From Death to Life
From Death to Life
Romans 6:1-14
What are you known for? Some people are remembered because of a great accomplishment. For example, if I say the name George Washinton, you will probably say “He was our first president”. If I say the name Michael Jordan, you would probably say the best basketball player ever. If I say Jeffrey Dahmer, you will probably say a serial killer. If I say Osama Bin Laden, you may say terrorist. Most of us, however, will not be known to the world for some great act of courage or some life-changing invention. In fact, most of us will only be known and remembered by relatively few people.
After someone dies, I ask the family a number of questions about them, and usually they mention one or two things the person was known for. In those moments, that person’s character is revealed. I learn what that person was known for and what people think about him or her. I do not learn what they wanted to be known for; I learn what they are actually known for. Often, how they are actually remembered and how they want to be remembered are not the same.
What are you known for? How will you be remembered-not what do you want to be known for, but what you are actually known for? Another way of asking the question is, “What characterized your life?” or “What dominated your life?” Recently, I met some family members of a dear friend and after they left the friend naturally said, “That’s the way they have always been. They love the Boston Celtics.” They spent most of the night talking about Larry Bird and their hopes of winning a world championship this year.
Do you see? They couldn’t hide what they were known for. It was very evident. Their lives were characterized by a love for the Boston Celtics. One could say, “The Boston Celtics reigned in their life.” What reigns in your life? What are you known for? We may not even realize how often we talk about things that are most important to us. They just come out. What controls you will eventually be revealed. What are you known for?
In Romans 6, Paul helps to answer the question of what Christians should be known for. Christians should be known for a life characterized by Jesus Christ. They should be known for a life characterized by grace and joy and mercy and love and kindness and goodness and self-control. They should be known by the power of the resurrection in their speech, in their actions, and in how they spend their time. What are you known for? If I asked the people closest to you that question, what would they actually say–not what you would want them to say but what would they actually say? What characterizes your life? What are you known for?
I pray all of us here would be known by the life of Jesus Christ. Today, I want to ask two simple questions that will help you discern what you are known for. First, “Have you died to sin?”
Have you died to sin?
Paul ends chapter 5 by comparing Adam and Jesus: one who lived under the law and one who lived under grace. Paul anticipates that some of his readers will incorrectly interpret his teaching about the marvelous, comprehensive, all-consuming grace of Jesus Christ as a means to sin.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
If when we sin, God extends grace to us, and thus grace abounds over sin, therefore some may say, “If sin increases, then grace increases, so we should sin that grace may increase.” Romans 6:1
Paul asks this question to clearly show that their interpretation of the gospel is wrong, Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? He answers emphatically, “By no means!” Absolutely not! He goes on to answer the wrong question with two more questions.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Romans 6:1–3
Paul asks two questions that imply the answer. First, how can we, who died to sin, still live in it? The answer is we can’t. If we died to sin, we can’t live in it. Second, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We can’t continue to sin because we have been baptized into Christ. We have died symbolically with Christ. We were baptized into Christ Jesus and His death so now we go where He goes, we live how He lives.
The key idea of salvation is that Christians are with or in Christ. We are united with Him. If we are united with Christ, our lives should look like Christ. Paul goes on to specify exactly how a Christian identifies with Christ, that is through baptism.
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
Baptism symbolizes death and life. One is symbolically buried under the water by immersion. When they go under the water, they are publicly saying, “My old life is over.” My old life, dominated by sin and self-centeredness, by greed and gluttony, by anger and arrogance, is over. I have died to sin. I have been crucified with Christ. We do this publicly so that we will be held accountable for the decision. Everyone knows that your old life is dead. This is the formal entrance into the Kingdom of God.
Have you died to sin? Have you publicly identified your life with Jesus Christ and His death? When we are buried by water in baptism, we are effectively saying, “I deserve the death Jesus took on the cross”. You are publicly agreeing that you are a sinner and deserve to die. The cross of Christ is your cross. His grave is your grave. Baptism is a humble act of confession. In baptism, we rightly admit we are sinners and deserve to die.
If you are a non-Christian, have you ever thought about what your sins deserve? Have you ever considered how your sin deserves to be punished? It really is a matter of justice. God cannot be just without rightly punishing sin. Imagine a human judge letting criminals go free after all the evidence clearly and convincingly proves them guilty. People would be outraged. Justice would not have been served. Friend, God has to punish sin because He is just. Your sin must be punished. But, remember, baptism is a confession that we are baptized into Christ Jesus by being baptized into His death. It is publicly confessing that Jesus died for our sins. It is confessing that Jesus is the Son of God, who lived a perfect life, and yet died for sinners. He was dead and buried, but God raised Him from the dead.
Baptism does not merely symbolize someone’s death, but also their resurrection. We were buried with Him by baptism in death in order that as Romans 6:4 says,
just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Jesus died and was raised. The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead now raises believers in Christ from the dead. Baptism is a confession that we have died with Christ AND have been raised with Christ. Both are true.
This brings us to our second question, “Are you living for Christ?”
Are you living for Christ?
