Praise the Lord, it’s good to be here. Let’s keep the ones who are not feeling well today in prayer. Let us pray.
Today, we are going to Romans chapter 6. You can turn there with me. I might also read the last couple of verses of chapter 5 too. Before we start reading here, let me just remind us all where we left off in the last message. As we come through chapter 5, Paul is wrapping up his explanation of justification. That has really been the primary topic of the first five chapters. It has all been arguments, explanations, and defenses of the doctrine of justification, which we have gone through in detail already.
In summary, the doctrine of justification tells us that we are saved by faith in Christ and what He did on Calvary to pay for the penalty of sin. Because He paid that penalty, and because we have faith in Him and what He did, we are justified before God. We shall be saved from wrath; we will not be punished for our sins because Jesus already bore our punishment. The punishment for sin has already been carried out, and now we can go free. That salvation comes to us, not by our works, but by our faith. We believe what I just said is true, and that justifies us, and we are saved—not by works, and not by anything we did.
As we come to chapter 6, Paul begins moving to his next area of explanation, concerning the life we live after we are saved. He begins by asking the question that people who hate the doctrine of justification ask. Let me start reading at verse 20 of chapter five, and we will read down to verse 11 of chapter 6. That is what we will focus on this morning.
“Moreover, the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”
Catch there, Paul is telling us that God’s grace is greater than our sins. Where sin abounded, grace abounded even more. The more sin there is, the more grace there is to cover it. There is no point at which sin gets so great that grace cannot cover it. Let me read on to explain why God has done this:
“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Now, this could naturally lead a person to a question: If, however much sin I commit, there is always more grace to cover it, then is it okay for me to just keep living sinfully after I am saved? If there is always more grace, then perhaps we can just go on living any kind of immoral lifestyle, and God won’t care because He is going to give us more and more grace. That could be a reasonable question to wonder, and truth is, that is exactly what the enemies of justification by faith accused Paul of preaching. As we go to chapter 6, Paul is going to address that accusation head-on. Let’s read on:
Romans 6
King James Version
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?”
That’s the question. If we have an unlimited supply of grace to cover all our sins, past, present, and future, then should we even let sin bother us? Should we just go on and continue to live in sin and trust that God’s grace is abounding and covering it all? Because in truth, His grace will abound and cover it all. Whatever mistakes or slip-ups or things we fall into, His grace will cover it. That is exactly what Paul has been telling us for the past chapters. So here Paul asks the question: Since God’s grace is so powerful and so complete, should we just continue on in sin?
This is a very good question to ask. You know, whenever we preach justification, whenever we preach salvation by faith in Christ alone, it is possible that people could misunderstand that we are saying it is okay to live in sin. The truth is, if we are really preaching the gospel and preaching it just like Paul preached it, it is always going to be possible that people could take that misunderstanding away from what we say. It is possible to take away that misunderstanding from what Paul has said, which is why he is answering this question here.
As we have already read, Paul has indicated to us before that all these questions he is inserting are here because his critics have asked him these questions. We can again safely assume Paul is including this question because he is answering an attack from his enemies.
Now, here is something to think about: When we truly preach the gospel—salvation by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone—and that your works and the life you live have nothing to do with it, it is entirely possible that someone could misunderstand that and ask this same question or make this same accusation. But you know, if people are making that accusation or asking that question, just like Paul here, that is actually a pretty good indication we are preaching the true gospel. Not because we are saying it is okay for people to live in sin, which we are not, but if we are preaching the true gospel, there is a very reasonable-sounding logic where it could sound like that is what we are saying.
When someone accuses us of saying that we are telling people it’s okay to live in sin, we know that accusation is not true. But it is a sign to us that we are preaching the gospel just like Paul did because that is exactly what people accused Paul of when he preached the true gospel of salvation by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone.
