The Heart Of God's Redemptive Work
Introduction
Being Dead IN sin and being dead TO sin are two opposite ends of the spectrum. Before salvation, one is dead IN sin; and, after Salvation one is dead TO sin. A dead person has no reaction whatsoever to things which are done to them. One can speak to them and nothing happens. One can touch them and there is no response at all. You can challenge them and there will be no defense. Paul is saying that the Christian is dead to the persuading power of sin. He should not be moved by it because he is DEAD TO SIN.
The reality of our death WITH and IN Christ should be so real to us that sin would evoke no natural response from us at all. This is the level of Christianity Jesus died for and Paul preached continuously. What we are looking at today is not THEORY it is REALITY, and the quicker one realizes this then the quicker they will be able to live the Christian life as Christ intended it to be lived. Everyone will attest to the value of being in a right relationship with Christ. They want this relationship to be a reality so that they can be assured of eternal life. When questioned about their spiritual life they will say that they are in "good shape"; that there is nothing to worry about. But, I'm afraid these people, many times are being led astray by Satan. I'm afraid that they really know very little about God's Operation which makes the Victorious Christian Life a possibility for everyone.
Something happened on the Cross that day Jesus died and you need to know for sure that you understand what actually took place. We are dealing today with the HEART of God's Redemptive Work. Listen very carefully and apply what you hear.
I. The Reality Of Death
Verses 1-5
BAPTIZED, v.3, baptizo, transliteration of Greek. Wuest -"placing a person into an new environment or into union with someone else so as to alter their condition or relationship to their previous condition or relationship".
God does this to the sinner. He places you into a vital union with Christ so that the power of your Old Sinful Nature is broken and the Divine Nature is implanted when the sinner identifies with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. This alters your previous state and environment. It brings you into a new environment: God's Kingdom. We are referring to our Baptism INTO Christ, not water baptism.
PLANTED, sumphutos, "united together". To grow together - a oneness with Christ - Picture of a graft becoming united with a tree. It shares the life of the tree.
Paul is saying: Christ's death was our death. Christ's burial was our burial. Christ's resurrection was our resurrection. We already reside on the resurrection side of the grave and all we have to do is to appropriate this truth and live in its victory.
II. The Reason For Death
Verses 6-7
Through the operation described in v. 6-7, God has broken sin's stranglehold on all believers. Verse 6(a) tells us why: "Our OLD MAN is crucified with him." OLD MAN...Rom. 6:6, Eph. 4:22, Col.3:9. "The man of the old corrupt nature, the inborn tendency to evil." God "reckons" (logizomai) this death to be so and we are told to make this good in our experience of life. The result is that we "put off" the old man and "put on" the new man. "body of sin"...the instrument for carrying out sins orders. You may not FEEL dead to sin but you are if you are saved. Your body may feel alive to sin but it is not. God has placed an operation into place and your feelings do not change that.
OPERATION...The OLD MAN has been crucified, and someone else has done it. You cannot crucify yourself. NOW, who did it? God did in Jesus Christ. Just as salvation does not depend on feelings, neither does the FACT of the death to sin of the old man. The WHOLE MACHINERY of redemption declares the fact of your death in Jesus Christ.
Victorious Christian Living rests upon the fact that you are dead in Christ and you must receive this as fact. Rom. 6:6-7 fully believed and received as fact breaks sin's stranglehold upon your life.
III. The Results Of Our Death In Christ
Verses 8-9
In Romans 6:8-9, we find the RESULTS of the information in v. 6-7. Christ's death and resurrection go hand in hand and so do ours. We are identified with his resurrection because it is Christ living in his people triumphantly.
Because Jesus is alive and is forever beyond the power of death we have the capacity to live beyond sin. God has provided a way for His People to be delivered from the dominion of sin. Dominion means - "supreme authority" or "a governed territory." An athlete will bring his body into subjection in order to win the race. Should we do less in the Christian Life?
The Redemptive Event - what ACTUALLY took place there? How does it relate to us?
A. His SCOURGING AND BEATING
Sin will abuse you in every way. It will literally destroy you physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
B. His CRUCIFIXION
Absolutely at the mercy of the power of sin. Unable to move. Nothing you can do except take the punishment for sin. Unbearable pain and anguish - product of sin. God says - you were CRUCIFIED IN HIM.
C. His DEATH
Absolute succumbing to the power of sin. This is the goal of satan - to kill you and destroy you. God says - you also DIED IN HIM. If you are DEAD TO SOMETHING it can no longer have an effect on you - remember what we said about a corpse?
D. His RESURRECTION
Power of sin (death) is broken. God says you were resurrected in Him. Sin has no more power over the Christian and its results, DEATH, is absolutely defeated by Christ. Now, if you are IN a resurrected, victorious Lord, then death cannot touch you. You have Eternal Life in Jesus.
In verse 21 it is stated that Salvation brings shame for what we once were. It shows us just how morally and spiritually decadent we really were. If a person claims salvation and feels no shame for his past actions, I question whether he was really saved or not.
For a person to WILLFULLY sin is for that person to CHOOSE to live in the domain Satan has for him. He has to CHOOSE to live there because God has, in actuality, provided another environment for him in Christ Jesus.