CF Bible Study, Romans 6:19-22: Justified to Eternal Life—through Sanctification, Part 2

McDonald’s Basement, September 26, 2007

19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving [literally, what fruit were you having] from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.
22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit [have your fruit], resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
Romans 6:19-22

Before digging into our text for this week, I need to clarify something from last week. When I said that righteousness is necessary for salvation, and that if you are living your life for yourself and are a slave of sin you will not have eternal life, I did not mean that you should simply reform your life. If you have discovered that you are a slave sin and you are resting in a justification that you actually do not have, simple outward reformation will not get you to heaven and true reformation will not be possible. Justification is what gets you to heaven. Union with Jesus is the basis of eternal life. Sanctification is something that comes out of that and demonstrates that union. So what I meant was, just like the Roman Christians, obey the gospel—repent, believe, and be justified—and that will lead to sanctification and ultimately eternal life.

All that was last week. This week I want to talk more directly to believers about the centrality of sanctification. Verse 19 is the base, and everything else pivots around it. “For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.” We will answer this one question tonight: Why? Why do this? Why present yourselves as slaves to righteousness? Why strive to be obedient and holy? Why fight for sanctification? Paul gives two reasons.

Reason 1: Fight for sanctification because you are free from sin and enslaved to God.

Paul’s first reason is found in the link between verses 17-18 and verse 19. Essentially, with all of the extra wording stripped away, verses 17-18 say this: “. . . though you were slaves of sin . . . you became slaves of righteousness.” Now notice the parallel with verse 19.

“. . . though you were slaves of sin . . .(v. 17)”
–corresponds to–
“. . . just as you presented you members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness . . .(v. 19)”

“. . . you became slaves of righteousness . . .(v. 18)”
–corresponds to–
“so now present your members as slaves to righteousness . . .”

Inherent in Paul’s thinking, is this argument: because you are a slave of righteousness (or to God), strive to be a slave of righteousness.

Does it seem strange to you that Paul would tell us to be slaves of God because we are slaves of God? I will tell you why. You are thinking, “If I am a slave of God, why do I have to work to be a slave of God?” We think this way because we bring our human, man-centered, preconceived errors about the relationship of God’s work and our work into our reading of Scripture. We think that there two realms: the realm of God’s work and the realm of man’s work—either God has done it or I need to do it. We do not realize that both fit together.

What have you forgotten that causes you to see this as so strange? You have forgotten that God uses means to bring about the ends that He decrees. He works all, but He works most of it through us; sanctification, slavery to Him, is not least. Imagine that I told one of you to stand up out of your chair and you replied, “No. God has decreed that I will get out of my chair, therefore I don’t need to do it.” The absurdity of that conclusion is obvious.

But here you say, “I thought God worked slavery to Himself and freedom from sin through union with Jesus in His death and resurrection. I thought that was the means.” You are exactly right. But you are missing something important. What was your slavery to sin? It was that you were by nature a person that chooses sin over righteousness. And what is your slavery to righteousness? You are now, through the work of God in uniting you to Christ, a person that chooses righteousness over sin. Therefore (and here is Paul’s argument), because you have been raised with Christ and become that kind of person, be that kind of person.

This is not new in chapter 6. We have seen it in verses 1-2, and verses 13-14, and very clearly in verse 12. “Therefore do not let sin reign . . .” Because you have died with Jesus and been raised with Jesus, and because sin is not your master and shall not be your master, do not let sin be your master. I could have said something very similar to you after you refused to get up out of the chair. I could have said, “God has made you a person who will get out of the chair, so get out of the chair.”

We must understand the true relationship of God’s sovereign decrees and our responsible actions. God makes the ultimate decision and does the ultimate work. Your part—which is real, and necessary—is derived from and depends on His work. He has worked through Christ to make you a person who will be a slave of righteousness, so be a slave of righteousness.

Answer 2: Fight for sanctification because it leads to eternal life.

To show his second reason, Paul uses two pictures: that of a tree and that of slavery. Every person is rooted like a tree in one of two things. He is either rooted in slavery to Sin or he is rooted in slavery to God. If he is rooted in sin, he will receive death. If he is rooted in God, he will have life. So where does sanctification come in? The fruit of the tree indicates where the root is. If he is a slave of Sin—rooted in sin—he will bear bad fruit. If he is a slave to God—rooted in God—he will bear good fruit. This fruit is crucial because if he has bad fruit it shows him to be a slave of sin and he will get the wages of that master—death. If he has good fruit it shows him to be a slave of God and united to Jesus and justified, and he will have the gift of that master—eternal life.

