In the first five chapters of the letter, Paul presented a picture of our position before God. Although the picture was quite dismal, he let us know that there was hope for our situation to be changed. Through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, God extended His grace allowing us an opportunity to be rescued from the mess that we got ourselves into. As we enter chapter six, Paul will build a case that will keep people from viewing God’s grace as a license to do whatever we want to. Unfortunately, there are those who believe that because of grace, obedience to God’s commands is unnecessary. A famous historical instance of such a view comes from the Russian monk Rasputin, who dominated the Romanov family in their final years. Rasputin taught that salvation came through repeated experiences of sin and repentance. He argued that because those who sin more require more forgiveness, those who sin with abandon will as they repent experience greater joy; therefore, it is the believer’s duty to sin. In our text Paul is going to show that grace does not remove the obligation to obey God’s commands but it actually makes obedience possible. The bottom line is this, God’s grace has changed us, and it has given us the power to live apart from sin’s control. Chapters 6-11 of the book of Romans helps the believer understand exactly how to live this new life under God’s grace. Today, we will begin by learning that grace does not equal anything goes but it does increase our obligation to live in obedience.
I. A life no longer under the control of sin.
A. Paul begins with a question intended to get the reader to weigh the evidence that he has presented about grace and sin.
1. The goal is to keep people from taking his statement, “where sin increased grace increased all the more” and running with it.
2. The question when you look at the Greek text could be posed this way, “Should we continue to stubbornly insist on living a life in sin?”
3. Paul poses this question because someone could quite easily draw that sinning would allow God to extend more grace resulting in Him receiving more glory.
4. Paul could very well be thinking of the problems that existed in the church in Corinth where some thought since forgiveness is guaranteed you can live any way you want.
B. Paul shows that this type of thought should not even be entertained.
1. Paul could not even begin to reason how a person could believe the Gospel and yet believe that they could continue to live in sin.
2. The argument is that the Christian has died to sin or has been freed from the power of sin, this should prevent us from living in sin.
3. How’s this work? When Jesus died for our sins on the cross, the believer actually died to sin which means that they sin no longer has them in its grip.
4. Instead of sin ruling in the believer’s life, righteousness has become the controlling factor so to go on sinning it totally against this new nature.
II. Winning the daily battle against sin.
A. Explaining the effect that baptism has on the life of the believer.
1. Paul begins verse 3 with a rebuke as the literal translation of the Greek would be “are you ignorant of this?”
2. The readers may have remembered when they were baptized but apparently they were missing the deep spiritual significance of the event.
3. In baptism the believer participates with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection. Before salvation we are identified with Adam and his sinful nature but after baptism we are identified with Jesus and His righteousness.
4. The significance of baptism can’t be missed, as Christ died and was placed in the grave when the believer goes down into the water they are being buried representing their death to their old life.
5. Jack Cottrell writes this about baptism. “He has appropriately designated this event as the occasion for the beginning of this saving union with the Redeemer.”
6. Without a doubt Paul is referring to water baptism here because wherever He uses the Greek word baptizo it refers to water baptism.
B. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, sin and death is no longer in control of our lives.
1. One may think Paul is repeating himself but as any good teacher knows, sometimes the information is not absorbed the first time around so it needs to be reinforced especially when it is important.
2. Paul wants his readers to realize that we have been raised into new life with Christ and sin no longer has a hold on us.
3. When we died with Christ in baptism, we trusted that when we came out of the water we were resurrected with Him to live for all of eternity.
4. The power of sin has been broken and the penalty of sin has been paid so our status before God has been completely changed.
C. Consideration needs to be given to fact that our status before God has been changed.
1. Jesus’ death on the cross was a once for all sacrifice and it was sufficient to permanently move us from being God’s enemy to being a member of His family.
2. Our death to sin and resurrection to a new life directly receives its meaning and power from Jesus’ own death and resurrection.
3. The verbs in the Greek are in the present tense, so Paul is telling his readers to look out their lives right now and realize that they are dead to sin and alive in Christ.
4. John shows in his first letter that sin no longer has a hold on our lives.
5. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9—NIV 2011)
D. We need to take the reality of the change that has taken place in our lives and live in a way that places the spotlight on it.
1. Paul instructs his readers to not continue offering the bodies to sin. This means, don’t continue to willfully use your resources to live a sinful life.
2. In contrast the believer is to offer their resources to be used exclusively by God in the service of His Kingdom.
3. Paul instructions here are in the imperative form, he wants his readers to take decisive action to not allow sin to regain a hold on their lives.
4. The process of overcoming sin is not an overnight process. This takes a conscious effort on our part in partnership with Christ if we ever hope for it to become a reality.
5. When we live out this new life we show that our sinful selves have been crucified and we are longer under the curse of sin.
III. Keeping sin from retaking control.
A. Know that sin is no longer in the driver’s seat.
1. Before Jesus’ sacrifice man was living under the Law which could not provide us with salvation, only condemn us.
2. Jesus’ death and resurrection broke the power of sin once and for all moving us from living under the Law to living under grace.
3. Paul shows us that this is the reason that sin cannot be the master of those under grace.
4. The cross has put our old nature of sin to death and has allowed our new nature in Christ to move into the driver’s seat.
5. Instead of being slaves to sin we now find that we have become slaves to righteousness.
B. Know that Jesus’ resurrection power is available to us to help us live our new life.
1. If it was up to us to figure out how to live this new life in Christ on our own, we will be doomed to failure.
2. God has provided His Holy spirit to live in us providing us with the strength and guidance that we need to away from the mastery of sin.
3. There are times that we still obey the voice of the old master out of habit but has time goes on the old master’s voice grows fainter and the Spirit’s voice grows louder.
4. The truth is that you will never face anything that God cannot help you overcome.
5. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13—NIV 2011)
Closing:
Well known preacher and author Stuart Briscoe as a young teenager was drafted into the Royal Marines during the Korean War, he came under the control of a particularly imposing regimental sergeant major who strode around the barracks leaving a train of tough men quaking in their boots. Briscoe did not realize how dominant this man had become in his life until the day he was released from the Marines. Clutching his papers in one hand, he was luxuriating in his newfound freedom to the extent of putting the other hand in his pocket, slouching a little, and whistling—sins so heinous that if they had been observed by the sergeant major, they would have landed him in big trouble! Then Briscoe saw him striding toward him. On an impulse he sprang into the posture of a Marine until he realized that he had died to him. He was not dead, and neither was the sergeant major. But as far as the sergeant major’s domination of his life was concerned, it was all a matter of history. So Briscoe did some reckoning, decided not to yield to the man’s tyranny, and demonstrated that fact by refusing to swing his arms high and march as if on parade and keep his back at ramrod stiffness. Instead he presented his feet, hands, and back to his newfound freedom as a former Marine—and the sergeant major could not do a thing about it!
