A woman was driving home when she noticed a huge truck behind her that was driving uncomfortably close. She stepped on the gas to gain some distance from the truck, but when she sped up, the truck did too. The faster she drove, the faster the truck did.
Now scared, she exited the freeway. But the truck stayed with her. The woman turned up a main street, hoping to lose her purser in traffic, but the truck ran a red light and continued the chase.
Reaching the point of panic, the woman whipped her car into a service station and bolted out of her car screaming for help. The truck driver sprang from his truck and ran toward her car. Yanking the back door open, the driver pulled out a man hidden in the back seat.
The woman was running from the wrong person. From his high vantage point, the truck driver had spotted a would-be rapist in the woman’s car. The chase was not his effort to harm her but to save her even at the cost of his own safety.[i]
Likewise, there are many people running from God, fearing what He might do to them. But His plans are for good not evil—to rescue us from the hidden sins that endanger our lives. When we think of people running from God, we generally think of people who are not believers. That is true but some of the greatest track stars are people who profess to be believers but are denying the power of God in their lives.
We can so easily profess an orthodox belief but allow worldliness and ungodly living to totally defeat us in our lives. How many here realize that orthodoxy in our belief is good, but without practicing what we say, it’s useless. What benefit is a proper and right belief structure, when we have an unloving and critical attitude towards others? Or we may have an indifferent and distant attitude towards those around us which grieves the heart of God.
You may be the first to admit that things are not all that you want them to be in your life. There is a genuine desire to know God and grow in Him. Your desire is to overcome areas of struggle and difficulty, but you just can’t seem to beat it. You’re on the slippery slopes of sin and you find yourself sliding down more often than walking in spiritual victory and vitality. You’ve prayed hoping to solve the perpetual struggles in your life. You wonder, how can I experience the freedom that Jesus promised to each believer over sin? How can I apply the gospel into my everyday life and live the good news and not just talk about it? Today we are going to look at how Christ’s death and resurrection impacts our lives in the area of overcoming sin.
In the book of Romans, we find an exciting chapter where God’s grace is applied to release new spiritual freedom into lives. Paul explains the personal application to what Jesus did by dying and rising from the dead. He spends chapter six dealing with the relationship between sin and grace. He raises the question, whose slave are you? If we are a slave of God, His grace is prevailing in our lives. If we are a slave to sin, obviously we have allowed sin to prevail in our lives. Paul poses two questions to answer how God’s grace prevails over sin and law, not just in theory but in reality.
THE FIRST QUESTION SPEAKS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRACE AND SIN
Having concluded in chapter five with this powerful declaration, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Rom. 5:20), Paul knows he needs to address those who will use this as an excuse to sin rather than understand the nature and power of grace over sin.
Paul did not want to be misunderstood as promoting sin. Does grace encourage sin? To which the apostle vehemently and emphatically states, “No!” “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Rom. 6:1-2)
A. First of all, the believer has died to sin through his identification with Christ’s death and resurrection.
You may wonder how this comes about. It comes through a proper understanding. The apostle stated that we have died [past tense] to sin. But when did we die to sin? When we surrender our lives to Christ. Paul begins by talking about baptism, that outward expression of an inward work of grace in our hearts.
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.[ii]
There are many people who would like to begin a new life, the Christ-like life free from sin and its consequences. That’s what Paul is talking about. Baptism pictures our union with Christ in His death. It is the discovery of a new life through His resurrection. We who were once dead in our trespasses and sins, are now raised up into a new life. The life of Jesus Christ and His power is at work within our lives to help us overcome the sin power and principle that was formerly greater than ourselves. Now we have the choice and the free will to do what is right.
Grant Osborne points out: “Of course this does not mean that sin no longer affects the believer, for Christians do yield to sin. But sin has now become a force tempting us rather than a power controlling us.”[iii] Verse six is the key. “For we know that our old self [our unregenerated nature] was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin [sinful nature] might be done away with, [it has been rendered powerless] that we should no longer be slaves to sin—.” (Rom. 6:6)
It is not that sin has been removed in the sense that we never deal with it again, but rather that sin’s power has become ineffective in the life of a believer who understands and realizes what Christ really accomplished on the cross. We can experience the workings of God enabling us to overcome the demands of a sinful nature. We need to understand that we can say no to sin. God’s power and grace within us will help us do the right thing.
Paul’s argument is simple: dead men don’t sin.
If you are dead in Christ then you are dead to the things that beckon you to sin. because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.[iv]
You may say, “That’s wonderful Pastor, but I’m still alive. I still commit sins.” We all do. As we are about to see, there is a difference between sinning and letting sin rule in your life. There is a difference between sinning and getting back up and wallowing in sin.
