Praise the Lord, it’s good to be here tonight. Let’s look to the Lord in prayer before we open up the scripture.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we come before your throne. As we enter into this service, we ask that you help us to find inspiration in your scripture and that our souls may be fed. We pray that we might understand more than we did yesterday and be drawn closer to you through the understanding of your word. Father, we love you, we thank you, and we appreciate all that you’ve done. We thank you for this day of life and for the strength you have given us. We also pray for those who are not feeling well this evening and today. May you touch them, bless them, and heal their bodies. Strengthen and lift them up, I pray, in Jesus’ name. Help all those around the world who stand in need in different ways. You see the various struggles people are facing. I pray you continue to give each one courage and calm assurance in the promises you have given us. We are safe and secure, anchored in Jesus Christ. We ask this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Praise the Lord. It’s good to be back here again this evening and to have a chance to look at the scripture with you. If you’d like, I am going to open up back to the Book of Romans, chapter 6, where we were this morning. I have probably just a short message tonight. There is something I do want to look into that is not directly related to what we talked about this morning. Before we get into that, I just want to read back through these verses that we looked at again this morning and maybe linger a little bit on each verse as we come through it, thinking about them again.
I know we spent a lot of time this morning trying to define what words and terms meant. Let’s read these verses again with those things in mind. I’ll start at the top of the chapter, verse 1: “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?”
Paul starts out with a very clear explanation that justification is not a license to live in sin. God’s grace is not a free license for us to just live in sin. God’s grace will cover our sins; it is so big and powerful that it will cover any sin, but it is not a license to live in sin. That’s what Paul is emphasizing in these first two verses.
In the third verse, Paul begins to explain the rationale and the reasoning behind why we should not live in sin once we come to Jesus and are saved. Let me read his logic. He looks at it through baptism: “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 also be in the likeness of his resurrection.”
There are two things here: if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, then we shall also be raised in the likeness of his resurrection. We know we don’t yet have that fully glorified body. We are not perfectly in the likeness of his resurrection today. We cannot fully have the likeness of his resurrection until we are fully made like his resurrection through a glorified body. This is a work in progress in our lives. We have been planted together in the likeness of his death, symbolized in baptism, and we are also going to be in the likeness of his resurrection.
Verse 6 says, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” This verse is pivotal in the first half of this chapter because the phrase “body of sin” determines how we read the entire first part of this chapter. The phrase “body of sin” refers to our literal flesh-and-blood bodies. The context through this chapter and the next several chapters supports this understanding.
A lot of people would equate the old man with the body of sin, suggesting that both refer to our old fallen nature. However, there is a clear distinction between the old man and the body of sin. The old man is crucified so that the body of sin could be destroyed. They are connected but not the same thing. As we read on, it becomes clear that the body of sin refers to our natural physical bodies.
So, while our old man is crucified with Christ, our literal bodies are not yet dead or buried in the grave. Our old man is crucified, but our literal bodies are not. There is a gap that needs to be addressed before this body of sin can be destroyed and eliminated. Verse 6 is talking about our old man being crucified with Christ so that the body of sin, which we are still living in, might be destroyed. The end goal of all of this is that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Verse 7 gives an indication that Paul is talking about a literal physical death: “For he that is dead is free from sin.” When someone is dead, they no longer commit sins. Paul applies this in a spiritual sense, connecting it to Christ. In verse 8, he says, “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” Notice how Paul phrases it: “Now if we be dead with Christ,” this is a way to rationalize it. It’s not necessarily something we are experiencing as a literal reality at this point in time. It’s a way to look at things.
In verse 9, Paul says, “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” Christ, being raised from the dead, has conquered death, which no longer has dominion over him. Although death still has dominion over our own bodies, we can align ourselves with Jesus because he raised from the dead and has no dominion of death over him. This leads to verse 10: “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
We are reckoning ourselves to be dead to sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ. We have not fully experienced the fullness of what Paul is talking about, but we reckon it as good as done in our lives. This is how we should view these things.
In conclusion, Paul says in verse 12, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” It’s important to note that although the old man is crucified with Christ, we still have our mortal bodies, which are subject to sin. We should not let sin reign in our mortal bodies or obey its lusts. Our mortal bodies still have sinful desires, even after we are saved and our old man is crucified. Crucifying our old man does not eliminate the sinful lusts and desires; these are a result of the body of sin we need to manage.
I hope this is clear. We still have bodies with sinful desires and lusts even after we are saved. Crucifying our old man does not remove these desires, but we are called to let not sin reign in our bodies.
