Back when we were studying chapter 3, I told you that while most churches say, repent, and be saved, I have always believed and taught be saved, then repent. I’d like to change this a little and say, repent and be saved, then repent. No, this is not a joke, but a reflection in the changes of language between the testaments. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Hebrew word “repent” meant “to turn back or to turn away.” In the Christian Scriptures, it means, “to think differently.” In the phrase I used above, I mean, turn back (as in you’re going the wrong way), and accept the gift of salvation. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit who will teach you how to think differently. The next three chapters will reveal how all of this comes about.
Through the study of the previous chapters we learned that everyone is a sinner, but when we choose to have faith in Jesus God’s bountiful merciful grace is poured our on us. That means that because of our faith in Jesus, God declares us innocent of wrongdoing. Paul even went so far as to say, (5:20) The Law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
At first glance, you might think that Paul was promoting sin–the more you sin, the more grace God will pour out on you. But that wasn’t Paul’s point at all. The point of the Law was to teach human beings that there is such a thing as right and wrong. In a world without any rules at all, anything goes–anything. When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, parameters were established–limitations were presented. The commandments gave the people some structure, but since people were used to doing things their own way, the concept of sin, now established, showed them where they were going astray. Because there were now laws–people were automatically sinners, simply be living life the way they always had done.
Paul here is saying, once you attach yourself to Jesus your life will have to be different because you will learn to think differently than you have in the past. Your value system is going to start to change as a result. You will become a new person. Paul will use the analogies of death (of the “old” person) and resurrection–the beginning of a new life with Jesus with the Holy Spirit as our guide.
Romans 6:1-4
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer? 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 God, we too may live a new life.
We human beings want explanations for our lives. We’d like to understand the reasons for the bad times, but even more importantly, we want to have hope for a better future–a brighter tomorrow. We want to fill that empty hole so many of us carry inside our beings. Paul tells us that in order for us to have a better life we must live a better life, and accepting Jesus is only the first step. Now, we’ve go to get down to the nitty-gritty.
Jesus told Nicodemus: “You must be born again” (John 3:3). When Nicodemus balked at Jesus’ literal words, Jesus responded, “I tell you the truth, you cannot enter the realm of God unless you are born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). There are differing opinions about what Jesus meant when He spoke of being born of water, and there are several schools of thought about how baptism should be performed. Some Christian scholars believe that what Jesus meant was that in order to gain entrance into heaven one must have been initiated through water baptism. Others believe that the phrase “Born of Water” is simply a reference to human physical birth. These teach that water baptism is unnecessary–all that is necessary is the baptism of the Spirit (acceptance of Jesus as Savior). Both points of view are valid, as we shall see when we study chapter 14. It is the intent of the heart that is important to God. Paul uses the concepts of baptism, death and resurrection to explain what Jesus meant. When you accept Jesus as your Savior (i.e. your model, your mentor, your example) you put yourself at the gateway to the realm of God. When you accept Jesus as your Savior your spirit is baptized.
The practice of baptism in Paul’s day was full immersion baptism and Paul likened it to death. These were adult baptisms and adult conversions. It was one’s own choice to be baptized and one’s own commitment. When the person was fully immersed in the water the symbolism was of death and burial of the old life and old way of thinking and living. Then the individual rose out of the water (resurrection) into a new life and a new way of thinking and being.
Romans 6:5-7
If we have been united with Him like this in death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because anyone who has died had been freed from sin.
Further, Paul taught that all participants in baptism were uniting themselves to Christ. Just as Christ died, was buried and resurrected, so too, when we are baptized, our old selves die, and all of the sins of our past have “died” right along with us. But God raised us from this “death” into a new life. This new life in our union with Christ will free us from our sins. We won’t have to go it alone anymore but will have a helper to guide us and support us and give us direction in how to lead a better life. Our new guide won’t be a bunch of laws written down by people, but spiritual laws written on our hearts by Jesus.
Romans 6:8-11
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. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Our acceptance of Jesus is our spiritual baptism. When we accept Jesus we accept His death and unite with Him. As Jesus died, so too, our old selves have died. But Jesus conquered death. Jesus can’t die again. Jesus is alive, and so too, is the promise to us of eternal life. Jesus leveled the playing field for us. “What I do you will do also, and more,” Jesus promised us. Actually, Paul is talking of two deaths: The spiritual death of our old ways, as well as our corporal deaths. Our spiritual deaths will give us new life in Christ Jesus today; our corporal deaths will give us eternal life in Christ Jesus.
The death Jesus died broke the power of sin forever, but the life Jesus lives today is lived in union with God. So, Paul says, since you’ve accepted Jesus, don’t worry about your past sins, they are over and God has forgotten them: They’re dead. Yes, the sins are dead and gone, but you are alive and you are bonded with God through your faith in Christ Jesus. Your faith in Jesus connects you directly to God, and that bond cannot be broken. You could choose to break it, but why would you want to? And remember; only you can choose to connect yourself to God, and no human being has the power to stop that connection. Sin cannot–your connection to Jesus broke the connection to your past. God will remember it no more. You are indeed a new creation.
