In Romans 6 Paul brings us back again to talk about the dangers of our sin if it goes unchecked. But he also gives us a solution for how to deal with this problem. Continuing his logical progression for why faith is justified, Paul challenges the believers to question why if they say they are Christ's and have been saved by him they keep on sinning? This is a relevant question for us and Paul convinces us to love Christ more than the sin.

In shaping our thinking Paul wants us to see the merit and value of union with Christ. Christ is not distant from us, rather is becomes part of us, an engrafting, as we trust in him for our salvation. Paul wants believers to keep their sin in check and says clearly that we cannot live in two worlds: a world of sin and a world of grace. We can only live by grace if we desire to know God and his goodness.

But this grace is not to be abused and tested by how much we can sin and thereby allow God to demonstrate his great grace. If we are in Christ sinning should be expelled from us and we look to Christ and live for him.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

I wonder if you have ever tried to get out of a job.

2

I don't mean your paid employment,

I mean some other job at home that

3

you know you have to do but you

really don't want to do, or a job

4

that someone's asked you to do.

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And there's always going to be one of

them, no matter how diligent we are

6

in doing things, there's always going

to be one job that needs to be done.

7

Think of those poor souls who have to

bring their bins out tonight in the rain.

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Particularly down along Mance

Avenue to the end of the road.

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It's a job you try and put off in the

hope that the rain will end, but you

10

know eventually it has to be done.

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We can make all the excuses that we want.

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We can prioritize other things.

13

We'll do whatever it takes simply

not to do the job that really

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deep down we don't want to do.

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When I was younger I was

made to wash our cars.

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My father would put, pull the two cars

up one behind the other and I would

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be given a bucket with soap in it

and a brush and a bucket with clean

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water and a chamois in the other.

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And the rule was if you drop the brush

or you drop the chamois then make sure

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that you rinse it before you start again

in case a stone got caught in it and

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that would lead to scratches on the car

which my father just could not have.

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Washing the car was fine on a summer's

day, but in the depth of an Armagh

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winter, my teenage self despised it.

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I would say that it was too cold.

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My father would get me

gloves and warm water.

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I would say it was too dark.

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My father would bring out a

stand light so that I could see.

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Any excuse I would make,

my father had an answer.

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So I thought, just do a bad enough job,

and he'll never ask you to do it again.

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And you know what?

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It didn't work.

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My father just sent me back

out again to wash the car.

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We can make excuses for

things all the time.

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And that's what Romans 6 wants to tackle.

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Paul wants to make sure that we don't

take advantage of God's goodness,

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nor do we abuse his love towards us.

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And so we once again come to a

passage about sin, but it's also

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a passage that talks about the

solution for sin, as Paul continues

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to build this argument for faith.

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Why we should believe it?

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Because for Paul, it is the

most beautiful thing to witness.

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And that's why he's taking time.

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That's why he's throwing

out rhetorical questions.

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That's why he's making it very

clear that this is what we

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are to know and understand.

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And helpfully, we can look at

this passage in three sections.

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First of all, we are to be grace filled.

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Secondly, we are to

know union with Christ.

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And thirdly, we are to offer.

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True worship.

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So let's begin by being grace filled

people in verses 1 to 4 And I tell you

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about my attempt to get out of cleaning

the car because it's a similar Argument

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that Paul is presenting for our natural

desire to remain in sin having dealt

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with Adam our death in Adam and life

in Christ and the freedom that we

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receive in the last passage, we're now

presented with the next obvious step.

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So Paul concluded chapter 5 in verse

21 by saying, As sin reigned in

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death, grace also might reign through

righteousness, leading to eternal

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life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Paul has made it very clear for us that

God's grace is generous towards us.

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God doesn't hold back.

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His grace is given freely.

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And it truly covers a multitude of sins.

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But there is perhaps a danger

with such generous grace.

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Because we mere human beings

can begin to abuse that grace.

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And that's what Paul is pointing us to.

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He's saying that we can so easily

think of God's grace so well that we

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can abuse it by keeping on sinning.

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Paul says that some people

rationalize their sin to make

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God look all the more generous.

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Do you see how it works?

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The more I sin, then the

more generous God can be.

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And doesn't that make Him look good?

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And what does it say about us?

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Well, Paul says it means we're

not serious about the faith

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to which we've been called.

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Because what we say in doing this

is that we think more of ourselves

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than we actually do of God.

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This is not what we should be thinking.

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And Paul forcibly asks us the

question in verse 2, How can we who

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die to sin still live in that sin?

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Look at that question for a moment

either in your Bible or the direct

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copy and paste on the screen.

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This is a deep question and one

that we all need to consider.

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How can we, who died to

sin, still live in it?