Paul uses the analogy of slavery to help understand the truth of being free from sin’s dominion in life. With 6 million slaves in the Roman Empire and Rome’s population being predominately a slave population, Paul’s first hearers understood that the master no longer had power over his slave once death had conquered that slave’s life.
Paul is not saying that sin is destroyed but rather it is robbed of its power by the greater principle of death. Remember that death means separation. To be dead to sin means separation from sin. How? By being united with Christ.
Someone might counter, “How can sin be rendered powerless, as Paul states here in Rom. 6:6?” I struggle with it. Michael Green shares this insightful illustration:
Consider the effect of gravity on a book. Gravity would cause an unsupported book to fall, but gravity can be rendered ‘powerless’ against the book by simply placing a table under it. As long as the table is under the book, gravity cannot cause it to fall. Of course, gravity has not really lost its power nor is it no longer present. It is just that the table is stronger than gravity’s effect on the book.
For the Christian, the grace of God through the gift of the Holy Spirit if like the table and our sin nature is like gravity’s pull. As long as we allow the grace of God in the person of the Holy Spirit to hold us up, which places our dependence on his power to give us victory over sin, our sinful impulses have no power to pull us down.[v]
B. Now in light of our union with Christ’s death and resurrection, we are to count ourselves dead to sin (vs. 11).
As great as Christ’s victory is, we too have a responsibility to ensure that we enjoy the results of His victory for us. Our responsibility is spelled out in verses 11-14. “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 6:11)
The word ‘count’ or ‘reckon’ as used in some translations is an accounting term. It means we are to factor in some important truth that will liberate us from the strongholds of the enemy. The enemy keeps us bound because of deception and lies. We must discover and experience the truth that we are delivered. It’s a problem in our thinking, which impacts our behavior.
Harry Houdini, the famed escape artist, issued a challenge wherever he went. He could be locked in any jail cell in the country, he claimed, and set himself free in short order.
Always he kept his promise, but one time something went wrong. Houdini entered the jail in his street clothes; the heavy metal doors clanged shut behind him. He took from his belt a concealed piece of metal, strong and flexible. He set off to work immediately, but something seemed to be unusual about this lock. For thirty minutes he worked and got nowhere. An hour passed, and still he had not opened the door. By now he was bathed in sweat and panting in exasperation, but he still could not pick the lock. Finally, after laboring for two hours, Harry Houdini collapsed in frustration and failure against the door he could not unlock. But when he fell against the door, it swung open! It had never been locked at all! But in his mind it was locked, and that was all it took to keep him from opening the door and walking out of the jail cell.[vi]
Far too many Christians are like Houdini, trying to break out of their prison cell of sin, but not realizing that Christ has already unlocked the door through grace. All we need to do is open the door by faith. Now when temptation to sin comes, we must count ourselves dead to sin.
When sin makes its appeal, we must refuse to recognize it [entertain it] by reckoning that we died to it in Christ, and at once it will go, its power broken. In the same way, when we long to be holy, we simply reckon that we are alive to God in Christ, and as we reckon this to be true, the power of God’s grace will flood our souls. Then we shall see that the Christian life is not a constant battle but a constant victory.[vii]
Therefore do not let sin reign [rule] in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. [How?] Do not offer any part of yourself to sin, as instruments of wickedness, [it’s a choice] but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.[viii]
The application of this truth for believers is when we are doing what is right, we will not be doing what is wrong. Therefore, as believers, we should live a life in obedience to God.
It’s like the “little girl who was learning to ride a bicycle. She did quite well until it came time to stop. The only way she could ever stop was by running into something. She was constantly picking herself out of bushes and off the sidewalk. The problem was that although she knew that the bike had a coaster brake, she wasn’t using it.
The question implied in the Romans 6:12-14 is: What good is it to be set free from sin by Jesus Christ and have every opportunity to walking in holiness and righteousness if—at the moment of choice—we ignore these things and go right on letting sin rule us?[ix]
Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Absolutely Not! A correct understanding of grace and sin is expressed by the apostle Paul in his letter to Titus where he states, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” (Titus 2:11-12)
We have a choice as God’s children, we can say no to sin and yes to God. James Dunn expresses it so clearly: “Believers have a responsibility in all this, a responsibility to let the power of grace come to expression in their lives. Moral effort is in no way antithetical [or in opposition] to faith; it is rather the outworking and expression of faith.”[x]
THE SECOND QUESTION SPEAKS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRACE AND THE LAW
If we are free from the law, are we then free to sin? That is the question that Paul now addresses.
