Title: “Dying to Live” Script: Romans 6:1-11
Type: Expository/Series Where: GNBC 4-25-21
Intro: "BJ" had a smile that was contagious and a heart that was bigger than he was. The youngest of five brothers, he was a gentle giant at 6’3” at 14 yrs. BJ loved music, but football was his passion. His favorite team was the Oakland Raiders. There is no doubt that BJ would have made it to college playing football, said his mother, Marilyn, and his dream was to play professionally. But on Halloween night in 2005,year-old BJ went trick-or-treating with family members. The next morning, he woke up for school but complained of being dizzy and said his head hurt. Collapsing, his mother called 911. After an emergency craniotomy, BJ was put on a ventilator for 7 days, but tests revealed that he was brain dead. However, out of this horrible tragedy, four other people lived who would have died. You see, BJ’s mother had his heart, liver, kidneys, and pancreas. Four people lived directly because one young man died. Each of those individuals expressed undying gratitude for his life-giving gift. (HRSA Organ Donation Website).
Prop: Romans 6:1-11, we’ll see 4 Reasons why Believers are to Live Differently from the World.
BG: 1. Romans, Paul, Corinth, 57-58 AD.
2. Overview: 1:1-17 Intro, 1:18-5:11 Justification, 5:12 – 8:39 Sanctification, Romans 6:1-23 is the rationale for Sanctification and this section, Romans 6:1-14 Our Sanctification is based on the Believer’s Union with Christ.
3. Justification and sanctification are two different realities, but they must never be separated and isolated one from the other. If they become totally separated, the logical end is license. If they become merged together, a “works” oriented salvation results. Sanctification results in lifestyle more like Christ and less like self.
Prop: Rom. 6:1-11 we’ll realize 4 reasons why believers are to live differently from the world.
I. 1st Reason: We Died to Sin. Vv. 1-2
A. Paul Begins by Denouncing Certain “Christians” Abuse of Grace.
1. Let’s consider the background to this statement.
a. Back in Romans 5 Paul teaches that God gave the Law, not to defeat sin, and not even to reduce it, but to cause it to increase. The Law made sin more evident, and it increased the problem faced by mankind. But it also meant that the grace by which sin was to be dealt a death blow was also to increase. Since grace always surpasses and exceeds sin, the greater sin is, the greater grace must be. Increasing sin through the giving of the Law served to increase the grace bestowed to rid God’s creation of sin.
b. There is however, a second corollary to this truth: “Sin always takes the opportunity to turn that which is good into something evil.” Illust: Internet is a good thing. #1 use of the internet is search for pornography. Many pharmaceuticals have been created to alleviate pain and suffering. Yet unprecedentedopioid crisis in our nation. Virtually any hobby can be turned into a destructive obsession. Money is morally neutral by the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. (I Tim. 6:10)
2. Paul Sharply Denounces this Cancerous Attitude that was infecting the Church.
a. Paul’s initial remarks are addressing the “antinomians” of his time. Anti- against, Nomos – law. This was the argument, put forth by certain false teachers in the early church that encouraged believers to sin so as to receive more grace. Argument: “Hey, if grace covers a multitude of sins, then let’s sin all the more so there may be even more grace.”
b. Paul’s response to errant mindset was to ask this rhetorical question: v.2 (Read). The reply is one of abhorrence. “May it never be!” GK 1 word “me” (may). Literally, “God forbid.”
B. Paul responds with an Argument Emphasizing a Preposterous Possibility.
1. What is True of Christ is to be Equally True of the Christian.
a. As Christians we are united to and in Christ. Thus we too, have “died to sin” in the sense that union with Christ. The fact of the believer’s death to sin is the fundamental thought the apostle has in mind in this section. Everything he writes is to support that claim.
b. Illust: When someone dies, that person is dead. Dead people have died. Not a hard concept to grasp. What Paul is saying here is when one comes to faith in Christ and repents of sin, he/she is making a once for all definitive breach with sin which constitutes the life and identity of the believer. Illust: I Cor. 6:9-11 (Read). The Corinthian Church had people from all sorts of sinful backgrounds. That’s what they once WERE. Came to Christ they broke from that in a once and for all commitment to Christ.
2. If We Have Died to Sin in Our Commitment to Christ it is Inconceivable to Continue to Live in that Sin.
a. What is Paul’s argument by implication? A believer can no longer live in a lifestyle pattern of sin, period. Will we sin on occasion? Of course. Should it be the pattern of our lives? Never! In fact, Paul implies the impossibility of this and gives that individual no assurance of salvation. The reasoning is that if one is still living in sin he/she obviously has not died to it.
b. Illust: The greatest theologian of the Early Church Fathers was undoubtedly Augustine of Hippo (Algeria). Augustine had lived with a prostitute before his conversion. After he was wonderfully saved, he was walking down the street and this prostitute saw him. She shouted his name and he kept walking. He saw her, but kept his eyes straightforward and walked. She continued crying after him and ran after him. And finally, she said, Augustine, it is I. To which he replied, I know, but it is no longer I (J. MacArthur, ‘Whose fault is our Temptation?‘)
C. Applic: First reason Paul gives as to why believers are to live differently from the world: We have died to sin.
II. 2nd Reason: We Were Baptized into Christ’s Death. V. 3
A. Paul Proceeds to Vindicate his Premise with a Picture Everyone Could Understand.
1. Paul paints a picture of Baptism to demonstrate the Believer’s Responsibility.
a. The Apostle is going to validate and explain what he means when said that a believer died to sin. He is going to address the implications of this truth. He is going to outline what this new sphere of life is.
b. Illust: What does Paul point to as proof of his position? Baptism! v. 3. All too often in modern Evangelicalism, Baptism is understood as: “Something I do to show everyone what I did!” No! Baptism, if you were to talk to Paul, is proof o Christ’s promises. Let me see if I can show you what I mean.