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And there's a difference here between

recognizing the grip that sin still

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has on us as humanity, and the

choices we make to remain in that sin.

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Please notice the distinction.

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Paul says it's not possible to do this.

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You cannot have your foot in both camps.

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You cannot live in these two.

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Worlds.

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We can't be Christ's and live in sin.

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We are to flee sin and

trust in God's goodness.

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We're not to play him the fool

thinking that we can get away with

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it because we won't get away with it.

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And Paul gives further arguments

in verses three and four that point

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us to the resurrection of Jesus.

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And that's what Paul is doing.

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He's always pointing us beyond the grieve.

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He's making a very practical statement

that all human flesh will die.

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So what's beyond the grave?

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And he wants to raise our eyes

beyond how the world sees it, so

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that we can look to the Saviour.

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And he argues that being baptised

into Christ means that we

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were baptised into his death.

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This means that we all face death.

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But if that is the case, then,

as he was buried and resurrected,

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we too will be resurrected.

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Not in our own strength, but

in his victory over the grave.

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That's why we read the passage in

1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses

111

20 to 23, at funeral services

such as the one this afternoon.

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Because in that passage, Paul says,

But in fact Christ has been raised

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from the dead, the firstfruits

of those who have fallen asleep.

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For as by a man came death, by a man has

come also the resurrection of the dead.

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For as in Adam all die, look what happens,

so also in Christ shall all be made alive,

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but each in their own order, Christ first,

because he is the firstfruits, and then

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at his coming all those who belong to him.

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There's an order to this, and the order is

that we can trust in, in Christ's victory

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over the grave because he has resurrected.

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And so we can be sure tonight

that if we are in Christ, as we

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will die a human death, as Christ

did, spiritually we will rise.

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Because Christ rose.

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Isn't that amazing?

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That it is a hope that takes us beyond

this world, and it takes us into the next.

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Not in some trivial way, but in truth

that we need to know in this moment.

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Because this is a dark,

cold world for God's people.

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And we need hope.

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That hope is in the

resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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So that we too know that we

will rise from the grave.

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It's what we call sure and certain hope.

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And if this is the sure and certain hope

we have, then why do we want to keep on

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sinning and think we can get away with it?

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Because we can't get away with

it, and we won't get away with it.

134

We can't play God the fool.

135

God knows us too well and so we must trust

fully in his grace and not try to live in

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two worlds, one of grace and one of sin.

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We can only live in one or the other.

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And so as we think of what

it means to be grace filled,

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which world will you live in?

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The one of grace or the one where

you'll simply keep on sinning?

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So that's the first

thing that Paul tells us.

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Telling us to be grace filled people, to

go after the grace of God, not to abuse

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it, but to know all of its benefits.

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But the second thing he does in

the larger chunk of this passage

145

in verses 5 to 11, is he challenges

us to know union with Christ.

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And so Paul's moving on to, uh, this,

to further his thought process and

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draws our attention now to Jesus.

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And in verse 5 Paul speaks of this

thing we call union with Christ.

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Now I could try and rewrite

what many have written and so

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I want to read what Richard B.

151

Gaffin has said.

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Union in Christ is the believer's

solidarity or association with Christ

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by the Holy Spirit and through faith.

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By virtue of which, believers

partake of his saving benefit.

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I think we all know what a union is.

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And the strongest union we can

see is that union of marriage.

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Where there's a covenant made

between man and woman to be in this

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relationship until their dying day.

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That's what a union is.

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It means they follow each other.

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The two are not going

in separate directions.

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They are now one.

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And that's what union with Christ means.

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It, it, it means we are

one with him as is Christ.

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So is ours.

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And it's probably John Calvin

who is best writing this, and in

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his Institutes of the Christian

Religion, in Book 3, he says this.

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Sorry it's very small,

but it's a big chunk.

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Therefore, that joining together of

head and members, head being Christ,

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that indwelling of Christ in our hearts,

in short, that mystical union, are

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accorded by us the highest degree of

importance, so that Christ having been

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made makes us sharers with him in the

gifts with which he has been endowed.

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We do not therefore contemplate him

outside ourselves from afar in order

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that his righteousness may be imputed

to us, but because we put on Christ

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and are engrafted into his body.

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In short, because he designs

to make us one with him.

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For this reason, we glory that we have

fellowship of righteousness with him.

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It's Old English.

179

It's a translation from the French.

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But it says exactly what it needs to say.

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And it's beautiful.

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Union with Christ and understanding

that, that we put on Christ

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because we are engrafted into Him.

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It's a beautiful thing and

it's something we need to know.

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In essence, we share

everything with Christ.

