WWUTT 1241 How Can We Who Died to Sin Still Live in It? (Romans 6:1-2)

There are some who believe the grace of God is a license to sin. I can continue sinning, God will just forgive me for it. But what you're probably demonstrating is that you're still dead in your sins and not alive in Christ, when we understand the text.

Romans 6 and the New Birth

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you Becky. We continue with our study of the book of Romans, heading into a new chapter this week. This is chapter 6 and we'll start out looking at verses 1 -14. The Apostle Paul wrote,. 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?

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. 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. 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. Now as we go through this chapter and we're going to be talking about dying and living again, here's what we're not talking about.

We are not talking about dying in the body and then going to heaven to live forever with God. Now when you die, if you are a follower of Christ Jesus, will you go to heaven to be with God? Absolutely you will.

The moment you die, you enter into eternal life with God forever. But that's not the doctrine that is being unfolded here in Romans chapter 6. When we're talking about dying to sin and living again in Christ, specifically what we're talking about is new birth.

In 2 Corinthians 5 .17, Paul says,. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. In Galatians 2 .20, Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. When Jesus had his conversation with Nicodemus in John chapter 3, he said, if anyone is going to see the kingdom of God, he must be born again.

We are born physically alive, but we're spiritually dead. And when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, that previous dead soul inside our living body has been brought to life by the Holy Spirit of God. And now we no longer live unto our sin.

We no longer walk in our sinful, fleshly, earthly ways, chasing after the passions of the body and the mind. But instead, we submit our whole selves unto God as a living sacrifice unto the Lord, even our bodies, as it says in Romans 12 .1.

And this is our spiritual act of worship. We live now unto God and not to ourselves. We are dead to ourselves. We are alive to God in Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is the doctrine that Paul is unfolding here in Romans chapter 6.

Once again, we're talking here about the new birth, about being a new creation, no longer walking in our sinful ways, which led unto death. But we're walking now in righteousness, leading to eternal life.

Justification by Faith and the Objection That Grace Encourages Sin

At the start of Romans 6, Paul begins with this question, what shall we say then? Now he's going to be responding to sort of a hypothetical or at least an argument that he's been presented with before based on this doctrine of justification by faith that he has been teaching.

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? So here is the objection that is raised by Paul's opponents. They will say to him that since you've been talking about justification by faith, and this has been going on ever since the beginning of this letter in Romans 1 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

So it's not going to be by our works. It's by faith in the gospel of Christ. The good news that Jesus came to save sinners. He is God in human flesh. He lived a perfect life. He died the death we were supposed to die, was buried in a tomb, rose again on the third day, rose bodily from the grave so that all who believe in him will be forgiven their sins and have everlasting life with God.

Fellowship with God comes through Jesus Christ, not by our works. Eternal life does not come by our works. Forgiveness does not come by our works. These things are a gift from God, hence why it is called grace by belief in the gospel, the good news of Christ.

We are forgiven and we have everlasting life. We are justified by grace through faith. Paul will go on in Romans chapter three, verse 23, to say all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

Then we were in Romans chapter four and we looked at Abraham as our example. We read in Romans four, verse five to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, believes in Christ who justifies the ungodly.

His faith is counted as righteousness right at the start of Romans chapter five. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith there, it's put plainly right there. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So given that this is the doctrine that Paul has been laying out in Romans, his opponents are saying, well, then sin all you want. Like what's the point of the law? What's the point of morality? What's the point of having ethics of any kind?

You just go sin willy nilly. You sin like a heathen because then God's grace will just abound. So this is an argument that the opponents against Paul are raising as though to say there's no way this works and there's no way that God is pleased by this for you to say that we're saved by grace through faith because then a person can just sin all they want.

It's a license to sin and they violate the law of God and they will come to ruin and destruction and judgment. That's what you're setting people up for Paul. You are completely nullifying the entire law of God and the Jews would be saying this so that other Jews would not be persuaded by the message that Paul was preaching.

You see how much he hates God's word. He's even saying you don't have to follow it anymore. You just have to believe by faith and you will be saved. So in response to that kind of argument, which is really deceptive, I mean, it's a it's a straw man because it's not what Paul is saying.

