Dying to Live: Victory Over Sin (Romans 6:11-14)

College Baptist Church

May 5, 2002

Purpose: To show God's grace super-abounds toward us, not that we might sin more that grace may abound, but that we might not sin, demonstrating His abounding grace; to delineate the text's three verbs by which we can seize the victory over sin.

Text

Romans 6:11-14. ¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves 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 evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Introduction

John 11 records one of the most amazing miracles of Jesus. Lazarus has been dead for four days. Jesus purposely delayed His return to Bethany. Jesus told His disciples that He did so that they may believe (11:14). When they arrived at Bethany, first Martha, then Mary tearfully greeted Jesus.

"Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died. But I know even now God will give you whatever you ask" (11:21ff.), Martha declared.

Jesus replied, "Your brother will rise again."

"I know my brother will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

"Yes, Lord. I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

Later, having wept with empathy with Mary and Martha, Jesus stood at the tomb.

"Take away the stone," he said.

"But, Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."

Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

"Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

A picture of new life in Christ

This is a vivid illustration of the new Christians life. When we place our faith in Christ we are raised as it were from death to life. The problem with many Christians is that it seems that it takes us a long time to get the burial clothes all off. And often once they are off we often go putting them back on.

Of course, I'm picturing the burial clothes as our old life of sin. Paul argues in Romans 6 that it doesn't make sense to go back to the old life because it is a matter of life and death. It wouldn't make sense for Lazarus to wrap himself back up again and return to his stinking condition of death.

Background

We are identified in Christ, in His death and in His resurrection. Our identification is so close that the effects of being lost "in Adam" are completely counteracted by being "in Christ." And being in Christ is a matter of receiving God's super-abundant grace through faith- grace that is more than enough.

We have pointed out that two facets of salvation are revealed in Romans- justification and sanctification.

Romans 3:21-5:21 Romans 6-8

Justification: God's righteousness imputed Sanctification: righteousness imparted

(put on my account) (made a part of life)

Substitution: He died for me Identification: I died with Him

He died for my sin He died unto sin

He paid sin's penalty He broke sin's power

Saved by His death Saved by His life

As we live by faith, we experience victory (chapter 6), liberty (chapter 7), and security (chapter 8).

Transition

Paul has anticipated the argument that if God's grace deals so effectively with our sin, let's sin all the more so He can show His grace all the more. But that's not what it's all about. In contrast grace gives us victory over sin.

God's grace super-abounds toward us, not that we might sin more that grace may abound, but that we might not sin, demonstrating His abounding grace. In Christ, we have victory over sin!

In 6:2-14, Paul gives us three verbs that are the keys to seizing our victory over sin.

Know

Three times Paul stresses the importance of knowing this truth.

• 6:3. Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
• 6:6. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
• 6:9. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

Paul is saying, "You need to know what I am saying is true. You may not understand it but when Christ died, you died. With His resurrection, you live. If you died, you died to sin. If you live, it is Christ living in you. Through faith, you know that this is true."

John MacArthur emphasizes, "For a Christian to live out the fullness of his new life in Christ, for him to truly live as the new creation that he is, he must know and believe that he is not what he used to be. He must understand that he is not a remodeled sinner but a remade saint. He must understand that, despite his present conflict with sin, he is no longer under sin's tyranny and will never be again. The true understanding of his identity is essential."

In Hosea 4:6 (NASB), God declared to Israel, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Conversely, God's people are saved when they have the knowledge the revelation of God, when they take it as truth what He as revealed, and embrace that truth in faith.

Knowing has to do with our minds. The knowledge of the truth that we are identified with Christ in His death and His resurrection leads us to embrace the truth with our hearts.

Count

The second verb has to do with the heart. Count.

6:11. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Some your Bibles may say "reckon" (KJV, NKJV), or "consider" (NRSV). It literally is to count. It also means to impute, or to put on one's account. Once it is on our account, we can count on it. It's a reality. "If I 'logizomai' or reckon that my bank book has $25 in it, it has $25 in it. Otherwise I am deceiving myself. This word refers to facts not suppositions" (Strong).

MacArthur points out that count "was commonly used metaphorically in the sense of fully affirming a truth, of having unreserved inner confidence in the reality of what the mind acknowledges. Though both aspects actually occur in the mind, we think of this matter in the sense of being 'heart felt.'"

We know, however, that it is not a simple matter to daily experience this heartfelt conviction. In the next chapter, Paul himself acknowledge the dynamic struggle of applying this truth to life. ¹⁸I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do- this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it (Romans 7:18-20).

There are a number of reasons why it is challenging to daily experience this heartfelt conviction:

1. Some simply haven't heard the truth, and haven't had a chance to take it to heart, that they have died with Christ now He lives in them with all the power one would ever need- super-abounding grace- to overcome sin and its eroding, evil effect on our lives.
2. Satan doesn't want us to remember and live by this heartfelt truth. The purpose of his existence is to undermine the purposes of God. We are reminded that in this world we are in hand-to-hand combat with the evil one (Ephesians 6:12). He will not yield easily. But before the blood of Christ, he cannot stand.
3. It is also hard to experience this spiritual reality because it is spiritual. Physical effects are not immediately discernable. It is a matter of the heart and faith. As we embrace the truth, we begin to apply it to specific situations and see it fleshed out. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:12 to continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
4. The most common reason it is challenging to daily experience this truth is our continuing battle with sin. Our experience seems to contradict this truth. We will be hitting this in coming weeks. But we continue to battle with sin because we are still in our flesh with it's accompanying sinful nature. That is why we are so often strongly tempted. Paul's answer, attitude and affirmation is . . .

Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Yield

The third verb is yield. Yield has to do with the will.

6:12-14. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Do not offer. What are we offering and to whom? The KJV says, ¹³Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. To whom do we yield? Do we yield to sin or to God?

It is clear that on-going realities of battle against sin is with us. But Paul exhorts us, Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. "Sin is personified by Paul as a dethroned but still powerful monarch who is determined to reign in the believer's life just as he did before salvation. The apostle's admonition to believers, therefore, is for them to not let sin reign, because it now has no right to reign. It now has no power to control a believer unless the believer chooses to obey its lusts" (MacArthur).

Knowing the truth in our minds, embracing it in our hearts as something upon which we can count, we engage our will, offering ourselves in faith to God to live in righteousness through the power of His super-abounding grace.

God makes it abundantly clear that His desire and intention is that we live in victory over sin:

• 1 Peter 1:14-16. ¹⁴As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
• 1 Peter 2:11, 12. ¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. ¹² Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Conclusion

6:14. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Sin is not our master because we are under God's grace! It is all about God! He gives us the victory. For we are in Christ. Alive to Him. Dead to sin.

Know the truth! Count on it in your heart! Yield yourself entirely to God!

5:20b, 21. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹ so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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