Chapters 1-5 of Romans has made it clear to us that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from works.
! Grace alone, 100% by God's grace. Salvation is His work on the sinner, for the sinner, and not the other way around.
We receive what we do not deserve by God's grace.
By faith alone, it is 100% by faith alone. We cannot earn or work towards salvation.
No religious activity, no number of prayers during the day, no good deeds.
It is by faith alone in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.
And in Christ alone, Christ, only Jesus Christ, paid the price with His sinless life that we should have paid so that we can be made righteous.
Nothing else can accomplish what He accomplished on the cross for us.
Meaning, that this salvation, the title that we carry with us, Christian, is all because of Christ and nothing that we have done.
There's nothing that you and I have done to deserve or earn this title.
It's a big deal.
There's nothing in us that made us desirable.
There's nothing in us that screamed to the world or to God,
look at me, look how deserving I am of grace and mercy.
See, God's grace is shown to the undeserving and to the dead.
Grace founded in Christ because of Christ and His obedience.
See, God's grace is huge.
We truly cannot grasp this grace.
We can't grasp what He has done for us.
We have words to help.
Words like, dead, the dead made alive.
Or words like, a child of wrath, now at peace with God.
But when we really try to wrap our heads around the grace of God, we just can't.
And that's why you'll hear some of us say, in a situation, we'll say,
well, that's God's grace or God's given me grace or God's grace this.
Because it is just so huge.
God's grace is wonderful.
To be the recipient of such love and such care is wonderful.
So to the person in here who does not feel loved,
cling to Christ for He loves you.
Cling to Him.
The Father cares for you as His child because you have been adopted.
God's grace is magnificent.
It is truly beyond our comprehension.
The God whose breath put the stars in the sky and the mountains to their specific heights
is the same God who loves you and is for you.
God's grace is real.
God's grace has a taste.
It has a feel to it.
It's not just an idea thought up by some apostle 2,000 years ago
or even me or some author of a book that you've read here recently.
It's real.
You know it's real because His grace has a real effect on your life.
Even when you might not understand.
God's grace is everlasting.
The impact that God has is everlasting.
It's final from now until forever.
It was started before the foundation of the world and it goes to eternity.
God's grace is personal.
You have been created in His own image.
You were created by Him, for Him, and it brings Him great glory.
And us great joy to bring Him glory.
We can cry Abba Father.
We can cry Daddy to Him because we have been adopted as sons of the King.
Romans 8 verse 15 says,
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received the spirit of adoption as sons,
by whom we cry Abba Father.
Listen to this.
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
And if children, then heirs.
Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
Provided we suffer with Him in order that we also be glorified with Him.
The Spirit Himself bears witness that we are His.
It is personal.
Jesus died bearing the sin of you and me.
For you and me.
And God's grace is radical.
And this is where our text is this morning.
This is kind of where we sit.
It is radical enough to kill us.
And it is radical enough to give us life.
We are going to look at these two truths and their implications.
So as a quick review,
I kind of need to do this because Paul is making an argument throughout this letter.
Romans chapter 1 basically starts off with the depravity of man.
That we are all sinners.
That we are in need of a Savior.
He even touches on the person in a jungle far away who has never heard the gospel.
And he says that they are without excuse because even creation speaks of the glory of God.
We come to chapter 2.
Chapter 2 is about the Jewish people are depraved.
The Jewish people are sinners.
There is no religion, no activity that saves you.
Chapter 3 kind of sums up 1 and 2.
We are all sinners in need of a Savior.
That no one is righteous.
No, not one.
For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Chapter 4.
Okay, we've got to establish.
Here's our problem.
Chapter 4 is the solution.
We are justified by faith alone.
Not by works.
So, as I've said already, no religious activity, no good deed, no prayer, no nothing can earn your salvation.
It is by faith alone in Christ alone.
And that is a gift from God.
Chapter 5 is kind of the result or starts in the result of being saved by faith alone.
We are given peace with God.
That our standing with God is right and at peace because of the work of Christ.
And then at the end, last week, we talked about either belonging to Adam or belonging to Jesus Christ.
Adam brought sin into the world.
Jesus brought life into the world by living a sinless life and dying for our sins.
So, here's where we kind of step.
So, as we gather this morning, the majority in this room bear the title Christian.
I think it's safe to say.
