Emancipated
STUDY . . . Romans 6
In Romans 5, Paul says that
Christ saved us even while we were sinners.
We are saved by the grace of
God, not by keeping the law.
“Where sin increased, grace
increased all the more”
God’s grace and His love are always greater
than our sin.
In Romans 6, Paul addresses an interesting question:
Shall we go on sinning so
that grace may increase?”
If grace is so easy, should
we bother to change our ways?
If all our sins are so
easily forgiven, why worry about sin?
If faith in Christ led to
automatic victory over all sin, then why does sin still exist in our lives?
Sin continues to be a
reality we must deal with in our lives. It is a reality that we must resist.
We are born to be slaves of sin. Sin is within us.
When we accept Christ, we are no longer slaves.
Sin is outside of us because Christ is now within us.
I am now a FREE person. We could still be taken
captive and treated like a slave but inherently, we are still FREE.
Sin is a power that works against us, a power that enslaves us, a power we
must be freed from. When we die with Christ, we are liberated from this evil
power. We do not go on serving it, but we live a new way of life. Why
would anyone want to have Christ in their life and, at the same time, invite sin to also be in their life? Christ said, we can only serve one master.
“The death He died, He died
to sin once for all”. He has conquered the power of sin and
death and He liberates us from these powers in our life. Sin may tempt us at times, but it cannot force us to choose sin. We can resist with grace from God. We are no
longer slaves to sin.
“In the same way, count
yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v. 11). When sin
offers us something tempting, we are to answer: NO, that’s the old way, and I
am supposed to die to that. There is a battle going on for our souls. The old
slave master, sin, has been defeated by Christ, but sin continues to attack us through temptation. It tries to rule us, but we cannot allow it. Sin will
take over as much as we allow, so we must resist it and not let it rule us. Paul says: Don’t give up. Fight against it.
Since we are under grace,
sin is not our master. Going back to sin would be like running back
to our old slave master or for a prisoner who has been pardoned to run back
to his old jail cell. In grace and in salvation, sin is what we are getting
away from. If you choose sin, you are allowing yourself to be enslaved by a master who hates you, will steal your joy and devour all of your blessings from God. We are slaves of one power or the other. We have
to choose our master. We can
choose sin or we can choose God. We must choose to be a slave of obedience, a
slave of doing what is right? The result is eternal life in the Kingdom of God starting now.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
ROMANS 5
Peace and Joy
1 Therefore, since we have
been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which
we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only so, but we also
rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces
perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does
not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the
Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
6 You see, at just the right
time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely
will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might
possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been
justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath
through him! 10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him
through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we
be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received
reconciliation.
Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
12 Therefore, just as sin
entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death
came to all men, because all sinned-- 13 for before the law was given, sin was
in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless, death
reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not
sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass
of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the
grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
16 Again, the gift of God is
not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and
brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought
justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through
that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of
grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus
Christ.
18 Consequently, just as the
result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one
act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19 For
just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so
also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20 The law was added so that
the trespass might increase. 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.
ROMANS 6
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
1 What shall we say, then?
Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to
sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who
were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were
therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may
live a new life.
5 If we have been united
with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in
his resurrection. 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-- 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with
Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since
Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has
mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the
life he lives, he lives to God.
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.
Slaves to Righteousness
15 What then? Shall we sin
because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don't you know
that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves
to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death,
or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
17 But thanks be to God
that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form
of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and
have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I put this in human terms because you
are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your
body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer
them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
20 When you were slaves to
sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you
reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of ? Those things result
in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become
slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is
eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.