Dying For The Right Reason
Romans 6:1-10
We celebrate, tomorrow, those who have given their lives for their country. Tomorrow is the day we call Memorial Day. Memorial Day was originally established so that those who died in the Civil War could be recognized. A special day was set aside to honor those who gave their life in the fight to keep our nation from remaining divided. And then, as time went on and our nation was involved in other conflicts the day was expanded to honor those who had given their lives in World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Conflict, every conflict and war that America has been in. We recognize those who have given their lives for the freedom that our country enjoys. It helps us to focus and to recognize that we all are going to die.
Sometimes we know that people die for the right reasons. We celebrate the heroes of the great wars who have given their lives that they might save their buddies, save their soldier comrades on the battlefield. Sometimes we question the necessity of death. Just this past week in New York, those working in a fast food restaurant, their lives were required of them because of greed, envy, jealousy, sin in the life of someone else. And we wonder why should a person have to die for that.
And this morning I want us to look into God’s Word and I want us to see that Paul the Apostle tells us that there is another reason that we should die, and it is a death that we should accept willingly.
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God," (Romans 6:1-10).
As we look at this passage of Scripture, let me give you a little background of what Paul has been writing up to this point. You recognize that his letter is to the Christians that are in Rome. A lot of times we fail to understand that Paul’s writings were to believers. Paul’s writings were to explain the great truths of God and to explain the great truths of His glory and His mercy to believers. That would lead me to think maybe something has happened that we don’t fully understand. God has done such a great work in our life that we cannot begin to fathom the works that He has done for us. So Paul goes to great lengths to ensure that believers understand...
I. The Enemy
Why is it essential for us to understand what God has done for us? Why is it important for us to understand what Jesus has done in our life? Simply this: That we might go and share that information with those who don’t know Jesus. With the Holy Spirit of God living in our hearts giving us direction, giving us guidance, then He guides us to truth, He guides us to that understanding, but not everyone has the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in them. Some folks have not accepted Jesus as their Savior and they can’t understand. So when we begin to understand the great things that Jesus did for us, that will cause us to want to live our lives in such a way that it will glorify Him. And when we live our life in a manner that glorifies God people begin to notice. And when people see something different in us than the rest of the world has it makes them curious.
Some people may stop and laugh it off. They may say there is not difference between Christians and everyone else. (And a lot of times we live our life like that.) But when we realize the great work that God has done for us, that will cause us to live our life in a way that brings glory to Him.
But Paul has been teaching the Romans about the great grace of God. In Chapter 5, Paul explained to them that death came into the world by the death of one man. Because of the sin of Adam, we are all sinful by nature; it is inherited, as it were. But Paul goes on to say that because of the death of one Man, Jesus Christ, sin can be forgiven for all people. In fact, in Chapter 5, we get that great verse of Scripture that we quote so often, Paul said, "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound," (Romans 5:20).
Paul is praising God by saying that because of the depth of sin, it helps us recognize the greatness of the grace that God has. Paul also knows that by saying this he is raising some questions to others who might say that once you get saved you can do anything that you want to.
One of the problems that we as Southern Baptist face is that when we try to teach the doctrine of eternal security people misunderstand it. We teach the eternal security of the believer. Once you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you are forever saved. When you receive Jesus He seals you, the Scripture says, unto the day of redemption. In the book of John, Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand," (John 10:27, 28).
In the very first verse of Scripture that we memorize as children, John 3:16 tells us that we can receive "everlasting" life. And many accuse those who teach this or those who preach this of being hypocrites, of buying into a cheap salvation that frees us to sin as much as we want to. And that is one of the things that Paul addresses here.
Paul has already been falsely accused of saying let us do evil that good may come. And he corrected his accusers on that in Chapter 3, but now he doesn’t want anyone to be confused about what his message is, so he says here in Chapter 6, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"
Now, Paul is still talking about death. He is talking about the fact of death, the reality of death. And Paul is explaining to the believers at Rome that there is a right kind of death, there is a good reason for dying. And as contradictory as it sounds, He is saying that the only real reason for dying is so that we may live. He raises this question, and in so doing, he shows us the great enemy of our faith. He says, "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? "
Now there are two things that Paul is talking about in that verse. He is talking about grace. He is talking about the free will offering that God outpours. He talking about something that is extended to someone who does not deserve it. And he is talking about sin. It should be relatively easy for us to determine which of these is our enemy. It should be easy for us to recognize that sin is our great enemy. That it is sin that separates us from God. From the time that man and woman walked in the garden together with God it was sin that came in and separated them.