2. Paul Points to the Believer’s Baptism as Proof of his/her need to walk in grace and holiness.
a. Baptism in the Early Church was intimately connected with one’s confession of faith. A person was baptized when he formally entered the Church. When he left paganism he was entering into the communion of the Church by faith in Christ. Baptism was essentially cutting his/her life in two. Seen as beginning life all over again.
b. Baptism in the early Church was commonly total immersion and the practice lent self to a symbolism which frankly sprinkling or pouring doesn’t lend itself (Illust: Can only live under water w/o oxygen for a few minutes. However, having had teenagers, I know you can shower for hours!). When a man went under the water, that water closed over his head, like being buried. Emerging from water was like rising from the grave. Baptism was symbolic of the person dying to one kind of life and rising to another. That’s why baptism was inextricably tied to a confession of faith. That person was confessing their old his was dead and now living in and for Christ. When came out of the water they were seen as rising to new life.
c. The picture of baptism demonstrating a complete change of life was something Jews could also understand. Illust: When a pagan Gentile converted to Judaism he had to do 3 things: 1. Make a sacrifice. 2. Cut his nails and hair. 3. Make his confession of faith in the God of Israel before three elders of the community, then undress completely, entering a bath/pool that contained at least 40 seahs/90 gallons of water. Every part of body was to submerge and when came out he was considered a newborn child. To the Jews said this was forgiven of all previous sins because God would not count sins before one’s birth. Point is that Jews understood significance. Seen as a renunciation of old and acceptance of new life.
B. What is this Death that Paul Says we Have Been Baptized Into?
1. When an Individual asks if Christians are free to Sin they demonstrate a complete ignorance of what their baptism meant.
a. Paul is telling the Romans is that just as they were baptized upon their coming to faith in Christ, they were baptized into the promises of Christ. that baptism demonstrated the death of their old life as well as the birth of their new life.
b. Illust: I was born about 30 years after my gg grandfather Orlando Cole died. Cole was a Union Soldier who was captured in the Battle of Sulphur Springs Trestle near Athens, AL. In a suicide mission on September 23, 1864, about 350 men when sent to reinforce a fortress that had come under attack by CSA Nathan Bedford Forrest. Arriving at the fort found most of combatants had already surrendered. Fought way into the fort. Surrounded by 8-10k troops! Fought until September 25th when ran out of ammo. 200 men had already been KIA. Taken POW where would survive both Cahabwa (AL) and Andersonville (GA). From the first Sunday he returned home until his death, every Sunday evening Cole ate cornmeal mush for dinner. (Yum! Not!). Why? It’s what sustained him through his imprisonment. It reminded him of his old life and made him grateful for his new. Now, baptism paints that picture of Christ’s promises to us. Our old life died in Christ and now we see the picture of the new life.
2. Paul reinforces truth.
a. “eis ton thanaton autou” – literally means we were plunged “into the death of Him.” Immersed together with Him.
b. Paul is assuming that those reading his words here are genuine Christians who have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ. He makes no distinction between Jewish and Gentile Christians. He seeks, however, to strongly contrast the Christian’s lifestyle with his conduct in the past as an unbeliever. He wants us to understand that as well.
C. Applic: Paul tells us that our baptism is the second reason why we are to live different lives.
III. 3rd Reason: We Share in Christ’s Resurrection Because Our Old Self Was Crucified with Him. vv.4-7
A. Paul States that As Believers in Christ We Share in His Resurrection.
1. Sharing in Christ’s resurrection makes us different from the World.
a. Illust: Most of us are familiar with what a “share” is in relation to stock of a company. Shares represent the proportion of ownership in the company while stock is a simple aggregation of shares the company. I own some shares in P&G stock . I have x number of “shares” in that company. I have never worked a day in my life for P&G. Yet every year I get a prospectus on the financial solvency of the company. I also get a proxy every year that comes in the mail so I can vote for the officers of the company. Why? Because they recognize that since I am a “shareholder”, I have a stake/interest in the company. I participate in it legally.
b. Vv.4-5 Guess what believer? If you have identified with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, then you have a “share” in His Resurrection. Here is the REALLY COOL PART: The theme of the first half of Romans 6 is that the Res. of Jesus is not only a historical fact and essential doctrine, it is a PERSONAL EXPERIENCE since through faith and baptism we have come to share in them ourselves! What is the result? That we might live a NEW life.
