WWUTT 141 Dead to Sin (Romans 6:1-14)

Romans 3 23 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God God's law came in and showed us our sin that we had violated

God's perfect law and were in need of a Savior so that we could repent of our sin and be saved in Christ Jesus when we understand the text this is when we understand the text studying

God's Word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ here's your teacher Pastor Gabe thank you

Becky we are in Romans chapter 6 verses 1 through 14 today we've got to cover a section that big because if we were just focusing on verses 1 through 4 we would be ignoring the fact that verses 5 through 14 explain what we're reading in 1 through 4 so this is one of those times where the greater context is important for us to explore all at once here so let's get at it

Romans chapter 6 starting in verse 1 what shall we say then and we'll come back to that and explain why

Paul is asking that question 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 the law but under grace okay coming back to verse 1 what shall we say then are we to continue in sin that grace may abound and Paul is asking this question in light of the statement that he made at the end of chapter 5 verses 20 and 21 the law came in to increase the trespass but where sin increased grace abounded all the more so the law came in to increase the trespass we were not aware of our sin as a friend of mine has said when before I became a

Christian I was perfectly comfortable with my sin and since I became a Christian I am aware of every sin that I commit so the law was given to us to increase the trespass to not only increase our knowledge of the trespass but in also committing those trespasses let me explain both things here first of all

Proverbs 21 to says that every person thinks that they're right in their own eyes but when they are presented with the law we realize how sinful we actually are when we go back to Romans chapter 3 verse 19 it says we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be stopped you ask a person do you think that they're that you're basically good they say yeah sure

I'm basically a good person you know I tip my waiters and waitresses I'm I don't defraud anybody

I pay my taxes I'm faithful to the person that I am committed to but then you give them the law and they start to realize according to the perfect law of God that they don't keep it in fact they do a very terrible job at it the

Bible says do not bear false witness do not tell lies have you ever told a lie before and suddenly a person realizes

I mean just by the question just by one question they're going oh yeah I've told lies before I guess

I've broken that command of God you look at the way that Jesus presented these things in the Sermon on the Mount have you ever lusted after a person in your heart before well then you've committed adultery in your heart have you ever had contempt for another person have you ever called them spiteful names you have murdered them in your heart and you are liable to the hell of fire so when we are presented with the perfect law of God we realize that we don't measure up to any of those things and our mouths have been stopped from being able to declare our own goodness and then it goes on in in chapter 3 verse 20 to say that by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin so that's one way that the trespass was increased when we were presented with the law we became aware we became aware of our sins where previously we're probably perfectly comfortable with our sin but in the same way the law also increased the occurrence of trespasses we read this in Romans chapter 7 verse 5 as we go on we'll get to this statement while we were living in the flesh our sinful passions aroused by the law were at work and our members to bear fruit for death our sinful passions were aroused by the law see like when you were told at the example that Paul uses for this is coveting we'll get to that in chapter 7 verse 7

I believe it is okay Paul didn't know what it was like to covet until the law said you shall not covet and then when you heard that you're you're thinking to yourself suddenly about coveting okay when it is said don't commit adultery you're probably thinking in your mind who you could commit adultery with so once you hear the law that says don't do this what is awakened in your members is a desire to actually disobey what you have just heard because we exist in sinful flesh again going back to the doctrine of original sin that all who are descendant from Adam are born into sin we are all inherently sinners because we are descendant from Adam so because of that sin that exists in our members when we hear the law there awakens this desire to disobey it when you see a sign that says wet paint don't touch what are you tempted to do you're tempted to touch whatever that thing is to see if the paint is really wet you want to disobey the sign don't walk in the grass you are perfectly fine walking on the side of the sidewalk that you were on but once you saw a sign that says do not walk in the grass you're walking a little bit closer to the grass thinking you know

I can step my foot in a little bit I'm not causing any harm to anybody that is because in your members is awakened a desire to want to disobey the law so when the law was presented to us not only did we become aware of our sin but it increased our trespasses where sin increased grace abounded all the more so God's grace was shown to us that much more in the sense that we realized our sin and we were doing more sin and we rejoiced all the more in the grace of God that he gave us despite our sin to forgive us of our sin so that we might stand righteous before him with the righteousness of Christ upon us verse 21 still of Romans chapter 5 so that as sin reigned in death grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our

Lord so given this statement this sentence that's been divided up into two verses here Paul gets to Romans 6 1 by saying what shall we say then are we to continue in sin that grace may abound because that would be the argument that a person who contends with what

Paul has said would bring up oh oh really so the law came in to increase the trespass but then we're sin increased grace abounded all the more so then should we just sin more so God's grace abounds more and then you have the statement in verse 2 my good

Noita in Greek is the strongest phrase of opposition by no means how can we who died to sin still live in it so if in Christ we are dead to sin but alive in his righteousness then we should no longer be living in that sin that's simply the point that Paul is making there so if we're alive in Christ we should display his righteousness not going on sinning so that we're in in our sin somehow showing this testimony of his grace that wouldn't be what happens what we would be showing by a testimony of continuous sin is that we really have not been brought from death to life in Christ and are therefore living in his righteousness we're still stuck in the old ways we're still walking in our sin and transgressions with leads to death not in the righteousness that leads to eternal life through Jesus Christ our

Lord which was that closing statement of chapter 5 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 in a

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 so we need to take off the old self and all of its old practices in old ways and put on the new self which is being renewed after the image of its creator that's something that Paul says to the

Colossians as well and this is what we this is also what we get by the ordinance of baptism as Christ gave it to us as he told his disciples to be baptized and to go and baptize what is symbolized by this baptism is that we are buried with Christ in our transgressions and raised with him to new life so going under the water is is representing us being buried with Christ in our sins and coming up is representing being washed clean of those sins and now walking with him in a newness of life that's what that ordinance that practice of baptism is supposed to show one of the first acts that we do in faith in Christian faith is to be baptized so we show before others that we have been buried with Christ in our sins and raised again with him in new life so let us walk in that new life and no longer in the old way and that's what we're going to continue talking about as we study

Romans chapter 6 this week our gracious God we thank you so much for your perfect word that by it we might be able to see our sins and our transgressions realizing how far from God we had truly fallen and that we needed a

Savior in order to rescue us from death and be given eternal life for all who have heard me read this out of Romans chapter 6 and can say yes

I have been buried with Christ in my sins and risen again to new life teach us what it means to walk in that new life no longer striving towards sin and the old ways that we were in but desiring to live in your righteousness according to what is good and pleasing to you and we pray and ask these things in Jesus name and by his strength that we would be able to do them amen this is the protection of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City Kansas find us on the web at www .utt