Many times we want to accuse Satan for this separation, but let’s be honest. Adam and Eve had the choice of whether of not to sin. But since that time, since we became sinful creatures, we don’t have that choice anymore. We are sinful by nature and we will sin. That’s why sin is our great enemy. Sin is what separates us from God. Sin is what prevents us from being welcomed into the presence of God. Sin is what hinders us from being obedient to God. And Paul is talking about that sin here.
Many times we are confused about sin and about what sin is. We think that something that offends us or something that appalls us. For example, it is easy for us to look at the headlines and read about this shooting this past week where five employees of a fast food restaurant were murdered. That’s an atrocity. That’s inexcusable. That’s a sin. That offends us.
And yet some many times we live our lives doing things that we don’t even recognize and don’t acknowledge as sin. We are, at best, we are indifferent to those that we are around. We are casual in our worship. We are careless in our witness. But those don’t offend us so, obviously, those aren’t sin. Right? WRONG!
Just because something does not offend us does not mean that it is not a sin. Sin is not that which offends us. Sin is not that which appalls us. Sin is that which offends God. Sin is that which appalls God. And when God is offended a sin has been committed. And sin is our great enemy because it is sin that causes us to offend God.
What is the greatest sin that a person could commit? We could make a long list. We could itemize the sins that a person could commit. The shame of it is, were we to do that, we could line the walls with a list of sins that a person could commit and then we could probably go back in with a check mark and check off the ones that we have committed because we have to rate sin and we have to categorize sin as great sins and little sins. Why even to our children we talk about lies and little, white lies. We have categorized sin. But nothing in God’s Word teaches us that God categorizes sin.
Now, we would make our list and we would say that, obviously, murder is a great sin. And in the Ten Commandments God said thou shalt not kill. Obviously adultery would be a great sin, and in the Ten Commandments God said thou shalt not commit adultery. But what about what we would call lesser sins? What about what we would call little sins? What about laying out of church? Surely that’s not a sin, is it? After all, aren’t we free in Christ? Aren’t we free to worship where we want to and when we want to?
This freedom is a very funny thing, folks. Because when we are free in Christ we are not free to do as WE please. We are free to do what He has called us to do. And He has called us to assembly ourselves together and worship. Now, I know there are a lot of people that will take exception to that. Now, they’ll say, the Bible doesn’t command us to worship. The Bible doesn’t tell us that we have to come to church to worship. But I beg to differ with you. first of all, in the book of Hebrews, we are commanded, we are reminded, not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. We need to be together. We draw strength, we gain encouragement, we learn when we come together in Jesus name. But there is another example of gathering together for worship, for preaching, for teaching, for giving of offerings, for times of fellowship, that we need to examine also, and that is simply the life of Christ.
Look at Jesus’ life. The Scripture makes it very plain that there were several things that were important in Jesus’ life. Many times they are identified thus, "...as was His custom." Jesus would get up early in the morning and go pray -- as was His custom. He was in the habit of that. It was a regular part of His life. It was an important part of His life. The Scripture tells us that Jesus went to the temple -- as was His custom. It was a part of His life. So, if we as Christians are to emulate Christ, if we as Christians are to look like Jesus Christ, if we are to behave the way that He behaved, if we are to do the things that He did, should we not also be going to the church? Should we not also be gathering together to worship? Some may say that it’s more important that we do good works after we are saved. We understand that good works is not the method of salvation. Paul told us in the first verse what the method of salvation is; what the means of salvation is. He says that it is grace. Paul says in another place that we are saved by grace through faith. Shouldn’t we because of that grace and because of that great measure of the gift of God, shouldn’t we go and do good works? And obviously good works must be more important than just taking time out and going to worship. But I say that they are both important! It is equally important for us to do good works and for us to gather together to worship. And when we refuse to do either we are committing sin, and that sin is our enemy.