Maybe you just think back to the places we have come from. Was there ever a chance anyone would hear a sermon that might leave them wondering if the grace of God was so powerful and so abounding that maybe it would be okay for them to just go on living in sin? Was the grace of God preached so strongly that people could have come away with that mistaken impression? Because, as I read the book of Romans, Paul preaches the freeness and the greatness of the grace of God so powerfully that some people do indeed take away the impression that he is saying it’s okay to go on living in sin. If we truly preach grace, just like Paul did, there are going to be some people who take that impression away from what we say. From time to time, we might have to address that question, just like Paul is here.
The truth is, if we analyze the places we come from, most of them would find themselves on the wrong side of what I am saying. They would not be on Paul’s side, having preached grace so powerfully that they have to make a clarification like Paul is here. Instead, most of the places we come from put themselves into the category of Paul’s enemy. They are part of the crowd falsely accusing people who believe in the doctrine of justification of telling people it’s okay to live in sin. They are on the wrong side of the divide.
I will tell you something: I would rather be on this side with Paul. I’d rather be preaching the grace of God so strong and so powerfully that once in a while, I have to clarify with people and tell them it’s not okay to live in sin than to be on the other side, preaching the grace of God so narrowly that the people sitting in my church think they have to do works, obtain special knowledge, and do special things to make it to heaven. Because if I am leading you to put faith in your own works, then I might be damning you to hell because that can’t save you. But if you think the grace of God is so powerful it can cover all your sins for the rest of your life, you are actually right on the money. You are right. You got it. But that doesn’t mean God wants you to go on and keep sinning.
There are lots of people who hate that. They hate that I would say something like that. What do you mean, telling people the grace of God is so powerful it will cover all the sins they may ever commit? Don’t you know that is going to cause people to go live in sin? You know that is what the Catholics said about Martin Luther. Oh, he is preaching people can do whatever they want. It’s going to destabilize people. It’s going to encourage lawlessness. That is what the Catholics said about Martin Luther. You know, it’s also what people accused John Wesley of. John Wesley. Think about that. John Wesley, in the places we come from, they told us John Wesley was the one who originated our holiness beliefs. But I have read and studied John Wesley extensively, and I can assure you, that is not true.
The way most people believe holiness and sanctification in the message is not how John Wesley taught it. The way most of them believe holiness and sanctification was invented about 75 years after John Wesley was dead. But they believe they believe it the John Wesley way because that is what their preachers told them. But believe it or not, John Wesley preached justification just exactly the way I am preaching it. I read his sermons quite a bit. You can go read it too. And in his day, people accused him of preaching people could live in sin.
And you know, when you really preach true salvation, the true biblical way, it’s a pretty safe bet that someone with a legalist mindset is going to accuse you of saying that it’s ok for people to live in sin. And I have not been listening, but no doubt the critics of the gospel are probably doing exactly that. Because that kind of an attack is the natural response of the Pharisee legalistic spirit against people who preach the true gospel. And here in chapter 6, Paul is going to respond to people who make that kind of an accusation.
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
So in very simple, straightforward language, Paul is telling us that just because the grace of God is so powerful that it will cover any sin we may commit, that doesn’t mean we should go on living in sin. It is true, God’s grace is so powerful it will cover all our sins, but God forbid we think that means it’s ok for us to go on living a sinful lifestyle. God’s grace will cover our sin, but that doesn’t suddenly make our sin acceptable. And Paul here in these next verses is going to elaborate and explain why we are not entitled to believe that we can just go on living in sin.
And as we do, I want to make sure I draw your attention to Paul’s phrasing here: “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Specifically, he is saying, how can we live in sin? Keep that phrasing in mind: living in sin. Living in sin is different than making a slip up to temptation or falling into something. Living in sin is a lifestyle. It’s a lifestyle where sin does not matter to us. It’s a lifestyle where we are practicing sin, it is part of our regular routine, and we think nothing of it. And that is what Paul is addressing here—someone who thinks there is nothing wrong with continuing on in a lifestyle where they practice sin as part of their regular routine, and they don’t even think twice about it.