What are you known for? Are you known for sin or for Christ? Is your life characterized by sin, or is it characterized by Jesus? If Romans 3-5 is teaching about justification, then Romans 6-7 is teaching about sanctification. Justification is being declared not guilty for our sins through faith in the redemption of Jesus Christ. It is a one time event. Sanctification means set apart. It has the same root as the words “holy” and “saints”, and it has two aspects: positional and progressive. When we are justified by faith, we are positionally sanctified. This means we have been set apart as holy. We are positionally declared holy. Therefore, we will experience progressive sanctification. This means, over time, we will become (or we will progress) to be more and more holy as we grow in the Lord.
Paul explains how the life of a Christian is united with the life of Jesus Christ. He died for us in our place and, therefore, we identify with His death on our behalf. But He also was raised from the dead and, therefore, we identify with His resurrection by walking in the newness of the life we have through the Holy Spirit.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:5–11
As is typical of Paul, he begins with indicatives before giving imperatives. He gives facts before he gives commands. Paul lays out what happens to Christians when they are saved. He contrasts the themes of death and life, slavery and freedom so that we can see the radical change that happens when we believe in Jesus Christ.
Let’s walk through each one of these themes. We move from death to life. We move from slavery to freedom. If we have died with Christ, then we share in His resurrection. This is the logical conclusion. If Jesus died for us, then we will live for Him. If we share in His death, then we share in His resurrection power, both in this life and in the life to come. Our lives are crucified and brought to nothing so that we are no longer slaves to sin. The power of sin has been broken. In justification, the penalty of sin is removed. In sanctification, the power of sin is removed. In glorification, the presence of sin is removed. Each aspect of salvation solves a different problem. Sanctification severs the power of sin. Paul summarizes this in verse 7 when he writes, “For the one who died has been set free from sin.”
Beloved, sin no longer has a hold on you. You have been freed from it. It cannot enslave you any longer. We have to recognize the power of the resurrection in our lives.
Imagine being a prisoner of war during the Holocaust. You are tortured and enslaved in a prison camp. Then, one day, the guards all leave. The gates are left open. No one is there to keep you in. Would you stay in the camp? By no means! Of course you wouldn’t stay! You’ve been set free! Christian, this happens to us in our salvation. We are set free from sin. We are set free from sin because we have been united with Christ. Our salvation is connected to the finished work of Jesus Christ. In verses 9 and 10, Paul makes this connection clear.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. Romans 6:9–10
Notice two phrases that should give us hope in our fight against sin. First, in verse 9, Paul writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus, “will never die again.” Death no longer has dominion over Him. He was raised from the dead. He has been freed from the grave, and He never has to go back. The second phrase is in verse 10, He died, “once for all.” The work is finished.
It is important to understand Paul’s reasoning here. He is trying to help the Christians see how their lives are connected to the life of Christ. Jesus died, once for all, just as we have died once for all. Jesus will never die again, and we will never die again. Jesus is alive and, therefore, we are alive. Jesus will always be alive and, therefore, we will always be alive.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God
in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11
Indicatives lead the way to imperatives. The facts come before commands. We look at what Christ has done for us before we move toward what we are called to do. Because we are justified by faith, no man can boast. Our justification and our sanctification are built on faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. You are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Then, on the basis of the Gospel, be holy. It is not, “be holy and you will be like Jesus.” It is, “Jesus has made you holy so you can be like Him.” One puts the emphasis on our work; the other puts the emphasis on the work of Christ.
The reality of the Gospel is that we have been set free from sin to live to God. After laying out the facts, Paul gives the command.,
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.Romans 6:12–14
You have been brought from death to life, so live like it! As Christians, we can’t live in sin and allow sin to rule us. We are not under the dominion of darkness; we have been transferred to the kingdom of the beloved Son. Are you living for Christ?
Paul’s command: Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness. Questions: Are you using your hands and feet to do evil? Are your fingers clicking websites you shouldn’t see? Are your feet taking you to places you shouldn’t go? Are your hands grabbing for things that are harmful to you? Are you known for using your hands and feet to serve others? What are you known for?
Are you using your lips to bless others or curse them? Are you known for being a gossip or an encourager? Are you known for complaining or contentment? Are you known for a critical spirit or as one who sees the best in others? What are you known for-not what do you want to be known for, but what are you known for? What characterizes your life?
Beloved, you have been brought from death to life. You can no longer let sin reign in your life; you have died to sin. You belong to God. Jesus lived, died,, and was raised so you must die to sin and live in the power of His resurrection. What are you known for? A true Christian, who has been brought from death to life, cannot continue to sin. Sin will have no dominion over you because you are under grace. What are you known for?
A young woman accepted Christ as her Savior and applied to join a local church. The pastor asked her, "Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your life?" "Yes, sir," she replied. "Well, are you still a sinner?" "To tell you the truth, I feel I'm a greater sinner than ever." "Then what real change have you experienced?" "I don't quite know how to explain it," she said, "except I used to be a sinner running after sin, but now that I am saved I'm a sinner running from sin!"
Beloved, that is progressive sanctification. I pray that we are no longer running after sin but that we are known for running from sin. What are you known for? What will you be known for? I pray we will be known for knowing Jesus. Let’s present ourselves to God for we have been brought from death to life. Let us be known for knowing and walking with Jesus Christ.