Look at how this works out in the passage. “For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness [there is the root], resulting in further lawlessness [that is the bad fruit], so now present your members as slaves to righteousness [again, the root], resulting in sanctification [the good fruit].” So you can already see part of this answer: seek sanctification because it is good fruit.

But why is good fruit so critical? Verses 20-21. “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving [literally, what fruit were you having] from the things of which you are now ashamed?” Is that a question? Yes and no. It is the kind of question Paul asked in verse 2; it is not looking for an answer, it is making a statement. When you were rooted in sin and it was your master, righteousness did not master you at all; you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore, you did not have any good fruit. You had nothing but bad fruit, produced by your corrupt root.

Now Paul gets to the real answer to our beginning question—or at least half of it. Why is it so critical that we have good fruit? Why must we fight for sanctification? “For the outcome of those things is death. (v. 21)” We must fight for sanctification because, as Jesus said in Matthew 7, “Every tree that bears bad fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Here is the other half of the answer in verse 22. This is Paul’s main point. “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit [have your fruit], resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.” Slavery to God leads to the fruit of sanctification and results in eternal life, therefore strive for the fruit of sanctification.

This is so pivotal for believers. Sanctification is the pathway to eternal life—no detours. Justification is the gate and the key and ground that you walk on, but sanctification is the path you travel. And so, I am calling us to drastic Christ-likeness, and pleading with us not to be lethargic Christians. Fight for sanctification because God is working it in you, and because the end is eternal life.

Bryan Elliff © 2007

CF Bible Study, Romans 6:15-18: Justified to Eternal Life—through Sanctification, Part 1

McDonald’s Basement, September 19, 2007

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!
16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,
18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Romans 6:15-18

Is This Man a Christian?

I want to begin with a story. I made it up in order to convey a common and extremely dangerous problem. There is a 12 to 15 year-old boy who, along with his family, is a part of a church that does not teach the true gospel. His parents, who are real Christians, soon see this and begin to search for a better church. Finally they find one. The pastor comes to their house and explains the true, biblical gospel—justification by faith and not works. And this boy’s parents wholeheartedly agree, and commit themselves to the church, and the whole family is baptized again.

So the years go on. This boy attends the meetings of the church, and he agrees with what the pastor says. They also have a Bible study, and he agrees with what the teacher says. He even participates, and reads his Bible, and prays. But at his core, for the rest of his life, all this man is living for is to be liked, and to have fun, and go to a good school, and get a good marriage, and have a good job, and an early retirement, and to die and not go to hell. And he thinks that because he agrees with everything the Bible says and the church believes, especially about justification, that he is a justified person who will die and go to heaven having been forgiven of his sins. Is that man a Christian?

This question is so crucial—for evangelicalism today, and more importantly, for some of you in this room.

Paul statement in verse 14 leads in to this issue. We looked at it last week. Paul said that believers not only died to sin in Christ, but also died to the law in Christ, which means that true Christians are not dominated by its outward, overbearing commandment, or its condemnation. In other words, believers are justified because of union with Jesus.

Here is where the problem rises. Why not then say, “Hey, we’re justified. Let’s sin! Let’s commit adultery, and do drugs, and drink because we’re not under law but under grace! We’re justified!” You could say that. I think the reality in many people today, and possibly for some in this room, however, is far more subtle. So many take this truth and think, “Hey, I’m not under law but under grace. I’m justified. I’m forgiven of my sin. So now I can live my life to be respected, and to have a good job, and to play guitar and watch sports, and marry well, and retire, and die and not go to hell. I’m justified.” I am so afraid of that for some of you.

Therefore Paul brings up this question. “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?” I have three points from his answer in verses 16-18.

1. You are slave of what you obey
“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves are slaves of the one whom you obey . . ? (v. 16)”

First let me make clear what Paul is not saying. He is not saying that, if you present yourself to sin, it eventually will grab hold of you and enslave you. Why is that important? It is important because you could look at this verse and say, “I sin, sure. But I’m not a slave. It hasn’t grabbed me yet. It hasn’t mastered me yet. I’ve seen slaves of sin. They have been totally overcome by drugs, or alcohol, or pornography, because they began to obey it and it gradually mastered them. I not a slave, so I’m all right.” My answer to you is: if you are living your life to be liked, to live comfortably, and to die and not go to hell, you are slave of sin because you are not living for God’s glory. Paul is not saying that, if you obey sin, it will overcome you. He is saying that you are a slave of what ever you obey. And if, deep down, you are living for yourself, you are a slave of sin.