That's not what he's been arguing at all. And it's also slander because it is not the message of the gospel by any means. So Paul seizing upon that argument and responding to it here in Romans chapter six, he says, what shall we say then in light of the fact that we are saved by grace through faith, we are justified by faith and now we have peace with God.

What shall we say? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound by no means? And this is a statement that we see come up several times in the book of Romans. I think it's like 10 times. Does Paul make this statement by no means?

It's like the strongest phrase of of rejection that he could possibly use a strongest phrase of refusal. No. Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound by no means? How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Like if we're getting to this point in Romans and you think that that's the argument that I've been making, if you think that I've been saying we can sin and God's just going to pour out his grace upon us, then you haven't been listening to what I've been saying because we're no longer the sinful wretches we were under the judgment of God.

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we are now dead to sin. If we have died to sin, how can we still live in it? How can you go on living a life that is perpetually chasing after the sins of your flesh and temptations?

All kinds of things are going to change for you when you come to Jesus Christ. Your passions are going to be reoriented. The desires of your heart are for heavenly things and not earthly things. So there's all manner of worldliness that is going to change in you.

You will no longer walk in the course of the pattern of this world, but you will be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is what the Holy Spirit does in us. This is the work of the spirit of God.

That's a statement, by the way, Paul makes later on in Romans 12, too, that we do not conform ourselves any longer to the pattern of this world, but we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. And when the Holy Spirit has done this work in us, then we pursue the things of God.

We pursue godliness. Let me put this contrast to you in the simplest way that I possibly can. You look at the works of the flesh versus the fruit of the spirit in Galatians chapter 5. Here's verse 19.

Now, the works of the flesh are evident sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality. Let's stop there for just a moment since that's just verse 19. Sexual immorality. What is that? Sexual immorality is any kind of sex outside the marriage bed between a husband and a wife.

That's what God created sex for. It was an intimacy to be enjoyed between a husband and a wife, and the fruitfulness of that intimacy results in children. So this is the natural and intimate function of sex meant for marriage.

Any kind of sex outside of that is sexual immorality. So any kind of adultery, Jesus illustrates in Matthew chapter 5, lusting after someone is committing adultery with them in your heart. Homosexuality, pornography, all of these things would fall under sexual immorality.

It is a work of the flesh. It is worldly. You must put it off and walk in it no longer. The next word there is impurity. So any of those things that defile the body, that would defile the body and the mind as the next word that comes up is sensuality.

So you're talking about even the desire. It's not just the things that we do with our bodies. It's even what we desire with the mind to do with our bodies. If it is a sin to do it, it is a sin to desire it.

And when we come to Christ and our orientations are changed, you no longer even desire the things that would lead to your destruction. If you were to follow through with them, the spirit says in Colossians 3 verse 5 put to death.

Therefore, what is earthly in you? Sexual immorality. First thing on that list. Impurity. There's that one again. Passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry. Notice that all of those things have to do with what you think with your mind.

Sexual immorality, something you do with the body, certainly. But everything after that goes into even the thoughts you think impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry, desiring those things which God does not desire for you.

If you think that I have to have this in order to be happy in order to get by, then you have put something else above God. God is not enough for you. Christ is not sufficient. I need this thing, and that's idolatry.

Doesn't matter if you give 99 of yourself to God and 1 to this other thing. This other thing is the thing that you need in order to feel fully satisfied. Therefore, Jesus is not enough, and you've made an idol of this other desire that you have, and ultimately that will lead to your destruction if you don't put it to death.

For verse six goes on to say on account of these things, the wrath of God is coming. There's a lot of talk within even Christian circles, especially within Christian circles that you can become a Christian, but you can still have these orientations.

You can still have these desires that can't ever change. You're just always going to have them. There's nothing that you're going to be able to do about them. My friends, I tell you that is a lie from the pit of hell, because anywhere that we read about being a new creation, it explicitly says to us that we must put those things away.

We must put them to death because the wrath of God is coming against them. Even the desires of your heart for worldly and earthly things. In Luke 1732, Jesus said to his disciples, remember Lot's wife.

What did Lot's wife do that caused her own destruction? All she did, she looked back. That's all she did. The wrath of God in his judgment coming down upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and as Lot and his family were fleeing from that place when God's wrath was coming down upon it, the angel said to Lot and to his family, don't even look back.