But there may be some who have never tasted it.
You've never heard of Jesus or never even considered this Christian thing.
And if that's the case, then I'm glad you're here.
Because my prayer is that you would see that Jesus is all you need.
No matter the situation in which you're living.
No matter the bad thing that you think you've done that will not be taken care of, will not be forgiven.
No matter the baggage you brought with you this morning, He is all you need.
He will take that baggage from you because He loves you and He cares for you.
God's grace leads to a certain type of living.
And this, I hope and I pray, is what we will all see, be convicted of and commit to live.
So, let's dig in.
I'm going to start reading in verse 20 of chapter 5 and then read through 11 in chapter 6.
Verse 20.
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
So that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign throughout righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So stop for a second.
Our salvation is Jesus Christ alone.
On what He has done, not what we have done.
So that's kind of, okay, so we're all on the same page.
Verse 1.
What shall we say then?
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.
For the life He lives, He lives to God.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
God's grace is radical.
One point this morning, two sub-points, and then some other things mixed in there.
God's grace is radical.
And it's radical enough to kill us.
See, all Christians, no matter what maturity,
nominal Christian, immature Christian, mature Christian, growing Christian,
all would agree that Jesus died for our sins.
All Christians acknowledge that Jesus is what Christianity is all about.
You'll see bumper stickers and signs and coffee mugs that say,
Jesus is the reason for the season.
We're getting into that season.
You'll see, Jesus is my co-pilot, or Jesus is my pilot.
Or the heretical version, Jesus is my co-pilot.
You'll find it's all about Jesus on t-shirts and church signs and mugs,
and you name it.
But I wonder, I wonder if you'll find in your bookstore or in your local church parking lot,
I died so that I will live.
I wonder if you'll find I crucified my life,
or I killed myself for life,
or my own life is dead and it is a good thing.
You're not going to find it.
You're not going to find it because these things aren't nice.
They're not uplifting.
But that's exactly what our text is saying this morning.
And it's not just here in Romans.
Jesus Himself spoke of dying to yourself,
picking up your cross.
Luke chapter 9,
Mark chapter 8,
Matthew chapter 8,
Matthew chapter 16,
all speak to having to die yourself.
It's not something new.
This isn't some new idea.
It's not something abusive or callous or carnal.
It is truth.
The reason it doesn't get taught, though,
is because we, mankind, think we know best.
We think that it will cause more harm than good to speak about dying,
especially ourselves dying while living.
That might even confuse somebody.
But I would rather confuse a little than condemn a lot.
Adam and Eve thought that they knew better.
They thought that I'm going to eat of this fruit and it's going to be okay.
God is just trying to keep us, keep something from us.
So just so there's no misunderstanding, no confusion,
we're not talking about a physical death, but a spiritual death.
So how does this affect us?
How and why does this matter to us?
Well, it begins with God's grace is radical enough to kill us.
Look at some of the language in our text this morning.
Chapter 6, verse 3.
We have words into Christ Jesus or into His death.
Verse 4, we have buried with Him.
Verse 5 says we have been united with Him in a death like His.
Verse 6 says we are crucified with Him.
Verse 8, died with Christ.
See, Paul, as he does often in his letters,
is repeating a theme over and over.
He's repeating himself so that the audience, us,
the readers of this letter,
the early church in Rome,
would grasp what he's trying to communicate.
They would understand what he's trying to say.
And he repeats two things in our text this morning.
One being that we're united with Christ.
Somehow, someway, we are united with Christ.
The other thing is that we have died with Christ.
Somehow, someway.
115 times in the New Testament,
when describing or talking about Christians,
it is described as in Christ, with Christ,
united with Christ.
And we see it here in our text.
The Christian life is not a certain way to act.
It's not a certain thing to do,
although there is a bit of that.
It's not presenting yourself in a certain way,
although there is a little bit of that.
Both of these, though, acting and presenting,
come out of being united with Christ.
So, we may do good deeds,
but those good deeds are out of being united with Christ
and bearing His righteousness.
So, get the idea out of your head
that you have to act a certain way
or abstain from certain things in life
because none of that makes you a good Christian.
In fact, there's no such thing as a good Christian.
You are united with Him.
His righteousness you bear.
Your sin removed.
Christ has done it all.
See, the life of a Christian is based on what Christ has done
and not what you do
or how you act.
