Romans 6:1-14: Newness in Christ

Romans 6:1-14: Newness in Christ

Please turn with me in your Bible to Romans 6. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 781. We’ve been working our way passage by passage through Paul’s letter to the Romans, and this morning the next passage we come to is Romans 6:1-14. Throughout these past couple of chapters, Paul’s been explaining to us that we’re not justified—or declared righteous before God—through personal merit. Rather, we’re justified through faith. Justification comes through faith alone. It’s a “free gift” of God, Paul says. But if you think about that for a little while, it raises a very intriguing question. And we see that question stated and then answered in Romans 6:1-14:

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 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. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 

So the question Paul raises in verse 1 is this: Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? In other words, if we’re going to heaven anyway because we’re justified by grace and through faith, then what’s stopping us from just continuing in our sin? Why make any effort to resist our sinful desires? You might have heard stories of people going on a shopping spree shortly before declaring bankruptcy. They’ve made plans to declare bankruptcy in the very near future and are anticipating all of their debts being forgiven. But first, before they file those bankruptcy papers, they decide that since their debts are about to be forgiven anyway, why not purchase a few more things? Why not pick up a few new outfits at the mall and a new TV for the living room? Heck, why not even go on a nice cruise to the Bahamas? So they do that. They charge it to the credit card and anticipate those debts being wiped away just like all the others. And Paul has a similar scenario in mind here in Romans 6. If we’re really justified simply by faith and not by works, then what’s stopping us from continuing in sin? Do we now have a license to sin without any consequences? 

Perhaps you know people who seem to think like that. And let’s make it personal: perhaps there are times when you yourself live as though that’s the case. Now you might not be bold enough to actually come out and say it, but have you ever subtly given yourself permission to sin because you were confident that God would forgive you anyway? Or if there’s a sin you habitually struggle with, have you ever been less aggressive in putting that sin to death because, in the back of your mind, you anticipate God’s forgiveness? Be honest with yourself. I have, and I’m fairly certain you have as well. So it seems like we really need to pay attention to what Paul’s about to say here in Romans 6. 

And in verse 2, he gives us a very direct answer to his question, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” He says, “By no means!” That Greek phrase translated “by no means,” is the strongest form of denial Paul had available to him in the Greek language. It implies that the very idea of continuing in sin that grace may abound is scandalous and detestable. Yet someone might respond, “Okay, but why not? Why not continue in sin?” So Paul explains why. 

Now, before we examine what Paul says, I think it’s important to note what he doesn’t say. He doesn’t answer the question by saying, “Well, you haven’t really understood what I meant back there in chapters 3-5 about justification. It may have sounded like I said we’re justified through faith alone, but what I actually meant to say was that we’re justified through a combination of faith in Jesus plus our own personal merit. It’s mostly faith, but there’s still a little sliver of merit thrown in there.” Yet Paul doesn’t say that. He doesn’t retreat an inch from the bold doctrine of justification by faith alone. And that’s because he really did teach it back in chapters 3-5 and now continues to maintain it here in chapter 6. And by the way, the very fact that he raises this question in chapter 6 of “Why not continue in sin?” is strong evidence that we’ve interpreted his teachings about justification in the previous chapters correctly. If you read chapters 3-5 and come away with any understanding of justification that doesn’t naturally raise the question of “Why not continue in sin?” that’s an indication you haven’t really understood justification correctly. “Why not continue is sin?” is a question that naturally follows. 

And here’s how Paul answers it. Here’s the answer. Verse 2: “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Now that obviously is also a question, but it’s a rhetorical question that’s really meant to give an answer. The answer is that we who have died to sin can’t possibly still live in it. To live in sin would be unthinkable for someone who’s truly died to it. Now at this point you might wonder, “Okay, but what does it mean to have died to sin?” Well, think about what it would mean for someone to tell you in everyday conversation that another person is “dead to them.” Perhaps they’re talking about someone in their life who was formerly a very close friend or maybe is even a family member but who did something truly terrible. And because of that, the person you’re talking to now says, “So-and-so is dead to me.” That would mean that the close relationship that formerly existed between those two individuals has now been decisively severed. There’s now no more affection between them or connection of any kind. The relationship has come to a decisive end. And Paul’s saying that’s what happens between us and sin when we experience genuine conversion. When we’re saved, the relationship between us and sin is decisively severed. We no longer have a sinful nature. Our nature is now fundamentally changed so that it’s no longer characterized by sin but is instead characterized by a love for God and a desire to seek God and follow his ways and pursue his purposes. We now have a new nature and are in that sense dead to sin. Paul puts it quite well in 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. So if you’re a Christian, you’re a new creation. You have a new nature. And that’s basically what Paul’s saying back in Romans 6 as well. The reason you won’t continue in sin after you’ve been justified by faith is because that’s simply not who you are anymore. That’s not what you desire. Along with your justification, you’ve received a new nature that finds sin repulsive. 

