center. Immediately, the old man within me says, "You gotta give in. There’s fifteen percent more than before. Be reasonable. It’s a good buy!"
My stomach begins to growl. My mouth starts to salivate. My old sin nature demands to be satisfied. "You’re right," I concede. "I really don’t have very much power over this particular temptation." So I buy the candy, take a bite, and am hounded by feelings of guilt. Depression sets in, and I say, "Sign me up for a support group. That’s what I need."
Not true! The Word says if we will appreciate, appropriate, and apply, we never have to give in to whatever "Three Musketeers" we’re dealing with at any given moment. Never. Folks, it’s not a twelve-step program. It’s a one step solution called the Cross, for not only did the blood of Jesus cleanse me from the penalty of sin, but His broken body sets me free from the pollution of sin. And when I choose to walk in that fact, I find myself saying, "I will not buy you, Three Musketeers," as I walk down the aisle toward the bananas. Miracle of miracles! [Courson, S. 926]
Following the radical information that we are free from the power and penalty of sin, and on the heels of Paul’s exhortation to simple appropriation of this fact is practical application. When you are about to give in to gossip, lose your temper, or fall prey to jealousy, say, "Lord, I understand I no longer have to succumb to this because the old man of sin was crucified. I reckon it to be so and I appropriate it even now."
The essence of the new life is not a concept or feeling detached from reality, but a trumpet call to active combat in the cause of righteousness against evil (Gal. 5:16ff).
The parts of our body can be used for rottenness or for righteousness. Spiritual victory won’t happen until our yielding becomes very particular and very personal, so let me ask you some particularly personal questions. Have you yielded every part of your body to the Lord?
* Mind. What thoughts are flying around right now? Colossians 3:2-3 says: "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."
* Heart. What do you value the most? On what are your emotions centered? Jeremiah 17:9 says: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"
* Eyes. Have you been looking at things you should not be looking at? Men, yield your eyes to the Lord by making a covenant like Job did in Job 31:1: "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl."
* Ears. Have I been listening to gossip, dirty jokes and slander? Proverbs 18:8: "The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts."
* Mouth. What comes out of my mouth most of the time? Proverbs 13:3: "He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin."
* Hands. Are you grasping the things of the world or are you using your hands to serve? Working for the Lord at FBC Bluegrass would be a great place to start. Ecclesiastes 9:10: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…"* Feet. Are your feet taking you where you shouldn’t be going or are your soles surrendered to the Savior? Psalm 37:31: "The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip."
* Intimate Parts. I won’t go into detail here for the sake of our younger ears, but suffice it to say that Scripture is very clear in 1 Corinthians 6:13: "…the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body" and in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 we’re told to "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
One pastor put it this way: When your lips become His, your eyes become His, your ears, your hands, your feet, all become His, do you know what’s going to happen? You’ll be His." It ultimately comes down to a choice, doesn’t it? Yielding to the Lord must be decisive and it must be definite. Are you ready to do that right now? [Bill Brian, Sermon Central ]
IV. UNDER LAW OR GRACE, 14.
Verse 14 let’s us know that our struggle with sin in not a hopeless matter because Christians are under the dominion of grace not law. "For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
"Sin shall not ‘be master over’ you," because believers are living in the grace of God, which, in addition to bringing justification from sin, also brings to the sinner the means of no longer sinning.
Since believers stand in grace, sin has neither the right nor the power to enslave them. Sin can rule only when it is obeyed, and Christ has broken its power to rule the believer’s life. Sin need no longer be obeyed. Jesus said that no one can serve two masters (Mt. 6:24). Believers are like soldiers who have deserted the ranks of a rebel unit to rejoin their rightful leader: the orders of the rebel captain have no further authority over them. Sin is no longer be the lord of the believer. The Lord of the believer is Christ. We are empowered by grace, and guaranteed the ultimate triumph (8:37).
To be under grace instead of law is to be led by the Spirit (Gal. 5:18). The law makes sin known (3:20), whets one’s appetite for the forbidden (5:20), and hence leads to condemnation. The law is not thereby the opponent of grace, but its prelude (Gal. 3:24). The law demands righteousness, but cannot produce it, and those who try to fulfill it on their own become oppressed by its demands. To be under grace is to be free from the guilt of knowing the right but falling short of doing it. Grace means" that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (8:1). It means that despite ourselves God is for us (8:31), God is faithful (2 Cor. 1:18), and God frees us for himself (Gal. 5:1).
[Getting a jolt from the incoming 120 volts ac (120 Vac) is more than just unpleasant; it can be fatal. Studies have shown that it takes very little current to kill. Even a small amount of current can paralyze your muscles, and you won’t be able to let go. Just a fraction more and your heart muscle can become paralyzed.
The naive amateur repairman doesn’t have sufficient respect for the lethal power of electricity. The amateur knows that a shock hurts but he thinks he can always let go of the wire. It is the paralyzing power of even a small amount of electricity that makes it so dangerous.
So it is with sin. People dabble with sin because they don’t fear its power to paralyze the muscles of the soul. Then it’s too late. Even when people know a sinful behavior is hurting them and they want to quit, they can’t let go. Sin is never safe!]
IN CONCLUSION
We have changed kingdoms to serve the King of Kings, who has set us free from the dominion of sin. Unfortunately, too many of us are not even aware of the freedom that is ours.
HARRY HOUDINI made a name for himself by escaping from every imaginable confinement – from straightjackets to handcuffs to locked rooms. He loved to boast that no lock could hold him. Time and again he would be in an impossible situation and would be able to free himself. It worked every time – but one. He entered a small room and the door was slammed shut. Once alone, he pulled a thin but strong piece of metal from his belt and began working on the lock. But something was wrong. No matter how hard Houdini worked, he couldn’t unlock the lock. For two hours he applied skill and experience to the lock but nothing happened. Finally, bathed in sweat and visibly frustrated he fell against the door in total defeat. But when he fell against the door, it swung open because it had never been locked! The only place the door was locked was in his mind.
Friend, Jesus has given you freedom. The door has been unlocked. You have been set free to serve Him.
Precious people, I don’t care what struggle you’re going through, or what temptation you’re wrestling with. It is powerless in light of the Cross. When you finally have enough of Sin, when you at last have your fill of the venom that has infected you and those around you, when you finally determine you don’t want to be under dominion any longer, you can be free at that moment—no support group needed, no counseling required—if you say, "Lord, You’ve told me that this old man was paralyzed on the Cross. I believe it. That settles it."
And with the spike of the Cross, and the hammer of the Word, you nail it right there and walk away free. It’s that simple.