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When we know Him as Saviour, then all

the benefits of our salvation come

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directly from Him as He is in us.

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And in verses 5 to 11, Paul

wants to assure us of this.

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And he lists for us what Jesus has done.

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And so being united with Christ

in his death, in that he died

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a human death, so we will die.

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So we will also be united

with him in the resurrection.

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Again, Paul is affirming

this hope that we have.

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And verse 6 allows us to know

plainly what this great union means,

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because Paul writes, We know that

our old self was crucified with him

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in order that the body of sin might

be brought to nothing, so that we

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would no longer be enslaved to sin.

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The whole purpose of Christ crucified,

and our putting off our old self, as Paul

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speaks so frequently about in his letters,

means that we are no longer slaves.

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Now we may think, but I'm free in this

world, because one of the great things

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of humanity is that we live freely.

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But that, we don't really live

free in this world because of the

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sin that so easily ensnares us.

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It's only union in Christ, knowing

Him through the message and power

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of the Gospel, enables us to be

free both now and for all eternity.

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And so all of our benefits are in

Christ as we are engrafted into him.

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If you're a gardener, you know

a little bit about grafting.

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And the first thing that I ever

saw grafted was a Ponsetia bush.

209

Because in the tropics, Ponsetias

grow in your garden, a huge bush.

210

And particularly in Malawi, they were

very gifted at engrafting white Ponsetias.

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into red poinsettias.

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And so as you would walk, not at

Christmas time, but in the depths of

213

winter in July, you would see these

beautiful arrangements in gardens of

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engrafted red and white poinsettias

that just pinged from the brown earth.

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That engrafting was beautiful

to see and something to behold.

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How much more beautiful is

our engrafting into Christ?

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How much more beautiful to behold

that we're not distant from him in the

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hope that we'll someday meet up But

that in him in faith We are His fully.

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You see, life and resurrection

are because of Him.

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So if we then know this, we can have

a wonderful assurance of hope and

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the knowledge of a close relationship

with Christ through union with Him.

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And so by way of summary,

Paul says in verse 10, For the

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death he died, he died to sin.

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Once for all, and that's the

important bit, but the life he lives.

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Why is that bit the important,

that it's once for all?

226

Because Paul's saying we've moved beyond

the Old Testament sacrificial system.

227

Where the death of a goat would occur

once a year for the sins of the nation.

228

No more, says Paul, is it needed.

229

Because Jesus is the

once for all sacrifice.

230

So that we may live.

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A true life in him and verse 11

challenges our response and it's to

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be one where we are right with God.

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This means union with Christ so

that we will be dead to sin and

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alive to God in Jesus Christ.

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And who doesn't want to be dead to sin?

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We need to be dead to sin because

it is the thing that holds us back.

237

It is sin that hinders our

relationship with Jesus Christ.

238

And so we must be dead to it

so that we can be alive to God.

239

And again, it's going back

to where Paul started.

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You can't have both.

241

You can't be half dead and half alive.

242

It's one or the other.

243

And Paul is urging us to

seek that union with Christ.

244

So that we will truly be dead to sin and

alive to God and his one and only son.

245

Union with Christ is a

truly wonderful thing.

246

And we don't have time to

explore it in all its fullness

247

and richness this evening.

248

But as we've looked at it

here and Paul challenges us

249

to know this union in Christ.

250

The invitation is for each

of us to know Christ more.

251

To enjoy that union with him, so that we

will know the benefits of his salvation.

252

And these benefits are many.

253

And let me ask you, do you

know them for yourself?

254

If you don't, then Paul warns us

in the third part of this passage

255

what it means for us eternally.

256

That there is a consequence to

continually reject Christ, to ignore that

257

beautiful union that he invites us to.

258

And so Paul finishes by saying

in this last part in verses

259

12 to 14, offer true worship.

260

Don't be dead.

261

Offer true worship that brings

life and demonstrates life.

262

And so the challenge of sin comes again in

not letting it reign in our mortal bodies.

263

And Paul is very good at this.

264

In all of his writings he speaks

both of the physical body as

265

well as the spiritual body.

266

And at times he combines the two.

267

Because he wants to ground this.

268

He wants to give us images

that we will understand.

269

And so what he says here in our

mortal bodies is that we must resist

270

the pull of sin that so easily is

on us and we are to stand firm.

271

In verse 13 Paul goes on to talk

about the parts of our bodies,

272

he calls them our members.

273

And having this verse in front

of us will perhaps help us

274

understand it a bit better.

275

Paul says do not present your members to

sin as instruments for unrighteousness,

276

but present yourselves to God as

those who have been brought from

277

death to life, and your members to

God as instruments of righteousness.