2. Examine four significant truths Paul uses in these verses.
a. Vv.4-8 Paul states 4 significant truths describing positionally what it true of the believer in Christ: v.4 “buried together”, v. 5 “united together”, v.6 “crucified with Him”, v. 8 “died with Him”. The born again Christian is intricately linked to Jesus’ life and work.
b. Water baptism is but a symbol of the baptism of the Holy Spirit by which one is joined with Christ, by faith, in His death, burial, and resurrection. Spirit baptism is a fundamental work of the Spirit of God in one’s salvation (see 1 Corinthians 12:12; Galatians 3:27).
B. We can Live a Changed Life Because Our Old Self Was Crucified with Christ.
1. Our Body of sin was crucified in Christ when Christ died.
a. Illust: How many like to play Dominoes? How many like to play with Dominoes? Fun setting up elaborate patterns. Push that first one then the next and chain reaction. We call that “The Domino Effect”. Well, v. 6 contains something of a chain reaction of 3 closely related clauses. In v. 6 we were told that something happened, in order that something else might happen, in order that a third thing might happen.
b. What happened? Old self was crucified with Christ SO THAT our body of sin might be done away with SO THAT we should no longer be slaves to sin. Get it? The one influences the next which influences the next with the end result being: No longer enslaved to sin! PTL! Illust: I have seen people who were addicted, enslaved to alcohol, drugs, sex/porn, other addictions come to Christ and set FREE! Why? Because when come to Christ there is a “domino effect” and your baptism, Paul states, paints a visual of the spiritual reality which has taken place in your and my life.
2. What are the Implications of this Truth?
a. Paul clearly demonstrates—perhaps through a well known truth—why the crucifixion of our old man enables us to remain free of slavery to sin. This is so because the person who has died has been freed from sin. This is speaking of the progressive sanctification that is the believer’s in Christ.
b. Are you battling with a habitual sin in your life, Christian? Does it defeat and discourage you? Does it cause you to be ashamed? Do you think you will never be able to beat it? Here’s the bad news: You can’t! Here’s the good news: Christ can! Turn it over to Christ, walk in obedience to Him and daily mortify your flesh.
C. Applic: 3rd Reason why we are to live differently is because we share in the res. and have died to sin.
IV. 4th Reason: Because We Live for Christ We Must Count Ourselves Dead to Sin. Vv.8-11
A. Here is the Great News: We Will Live with God.
1. Because we have died with Christ we are assured of living with Him for eternity. The point of vv. 8-9 is this: if we have died with Christ we will certainly live with him since he died to death once and for all, it can, therefore, never hold sway over him again and subsequently he lives to God.
2. “we believe” in v. 8. This seems to imply “hope” for a reality not yet in existence. Overall, then, it may be better to see Paul focusing on the present with a view to the future. In other words, both realities seem to be intended. Illust: Some of you are graduating in two weeks. You still have to study for and struggle though finals, requires discipline and effort. However, you know that the end is in sight!
B. The Christian’s Response: Consider Ourselves Dead to Sin.
1. Mentally make the decision to walk in your determined state.
a. To be baptized into Christ is to be baptized into His death. The “old man”—the person we once were in Adam—died in Christ. Our body, in bondage to sin, was rendered ineffective by our death in Christ. Our Lord’s death at Calvary was not only a death for sin, but a death to sin. His death for our sins accomplished propitiation and the forgiveness of our sins. His death to sin achieved a separation from sin. Sin has no power over one who has died. We died to sin in Christ, and thus sin has no claim on us.
b. V. 11 – “consider” – to recount, an accounting term. Count yourself dead to sin and alive to Christ. One category or the other. Illust: July 14, 1990 my life forever changed. Went from being “single” to being married. My status changed. Can a married man or woman live like single? Suppose so, and they will probably be single again! Rather, the married man or woman needs to remember who they are in Christ. They reckon themselves married. Every now and then get out the wedding picture, program, or even look at the wedding rings: symbols of the event. That’s what Paul is saying here. Your life changed, baptism was a symbol of that event that included you in the promises of Christ.
2. Walk in the finished work of Christ. There is peace with God.
a. Illust: World War II may have been the high point of American greatness as the US and Allies delivered the world from tyranny. At 9:05 am, Sunday, 9-2-1945, aboard the USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay, under the watchful eye of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces, the Japanese Empire unconditionally surrendered in defeat. The most costly war in history was concluded. Hostilities ended.
b. The death of Christ ended an era in our lives. It closed that ugly chapter of our lives marked by sin and destined for death. It was but one event, ending the death-grip of sin on our lives. But the resurrection of Christ commenced a whole new and eternal life. The death of Christ was one event in history, a death to sin “once for all.” The life of our Lord is for all time, an endless succession of living toward God.
C. Applic: Living in sin is entirely inconsistent with the work of Christ. It is entirely inconsistent with who we are and what happened to us, in Christ. Our death to sin and aliveness toward God is a fact which we must reckon as true. Just as we must receive the atoning work of our Lord personally, so we must also accept His death to sin, resurrection, and life toward God personally. We must regard ourselves as dead to sin and alive toward God.