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Now here is how Paul arrives at this conclusion. Let’s read on:
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 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.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
So Paul gives us a pretty simple explanation here for how he knows it’s not ok for us to go on living in sin once we are saved, and he understands that by examining what baptism means. So let’s examine Paul’s explanation.
When we are baptized into Jesus Christ, we are buried with him by our baptism into his death. That ordinance of baptism symbolizes us taking part in the burial and resurrection of Jesus. We go into the watery grave a sinner, and that symbolizes our death to sin. And then we come back out of the water, and that symbolizes a resurrection to life anew. That is what baptism symbolizes. Baptism is a symbolic act, and it is important to understand what those symbols mean. But baptism is also more than a symbol, and we are not going to touch on that today, but I think we can catch how Paul is looking at the symbolism of baptism here. You bear with me, and we may look a little more at the baptism aspect of this in our next message. But for today, just catch the symbolism: baptism symbolizes a death and a resurrection.
And specifically, it is a death to sin, like Jesus’s death, and a resurrection to a new life, like Jesus’ resurrection.
Now when we take those symbols and apply them to ourselves, we realize, even though we were dunked in the water and baptized, we do not literally die and experience a resurrection like Jesus did when we are baptized. If that were the case, I would have a glorified body now because when Jesus died and resurrected, he had a glorified body. But I don’t have a glorified body yet, so that lets me know there is something more here to what we are reading.
And this is where we have to apply what we know about the plan of redemption to what Paul is saying. And we can catch something there in verse 3. In verse 3, Paul talks about “being baptized into Christ.” And being baptized into Christ and being baptized in water are not actually the same thing. Being baptized in water is an important ordinance for us to observe, but being baptized into Christ is actually the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Water is water, and Christ is Christ. And to be baptized into Christ, I have to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. I have to be baptized in that anointing of Christ. And we realize that is something spiritual. That is something that affects our inner man, our inner being. It makes a difference, first and foremost, on the inside, in our hearts.
But this natural body of mine is still not glorified yet, is it? And so when I read the last part of verse 5, I realize there is still something missing. Let me read verse 5 again:
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
Because I have been baptized unto Christ, I have been planted in the likeness of his death, and I shall be in the likeness of his resurrection.
And I want to ask you a simple question here: How many of you have a glorified body yet? How many of you have the likeness of his resurrection yet? None of us yet, right? That is something coming in the future, and we are waiting for the day when we will be fully in the likeness of his resurrection. Today, if you have received the baptism, we have been baptized unto his death, but we have not yet been made fully like his resurrection.
And that is why Paul, as you read verse 5, he puts that in the future tense. We SHALL, in the future, be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Paul is not talking about something that we have fully come into right now with verse 5. He is talking about something in the future.
The apostle John, in 1st John, talks about this in a similar way. John says when we finally stand in his presence, we will be like him, but we are not fully like him yet. So like John goes on to say, when he appears, then we shall be like him. And everyone who has the hope of that day purifies himself as he is pure. As we look forward to that day, we seek to be pure like he is pure.
Until that day comes when we are standing in his presence and made to be like him in the likeness of his resurrection, we are a work in progress. And it’s important for us to remember that. You and I are a work in progress.
So as we read what Paul is saying here, we understand we are not yet fully like the resurrected Jesus Christ. It is a work in progress.
5 For if we have been (past tense) planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be (future tense) also in the likeness of his resurrection.
Now in the next three verses, Paul is going to break down the implications of verse 5.
6 Knowing this (knowing the thing we just read in verse 5), that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Now here Paul arrives at the point. If our old man is crucified, we are no longer the servants of sin. The old man, that man who was in Adam from the last chapter, he is dead. He is crucified on the cross with Christ. And all that was done so that the body of sin might be destroyed and to free us from having to serve sin.
Let me go back to chapter 5 because what Paul is saying here in verse 5 is directly related to how he ended the last chapter, talking about Adam and Jesus. Let me read verse 21 of chapter 5:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
So there are two kingdoms here, you might say. A kingdom where sin has ruled and a kingdom where grace has ruled. And the kingdom of sin ruled until death, specifically what happened on the cross. And then the kingdom of sin ended, and the kingdom of grace began. That is Paul’s logic here.