We're also united with Jesus in His death on the cross.
Look at verse 5 and 6 in chapter 6 of Romans.
It says,
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,
our old man,
was crucified with Him
in order that the body of sin
might be brought to nothing.
See, we died with Jesus.
Our old self died with Jesus on the cross.
If you are a Christian,
your old self died with Jesus on the cross.
So someone may ask you,
When were you born again?
This came up a couple of weeks ago
at our Q&A on Thursday night.
When were you born again?
Is it important to know the date?
Now you can say 2,000 years ago
is when I was born again.
When Christ died on the cross
and bore my sin.
We are united with Him on the cross
and that killed us,
our sinful nature,
our old self.
Look at these verses again.
In chapter 6, verse 2,
We died to sin.
Verse 3,
Baptized into His death.
Verse 4,
Buried by baptism into death.
Verse 5,
United with Him in a death like His.
Verse 6,
Crucified with Him.
Verse 7,
For one who has died.
Verse 8,
Died with Christ.
Verse 11,
Dead to sin.
See, God's grace
is radical enough
to kill us.
And that's good news.
That's good news.
Here's why it's good news.
The last part of verse 6
that I did not read
says,
So that we would no longer
be enslaved to sin.
We have died to sin.
On the cross,
we have died to that sin.
We are no longer enslaved to sin.
It is no longer our master.
Now, this idea of dying to sin
doesn't mean that sin
no longer exists.
Bad news.
It still exists.
It's still there.
Sin didn't die.
It will die.
It will end.
But it hasn't died.
The believer died.
Sin remains,
but does not reign.
Sin remains,
but does not master you
if you are a Christian,
if you are a child of God.
Our sinful nature
is no longer alive.
It is powerless
to the Christian.
So,
for the Christian
to continue in sin
like verse 1 says,
what shall we say then?
Are we to continue in sin
that grace may abound?
So,
for the Christian
to continue in sin,
in verse 2 it says,
how can we who died to sin
still live in it?
For the Christian
to continue in sin
and to live in sin
is not possible.
It's impossible
for the Christian.
That part of you
is dead.
And dead people
can't sin.
Paul is telling us
that if you are
truly born again,
if you have tasted
the freedom
from the tyranny
of sin,
you will not
and cannot continue
in sin.
You cannot live
a life of sin.
Your life will not
be ruled
by temporary pleasures.
Your life will not
be consumed
by pornography.
Your life will not
be consumed
by material possessions
that you don't have.
Your life will not
be consumed
by pleasing
and or fearing
people.
your life will not
be consumed
by your addictions
to drugs,
alcohol,
sex,
food.
Your life will not
be consumed
by selfishness.
Your life will not
be consumed
by always being
the victim.
And your life
will not be consumed
by conforming
to what others
are doing,
saying,
or buying.
To the radical
grace of God
changes your being.
And out of your being,
being changed,
your behavior
then changes.
God's radical grace
gives you a new heart,
a new life,
and is no longer
mastered by sin.
So here are three
implications of being
dead to sin.
The first one,
first implication
is that sin
is voluntary.
Sin is voluntary.
So,
before you were
a Christian,
if you're not
a Christian,
then this applies
to you.
There was no
decision for you
to make regarding
whether or not
you were going
to sin.
There wasn't a choice
to be made
in your head,
in your life.
You were going to sin.
That's what you did.
It was like breathing
for us.
We just breathe.
We don't think
about breathing.
We just do it.
And for the non-Christian,
we just sin.
We just live
sinful lives.
See,
as a non-Christian,
you were ruled
by sin,
which means
everything you did
was under the rule
and reign
of sin.
You were a slave
to it.
You had one master
and its name
was sin.
There's a
saying out there
that I sin
because I'm a sinner
or I'm a sinner
because I sin.
Which one is it?
Well,
you sin
because you are
a sinner,
not the other way
around as an unbeliever.
As a Christian
whose sin nature
has died,
all sin committed
is voluntary
on your part,
on my part.
All sin
is voluntary
because it no longer
has power.
It no longer
has master.
It masters over you.
You volunteer
to sin
and in so doing
cause yourself
to be consumed
by that sin.
that in all reality
is powerless.
So not only
is sin voluntary,
but implication
number two,
sin is temporary.