Paul wanted to take time to warn us about the enemy that we face. Why? Because he knew it was going to be there every day. He knew that everywhere we turned, that everywhere we travel, that in every decision that we make that great enemy of ours will be there. That enemy will be there to challenge us, to question us, to make us wonder, to cause us to doubt. So in every decision it is important for us to seek God and to seek His will and to be on the look out for sin.
But we have become so casual about sin that we don’t even think about sin anymore.
I love to hear people pray. I probably shouldn’t listen to people when they pray. I probably should be praying myself. I guess that one of the things that I should be praying is Lord, allow me to listen to them pray and not scrutinize and judge their prayer. But some folks will say, when they pray, if we have committed any sins this day forgive us. Well, what kind of request is that? You know what they are saying? They are saying I am so casual about sin in my life that I don’t even know if I’ve committed it, but if I have I hope God’s grace extends to cover those sins that I am so casual about. I don’t believe that God honors a prayer request like that. But when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin in our life, and when we are contrite about the sin that is in our life, and when we can confess that specific sin to God and ask God to forgive us, and ask Him to cleanse us, then God will honor our prayer.
We have to quit being so casual about sin, folks. We cannot expect the sinner, the lost person to take sin seriously if WE refuse to. It is important for God’s people to recognize sin, to acknowledge sin, to confess sin, to forsake sin, and to ask forgiveness for sin. And Paul says, "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"
Beginning in verse number two, after he has identified the enemy, Paul gives us...
II. The Exhortation
An exhortation is a word of encouragement or a word of correction. A thought, or a sentence, or a sermon causing us to focus and to look at ourselves. And Paul’s response to the question is God forbid!
He asked the question shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? There were some who would teach that. There are some who continue to teach that the greater the sin, the greater the forgiveness, and if that is so, then, for us to glorify God and truly give God glory, then there should be great sin in our life.
It troubles me sometimes when we have testimony services and some will stand up and recount the sins of their past, almost as if they are enjoying it, almost as if they are reliving it, almost as if they are saying, "because I have such great sin, then I can expect great grace. Those of that were raised in church, those of you who have not committed the great sins, you can’t know the measure of grace that I can because you haven’t experienced the depravity of sin that I have."
And Paul is trying to keep people from thinking like this. Oh, if I sin greater, God will be glorified more when He forgives me. Folks, Paul tells us in other places that we are not allowed to go out and sin intentionally. And that is exactly what we would be doing. Paul says here, he uses the phrase God forbid. We could correctly translate that phrase, "May it never be so." Would there ever come a time when a Christian would expect to glorify God by the sin in his life? Paul says may it never be so; God forbid. Paul uses this phrase ten times in the book of Romans. Fourteen times in all his writings. That is his greatest effort to stop a bad thought--don’t let it go any farther; may it never be so! May it never be so that a Christian would think that he could sin and the purpose of his sin would be that God would be glorified.
God made another arrangement so that He could be glorified. Instead of us thinking that we should sin so that grace may abound we, as believers, should confess so that grace may abound. We should confess our sins before God that then He may pour out His blessings of grace.
Paul gives this answer--may it never be so. Then he asks this question, "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" How could we be a part of it if we are dead to sin? If we are dead to sin we cannot be involved in sin. If our old life has ceased to exist we cannot be involved in those former things. If we no longer live we cannot enjoy the things we lived for. But this statement just seems to raise more questions. But as Paul raises more questions he gives us...
III. The Explanation
Look now at verse number three. Paul begins his explanation with another question: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" Paul says don’t you know that when we were baptized into Christ we were baptized into His death.
First, that causes us to acknowledge the death of Jesus Christ. Paul is writing primarily to believers at Rome. Some of them would be Jews. There is a very real possibility that many of those were at Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified, that they were there the day when our Lord died, that they saw Him hanging on the cross, and they know first hand that He died.
So Paul is reminding them of the fact, the event, of the death of Jesus Christ, but he asks them don’t you know that so of you as were baptized into Jesus were baptized into His death? Don’t you know that as a believer you were a partaker of that very same death. Don’t you recognize that once you accepted Christ as Lord, and He forgave you, and you were baptized into Him, that His death on the cross became your death?