2 Peter chapter 2 talks about people who look like Christians, and seem to “have escaped the defilements of the world,” but eventually prove themselves to be slaves of sin. Peter says that they fulfill the true proverb “a sow after washing returns to wallowing in the mire. (2 Peter 2:22)” You can wash and dress a pig. But underneath the suit and tie, it will always be a pig.

This is so obvious. You are a slave of what you obey. Do not miss this, as so many have. Do not lie to yourself.

2. Slavery to sin results in death. Slavery to righteousness results in righteousness
“. . . either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? (v. 16)”

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

Where is justification in these verses? Jesus did not say that those who are justified will enter the kingdom of heaven. He said that those who do the will of the Father will enter. This does not mean that justification is worthless and salvation comes by our own righteousness; justification is our only hope of heaven. But if you think that you can live a life of slavery to sin and still consider yourself to be justified because you come to Bible study and agree with what the Bible says, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what justification is. A justified person has been unified with Jesus—he has died to sin and been raised to newness of life.

Many will say to Jesus on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” “And did we not come to Bible study, and live moral lives, and pray, and believe what was taught?” And he will say, “I never knew you.”

There is a question you should have asked when you read verse 16. Why does Paul say that slavery to obedience results in righteousness? To make the parallel complete, he should have said that slavery to sin results in death and slavery to righteousness results in life. But instead he says that slavery righteousness results in righteousness. Why?

I think it is because he wants to stress the foundational importance of righteousness in salvation. Righteousness is utterly necessary. Only righteous people with inherit eternal life. Not because that is what makes them right before God, but because only righteous people—only those people that demonstrate the fruit of justification—are justified people. If you are not a slave of righteousness, you are not justified.

3. The only way to become a justified slave of righteousness is God-worked obedience to the gospel.
“But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (v. 17-18)”

The Roman Christians were slaves of sin but they became slaves of righteousness. “. . . though you were slaves of sin . . . you became slaves of righteousness.” How did this happen? The answer manifests the exclusive hope for your salvation.

This answer is found in middle of these verses. “. . . you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed . . .” In other words, these people saw gospel (the “form of teaching”) and obeyed it from the heart in repentance and faith. They saw the true, factual teaching that they were condemned sinners and they, not only agreed with it, but they obeyed it in repentance. And they saw the life and death of Jesus and redemption through His righteousness and, not only agreed that it was historically accurate, but threw their lives upon it in the obedience of faith.

But now you say, “Bryan, I thought freedom from sin was because of death to sin in the death of Christ. I thought it happened on the cross, historically. Why are you (and Paul) bringing this up to the conversion experience?”

Do you remember the oak tree? It is rooted in one place, but overshadows the whole timeline. All of this did happen in Jesus’ historical death (as Shaeffer says, “you could have gotten a splinter from the cross”), but this death is applied all over history. It is almost as if we did not die with Him until conversion, and then we died with Him thousands of years ago. Before conversion there is no oak tree and, after conversion, there is the oak tree. And so, in Adam, we are slaves of sin, and in Christ through faith, we become slaves of righteousness.

You have been coming for weeks and hearing this doctrine—this gospel. You may agree. But do you obey? You have seen from Romans 1-3 and 5 that you are a God-hater and a condemned sinner without hope. You may think that is theoretically true, but are you obeying it in true repentance? And you have seen the redemption that is in Christ through union with Him and justification. You may believe that this is Biblical truth, but are you obeying by throwing yourself on it in faith? Do you trust Christ in such a way that, if all of this were not true, you would be utterly lost? This hope is exclusive and is received alone by obedience to the gospel—justification, resulting in sanctification, resulting in eternal life.

Bryan Elliff © 2007

CF Bible Study, Romans 6:14: The Sin-Increasing Power of Law and The Law-Breaking Power of Grace.

