Brothers and Sisters, as you know, we're on the cusp of a new year starting tomorrow, 2024. And I started thinking about that and I thought, I may as well have a little bit of fun with this. So I did some research on New Year's resolutions because for many of us, and for much of the world, the dreaded New Year's resolution is synonymous with a new year. So I said, what are the top 10 New Year's resolutions?
I'm not going to read you all 10 of them, but I'll give you just an inkling. I looked at the first thing that popped up, which was 8 magazine's 2019 survey. And I know that's before COVID, but anyway, here they are. And they're not going to be a surprise.
Diet or eat healthier. 71% of people want to do that. 65% of the people want to exercise more. And another 54% want to lose weight.
So if you want to know the rest of the time, you can see me after the service. But I checked a number of post COVID lists and they're all about the same. According to this survey, about 60% of the people make a New Year's resolution, but only 8% keep them. And here's really what's interesting.
More than half of the respondents to the survey said they failed the resolution by January 31. So about a month from now, if you're making a resolution, about half of us are going to fail. So interestingly, though, I searched and I searched. And in none of the lists did I find a resolution that said, I would like to live a whole year life.
Or I'd like to become closer to Jesus this year. And I know you're probably all stunned by that. So I thought, where could I find some good instruction? What if the apostle Paul was with us?
What would he say to us? We say, Paul, what should we do this New Year? Well, if you were here, he might say, well, I've got an idea. Why don't you turn to what I wrote in Romans 6 verses 1 through 14?
And I'll talk to you about somebody who keeps all their resolutions and who keeps resolutions even for his family members who are too weak to keep them themselves. And because he keeps his resolutions, I think I can convince you that you might want to make some resolutions of your own to live for him. But I don't want you to make it just a one-year resolution. I'd like you to make this a lifetime one.
So, of course, Romans 6 is our text for today. Paul tells us that God is very concerned about the way we live. And why is that? Because we're united to his son, Jesus, and have been declared righteous because of his love for us and his redeeming and reconcilatory work on our behalf.
In other words, our justification through Jesus' work, which Paul has been talking about from chapters 3 through 5, should lead to our sanctification. And in chapter 6, Paul gives us a clearer view of how our union with Christ is the power source, not only in our justification, but also in our sanctification. And by the way, as a reminder, justification is a one-time event where Jesus' death on the cross is applied to those who have faith in him. The penalty for our sin was put upon him, and God declared us righteous.
Christ's righteousness was counted toward us. On the other hand, sanctification is an ongoing process whereby the Holy Spirit transforms us throughout our lifetimes and enables us to fight sin and become more like Jesus. So, to understand Romans 6, it's really important to do a brief recap of chapter 5. So they flow right into each other.
I've often thought that chapter 6 could just be an extension of chapter 5. Paul has laid the groundwork for us in chapter 5, and he told us very importantly that we used to be enemies of God. Why is that? Because our representative, Adam, broke the covenant of works and brought us all death and condemnation.
So then Paul went on to contrast that with the work of our other representative, Jesus Christ, who is the mediator of the covenant of grace. And Paul proved to us how superior this covenant of grace is to the covenant of works because our new representative, Jesus, is so far superior to our old representative, Adam. And in chapter 5, toward the end of the chapter, starting at verse 18, Paul left us with some critically important words. He said, therefore, as one trespass, meaning Adams, led to condemnation for all men, the entire human race.
So one act of righteousness, Jesus, leads to justification and life for all men, all who have faith in Christ. For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. And this is where it gets really intense, starting at verse 20. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Well, those inspiring words bring us to chapter 6, they lead right into it. And so we might call chapter 6 the, the so what chapter? Or the now what do we do chapter? In other words, Paul told us about justification and reconciliation that we have with God due to Christ and our permanent union with him.
But what do we do about it? How do we live? What happens between the time we put our faith in Christ and are justified and the time we live with him in eternity? Well, Paul starts to connect some of the dots for us here in this chapter.
He'll go on and elaborate much more in subsequent chapters toward the end of the epistle, but he gives us the beginning, the underpinnings of how to live in this chapter. And so I just kind of fold this closer. This is an intense chapter. It's, it's, so I'm going to give you an overview.
There are some complex thoughts here that Paul gives us. And, but you can go back and listen and read. And it really is a, is a beautiful section of scripture and Paul unfolds it paragraph by paragraph. And so in this chapter, and verses one through 14, we'll examine really three elements.
And that is number one, how our union with Christ calls us to holy living. Number two will be how our union with Christ makes us alive to God. And point number three will be how our union with Christ frees us from sin's rule. So before we dive in, let's ask the Lord's blessing on our, on our time.