But Lot's wife did. She looked back. Why? Because she desired the things of Gomorrah more than she wanted the salvation of God. And my friends, if you love Jesus, you can't look back at the world. You can't look at the things that the world is doing and be jealous of that.

I really wish I could have that. I wish I could do the things that those people are doing. No, you don't. Because the wrath of God is coming against that stuff. Don't even want it. Don't desire it. Desire the things of God.

And if we are to be new creations, you can't walk anymore in those earthly ways, but in the spirit of God, which is against the things of the flesh. That's what we're going to see as we continue on here in Galatians chapter five.

So coming back again, verse 19, the works of the flesh are evident sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, verse 20, idolatry. Same thing that we saw there in Colossians three, five sorcery. Now that one's kind of interesting, but it would be, you know, any kind of spiritualism that really is not directed toward God.

The true spirit is God. He is spirit. Any other kind of spirituality apart from that which is of God is going to be of Satan. It's it's playing around with magic arts with demonic things. And the people of Israel were told in Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 10, there shall not be found among you anyone who burns a son or a daughter is an offering.

That's what's going on with abortion in the world today. Anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.

And don't think that that's something that's practiced in primitive places or a long time ago in a land far, far away. Right. That's not where those things were happening. They're happening in our midst.

You can open the newspaper and you see a horoscope. That's exactly these kinds of divinations that are the sorceries that the Lord is saying have nothing to do with. That's a work of the flesh. It's saying what God's will is for me as revealed in his word.

That's not enough for me. I've got to check my horoscope. That's a work of the flesh. Have nothing to do with that. Enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, envy.

All of those things that are listed right there. Those are our personal squabbles with one another. Enmity, division between each other, strife, that's fighting, jealousy, wanting the things that other people have or you want the prestige and the recognition that someone else has fits of anger, just flying off the handle, reacting and retaliating instead of thinking things through, communicating and resolving differences, rivalries, holding onto grudges, dissensions, divisions, envy.

And then we have other things of the body, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. So Paul doesn't even list all of the sins there, but we get a basic idea of those things that are of the flesh. And again, the spirit says there, Galatians 5 .19, the works of the flesh are evident.

When it comes down to it, you know what is sin and you know what is pleasing unto the Lord. How do you know that? Because the Holy Spirit of God has revealed these things to you according to his word.

It's not that everybody inherently knows that because as we read in Romans 1 that they suppress the truth with their unrighteousness. But you, if you have had your sin exposed to you according to the law of God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit, then these things should be evident to you.

And Paul says, I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. You cannot dine at the table of demons and at the table of the Lord. But then we have in Galatians 5 .22, the fruit of the spirit.

The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such things. There is no law. If you're doing those things, you're not doing anything against the law.

God has not put any restriction on any of that stuff. Whatever you pursue in these things that are in the fruit of the spirit that are growing within you, you are maturing in the practice of these things.

If you're pursuing that, you're not pursuing the works of the world. As it goes on to say in verse 24, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the spirit, let us also keep in step with the spirit.

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another. It was earlier in verse 16 where Paul said, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. If you are pursuing the things of the spirit of God, you're not even going after the things of your flesh because these things are opposed to one another.

So let us be in step with the spirit. If we live by the spirit, let us keep in step by the spirit. You are living your life in such a way that you're exhibiting the fruit of the spirit and not pursuing the work of the flesh.

And notice once again there that in Galatians 5, 24, Paul said, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Put it to death. So we come back again to Romans 6 verses 1 and 2.

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? If you've been crucified with Christ, you are a new creation. It is no longer you who lives, but Christ who lives in you.

And as we go on to read here in Romans 6, submit yourselves unto Christ. You are members for righteousness instead of living in unrighteousness. And we'll read this and unpack this all the more as we continue our study of Romans 6.

Prayer and Closing Exhortation

Let's conclude with prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray this has been convicting to us today. And we recognize the difference between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit. And we will put to death in ourselves anything that is earthly that we would come to an understanding of what it means to be crucified with Christ and now alive in Christ so that we no longer live to the passions of our flesh, but to the pleasure of our Lord God, who has purchased us at a great cost.

We live unto Christ and not to ourselves. May we be pleasing sacrifices unto you today. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website www .wutt .com and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page.

Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study when we understand the text.