McDonald’s Basement, September 12, 2007

“For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Romans 6:14

Understanding “Died to Sin”

A few weeks ago, I began our study by calling us to drastic submissiveness to the Bible. We went, you remember, to look at the reformers as examples both of true humility to Scripture (in their understanding of salvation) and also of some willful blindness (in infant baptism and sacralism). I then made this application: Particularly when studying difficult texts like Romans 6, we must people who are radically submissive to Scripture.

I am raising this point again because in my view, in order be truly humble to Romans 6, we need to change our understanding of a certain aspect of it. It has to do with the phrase “died to sin.” Up until now, I have seen this as meaning that Christ and we in Him died against or to the detriment of sin; in His death Jesus took this person of Sin and conquered it. To support this, I stressed the fact that Paul is talking about a real, historical death and not something metaphorical.

I was both right and wrong. Paul is talking about an actual, historical death—for Christ and for believers in Christ their representative. But Paul is going so much deeper than that. He is saying that this actual, historical death was a death to (or a going out of existence with regard to) sin’s mastery. He is taking the physical and historical and joining it with the metaphorical. Our crucifixion with Christ was a death under the punishment for our sin and, by virtue of that (by virtue of there now being no condemnation), it was a death to the power of sin over Christ and us.

I have a picture in my mind that may help. There is a kingdom and a King that rules it. Throughout this kingdom are certain castles and villages that are ruled by a lesser master. This master is Sin. You were born into slavery to this master. And your duty was to go out, fight, and engage in all kinds of treachery against the greater King.

Very early on you were caught and taken before the greater King who condemned you to death. But instead of being brought out and executed immediately, you were taken back and more firmly enslaved to your old master. This was part of your punishment. On the way to your full and final death, you were made to live a death in bondage to Sin. Your only hope was to become dead to your master by the removal of condemnation. You must go out of existence regarding him, so that when Sin comes, and stands over you, and says, “Go fight,” you are like a dead man to Him.

For the glory of His name and for the name of His Father, the Son of the King purposed to break your bondage and give you life. So the Father delivered Him to the executioner, your sentence was read over Him, and He was killed in your place. That death was your death—the Son was your representative and in Him your debt was paid. But that death was more than just your death as the punishment for your treachery. It was (because your condemnation was gone) your death to the power of your former master Sin.

This is what Paul is saying about our death with Jesus. We died to sin. When did that death happen? On a wooden cross, 30 AD. Our justifying death in Jesus our representative was our death to the power of sin.

Not under Law but under Grace

The first reason Paul gives for not continuing in sin is that we died in Christ to sin. The second reason he gives is that we are not under law but under grace. Verse 14“For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

Tonight, I want to answer just two questions about this verse. First, what does Paul mean by “under law” Second, what does he mean by “under grace,” and what are the implications of this.

First Question. Under Law

God’s first clear command to Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:16b-17 is very helpful in comprehending the nature of law. Look closely for the two aspects of this decree.
“From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat from it you will surely die.” Do you see the two ways that law works? In the first place, the law ruthlessly demands obedience (do not eat of the tree). And in the second place, the law condemns for disobedience (in the day you eat from it you will surely die).

But here is the truth that underpins all of Paul’s thinking about what it means to be “under law”: not only does law demand obedience and condemn disobedience, in doing those two things, it increases sin. He said in chapter five that “the law came in so that the transgression might increase . . .” Now here you are thinking, “Paul, surely you mean that sin only makes sin look like it increases. The law points out sin and shows it to be what it is.” That is true, but the deep-seated reality that he is uncovering rises much higher than that. In a man under law, sin increases.

Fleshly man is law-hating; he does not subject himself the law of God (Romans 8:8). So what happens when law comes in its commanding, exacting, dominating role? Sinful passions are aroused by it in rebellious, self-loving, God-hating people. “Who is God to lord over me?” And so sin abounds in defiance of the law.

It does not end there, however. You must imagine sin as a person, always looking for anything that he may take and use for his own advantage. Law is one of those things. Paul talked about this in chapter 7 verse 8. “But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind.” In verse 11, he explains how. He says, “. . . sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” Sin is a liar—he takes the good and right law of God, deceives, and kills.

Illustrated in my mind, it looks like this. The law is standing over me, commanding and dominating, and sin walks up next to me.

“Hey, Bryan.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re tired.”
“I know.”
“I hate law, don’t you?”
“Right, I hate law.”
“You know, you can’t do it. Nobody could keep that law. It’s unreasonable and unfair. So just sin. Its what you really want anyway.”