278

In a nutshell, what Paul is

talking about is that sense of

279

when we offer our members, our

members are our hands, our feet.

280

Our mouths, our language, our

heads, our eyes, everything that

281

he uses in how we would serve God.

282

And look what he says.

283

Offer them to God.

284

Don't offer them to sin.

285

Don't give them over to sin.

286

Give them to God.

287

And do you notice the parallels

that he puts here in this verse?

288

Do not present, and then he

goes on to say, but present.

289

He talks about them being instruments

of unrighteousness, one moment,

290

but then whenever we're doing

something right with them, it

291

becomes instruments of righteousness.

292

And so this language of presenting

members sounds very formal to us, but

293

what Paul is doing is, it's, he's bringing

us back to the language of the temple.

294

Because in the temple, Israelites

presented their gifts to God.

295

And now we present our bodies

to him, we, we don't, we're not

296

part of the sacrificial system.

297

Yes, we give willingly and joyfully

because of the needs that are required

298

by the church in its mission and

ministry at home and around the world.

299

But we also know we present

ourselves in service.

300

And so we no longer present

what was needed in sacrifice.

301

We present worship.

302

We present ourselves.

303

We are to give every part of ourselves

to him as our spiritual act of worship,

304

which Paul will speak of in chapter 12.

305

And by the way, chapter 12, looming at

us, is that big moment where we change

306

from Paul's theological presentation

to the practical outworking of it in

307

the closing chapters of this book.

308

And so being made in the image

of God, we are to present

309

every part of ourselves to him.

310

And look at how we're to do it.

311

We are to present ourselves

as transformed people.

312

This then raises the question, do

we know that we are transformed?

313

We perhaps don't like to think

ourselves as being changed, but

314

that's exactly what must happen to us.

315

Because we are to change from

our way of sin and death to

316

the way of truth and life.

317

And we can't do this on our own,

it's only through the power of

318

God, through his Son, Jesus Christ.

319

And verse 14 crowns this passage

by saying, For sin will have no

320

dominion over you, since you are

not under law, but under grace.

321

When we live by God's standards, we

know, and know His grace at work in our

322

lives, then sin has no dominion over

us because Christ has conquered sin.

323

What, what it is, is it's, in other

words, it's penalty is not ours

324

because of that very sacrifice.

325

And so as we finish this evening,

we need to make sure before this

326

very minute is through that we are

sure and certain of the transforming

327

power of the gospel in our lives.

328

If we don't, then we have

the opposite of hope.

329

We have despair, we have doubt,

and in truth we have weakness.

330

We have no one to rely on to save us.

331

It is only Christ who can do

that, and we must trust in Him.

332

Paul explains this further in

second Corinthians 12 verse nine

333

by saying, but he said to me, my

grace is sufficient for you, for my

334

power is made perfect in weakness.

335

Therefore, Paul goes on to say,

I will boast all the more gladly

336

of my weaknesses so that the

power of Christ may rest upon me.

337

It is in the weakness that,

that we can know, that we can

338

do nothing for ourselves, that

it is only Christ who is strong.

339

And so, we relish His grace,

because that is what we need.

340

And His grace is truly amazing,

because it frees us from our sin,

341

and it makes us alive to God.

342

Do you know this freedom?

343

And do you know life in God?

344

It can be yours tonight,

if you will but receive it.

345

And this is where we take a break

from Romans, until the new year.

346

But Romans chapter 6 and verses 1 to 14.

347

challenges us to be grace filled and not

allow sin to trick us into thinking that

348

we can get away with doing what we want.

349

We must know that we are truly free.

350

And so that question again, do you

know this freedom of life in God?

351

We are to know union with Christ, the

greatest and deepest relationship you

352

will ever know as all of him is in us.

353

And so do you know this freedom

in this union with Christ?

354

And finally, we are to offer true

worship so that he can receive

355

all the glory and we thereby prove

that sin has no place in our lives.

356

True freedom indeed.

357

Do you know this freedom and life in God?

358

Because tonight it can be each of ours

to know more, or to know for the very

359

first time, because this is truly God's

grace and his goodness towards us.

360

Let us pray.

361

Our Father God, thank you for your

word that continues to challenge us

362

as to what the heart of the gospel is.

363

Thank you for this picture

that Paul is building for us.

364

So may we pay attention to it.

365

May we know what it means to be grace

filled people, to know union with Christ,

366

and to offer true worship, so that we will

demonstrate that we are truly transformed

367

people, that the gospel has taken hold,

and we will no longer stay in sin.

368

In fact, we will stay away

from it, because we will love

369

Christ more than the sin.

370

Such amazing grace that gives us freedom.

371

May we know that each in our lives

this night and for all eternity.

372

Amen.