Now this baptism is an interesting thing that Paul is talking about here. There are two types of baptism that refer to the baptism of Christ. One is a spiritual baptism. One is an event that occurs to believers when they accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The New Testament teaches us that when we trust Him, when we quit trusting ourselves, when we quit trusting the world, when we place our faith in Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive us, and He does, and He cleanses us from all unrighteousness, at that point the Holy Spirit baptizes us into Christ. Spiritually we are immersed into Christ. We are out of an old environment and we have been immersed into a new environment.
The second baptism is a representative baptism, what we see as a physical baptism. That is when we fill our baptistery with water and we bring the one who has made a profession of faith in Christ and we immerse them in water and bring them back out. And the purpose of that is to show physically, externally, what the Holy Spirit of God has already done for them spiritually, internally. It is a testimony to the world of what Jesus has done.
And I think that when Paul talks here about this baptism in verse number three, as many as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death, I don’t think Paul is separating the two. I feel, and the New Testament teaches, and our practice should be that the physical baptism should immediately follow the spiritual baptism. When we study the book of Acts, when we study the New Testament we see that when someone is saved immediately they are taken and baptized. There is no waiting. There is no time to "see if it took." There is no time wasted. Immediately they go and testify to the world what has happened to them.
Remember when Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch were traveling along studying the book of Isaiah and Philip explained that the Scripture was a prophesy of Jesus Christ, and the eunuch became convicted in his heart, and he believed that Jesus was the Christ and he trusted Jesus, and he said, "See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?" (Acts 8:36).
And Philip remember what Philip didn’t say. He didn’t say the preacher needs to talk to you first. Philip didn’t say you need to meet with the deacons. Philip didn’t say the church needs to vote on it. Philip said only if you believe.
Let’s consider the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Acts. The Scripture says that at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God. They weren’t complaining, they weren’t grumbling, they weren’t griping. Brothers and Sisters, they weren’t even sleeping! They were worshiping God. And because they were worshiping Him, and angel of the Lord came and shook the jail with a great earthquake and broke free everyone’s bonds and opened every cell door. And nobody wanted to leave. They wanted to stay because they were seeing a manifestation of the power of God and they knew that God would reveal Himself and they wanted to see more. The jailer ran in and begged them, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30) .
And what was the simple response? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house," (Acts 16:31) . He believed. And there was an actual, physical demonstration of his belief. He gathered them up and took them to his home and he cleanses their wounds and they preached the gospel to his family and they, too, believed. Friends, I’m convinced in my heart that when the father in the household is faithful to God, the household will follow, too. We see that in the sixteenth chapter of the book of Acts. We see that in the life of the family that attended the revival at Moore’s chapel this past week. On Sunday the father got saved. On Tuesday night the wife and daughter accepted the Lord. And when the father will set the example that God insists and demands of him, the family will follow, too. They all got saved!
And the Scripture says they were baptized. They didn’t wait until the next Sunday. They didn’t wait until the church had a business meeting. They didn’t go around to the different churches to see which one they liked best and to see which would suit their needs or which had the best children’s program or which had the best choir. They went out and were baptized then! So the testimony of Scripture is that the physical baptism, which is the demonstration to the world of what has already happened inside, immediately follows the spiritual baptism.
I really wonder about those who profess to be saved but cannot follow the Lord in Believer’s Baptism. They can’t bring themselves to be obedient to God through baptism. It sure makes you wonder what they saw, and what they felt, and what they got in the first place.
But now Paul is talking about baptism and he said, "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?"
Baptism itself is a picture of that. Verse number four: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death ." When the pastor or the member of the church takes a person and lowers him into the water, that is a picture of death. That is a picture of being buried with Christ. "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
When that person is raised up out of the water, that is a picture of them being raised up with Jesus Christ. I love what this verse of Scripture says, that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of God the Father. It is the glory of God the Father that raise Jesus Christ on that Resurrection Sunday morning. It is the glory of God the Father that gave Jesus the power to rise up from the grave. And that glory, that act of resurrection, is a confirmation that what Jesus did on the cross was right. It is a confirmation that God was pleased with what He did. It is a confirmation of the fact that Jesus is the Son of God just as He claimed. Were He not, God would have left Him in the grave. Were He not, He would still be there now. But the Scripture gives us eye witness testimony, even today through the witness of our heart, we know that He lives today! You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!