See,
when we're faced
with a temptation,
when we're in that
moment,
when we're
seconds or minutes
before volunteering
to sin,
the lies we choose
to believe
or are faced
with are something
like this.
God is not worth it.
God is not real.
God is busy.
God is holding
certain things
from you.
God is cruel
and He doesn't care
about your life.
God wants you
to celebrate
and take pleasure
in His creation,
whatever that may be.
God is not
and it does not
bring God glory
and it certainly
does not bring
us joy.
See,
sin is enjoyable.
I'm not telling you
anything you don't know.
There's a time
for a moment.
It might be a second.
It might be a minute.
But in the end,
that enjoyable feeling
ends
and you are faced
with the reality
of being enslaved
to sin.
Which is what
Jesus died
to remove.
You've been set
free from sin,
not temporarily,
not as long
as you're good,
not as long
as you read
your Bible
every day.
You've been
set free
from sin
forever.
We have died
to sin
forever.
It no longer
will have power
to defeat you
because
1 John says
He who is in you
is greater
than he
who is in the world.
So,
implication number
three.
And this goes
without saying
because our text
says it,
but sin
is weak.
Sin no longer
has reign over us,
but it still
exists.
It's still there.
We must look
to the cross
and find our strength
there
to overcome.
There are going
to be struggles.
There are going
to be moments
of weakness
in our lives.
But we have
got to remember
that sin
has no power
over us.
Jesus has defeated
death and sin.
Look at verse 6
of chapter 6.
We know
that our old self
was crucified
with Him
in order
that the body
of sin
might be brought
to nothing.
Our old self
has been brought
to nothing.
No power.
No dominion.
No strength.
And yet,
we give it power.
And yet,
we give it strength.
We give it dominion
over us
when we choose
to sin.
let your life
be a celebration
of God's grace.
Let your life
be rejoicing
in God's radical
grace
that He has shown
you.
That His radical
grace
kills you
instead
of what
verse 1
is alluding
to,
abusing
God's grace.
His radical
grace.
So not only
is God's grace
radical enough
to kill us,
it is also
radical enough
to give
life.
Follow me
through these
verses.
Verse 4
says,
we too
might walk
in newness
of life.
Verse 5
Be united
with Him
in a resurrection
like His.
A new life.
Verse 6
A new life
looks like
no longer
being enslaved
to sin.
Verse 8
We believe
that we also
live with Him.
Verse 11
Alive
to God
in Christ
Jesus.
Galatians 2
20 says,
I have been
crucified
with Christ.
It is no
longer I
who live
but Christ
who lives
in me.
We have been
crucified
with Christ
and that sin
no longer
exists.
But the second
part of that
verse,
it is no
longer I
who live
but Christ
who lives
in me.
This is a
reality.
This is real.
Christ
lives in us
and gives us
a new
life.
Back to
Romans 6
verse 2
We have the
question in
verse 1
It says,
What shall we
say then?
Are we to
continue in
sin that
grace may
abound?
His answer
of course
is by no
means.
May it
not be
so.
No.
Impossible.
Then he
answers with a
rhetorical
question.
How can we
who died to
sin still
live in it?
In other words,
it is impossible
to do so.
It is
impossible.
You can't
because you
have been
given a
new life.
And that
new life
cannot be
dead again.
It doesn't
happen.
See,
once you've
been made
alive by
God,
you cannot
continue in
sin.
It is
impossible.
We have
been given
a new
life.
It is
impossible
to live
in sin.
Impossible
to live
without
conviction,
without
repentance,
without
confession.
I'm
repeating
myself
because I
want to
make sure
we
understand.
It is
impossible
to be a
Christian and
to live
in sin.
Now,
it's possible
to be a
Christian and
sin,
but not to
live in
sin.
Not to
have a
life
consumed
and mastered
by sin.
So the
question is,
right here,
right now,
is your
life mastered
by sin
or not?
Are you
living in
sin or
not?
You
guys
seen the
guy who
spins
plates,
you'll
know what
I'm
talking
about?
He
spins
plates on
a stick
and on
his other
hand and
on his
knees and
on his
head.
I don't
know how
many plates,
but there's
just tons
of plates.
He starts
stacking them
and they're
spinning and
spinning.
Eventually,
at some
point,
he's going
to run
out of
being able
to spin
plates and
then they
all come
crashing down.