Sin, in whatever way possible, takes the righteous and good law of God and, through deception, kills us.

Law increases sin in its commanding role and it also increases sin in its condemning role. You remember what Paul has said about the strength of sin that lies behind its mastery. The strength of sin is in death (its result) and the cycle of sin leading to more sin through condemnation. But until now he has left out crucial point—law. Why does sin result in death? The law takes it and condemns it, resulting in further sin. All of this is beneath verse 14 and Paul’s meaning of “under law.”

Second Question. Sin Shall Not Be Your master—You Are Under Grace.

What does Paul mean when he says we are “not under law but under grace?” In chapter 7 verse 4 Paul answers this second question. “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ . . .” There it is. Your law fulfilling, punishment-erasing death with Jesus, was death to law. Sin can no longer grab it and twist it and use it to kill you because it is not your hope of righteousness. Christ is your hope of righteousness. And law no longer entangles you in the always-increasing cycle of death and sin because your justifying death in Jesus has removed death.

So my answer to both of the questions I began with is this: you died. You died in Christ, beneath the condemning cry of law, to the dominating, sin-increasing power of law. And therefore sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Bryan Elliff © 2007

CF Bible Study, Romans 6:11-13: Do Not Let Sin Reign

The McDonald’s basement, September 5, 2007

11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Romans 6:11-14

In some ways this is the most important lesson we will get from Romans 6:1-13. All that has come before these three verses—the doctrine of our union with Jesus in His death and resurrection—is meant to be behind and beneath what Paul says here. This is the practical outworking of that doctrine.

Building Your Life on Theology, Not on a Beach

A few days ago on our local Christian radio station, I heard a song that will demonstrate some of what I want to talk about tonight. The author of the song is probably speaking her disgust with the divisive pride that she sees in some so-called lovers of doctrine. But, in doing this, she runs to another extreme which I think is far more dangerous than the one she is working against. And it is far more prevalent in our society.

(v. 2) I am weary of the answers
More theory and cliché
They raise the letter of the law like a banner
‘Till You’re small and far away

(Chorus) Be real to me now
That’s all I’m asking
Be real to me now

(v. 3) Every scribe and every scholar
No winners in this debate
Everybody seems to stand up taller
When You’re easy to explain

I don’t need to know what I don’t know
Just got to let it go

(v. 4) So lay down the sword
And put away the doctrine
Love a little more, love a little more
‘Cause everybody’s broken

Here is the point: there are so many people who do not want doctrine, and as a result they have founded their lives on a foundation that will not stand. Often even devoted Christian young people do not want theology. They may not say it out loud, but at their core they just want to be told to love God, and love people, have a devotional quiet time every morning, and be a servant. And they are pragmatists. They do not want deep, complex truth, but rather, five practical steps for overcoming depression, or six practical strategies for resisting temptation, or three ways to love God with all your heart. And they don’t understand that when depression does come, and temptation hits, and they find that to love God means to bear a cross, all their foundationless, ungraspable ideas of love, and their shallow practicality, will completely crumble.

Do you know how Adoniram Judson, the nineteenth-century missionary to Burma, survived the sorrow and suffering of his life of preaching in that country? He survived it because of theology. He said this: “If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings.”1 Judson understood and experienced the complex, irrevocably true doctrine of the sovereignty of God. And it was the rock on which he stood through the loss of two wives, and six children, and imprisonment, and years of hope-crushing work before the first Burman man believed because of his preaching.

So which would you rather have—the contemporary song that tells to put away doctrine and “love a little more ‘cause everybody’s broken,” or the rock-solid, hope-sustaining confidence in doctrine of a man who had every reason to be broken? Do not build your house on the sand. Do not build it on shallow practicality and “loving a little more.” Build your house on the rock. Build it on the words of Christ—on theology. I long for us to be people who, fifty years from now, after the waves of affliction and sorrow and temptation have broken again and again over our lives, will still be standing. And I long for us to be people who have blisters all over our hands from digging into the Bible to comprehend the doctrine that we have built our lives upon.