Our Lord and our God, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you for our justification, our reconciliation. Thank you for the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We pray now that through the words of the Apostle Paul and subsequent teaching that you would teach us how to live, not just this new year, but for the remainder of our lives.
We pray these things in Christ's name, amen. So we'll go through this about a paragraph at a time. The first paragraph verses one through four, how our union with Christ calls us to holy living. Point number one then.
Listen to God's word. Paul says, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound by no means? How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death. In order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. He starts out with verse one and says, what shall we say then?
In other words, one we do now, since we've benefited from the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we've been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his Son, our union with Adam and subsequent and corresponding condemnation has been forever broken. We've been rescued from this inescapable prison and we have faith in Jesus. So what's next? What do we do about it?
And so you'll notice there just with that question, there's always a call to action or a call to transformation with the gospel. God doesn't want to just acknowledge he wants changed hearts, changed minds, changed lives. Paul continues in verse two and he asks a rhetorical question. He says, are we to continue in sin?
That grace may abound by no means. We died to sin. How can we still live in it? So this focuses back on chapter five, verses 20 and 21, where I said the law came into increase the trespass, but grace reigns through righteousness.
And Paul asked this question is because as many of you know, he's had his detractors back in his day and he is, his detractors still. And some of the detractors are what we use a fancy term called anti-nomians. That means people who think, well, the law of God doesn't apply anymore. I'm saved by grace.
So forget the law of God. I'm just going to live a Holy Spirit. It's in me and whatever he leads me to do, that's what I'm doing. I don't need the law of God.
And in opposition to that is the legalist view. And if you remember the book of Galatians, Paul encountered the Judaizers who said, well, Jesus says a good star. I agree with you. You need Jesus, but you still need to be circumcised.
You still need to obey all these rules. And Paul answers both viewpoints with the same answer to the anti-nomians. He's saying, by no means, we died this sinful unlawful living and we can't keep living that way. And to the legalist, he's saying, look, obedience to the law never has and never will save you.
Only grace can set you on a path where you can begin to honor God with Holy Living. And I had a friend many, many years ago who attended a Catholic church. And I don't know what his, how knowledgeable he was about his church's doctrine or positions, but he would say to me, I love being Catholic because I can sin like crazy. Monday through Saturday and I go to Mass and confess it.
Well, that's the viewpoint that says, yeah, we can keep on sinning so that grace may increase. We can just do whatever we want. And God will forgive it. In fact, God will be glorified the more we sin.
But the legalist says, Paul, are you crazy? You're telling people to live an anarchistic life. You're telling them that rules don't matter. And Paul's saying no to both of them.
We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer is what Paul says. And then he goes on and he says, don't you know, all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.
And so baptism symbolizes the fact that we are united with Christ. And I think this is a forgotten fact in much of Christianity. We are in union inseparable union with Christ forever. And that his death and penalty for our sins did our way with our inescapable, except by grace, union with Adam.
So we were enslaved to sin. We were eternally separated for God. And that is gone once and for all. So our death to sin, our baptism into Christ's death proclaims to the world that we are alive in Christ and united with him forever.
That old life is dead and it's gone. That old person doesn't exist anymore. That person is buried and is never coming back. Instead, a new person has arisen who has the same values as Jesus.
Paul writes to us in 2 Corinthians 5, for the love of Christ controls us. Sin doesn't control us anymore. The love of Christ does. Because we have concluded this, that one meaning Jesus has died for all.
Therefore, all have died. Paul goes on and he gives us an in order that in verse 4. The purpose. Why did all this stuff that I talked to you about before happen?
Here's the purpose. In order that we may walk in newness of life. He gives us the reason for being baptized into Christ's death. And then he draws a parallel between Christ's resurrection and our newness of life.
So the application here is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. He says, the glory of the Father will similarly be the power that enables us to walk in newness of life. Think about that. That is worth repeating.
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, the glory of the Father is the same power working in us to enable us to walk in newness of life. You're a new creation. You're buried that old man or woman. So this union with our Savior and doing away with our union with Adam doesn't allow us to continue in that same sinful lifestyle.
Instead, Christ has given us a new life. And since he's our model of how to live, we're supposed to live like him and for him, not like our old ways. Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 5 and he died for all. That those who live might no longer live for themselves.
He's saying, the reason is so that you don't any longer live in those old sinful ways. But instead, they live for him who for their sake died and was raised. Let's talk about our second point. Now how our union with Christ makes us alive to God.
That starts in verse 5 and goes through verse 11. Listen once again to God's word. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him.
In order that, the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again.