I once heard a preacher describe it this way. Imagine we brought a pig in here and led him right down to the foot of the stage. Then imagine we also brought in a nice big pile of slop and set it down in front of this pig. I’m sure the pig would love that slop. He’d probably feast on it and role in it and think it was the best thing ever. Why would he think that? Well, because he’s a pig. Pigs like slop. It’s in their nature to like slop. But imagine that we had the ability to instantly turn that pig into a man somehow. What would happen when we did that? How would that man respond to having a mouthful of slop and having slop smeared all over his body? He’d be absolutely disgusted, of course. He’d spit out every bit of that slop, try his best to wipe it off of himself, and be mortified that we had seen him in such a condition. That would be his natural response as a man. By nature, humans find slop disgusting. And that’s the way a true Christian feels about sin. God has changed their heart—their very nature—in a fundamental way so that they now hate the sin they once loved. And that’s why they won’t continue in sin that grace may abound. They find it repulsive. 

And by the way, if you don’t find sin repulsive, you really need to examine whether you’ve truly been saved or not. Understand that I’m saying what I’m about to say because I love you and I truly care about you. If you’re able to live a life that’s characterized by the things God hates and not be deeply distraught over those things, I’m not sure how you could have received the new nature God imparts at conversion. I’ve known a lot of people who claim to be Christians but are cohabitating with their boyfriend or girlfriend or perhaps are living a life dominated by greed or are walking in any one of several different kinds of sins. And in spite of the fact that they continue to walk in these sins without making any significant effort to repent, they still believe that they’re Christians and that they’ve been saved. And honestly, that concerns me. I just don’t see how it’s possible to have truly received a new nature and not be distraught over very obvious sins like these. Because if you do have a new nature, you won’t desire to continue in sin that grace may abound. 

So there you go. That’s the introduction. And that brings us to the main idea of the sermon, which is this: Christians won’t continue in sin because they’ve received a new nature. That’s the main idea. Christians won’t continue in sin because they’ve received a new nature. Now that doesn’t mean we’ll be perfect and not commit any sin. But it does mean we won’t live a life characterized by sin as an overall pattern of behavior. Our new nature compels us to live differently. And there are three things Paul teaches about this new nature here in Romans 6, and we’ll look at them very briefly under three headings. Number one, the origin of our new nature. Number two, the foundation of our new nature. And number three, the symbol of our new nature. 

The Origin of Our New Nature

First, the origin of our new nature. Notice that, according to Paul, this new nature came from God, not us. You can see that in all of the passive verbs Paul uses in our main passage. He says in verse 3, 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? So we didn’t baptize ourselves. We “have been baptized.” Then it says, 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. So we “have been baptized,” we “were buried,” we’ve been united” with Christ in death and will “be united” with him in resurrection. All of these verbs are in the passive voice because they describe something done to us rather than something we do to ourselves. We didn’t give ourselves a new nature. It’s not like we work really hard at self-improvement and finally get the point where we desire God instead of sin. No, God made us what we are as Christians. The new nature is a part of the “free gift” of salvation we’ve received from God. 

And by the way, that’s why our church doesn’t believe it’s possible for true Christians to lose their salvation. Because this new nature isn’t something we did to ourselves in the first place, it’s not something we can undo. A true Christian may have temporary periods of spiritual backsliding, but they’ll never lose their new nature and will to some degree continue living according to that new nature for the rest of their lives. And if they don’t, that’s a sign not that they’ve had salvation and then lost it but rather that they never truly had it in the first place. So that’s the origin of our new nature. It’s from God. 