Over the past few weeks, you have listened to all we have been talking about from Romans 6. Have you thought, “This is really good for the deep thinkers here. But I’m just not a deep thinker; I’m not a theology kind of person. I would rather just go home and try to love God and take care of my pets, and play sports, and be a good friend, and play piano or guitar in church, and invite people over for dinner, and wash dishes, and just be servant. ”? Do you know what you are saying? You are saying. “I want to build my house on the beach. Because beaches are fun! You get to wiggle your toes in the sand, and swim, and build sand-castles, and get a tan, and play beach volleyball. I want to have a beach-house because beaches are fun!” That is what you are saying. And, fifty years from now, when the rain and waves of sorrow and temptation have slammed against your life, you will not be standing.

So will you come with me? Will you build your life on doctrine? Let’s look at Romans 6.

Some Preliminary Observations on Verse 11

The first thing I want you to see in verses 11-13 is the link between verse 11 and verse 10. (v. 10) “For the death that He died, he died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” (v. 11) “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” How can Paul tell us to consider ourselves to have died and to have been raised? The last phrase is the key. In Christ Jesus, you died to sin, and now live to God. This is really a summary of all that he has said before in this chapter. In Christ your representative you died beneath Sin’s mastery in order to destroy its kingdom. And in Christ your representative you now live to God.

Consider one secondary point before going on to the main point of this verse. Why does Paul say, “consider yourselves to be dead . . .?” You would think, after all he has said so far, that he would say, “consider yourselves to have died . . .” In fact, the weight of the rest of this chapter is so great in that direction that I am going to argue that “have died” is still his meaning. I think this is probable for two reasons.

1. There seems to be some idea of contrast in verses ten and eleven. Christ died to sin, but lives to God. And in Him, we should consider ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God. There seems to be a chronological contrast; in His death we were dead, but now in His life we live.
2. The whole point of chapter 6 is life, not death. We were “buried with Him though baptism into death . . . in order that we might walk in newness of life.” Christ “is never to die again; death is no longer His master.” “The death that He died, He died to sin once for all . . .” And we are to present ourselves to God “as those alive from the dead.”

Perhaps it is best to think of this verse chronologically. “Consider yourselves dead to sin [in Christ’s death and when He died], but [now] alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Fight Sin with the Truth of Resurrection

This is what I mainly want to derive from the verse: Sin is not conquered with superficial pragmatism, but with belief in truth. Christian, do not fight your battle against indwelling sin mainly with shallow strategies and accountability partners. Please do not misunderstand me. They are often very helpful; I use them. But sin is a powerful enough enemy that, if they are your main support, it will eventually crush your strategies and render your accountability partners ineffective. Rather, fight your battles by understanding, believing, and saturating yourself in the truth of your justifying union with Christ.

How did Judson fight his battles against depression? By contemplating, and understanding, and believing, and experiencing that God is a God who is sovereignly good toward all of his children. How should you fight against sin? Not with lists, or strategies. Fight it by climbing as high as you can into the nature of your justification and union with Jesus in death and resurrection. That is how you wage war on sin. “Consider [Or reckon. That is the key word] yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” This is true practicality—the outworking of deep doctrine. When you are tempted with lust, or anger, or pride, or envy, consider yourself to be a justified sinner, having died and been raised with Christ, over whom sin has no mastery.

Do you see the power of justification? Do you see the power of the cross? It is not only your salvation from a future hell. It is your salvation from sin now, because he who has died has been justified from sin, and he who is justified is and will walk in newness of life. So, consider yourself to be alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Lay Hold of That for which You Were Laid Hold of

Ephesians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

Before the foundation of the world, God chose a people to be holy and blameless before Him. This is the plan. The creation of the world, the fall of Adam, and everything that has happened and will happen is ultimately moving toward this goal, for the glory of God’s grace. Every war, every murder, every heretical sermon, every baseball game, and every airplane crash is for the ultimate purpose of saving and purifying the Church of God for His glory. In the end God will fully gather this Church and purify Her and present her to His Son as a bride so that He might be exalted by her eternal, awestruck praise and joy and also by her very spotless, pure, God-wrought existence.

And it was for this that Jesus died. The final object of the justifying death of Christ is to save out of this world a pure and glorious bride for His Name’s sake. Colossians 1:22 says “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—“

So, our resurrection in order to be the spotless bride of Christ is the eternal plan of God and is accomplished through justification. But while this ultimate object is already accomplished in Christ for believers, it is not fully accomplished. We are indeed raised with Jesus—sin’s power is broken—but God, to further glorify Himself in us, has seen fit to have us fight a battle against the sin that still indwells us. So that, in the end, He will be so much more exalted through us. And therefore we must strive for the end that we have been called and justified for. Paul brings all these ideas together in Philippians 3:10-14.