Death no longer has no minion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
So Paul is saying here, starting at verse 5, that our union with Christ in his death also means union with him in his resurrection. He didn't just kill sin. He did something even more fantastic. This points to our future resurrection as well as the present one.
Paul's talking in the future tense here in the first five. We shall certainly be. But later in verses 10 through 11, he speaks in the present tense. He's saying in verses 6 through 7, the old self with its enslavement to sin is now gone and powerless.
Remember he said it was buried. And as a result, believers are now set free from sin. Well, remember I told you at the beginning that there were some complex phrases, some complex thoughts? What in the world does it mean to be set free from sin?
Because we all know that we sin every day. In fact, the very apostle who wrote this chapter and said you're free from sin, he wrote chapter 7 in which he said, ah, wretched man that I am, I don't do what I want to do. I do the very thing that I don't want to do. In other words, he's frustrated by his sin.
So we know that from Paul's writing and our own experience being free from sin doesn't mean sinless perfection in this lifetime. Well, what does it mean? This is where having an understanding of chapter 5 is so important. Because we're set free from our union with Adam.
And in that union with Adam, even our best intentions as non-believers were sinful. Think about that. Our best intentions as non-believers were sinful. And why is that?
Because we didn't do them for the glory of God. Theologians have a fancy term in Latin and they say they describe this state of pre-faith in Christ as non-possai, non-pakare. Huh? Well, it just means it's impossible to not sin for somebody who is not in Christ, impossible.
And Paul has already told this. In chapter 3 of Romans verse 11, he said, no one seeks for God. No, not one. Before Christ rescues us from the prison of Adam, from the kingdom of darkness.
We don't have a chance. We sin all the time. But now we're free from that prison. Jesus says in John chapter 8, so if the sun sets you free, you are free indeed.
And he has set us free because we're united now with Christ. You can't lose sight of the fact that we are in union with Christ now and forever. And so it's now possible for us not to sin because we want to please God. We're motivated to please him.
Paul puts it this way. Why is it possible to not sin? He says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away.
Behold, the new has come. That's why it's possible for us not to sin because we have been set free by Jesus Christ and are now united with him. We have been made over and we are continuing to be made over. My brother Tim here calls it the now and the not yet.
And this is what Paul is giving us here. Let's move on to verses 8 through 9. Since we died with Christ and are free from sin's rule, we will also live with Jesus because he's risen from the dead and death no longer has power over him. He's defeated sin, death and their power.
And as Paul said in chapter 9, or 5 rather, grace has defeated sin. Death had temporary power over Jesus because he was here on earth, he was in human form and he hadn't been resurrected yet. But now he's in a totally different state. He's in the resurrected state and the power that death once had is gone.
This is the great hope of Christians, the resurrection and living eternally with Jesus. So moving on to verses 10 through 11, since Jesus is alive and has crushed sin and will never die again, but instead lives for God, you have to think the same way about yourselves. We have to think the same way about ourselves. We are dead to sin and we're alive to God because of the work of Jesus and our faith in him.
And so the process of daily walking in newness of life starts in our minds. Paul says in verse 11, so you also must consider. So what are we to consider? We're to consider the fact that we have been resurrected to newness of life.
We're to focus on the work of Christ on our behalf and its implications for our relationship with God and how we live. Interestingly, Paul is gone through all of Romans thus far, about five and a half chapters, and he's not issued one command. This is the first in verse 11. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Peter has a parallel passage. First Peter 1, he says, therefore, preparing your minds for action and being so reminded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So this is where we begin our New Year's resolution to live holy lives for Christ. It starts with remembering what we've been rescued from our union with Adam, who rescued us, Jesus Christ, why he rescued us so that we could live with him and have eternal life and bring glory and honor to him.
What our status is now, we're free from sin and we're resurrected to newness of life, small are, and as a result, we're to live holy lives. So this brings us to point three, how our union with Christ frees us from sin's rule. In verse 12, Paul goes on and he says, let not therefore sin reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace. So once again, this is where our New Year's resolution hits full force. Paul tells us two things not to do, and it gives us two positive commands. First of all, he says, don't let sin rule in your life and in your body.
So he still have sinful passions within you, he's saying, and there's still spiritual warfare occurring that's going to entice you to misuse the life God has given you to live for him. The enemy wants you to go back and say, hey, maybe I should keep on standing so that grace may increase. The enemy wants us to forget everything that Paul is telling us about what has been done for us through Christ. So within that spiritual warfare battles that are waged within the various parts of our lives and our bodies, and they tempt us periodically, well, all the time, to yield to whatever sinful behaviors might be tempting us and to lose focus of our union with Christ.