And then Paul says that when we are raised we should walk in newness of life. There should be a dramatic change in our life. There should be a demonstration of change in our life. People who have known us should be able to tell it immediately. As I shared Wednesday night I believe that is what happened in this family I referred to. The father got saved. And mother and daughter are watching him closely. What’s this all about? He’s never done this before. We’ve been to church before and he’s never acted like this. There is something different going on here. There was a change in him. There was a demonstration in him. They saw something in him that they had never seen before. Why? Because he was walking in newness of life. How could he do that? Because he had a new heart. Because the old man was dead. Because he was a new creation in Christ. He was someone entirely different than they had seen before. And they watched him. And they scrutinized him. And they studied him. And mom, knowing him better than daughter, was able to see that something was different, that there had been a change. Praise God she also said whatever he’s got I want it, too. And she accepted Jesus and the daughter accepted Jesus.
Verse number five says "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death," if we are in unity, literally if we are in unity in the likeness of His death "we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." Praise the Lord. It is not enough for us to be identified with Jesus who was laid in the tomb. It is not enough for us to be identified with Jesus who was nailed to the cross and laid in the tomb, but Paul says we are identified with Him in His resurrection. The very power that raised Jesus Christ from the grave is the power that we have available now!
This is a power that is greater than life! This is a power that is greater than death! This is a power that is greater than our petty problems we face everyday. This is a power that is greater than the greatest attack the world can throw at us! This is a power, a victory, that allows us to live our lives through Jesus Christ. Not living by ourselves, but, Him living through us. That’s exciting!
What is the likeness of His resurrection? It says in the verse before "the glory of God the Father." The likeness of His resurrection means that God is pleased with what you do when you accept Jesus just as He was pleased with the work of Jesus in His death and God confirmed it by the resurrection. When you accept Christ as Savior God is pleased with that and He confirms it by changing you and making you a new creature, and new creation.
Look at verse six. Paul goes on to say, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him." What about this death? How do we become partakers in this death? How are we involved in this death? We are crucified with Him. But look who Paul says is crucified. Paul says it is the OLD MAN! Paul means the former man, the useless man, that which is not worth keeping is crucified with cross, nailed to the cross.
You’ve heard the story of the old farmer who had his old flintlock rifle. It had reached a point where it wouldn’t work anymore. It was old and had been passed down in the family so he wanted to have it repaired. He took it to the gunsmith and asked him what do you want me to do with it? The farmer told him to fix it, whatever it takes. The gunsmith said, "Well it needs a new lock, a new stock, and a new barrel."
That’s the whole rifle. Lock, stock, and barrel means the whole thing. And listen, folks, when we come to Christ, the old man comes to Christ lock, stock, and barrel, and that is left with Him. And when He saves us we are a new lock, a new stock, a new barrel. A whole new weapon for Christ!
"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be..." set aside for further use. NO! That’s not what it says. That the body of sin might be put up until we decide to come back to it later? NO! That’s not what it says. That the body of sin might be stored for a later date? NO! It says, "that the body of sin might be destroyed." And the tense and the phrasing is that it might be permanently destroyed and not available anymore. "That henceforth we should not (or could not, or will not be able to) serve sin."
Folks, that’s powerful! Paul has just told the church at Rome that when we accept Christ as Savior we are, in God’s eyes, nailed to the cross, and when we die our sin nature dies with us, and we are buried in the ground, and God raises us back up but leaves that sin and that old sin nature in the ground. We are no longer slaves to sin! We are no longer bound to sin! We are no longer compelled to sin! We no longer have the desire to sin!
They are right. They say that when we teach the eternal security of the believer we are teaching that once I am saved I can sin all I WANT to. But the difference is when we are saved we don’t WANT to! We have a new nature. We don’t need to sin. We don’t have to sin. We don’t want to sin!
Paul says, "For he that is dead is freed from sin." Have you been freed from sin? When you die to sin you die for the right reason. Die in Christ. Live for God.