Whether that's
the Guinness
Book of
World Record,
who cares
really?
But it
gets to a
point where
he can't
spin any
more plates.
We make
the Christian
life out to
be spinning
plates.
If I do
this,
if I read
my Bible and
I say a
prayer before
bed and
after meals
or before
meals,
I
share my
faith with
somebody,
if I
talk about
Jesus,
if I
listen to
Christian
music and
wear Christian
t-shirts,
and if I
do this,
and if I
do that,
and if I
do these
things,
if I go to
Bible study,
if I go to
Thursday night
Bible study,
and I'm at
community group
on Wednesday,
and I'm Sunday
night Bible study,
and I sit down
on Sunday
morning at a
church,
and we
try to do
all these
things,
and eventually,
if that's
what our
Christian life
is,
if that's
what we
think it
is in
our head,
eventually,
we're going
to run
out of
the ability
to spin
plates.
Our
Christianity,
our life,
our religion
will be based
in self-effort
and not in
grace.
Here's the
problem.
If this
happens,
if your
Christian life
is based
not on
grace,
not on
God's
radical
grace,
but based
on your
self-effort,
when you
fail,
however
many
times that
is,
eventually,
you're going
to quit.
Eventually,
you're going
to say,
it's too
hard.
And it
happens because
we fail to
understand God's
radical grace.
We fail to
understand what
He has done
for us.
So,
living in
sin is not
possible to
avoid on
your own
merit.
sin.
It's not
possible to
say,
I am
not going
to live
in sin.
It's
impossible.
No matter
how good
you strive
to be,
you cannot
avoid living
in sin
outside of
Christ,
outside of
His grace,
His saving
grace.
But since
you have a
new life,
since you
are born
again,
you've been
reborn,
you've been
resurrected,
as verse
5 says,
because of
Jesus and
His grace,
you don't
just avoid
living in
sin,
it becomes
an impossibility.
And you
can stop
trying to
spin plates.
We receive
life through
the life,
death,
and resurrection
of Jesus
Christ,
and we are
given a
completely
secured
new life
in Him.
And we
no longer
are enslaved
to sin,
we are no
longer hindered
by chains
of sin,
but free,
free to be
sinless,
free to live
perfect lives.
Look at
verse 10.
It says,
for the death
He died,
He died to
sin,
once for
all He
being Jesus,
for the life
He lives,
He lives
to God.
Jesus is
our friend,
He is our
advocate,
and He is
our example.
Jesus lives
for the glory
of God.
He,
from His own
words in
the book of
John,
says,
I live
for the glory
of the Father.
I do what
I see the
Father doing
repeated over
and over.
If Jesus
is our
example,
then our
lives live
for the glory
of God.
In other
words,
we bring
glory to
God when
we don't
give in to
temptation.
We bring
glory to
God when
we choose
to cling
to the
cross.
We bring
glory to
God when
we turn
the TV
off when
that show
comes on.
We bring
glory to
God when
we don't
visit that
website.
We bring
glory to
God when
we are
content in
our
situation.
We bring
glory to
God when
we lay
our
burdens
at His
feet.
We bring
glory to
God when
the gossip
stops.
We bring
glory to
God when
we love
our wives
as Christ
loved the
church.
We bring
glory to
God when
we work
to our
fullest
potential.
We bring
glory to
God when
we treasure
Christ.
We bring
glory to
God when
we admit
our weaknesses
and beg
Him for
help.
God's
radical
grace gives
us a
new life.
A new
life where
we can
bring glory
to God.
This new
life that
you've been
given is
dead to
sin.
Give God
glory with
your lives
not just
in the
knowledge or
theology that
you carry
with you.
This new
life will
no longer
die.
Give God
glory with
your entire
life and
not just
your Sunday
morning when
you attend
a church
gathering.
This new
life is free
from being
mastered by
sin.
Give God
glory with
your life,
not just
when you
experience
something
emotional.
This new
life is
secured by
Jesus.
Give God
glory this
morning by
repenting
from your
self-effort
and sin.
This new
life is
because of
His radical
grace.
Give God
glory with
your mind,
your heart,
and your
soul.
God's
grace is
radical.
It is
radical enough
to kill
you and
it is
radical enough
to give
you life.
Let us
celebrate this
grace forever
and not
abuse it
as our
question in
verse 1.
Hence
act.