But Paul here is reinforcing our freedom from the bondage of sin and our subsequent ability to not sin. He's reminding us that since the rulership, the reign of sin and death has been defeated by a grace, you don't have to obey it anymore. In fact, the power of the Holy Spirit living in you gives you the ability to not yield to sin, but even more to do the very opposite, which is what he continues to say in verse 13 when he says, present yourselves and your members to God. He's reminding us your ruler is God, not sin.
And so live for him, not for sin, our allegiance is to God our ruler. Because he's brought us from death to life, we're supposed to think act and live in light of our justification. So when we go into the battles, the hand-to-hand combat of our temptations and spiritual warfare, Paul wants us to present every part of our being to God for good things. He wants us to remember, which is why he started out in verse 11 by saying, consider he wants us to remember our changed status as a result of the work of Jesus on our behalf.
So once again, a parallel passage, Peter says, as obedient children, obedient children, obedient to what? If I could just go on sinning so the grace may increase, what am I obedient to? Peter cares about the moral law. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.
Don't be conformed to those old ways because you're obedient. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy. In all your conduct, since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. And finally in verse 14, Paul says, sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
So what he's doing there is he's bringing us back full circle to chapter 5, where God's grace through Jesus Christ defeated sin and death. Remember he said the law came in to increase trespass. That's chapter 5 verse 20. But we're sin-increased, grace abounded all the more so that as sin rained in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So Paul here, giving us the reminder, is stating a fact. He's not saying don't let sin reign or have dominion over you. He's saying sin will not have dominion to. He's saying there's no way that it can, because you're in a different kingdom now and you're united to a different king.
And that king has you and he's not going to let you go. And as you walk through life, he's going to make you more and more like him. So he's saying death will not have dominion over you. You are not under law.
You're not under the penalty of the law anymore. You're under grace. So to summarize, I told you guys this was a big download. It would take weeks for us to go through this if we had the time or if we wanted to.
But just what do we learn today? What did Paul teach us? Well, first of all that we're united with Christ, we've been free from the penalty and power of sin, not just the penalty, but the power of sin. Sin is no longer our ruler.
Because we're united with Jesus forever, we're called to holy living. In other words, we're called to be conformed to the holiness of Christ. You shall be holy for I am holy. Third, our union with Christ makes us alive to God.
We're no longer that old man or old woman. We're new creations. We are alive to God, resurrected, and free to live in a way that pleases him. Paul wants us to dwell on what has been done for us through Christ, because that's the foremost way in which we'll battle against sin and live for God.
So a few points of application. Paul doesn't tell us precisely how to do things. He's giving us a concept, an overview. He'll give us more details in chapters 12 through 16.
And I certainly can't tell you precisely how to apply this to your lives, but as one of your elders, I can give you some suggestions. So the first suggestion is I would pray through this passage. So I found myself, as I've been driving around Northwest Arkansas this past week, actually praying through this passage and saying, Lord help me to walk in newness of life. Thank you that I'm free from sin.
Thank you that I'm resurrected with Jesus. Please help me to use my mind and my members for your glory. Just praying through that is a reminder of asking the Lord also then to show you areas of your life where you're not presenting yourself to God and your members to him as instruments of righteousness. Always try to focus on specifics.
And so being a business guy, I think in terms of quarterly goals. So I'll tell you what not to do. I had this great idea. I said for my team, I'm going to do some quarterly goals.
I had like four or five on one page. I was super happy with myself. And I got thinking, you know what? I should put a little more meat on each of these things.
And before I knew it, I had 10 pages. Don't do that. You can't quote unquote fix all your sins at once. Remember, this is a lifelong process of sanctification.
Ask the Lord where he wants you to focus. Next would be of course, spend daily time in God's word. I was listening to something, I think to a sermon not too long ago. And the pastor said, 81% of all Christians never read their Bibles except on Sundays.
Don't do that. Be in the Word. That will enable you to grow. Ask the Holy Spirit while you're in the Word to make you more Christ-like.
Then my last suggestion, which I think we do a good job here at this church, but we can always get better at. And that is get with a small group of believers or with a mentor to help guide you, to help encourage you, and to pray with you. We grow together. We grow in community.
That's why the writer of Hebrews says, encourage one another daily while it's called today. Let's pray together. Lord, you've given us a lot here through the Apostle Paul, but particularly you've given us a lot through the work of Jesus Christ, being free from sin, baptized into his death, buried with him, resurrected. Lord, help us to walk in newness of life.
We pray that for us here at Redeemer and for your church universal, that you would help the body of Christ to present ourselves to God as members and instruments of righteousness. Help us to remember and always be mindful of what's been done for us. We pray these things in Christ's name, Amen.