And coming back here to chapter 6, in verse 6, Paul is using this same explanation. Our old man was crucified with Christ; he died on the cross with Christ. And sin reigned unto death. But now the old man is dead; he was crucified, so sin does not reign anymore. We are no longer part of the kingdom of sin.
Jesus Christ died and paid the death penalty for our sin. And we are in Christ, and our old man was crucified with him. And now we are in the kingdom of grace. So because we have moved from the kingdom of sin to the kingdom of grace, we are no longer servants of sin. We are servants of grace.
So let me read verse 6 again:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him (it was crucified with Jesus on the cross, our old man is dead, and this was done so), that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
This was all done on the cross at Calvary. I died to sin in Jesus at Calvary. My old man died on the cross with Jesus. And by faith in Christ, that is true. So, in the sense Paul is speaking here, I do not need to crucify my old man myself. My old man is already crucified and dead with Jesus. That is what Paul is saying here.
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Now I want to pause here just a little longer on verse 6 and ask a specific question here: Who is this old man? And what is this body of sin? I want to make sure I understand what those things mean in this verse.
Who is the old man? Is the old man someone that hangs around to bother me? Is that what this verse would indicate to me? No, the old man is dead. The old man is crucified. He is gone. So this old man, in the context of this verse, cannot be something hanging around to bother me.
So then what is this body of sin that is to be destroyed? The old man was crucified and killed, and that happened so the body of sin could be destroyed. And so, as we read this, it’s pretty clear given the context that the old man and the body of sin are two related things, but they are not the same thing.
So what is this body of sin? Will Paul tell us what he means here? If we jump forward to the next chapters, Paul is going to talk about this quite a bit about the body. And we can jump ahead and get some verses to help us understand what he is speaking of when he talks about the body of sin. Maybe let me jump to the very end point, to chapter 8, verse 23, because I really want to know what is this body of sin? What does that mean? So let’s see what this verse says:
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
The redemption of our body—so here Paul is talking about something that is still to happen in the future. This is when we get a glorified body, and we are changed fully into the likeness of his resurrection. And notice there, Paul is using the word body, looking at its final redemption. And when our body is redeemed, what is it being redeemed from? We are being redeemed from sin. Sin is the kingdom we were part of, and we are being redeemed, saved, from the kingdom of sin. And here Paul is clearly letting us know the redemption of our body is something that is still in the future. And we know that is true by experience because none of us have a glorified body yet.
Let’s just work our way backwards from here, seeing how Paul has connected together these sayings about the body. Back up to verse 13:
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
So before this body is glorified, this body has deeds, things that need to be mortified. Now back up to verse 10:
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Notice, the body is dead because of sin. Now my body is not actually dead yet, is it? But it is dead because of sin; it is still subject to death because of sin. There is still sin in my body, and my body is still going to die.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Christ is in me. My body is still going to die, but my spirit has life. My spirit will go to heaven, but my body will die. Do you catch how Paul is looking at our spirit and our body separately? My spirit will go to heaven; I am redeemed. But my body is not redeemed yet; it has deeds that need to be mortified. And this body still needs to be redeemed. Paul is breaking this thing down.
Now back up to chapter 7, verse 23 and 24:
23 But I see another law in my members (the members of his body), warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (the law of sin is in the members of his body).
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Paul is very clearly telling us his body is still warring with the law of sin, and his body is a body of death because of sin.
Now let’s bring that back to chapter 6 where we were reading this morning:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Now, how do we read this verse 6 in light of understanding what these phrases mean? Our old man was crucified with Christ, but our body of sin is not redeemed yet; we are waiting for it to be transformed into the likeness of his resurrection. We are still waiting for this body to be redeemed from sin.
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him (past tense), that the body of sin might be destroyed (future tense), that henceforth we should not serve sin.