So Paul is very clearly telling us that even after we’re saved, even after we’re justified, and even after our old man is crucified, we still have a body of sin to contend with and deal with in our lives. This will continue until we have a glorified body, as mentioned in verse 5, when we shall be in the likeness of his resurrection, or if we consider chapter 8, when our body is finally redeemed. I hope this is clear.
Now, as I move on, there’s something else in these verses that I would like to clarify. This is something that might not be immediately obvious, but these verses are all predicated on unity. Unity is crucial to understanding these passages. In our background, unity often meant agreeing exactly with everything the preacher said, with no disagreement whatsoever, essentially being identical in every way. This narrow view of unity led us to lose sight of its true origins, purpose, value, and meaning. The obsessive focus on this minor aspect of unity has distorted and even perverted the gospel itself. True unity, as taught by Jesus and reflected in these verses, is different from this distorted view.
Verse 3 says, “Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized unto Jesus Christ were baptized unto his death?” Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death. Like Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we also should walk in newness of life. If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him—this indicates our unity with Christ. Because of this unity, our old man was crucified with Christ on the cross. Our sins were paid for because we are one with Christ.
Paul explains how we come into this unity with Christ: through baptism into him. This baptism is not about water but the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When we are baptized into Christ, the Spirit of God comes into us, making us one with him. This unity allows our sins to be taken away, justifies us, and signifies that we died with Christ.
Jesus himself taught what true unity is. In John 17, he defines unity clearly. Verses 10 and 11 show Jesus praying for believers to be one, just as he and the Father are one. Jesus explains that this unity comes from the Spirit of God being in us, making us one with him and each other. In verses 20 and 21, Jesus prays not only for those present but also for those who will believe through their word, that they may be one as the Father and the Son are one. The Spirit of God in us is what creates this unity.
In verse 23, Jesus states, “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.” This indicates that being in unity with God is essential for salvation. When you are saved and have the Holy Spirit in your life, you are in unity with God. This unity is not about agreeing with every word from a preacher but about having the Holy Spirit in us, which makes us one with God and perfect in unity.
“I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.” Amen, that is unity. When we go back to the Book of Romans in chapter six, Paul is discussing this concept. In verse 3, he refers to being baptized into Jesus Christ, which signifies the Spirit coming into our lives and making us one with him. This is why he can say in verse 6, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him,” because we are unified with him. As a result, we were, in a sense, on the cross dying to our sin with him. Our old man was crucified with Jesus on the cross 2,000 years ago. Paul is not referring to our old man being crucified today, but rather that it happened with Jesus because we are one with him. This explanation of unity and how we achieve it is consistent throughout the New Testament.
Paul emphasizes this concept in multiple places. For example, in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, he uses a different analogy to illustrate unity. In verse 16, Paul says, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?” He refers to the elements of communion—the cup of wine and the bread—as symbols of unity. The bread which we break represents the communion of the body of Christ. For we being many are one bread and one body. Paul uses communion as an example to help us understand how unity works, showing that the many are one body and one bread.
Paul clarifies that we are not made one bread merely by taking a piece of communion bread. Rather, it’s symbolic. Jesus said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” When the Holy Spirit comes into us and Jesus is in our lives, we become one with him. We are partakers of that one bread, which is Jesus. By partaking of him through the Holy Spirit, we are unified with him. This unity extends to being one body with each other as well.
It’s important to recognize that unity has nothing to do with following every instruction or idea put forth by others. Many have misled us with incorrect teachings to control or justify their own actions. However, the Bible clearly states that we are in unity with Jesus Christ the moment we are baptized with the Holy Spirit. This unity also means we are one body of believers because we have partaken of the Holy Spirit.
When we are saved and justified, the Holy Spirit comes into us, making us unified with Jesus Christ. If you are not in unity with Jesus Christ, you are not saved; if you are saved, you are in unity with Christ. Unity and salvation are intertwined and cannot be separated. Unity with Christ also implies unity with other believers. Being in unity means being part of the same body, not necessarily being identical.
Bodies can be dysfunctional, as seen in 1 Corinthians, but being in Jesus Christ ensures that we are in unity with one another. If someone tries to tell you that you’re not in unity because you don’t adhere to their specific ideas, they are mistaken. If you are baptized into Christ, you are in unity with me, regardless of where you are or what your situation may be. If you have the Spirit of God in you, you are in unity with Jesus Christ and with everyone else who has the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
I hope this message brings you comfort. Let me close in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your goodness and love. Thank You for everything You have done for us. Help our friends around the world and those who are part of our assembly. Please comfort them with Your Word. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.