Romans 6:1-14 ~ 20130331 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

03/31/13 Romans 6; Resurrection Power Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20130331_resurrection-power.mp3

Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus changes everything! The same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us today. Romans 6:4 tells us that 'Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father', and the rest of Romans 6 tells us that the resurrection of Jesus has implications for us today in how we live our lives. Listen to Romans 6:4-5

Romans 6:4 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. 5 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.

The resurrection of Jesus is where we as followers of Jesus find the power to live our lives. Let's look at this passage, at the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, and at what this means for us today.

Raised by the Glory of the Father

Romans 6:4 says that Jesus was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. This is a unique expression, probably not what we would expect. We might expect him to say that Jesus was raised by the power of the Father, but what does it mean to say that Jesus was raised by or through the glory of the Father? The glory of God is the outward manifestation of the splendor and power and greatness of God that causes us to be in awe and wonder. Romans is all about God's glory.

Romans begins by condemning us, who suppress the truth about God, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature (1:18-20). We did not honor God as God or give him thanks, but instead exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images (1:21-23). We were meant to reflect the glory of God, to bear his image, to put on display his invisible attributes, in the way that Jesus described:

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

But we all fail to do this properly.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Abraham, who did not work but trusted in a God who justifies the ungodly (4:5), is held up as an example of faith that brings glory to God.

Romans 4:20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

In Romans 8, we look forward to being restored to the glory for which we were created, the glory of properly reflecting God's image in such a way that he gets all the glory (Rom.8:17-30).

In Romans 11, Paul interjects this doxology:

Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

In Romans 15, he points to practical ways to live life to bring glory to God (Rom.15:5-9), and he closes the book with this doxology:

Romans 16:27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

We were created to reflect God's glory. In our self-seeking, we failed to glorify God with our lives. Jesus came to defend the honor of his Father and restore us to our proper place in his creation, to bring glory to God. Jesus took our sins, paid the ultimate price to demonstrate the greatness of God and the magnitude of our dishonor toward God, and was raised by the glory of his Father so that we too might walk in newness of life.

Where we are in Romans

In order to understand this passage properly, we need to locate it in the argument of the book of Romans. Paul has demonstrated in chapters 1 and 2 that although we were designed to reflect God's glory through our righteous lives, we have miserably failed to represent him well. Both Jews and non-Jews have failed to live up to the standard they had been given. Jews believed that they could bring glory to God by keeping the law. But history proved this was impossible.

Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

In the middle of chapter 3, we are introduced to a different kind of righteousness, a righteousness not our own,

Romans 3:22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

This is a righteousness that comes to sinners as a free gift from God based on the price paid in full by our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

Chapter 4 shows that this gift of God's own righteousness to all who believe is not contrary to, but connected with the Old Testament examples of Abraham and David.

Chapter 5 revels in the fact that the peace we have with God through this gift of God's righteousness counted to sinners who believe is so unshakeable that no trial, no sin, not even death can now separate us from God. Chapter 5 concludes by pointing to the fact that the law was brought in to demonstrate our sinfulness by increasing our trespasses, and this dark soil of our sinfulness was the very place where God's free grace could thrive.

Romans 6

So the question we find at the beginning of chapter 6 flows out of this truth.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

If the grace of God is magnified by the black backdrop of my sin, then I should increase my sinning to the glory of God, right? Paul's answer to this is the strongest possible negative.

Romans 6:2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

It is important to see what Paul does not say. This would be the perfect opportunity for the apostle to set us straight on our misunderstanding of God's free grace, and say 'no, no, no, God's grace only comes in to play when you are really trying your hardest to be good. God's grace is not really free; it only comes to those who are doing everything they can do.' But he doesn't say that. If after reading Romans 1-5, we are seriously tempted to ask this very question that Paul anticipates, that is evidence that we are on the right track; we are understanding him and grace properly. God's grace really is free, and it really does thrive in the sick soil of human sin.

Romans 5:20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

But for us to purpose to continue in sin in order to magnify the glory of God's grace would actually detract from the transforming power of God's grace. That is the truth he takes us to in Romans 6.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 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. 5 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.