Romans 6:12-18
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be you ruler, because you are not under law, but under 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 to obey as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
When we were studying chapter 3 we discovered that everyone is a sinner–that we can’t earn our ways into heaven, but if we have faith in Jesus, God will justify us–declare us innocent of wrongdoing. I said that God’s grace is the means by which we are pardoned. We defined grace as unmerited divine assistance, and said it is a gift from God freely given to all who ask for it.
I also pointed out that just because we sinners can be declared righteous in God’s sight, not by earning anything, but through faith in Jesus Christ, that doesn’t mean that we are forever free to go out and do whatever we want. God sets us up on the right path. We don’t have to do anything to get ourselves there, other than to have faith in Jesus Christ. All that is required for salvation is faith.
Let’s be frank! We don’t like to talk about sin–it makes us feel uncomfortable. For many of us we’ve heard it all our lives and about the only thing we get from talking about it is a case of the guilts. Well, this time we’re going to look at sin in a new way. First of all, if you remember, again back in chapter three he said the New Testament word for sin was an archery term and it meant to “miss the mark and so not share in the prize.” Is there anyone among us who doesn’t want to share in God’s promise of a full, happy, joyful and abundant life? We all do, yet so often things happen to us and we feel so far away from this good life. We lose our jobs, our partners leave us, we turn to alcohol or drugs–so many things get in the way and cause us to “fall apart.” Not everything that happens to us is under our control. But a lot of it is. And if truth be told, if we were to sit down and really look within, there’s a lot we’d see there that could use improving.
Up to this point in our study of Romans, Paul has shown us that God loves us, God accepts us, and we can be in right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. We’re part of God’s family–God’s beloved children. No two ways about it. And we didn’t have to do anything to earn this place, other than to accept it. As I said above, God has put us on the right path for our lives. The thing is, now we have to walk that path. We’ve been given God’s love, we’ve been declared righteous, we’ve been given our safari guide (Jesus), but now we’ve got to make the journey. Lots of side paths along the way, which can seduce us and promise us an easier, softer way. But those promised will soon prove hollow. It’s usually the path that first appeared easier and softer that soon proves that it is a lot harder and rockier. Everyday we can choose which path we want to take–as a matter of fact, at almost any moment of any day, we can choose which path we wish to travel. And if we don’t like the one we’re on, we can choose another.
Paul says we can choose to be slaves to sin or to obedience. What you focus on is what you give power to. Anyone who has suffered from any kind of addiction can relate to the concept of being a slave. I was once a slave to alcohol, and believe me, it wasn’t fun. I believe slavery to sin is a form of idolatry. Whatever your particular sin is, you’ve made that sin your god–be it money, power, sex, whatever. Sooner or later this sin god will let you down, and as Paul says, it will lead to death, spiritual if not physical. When we keep messing up our lives, it kills us by degrees. The natural consequences of our actions punish us far more than God ever would. Then too, we punish ourselves.
But if we decide to become slaves to obedience–i.e., if we decide to try to do it God’s way, that path will lead us to righteousness. Don’t get me wrong. Simply because we decide to follow this path to obedience, it doesn’t mean we’re going to get it right every time–we might be lucky to bat 100 at first. But remember that the word for sin is an archery term meaning, “to miss the mark.” So we are going to miss the mark lots of times. But that’s OK God’s gonna help us with that. The point is that we’re heading in the right direction. We’re trying to follow that right path.
Romans 6:19-23
I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery 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.
When Paul was talking about being slaves to sin he was making an important point. There’s nothing wrong with having a desire for money, power or even sex. A healthy ambition is the catalyst for improving our professional and personal lives. The point is about focus. When all your time and energy is spent on the particular desire, when you get to the point that you don’t care what you have to do, or who you have to use or step on to get what you’re going after, you have become a slave to that desire. That’s when it becomes a form of idolatry. Money has become your god. The struggle for power had become your god. The insatiable appetite for sex has become your god. These things have you enslaved, and you are on a slippery slope towards a downfall. When these and other things of a similar nature become your primary, if not your only focus, you’re going to find you’re on a collision course with disaster.
Paul’s whole point of this lesson on sin is not simply to get us to follow the rules and regulations just because they exist, Paul’s thesis is that if and when we choose to focus on trying to lead a righteous life, we reap benefits–our life situations improve. We become healthier, our lives are happier, we have hope in a brighter tomorrow. Our self-esteem increases. When we attach ourselves to doing good, to being good, to helping others, our whole focus of our loves changes and we see the world as a brighter place. The world hasn’t changed–just our focus. And what we focus on is what we give power to. If your focus is on sin, then the payoff is ultimately going to be nothing else but death. If your focus is on following God’s path, you’ll be blessed with God’s gift of eternal life in Jesus. That full, happier, joyful and abundant life God promised will be yours.