Dead To Sin, Alive In Christ! Series

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Romans 6:1–14

Introduction

I. So far Paul has concluded:

A. All have sinned.

B. All can be justified through faith in Christ.

C. Where sin abounded, Grace abounded all the more.

II. Paul anticipates the question:

A. If sin increases God’s grace, shouldn’t we keep on sinning so grace may increase?

B. The very thought is appalling to Paul.

III. In our text Paul outlines:

A. Our Position, In Christ

B. Our Provision, In Christ

C. Our Practice, In Christ

Main

I. Our Position (vs. 1–3)

A. Sin was our former way of life. Romans 3:9–10 “What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.”

1. We were Alive to sin–dead in Christ

2. We were all condemned sinners!

B. Our Position can change!

1. The Romans changed. Romans 6:3 “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”

a. All of us who were baptized were baptized into his death.

b. Paul assumes the fact that all those in Rome who claimed to be Christians had been baptized.

c. Thus identifying with His death.

2. Our situation is now reversed

a. No longer alive to sin–dead in Christ

b. Now, dead to sin–alive in Christ!

C. “Don’t you know?” vs. 3

1. “Don’t you know” that when you were baptized you died with Christ?

2. “Don’t you know” when you were baptized you died to sin?

II. Our Provision (vs. 4–10)

A. God provided freedom from sin through the death of Christ.

1. He bore our sins on the cross.

2. He broke the bondage of sin for everyone who follows Him in faith.

B. Baptism Unites us with Christ

1. Baptism is symbolic of His Death, Burial and Resurrection.

2. The old person is put to death. Gal. 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

3. Being dead there are no more obligations to the former life.

4. Soldier Example from Coffman Commentary “Napoleon’s war machine was drafting large numbers into his army and a young father was about to be inducted. His wife and children were gathered around him in as tearful a scene as can be imagined and in response to their desperate situation on of the man’s neighbors stepped forward and took his place as the laws and customs of the time allowed. Later on this man who volunteered in place of the young father was killed in battle; several years after his death the draft once again made its way to the same village, and the same father was picked out for induction into the army. This time however, the young father boldly stepped before the draft board and produced a parchment which he displayed tearfully for all to see. It read: This man perished upon the battlefield of Rivoli in the person of his substitute. SIGNED: NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

C. Raised to a New Life

1. Just as we died to the former way of life, we are resurrected to a new life.

2. As Christ’s death sets us free from sin, His life makes us Alive to God. 2 Cor. 5:17–18 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation”

III. Our Practice (vs. 11–14)

A. By God’s grace we have been provided a way to be justified before God and change our Positions:

1. From Alive to Sin to Dead to Sin!

2. From Dead in Christ to Alive in Christ!

B. We are no longer instruments of wickedness but instruments of righteousness.

1. Offer ourselves “as those brought from death to life.”

2. Eph. 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

a. It is by Grace we are Saved.

b. Through obedient faith.

c. We work as instruments of righteousness not to earn salvation but because we are saved. 1 Cor. 6:20 “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

Conclusion

In this section Paul beautifully shows us how, by the grace of God, we can change our Position in Christ by accepting the Provision of being baptized into Christ. After this Paul says Our Practice is to work as “instruments of righteousness.”