“. . . that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship [or participation] in His sufferings, being conformed to His death; [Here is a Roman’s six—“united to Him in the likeness of His death”—concept] in order that I may attain to the resurrection of the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect . . .”

He desires to know Christ in union with His death in order to attain a resurrection that he has not fully attained. And we say, “Paul, haven’t you already attained resurrection? You said that all who are in Christ’s death are raised to newness of life, and that we should consider ourselves alive to God in Romans 6. And you said in Colossians 3 that because we have been raised up with Christ we should seek the things that are above. Why do you say that you have not obtained it?”

Here is the truth that Paul knew so well: we are raised already in Christ, but we are not yet fully raised. Christ bought for us resurrection. But that resurrection has three stages—(1) newness of life on earth with sin’s dominion gone but sin remaining, (2) the full resurrection of the soul to be present with God after the death of the body, (3) the final resurrection of the body and soul and all of the church to be the bride of Christ in a new heavens and new earth.

Though Paul was a man joyfully in the first stage of resurrection, his hunger and thirst was for the final stage. “I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” And like him we are already resurrected but not yet completely—triumphant in life but longing for fullness. And therefore we must fight with all that we have for the final stage of perfection, true worship and joy for God’s glory. We must strive to lay hold of that for which we have been laid hold of by Christ—holiness and blamelessness for His fame.

This is what Romans 6:12-13 is about. “Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go no presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive form the dead, and your member as instruments of righteousness to God.” Because you have been called to newness of life, and because Christ’s sin-bearing death and your union with Him in it was to fulfill that calling, fight for full newness of life.

We must be a group of young people who are blood-earnest about attaining the resurrection through the power of Christ’s resurrection, because it is for that we have been called and justified for the exaltation of Christ.

Bryan Elliff © 2007

1 Quoted in Giants of the Missionary Trail (Chicago: Scripture Press Foundation, 1954), 73.

CF Bible Study, Romans 6:5-10: Shall We Continue in Sin? Part 3

Kolb’s basement, August 29, 2007

5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;
7 for he who has died has been freed (justified) from sin.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death is no longer master over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Romans 6:5-10

Submit to Scripture. Do not Make Scripture Submit to You

Some of the most damaging beliefs that have been taught, and spread, and believed throughout church history have risen because of unsubmissiveness to Scripture. The proponents of these teachings, though they may have been correct in a large portion of their theology, were culpably blind at certain points.

The reformers are an example of radical humility to the Bible. In their understanding of the nature of salvation by grace through faith (contrary to the common Catholic teaching) they were amazingly submissive to the truth of the Word of God, despite the cost. However, in several beliefs, the reformers were also guilty of some pride toward the Bible. In their views of issues such as infant baptism and the territorial character of the “visible church” they closed their eyes to Bible’s teaching and were unwilling to counter traditional thought or retract their previous positions. The effects of this are still crippling the Church.

Especially when studying difficult texts like Romans six, we must exercise true humility. The temptation is strong to cling to an interpretation when evidence contradicts it. This temptation is grounded in pride. It is painful to acknowledge that we are incorrect (teachers particularly) or to change our understanding when what we previously thought seemed to sound better.

For some of us, the concepts we have been finding in these verses are new. Be careful not disregard them for that reason only. Justification by faith was new to the bulk of the sixteenth-century church. But perhaps more importantly, we must not hold so tightly to these somewhat new ways of viewing these passages that, if we begin to see that they are wrong, we will close our eyes to the truth. Even though I do not think we need to change our current view of Romans six, I think we must consciously be willing to do so if such a change is necessary. The Word of God is the authority; we submit to it. So, tonight, let’s approach this Word humbly.

When Does Baptism into Christ Happen?

Last week after Bible Study, some one brought up a very helpful question. “At what point are we unified with Christ—at conversion, at His death, or some time in eternity? And did Old Testament people like Abraham and David die with Him even though he had not died?” I am answering this question now because it will help us to more fully understand how to think of union with Jesus.

Here is the simple answer: believers were united to Jesus when He lived on earth, died, and was raised. Imagine a timeline out in the middle of floor. Somewhere here in the middle (around 30 AD) your unification with Christ as your representative began. Jesus’ death is like an oak tree that grows out of our timeline. Its roots and trunk are historically grounded on Golgotha at 30 AD, but its branches spread out and overshadow all of history and all of the future. So David and Abraham before, and we after, receive the effects of this historical life, death and resurrection because, like the tree, it spreads over all of time.