A. He realizes that some people will misunderstand their freedom as a result of grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?[xi]
What Paul is saying here is radical. The law in the Jewish mind set was always a means of grace, but Paul has continuously put law in opposition to grace. He has placed it on the side of sin. Law makes us aware of our sinfulness. It doesn’t deliver us from sin. Its purpose is to bring us to the end of ourselves and to bring us to Christ in order to be rescued from sin.
To be under law means to be ruled by law as the principle of a covenant of works. …Under grace implies two things—a revelation of God’s gracious attitude towards repentant sinners and a gift of God’s power to enable them to desire and will to obey.[xii]
One of the great misunderstandings of the Old Testament is that people thought it was by keeping the law that people were saved, but the reality was that no one ever kept the law. They all had to trust what God had promised and act on that. We see it in the case of Abraham; he acted on what God told him and because he believed, God justified him. That’s the apostle Paul’s argument in
Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised [Jews] by faith and the uncircumcised [Gentiles] through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather we uphold the law.[xiii]
We can only obey the law when we believe what God says. Faith is the key to obedience. Without faith you cannot obey.
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does the scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness’ (cf. Genesis 15:6).[xiv]
B. One of the subtle lies of the enemy.
Let us sin, not that grace may abound, but because grace does abound, God will forgive. In other words, God is gracious and forgiving, so it is no big deal. We presume upon His nature and willfully sin against His will for our lives. What we need to remind ourselves is that God’s will is ultimately best for each of us. If we sin, we are moving back toward slavery and bondage.
Paul paints two scenarios for us. Whoever we serve either sin or doing what is right, we become their servant or slave. It either leads to separation from God, or union and communion with God.
As God’s child we have that choice We have that freedom. We are very much like our first father Adam. As God’s child we can choose to disregard His word, or we can lovingly obey it: with the same results. That is why Paul challenges us in the book of Galatians. “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” (Galatians 5:13)
It is not by chance that the apostle Paul called himself at the beginning of the book a servant [literally: a love slave] of Jesus Christ. A slave by choice motivated out of love. We must not be deceived, our choice to serve sin will only lead to hurt and heartache and ultimately to broken relationships.
C. Paul then reminds them of where they have come.
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from you heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.[xv]
I wonder as I look at verse 22 how we can lead a life absent of holiness and still expect heaven. In other words, people who are presently experiencing eternal life have a characteristic about them. These people are set apart [holy] by God and for God.
Verse 23 is written to believers. Sin’s wage or pay back is a broken relationship with God and others, whereas God’s gift to us comes as we trust in Christ.
Well before Paul was born, there had been a Roman law stating that no freeborn man could be enslaved. Therefore, a man could literally sell himself into slavery, collect the proceeds, then have a friend come and attest to his status as a freeborn man, and he would have to be released at once. This cause havoc with the Roman economy, which was well oiled by its slave labor. Therefore, just before Paul’s day, a new law was enacted whereby any man who sold himself into slavery could no longer claim free status later. The law could no longer help him. It was clear to Paul’s readers in Rome that to whom you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, his slave you are.[xvi]
We may need to acknowledge the error of yielding presumptuously to sin. Disobedience eventually leads to death. Thank God, His grace is able to rescue us when we deviate from His path. But we cannot afford to ignore sin in our lives. Let us not put off today what needs to be addressed in our lives.
Unfortunately, we too can nullify the effects of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in our personal lives by our disobedience to God. But we can also maximize it by obedience. We can release His resurrection power over sin in our lives as we say yes to God and no to sin! That’s why we need to set our affections upon things above and not things below.
https://pixabay.com/photos/mountains-canada-girl-outlook-snow-3959204
[i][i] https://www.sermonsearch.com/sermon-illustrations/2835/the-rescue/
[ii] Romans 6:3-5, The New International Version of the Bible, Zondervan, 2011.
[iii] Grant Osborne, Romans, (Intervarsity Press, 2004), 149.
[iv] Romans 6:7-10.
[v] Michael Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, [paraphrased], (Grand Rapids, Mi: Baker Book House, 1989), 423.
[vi] Zig Ziglar, ed. James S. Hewett, “Bondage, Real or Imagined”, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), 225.
[vii] W.H. Grifftin-Thomas, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, (Grand Rapids, Mi: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974172.
[viii] Romans 6:12-14.
[ix] Michael Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, 423.
[x] James Dunn, Romans 1-8, Word Biblical Commentary, (Dallas, Tx: Word Book Publisher, 1988), 350.
[xi] Romans 6:15-16.
[xii] Unknown.
[xiii] Romans 3:29-3:31.
[xiv] Romans 4:1-3.
[xv] Romans 6:17-23.
[xvi] Michael Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, 423.