The Foundation of Our New Nature

Moving forward, number two is the foundation of our new nature. Our new nature rests on the foundation of Jesus dying on the cross and then resurrecting from the grave. Again, we read in verse 4-5 that 4 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. 5 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. So Jesus did two things in particular that are vital for our salvation. First, he died on the cross in order to pay for our sins. The holy wrath of God the Father came down on him so it wouldn’t have to come down on us. He bore our sin and the judgment our sin deserved. Then after being buried in a tomb for three days, Jesus resurrected from the dead in full victory and triumph in order to demonstrate that the Father had indeed accepted his sacrifice. That’s the gospel. 

And those historical events of Jesus’ death and resurrection are the foundation of the new nature we have in him. Paul teaches that we were united with Jesus first in his death. It’s as though we were hanging on the cross right there beside him in the sense that we’ve now died to our old way of living. Then Paul says we were also united with Jesus in his resurrection. Just like a new physical vitality entered Jesus when he rose up out of the grave, a new spiritual vitality enters us at the moment of conversion. We’re now animated with a divine energy and life that enables us to live as God calls us to live. Previously, when we were still in our unconverted state, we didn’t have the moral ability walk in God’s ways or follow his commands. But now that we’ve had the resurrection life of Christ imparted to us, we do have that ability. So union with Christ in his death and resurrection is a helpful way of describing the new nature we now have—a nature that’s died to sin and been infused with spiritual vitality.

The Symbol of Our New Nature

Then finally, number three: the symbol of our new nature. Our new nature is symbolized in baptism. Look once again at verses 3-4: 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 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 baptism pictures our union with Christ. Going down into the water pictures union with him in his death, and coming up out of the water pictures union with him in his resurrection. That’s why our church believes that the only valid kind of baptism is what’s commonly called “baptism by immersion,” where the individual is actually immersed into the water. We don’t have time to get into it this morning, but that’s the only kind of baptism recorded in the New Testament, and that’s the only kind of baptism that pictures what Paul talks about here in Romans 6—union with Christ in his death and resurrection. Sprinkling someone with water doesn’t picture that. Only immersion does. 

Also, another important thing to note about baptism is that it’s a symbol of our new nature and not something that imparts the new nature. Kind of like my wedding ring. My wedding ring doesn’t make me married. I can take off my ring and still be married. My ring may not be on my finger at this moment, but that doesn’t make me single. I’m still very much married. This ring is just a symbol. And it’s the same way with baptism. Baptism is an outward symbol of an inward reality. It symbolizes something that’s already happened within us prior to us being baptized. And by the way, the fact that it’s “just” a symbol doesn’t mean that it’s not incredibly meaningful. In fact, baptism is one of the most meaningful things we can do as a Christian. It’s something we can look back to for the rest of our lives in order to be reminded of the miracle God’s accomplished within us. It pictures that miracle in a simple but meaningful way. Those of us who are Christians have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life. 

Conclusion

And yet, be that as it may, holiness isn’t automatic. We may have a new nature, but that doesn’t mean we automatically live according to that new nature as we should. Living according to our new nature requires intentionality. That’s why we read this in verses 11-14: 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 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. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. So here’s what Paul’s basically saying: be who you are. God’s made you into a new person, so be who you are. Interestingly, it sounds a lot like the kind of advice you might receive even from secular voices in our society. It seems like just about everyone in our society is all about being true to yourself. Don’t worry about what other people think; just be who you are. And that’s pretty much what Paul says to do here in Romans 6, though as he says it he obviously has some very different assumptions than most people in our society have. But his advice is basically the same: be who you are. 

And that does require intentionality. Because even though we have a new nature, we’re still haunted by the ghost of the old sinful nature living within us. In some ways, it’s similar to what’s happened in Iraq. In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq and took control of the country in an astonishingly short amount of time. In just over a month, “victory” had been won. And yet, as you know, the past sixteen years in Iraq hasn’t exactly gone smoothly. There’s been significant resistance to the United States and to the new democratic government in Iraq ever since that initial invasion. So even though the initial victory came quickly, maintaining that victory has proven challenging and has required a high degree of intentionality. And in a similar though not identical way, living out our new nature requires a high degree of intentionality as well. Every day, the ghost of our old sinful nature tries to rise up and reassert its dominance over our lives. And so, every day, we have to fight against it. 

Not only that, but Satan and his demons are still alive and well in the world today and are actively seeking our destruction. As 1 Peter 5:8 warns us: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. So we have to be very intentional in our pursuit of holiness. In the words of Romans 6, we have to be very intentional about not presenting ourselves to sin as instruments for unrighteousness but rather presenting ourselves to God as instruments for righteousness.