The fact that Paul points us to is that we who are believing in Jesus and receiving the free gift of his righteousness are not only forgiven of all our sins and declared righteous before God (that is what he has taught so far in Romans) but also that the power of God's free grace in our lives means that we have died to sin. When we believe, we are united with Christ, and that extends to his death and resurrection. Baptism is what Christians do to show that they are trusting in Jesus, following Jesus, obeying Jesus. Water baptism is a picture of what has happened to us spiritually. We are baptized into Christ Jesus, or immersed into Christ Jesus. We become connected with Jesus, united with Jesus, saturated with Jesus. We are united with him in his death, and we have the hope that one day we will be united with him in a resurrection like his. What this means for us right now is that we have died to sin, so we cannot be at home with it. We were buried with him in order that we too might walk in newness of life. This is the life Jesus pointed to when he said:

John 10:10 ...I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Since we have died to sin, and since we will be raised with Christ, we can today live a different kind of life, because God's grace triumphs over our sin. He continues in verse 6:

Romans 6:6 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. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.

God's grace has broken the power of sin in my life. The mass of my sin is brought to nothing. I am no longer enslaved to sin. I have been set free from sin. Sin's ultimate power is death, and Jesus conquered death by dying and being raised from the dead. The power of sin and the power of death have been crushed by Christ on the cross. Because I am united with Christ, the me I used to be is crucified and gone. If we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. Jesus was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. We look forward to the day when we will be raised from the dead and live with him for eternity. His death killed our sin. His resurrection promises our resurrection. This truth breaks the power of sin in our lives.

Imperative follows Indicative

His question was 'should we continue in sin', and his answer was an emphatic no, and he gave solid theological reasons; our union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection.

So far this is all theological truth. Paul is telling us what has happened to us when we believed in Jesus. He hasn't told us to do anything yet. That comes next. But it is essential to see that everywhere in the Bible our action is the fruit of theological truth. The imperative always flows out of the indicative. The Bible lays out the indicative, the facts, the truth of who we are in Christ, of what Jesus has done for us, and then, in response to that we are given the imperatives, the commands, how we are to live our lives. We see this throughout the New Testament; for example, in Ephesians we are given three whole chapters of who we are in Christ before we are told to do anything. Then we get three chapters of what that truth should look like in action. Even in the 10 commandments, the imperative follows the indicative; he starts this way:

Exodus 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

All Christian action is rooted in and flows out of the theological truth of what God has done for us. Here is our action that flows out of the truth of Jesus' crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and our being united to him by faith.

Romans 6:11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 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. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

First, we are commanded to believe the theological truth. I don't feel very dead to sin. Most days, I feel that sin still has a lot of power over me. But that is not the gospel truth. The good news is that Jesus died for me, and the sinful me died with Jesus. Jesus rose from the dead and because I am united with him by faith, I too will certainly be resurrected to be with him forever. First, I must believe the truth God tells me, that in Christ I am dead to sin and alive to God. Because this is true, I can rebel against sin. I can reject its authority in my body. I can refuse to obey sin's passions. I can refuse to offer my body parts, my eyes, my ears, my hands, my mind, my heart as tools to do evil; instead I can take this body that has been given new life as a free gift from God, and present my body back to God and the parts of my body as tools to do what is right. I can do this because of my unity with Christ in his death and resurrection. I am no longer under the power and authority of sin. I am no longer under the power and authority of the law, which increases sin and presents everyone guilty before God. I am under the reign of God's free grace, and this is what it looks like to be ruled by God's free gift of grace. Those who are under the reign of grace take up the gospel and the power of the resurrection and do battle with sin.

If

As we close, I want to draw your attention back to a very important little word that shows up in verse 5 and in verse 8. That word is 'if'.

Romans 6:5 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. ...8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

This 'if' is crucial. 'If' asks a question. Is this true of you? If you have not been united with Jesus in his death, you will not be united with him in resurrection. If you have not died with Christ, you have no reason to believe that you will ever live with him. You only have a fearful expectation of the judgment and wrath of Almighty God against your sin. How are we connected with Christ, united with Christ in his death and resurrection? We only need to look back through Romans to see:

Romans 3:24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

We receive the gift of God's grace by faith.

Romans 4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

We stop working and believe.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

We obtain access into grace by faith. We receive. Believe. Depend. Trust. What evidence can we expect to see as we live resurrection lives standing in the grace of God and rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God? We will be:

Philippians 1:11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.