Dying To Live

The Book Of Romans.

Sunday, September 7, 2008.

Romans 6:1 - 14. Dying To Live.

I considered another title to this teaching which was -- Putting Sin 6 Feet Under, and that idea will also play a major roll in our study today.

But, a full 15 times in the first 14 verses of this chapter the word death or died or dead is repeated. So if you are looking for a theme in these verses, it must be present in the concept of dying.

But how does dying fit in with life and living? Let’s see if through our study today we don’t come to a much better understanding of a seemingly paradoxical statement that Jesus made;

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:35.

And this is the kind of loosing your life that you can only do while you are still living.

Here is another verse that will help us and really should come to be a Victory Cry for every one who calls themselves a follower of Jesus.

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

This verse that I call a Victory Cry could not begin with more dyer words and actually repulsive words; I have been crucified...

If you lived in the time of the Apostle Paul and happened to see a man carrying a cross down the middle of main street flanked on both sides by Roman guards, there would be no doubt in your mind of what was going to happen next. That man was going to die.

Now what is that old pirate saying, you know the one from the Disney Land ride; Dead Men -- Tell No Tales. Here is what else they don’t do... They don’t lie, cheat, steal, or go with girls who do.

They don’t demand to have things their own way. They don’t hold grudges, and here is the big one -- They Don’t Sin! Ever try to tempt a dead man; Oh come on don’t just lie there you are going to live this or that!

This is The up side of dying, while you are still alive. Let’s see here that would have been another great title for these verses -- The Up Side Of Dying.

Jesus said; N. L. T.

Luke 9:23 Then He said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be My follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow Me.”.

When Jesus says shoulder your cross, or in other translations, take up your cross every day, He is telling us to consider ourselves Dying To Live. Each day the believer is to accept the sentence of death.

What are we dead to? You ready? Every dark, shameful, unholy act, thought, purpose, way of living that our flesh can come up with, including every omitted good that we failed to accomplish.

We are to be dead to all the things that would cause separation between us & a Loving, Caring, Good & Compassionate God.

In fact there are things that we should love to be dead to. Illustration of this? Like when you marry -- you had better be dead to single living or there will be serious repercussions in your home. And all the married couples said? Amen.

Let’s let these verses loose on our hearts, shall we?

Please follow along as I get us started I will be reading from;

Romans 6:1 - 7.

1 WHAT shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.

Please join with me in a word of prayer...

Though this chapter refers constantly to death make no mistake about it, you can mark down Romans 6 as one of the most powerful life giving & life changing chapters in the bible. And that is no exaggeration.