It is pretty clear, as you read through, Paul is talking about our literal bodies when he says the body of sin. And that is not cherry-picking scripture to make up an answer, like we see done in the places we come from, but that is reading through the chapters in context and seeing just how Paul keeps using the word and describing it. And what he is telling us, as we go through it, is that our literal bodies will ultimately be redeemed and no longer be a body of sin, but a body like he mentioned in verse 5, in the likeness of his resurrection.
So as we read this verse 6, let’s apply that understanding:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him.
This is something that happened once and for all time on the cross; the old man that was subject to death is dead on the cross. And that happened so:
that the body of sin might be destroyed.
This body of sin is going to be eliminated. But it has not been eliminated yet. This is something for the future. And when will that happen? When will the body of sin be eliminated? As in chapter 8, the body of sin will be eliminated when our body is redeemed, as he said here in verse 5, made into the likeness of his resurrection. And why is all of this happening? Why was the old man crucified? Why is the body of sin going to be eliminated? The last part of verse 6 tells us:
that henceforth we should not serve sin.
That is the ultimate conclusion where all of this is going.
Let me say this: There are other books where Paul uses the term old man, and just make sure you always look at it in context. I am just looking at how he uses it here in Romans, and it might not be the same everywhere. But here, we can see how he is using it. Paul uses the phrase “old man” differently in some of his other writings, so keep that in mind if you go home and start looking up all the verses that talk about the old man.
Now let’s go to verse 8:
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
There is a key word there in verse 11: Reckon. Reckon this to be true: you are dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And what does reckon mean? It means, hold this opinion, consider this to be true, look at it this way. Despite what you see, despite what you experience, despite what it may look like, reckon this to be true: you are dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We have not experienced the full change Paul talked about in verse 5 yet. We have not been transformed into the likeness of his resurrection. We are in an in-between state. But we are dead with Christ. We are no longer under the reign of sin, but we are under the reign of grace. And because Jesus died, and because we died with him, we can reckon ourselves dead to sin and reckon ourselves alive to God through Jesus Christ. We are dead in Christ, and we are alive in Christ. We are justified through his death, burial, and resurrection.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now in the next chapter, Paul is going to talk more about this body of sin we are still living with. So here in verse 11, we have to realize Paul is talking about a way we should look at things, not a reality that we have fully experienced yet. And Paul is using the things he said in the last chapter to explain how and why we should do this—why, despite the fact we are still living with a body of sin, we can still reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive through Christ. And Paul has been explaining to us how we can reckon this to be true.
Let me go back to verse 21 of chapter 5:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
As I bring this message to a close today, I want to make an important point. It is commonly believed where we come from that those who are truly saved cannot sin and will not sin. And these verses are part of the ones they use to make those claims. And I want you to know that is not true. Saved people still have a body of sin, just like Paul is talking about here. But we can still reckon ourselves dead to sin. In our next sermons, we will look at this more deeply and just how God wants us to live in this life.
And contrary to what people may say, we are not preaching that God wants us to live a lifestyle of sin. We are not preaching that it is okay to live a lifestyle of sin. But we are reading the Bible with an honest heart and with honest eyes, and getting away from some of the wrong ideas of the places we came from. And it sets us free. It doesn’t set us free to live in sin, but it sets us free to truly embrace peace with God and to really understand how big and powerful his grace is.
And it lets us look forward to the promise that one day these bodies will be redeemed. They will be transformed into the likeness of his resurrection. And then, we will not be just reckoning these things to be so; we will be experiencing them in their fullness.
And I truly look forward to that. Let me close in prayer.
Lord, as we close in prayer, we ask for your help in everything. Help us understand what is written in your word. And help us, Lord, to obey the scripture and reckon ourselves dead to sin. Give us power, by your Spirit, to yield our members as servants of righteousness, to serve you and to do your will. And Lord, we pray that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We look forward to the day when all the things of redemption will be fully accomplished in our hearts, in our lives, in our bodies, and in all of creation. Come, Lord Jesus. Bless again those who are sick today and help them to have a speedy recovery; heal their bodies, we pray. In Jesus’ name, amen.