We should not primarily think of dying and living with Jesus individualistically, though we should not lose that aspect. We should rather think of it corporately. In the work of Christ, all believers as a body (not simply as individuals) were immersed into Him.

Life is the Point, and Life is Certain

In verses five through ten, Paul absolutely devastates the idea that this chapter began with—that we should sin so that grace would increase. He does this by proving the unalterable certainty of resurrection with Christ for those who have died with Christ. “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.” When Paul uses the future tense (certainly we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection) he is not mainly concerned with future resurrection in the last day, but is making a logical argument. I could say something similar: “you knocked on the door so that you could enter this house. For those that knock on the door shall enter the house.” Those who die with Christ shall (logically) be raised with Him to newness of life.

Do you see the massive weight of this argument? If Paul proves that resurrection (or, “walking in newness of life” in verse four) is a definite result of death in Jesus, the thought that we could live in sin for any reason is utterly incongruous.

Knowing This

Before arguing fully for why resurrection is certain, Paul reestablishes some facts we already know from verses three and four. “. . . knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin . . .”

“. . . our old self was crucified with Him . . .”

Note how this parallels with verse four. “We have been buried with Him through baptism into death . . .(v. 4)” and, “. . . our old self was crucified with Him . . .(v. 5)” In His crucifixion, Christ legally represented us. In God’s eyes, we died with Him in His death.

“. . . that our body of Sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin . . .”

This is the reason for our crucifixion with Jesus—newness of life. Again the link with verse four is clear. “. . . so that we to might walk in newness of life (v. 4).” and “. . . that our body of Sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin . . .(v. 6)”

The core part of believers’ resurrection in the future will be full freedom from sin resulting in true worship and true joy. But even now, though God has chosen to delay its completion, resurrection with Christ has occurred for the elect. Our sinful, fleshly, Adam-saturated self has been made new. And we are no longer slaves untiringly constructing Sin’s kingdom. We know this: we were joined with Christ in death in order to be joined with Him in life.

Justification: the Basis of Resurrection

Paul has been building an argument against the idea that we should sin so that grace might increase. But one critical link is missing. From verses two through six, we know that we have died with Christ and that death will certainly result in resurrected life no more dominated by Sin. But why is it that is this resurrection is so irreversibly certain?

Verse seven is the answer—and the answer is enormous. “For he who has died [with Christ] has been justified from sin.” (Many translations say “freed from sin.” This is due perhaps to the translator’s interpretation of the whole passage. Every other place that Paul uses this word it is translated “justified,” as it should be here.)

Here is the truth that undeniably confirms the reality of our resurrection and our inability to live in sin: the elect, who have died with Christ, are justified. This might be the most important statement in the first half of this chapter. The Church died with Jesus in His sin-bearing, death-crushing, crucifixion and therefore it stands before the Holy Judge righteous and alive in His only Son. Because death is broken, Sin’s grip is loosed and we are certainly in His resurrection.

The Life of Christ Proves the Life of the Church

The fact that resurrection unquestionably follows our death in Christ is so victorious, and sin-denying, and decisive in refuting any abuse of justification, that Paul proves it again in verses eight through ten, but in a somewhat different way. “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death is no longer master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.”

Before, Paul used the logic of verse seven. Now Paul is appealing to concrete evidence; evidence he had experienced first-hand. It is as if he is saying, “Look at Jesus. He lives! Death is no longer His master. The power of sin and death is shattered. For the very death that Christ died on the cross under the mastery of sin and death, was a death against sin and death. By being overpowered by sin and death, He was overpowering sin and death. And if He, our representative is raised and lives to God, we most certainly live to God in Him.”

Summary

-Unification with Christ is corporate and began in His historical life, death and resurrection. Like an oak tree it overshadows all of time.

-Paul proves the resurrection of believers (newness of life, freedom from sin) in order to do away with the argument that we could continue in sin that grace might increase. He does this in two ways.

1. Those who have died with Christ have been justified. And because the wrath of God is satisfied, sin and death have no power over the Body of Christ (v. 5-7).

2. Jesus Christ lives, proving evidentially that He and all who are in Him are raised (v. 8-10).

Bryan Elliff © 2007