Have you ever let your imagination run wild and thought what it would be like to rob a bank and get away with it? No? I guess I am the only one with a criminal bent among us. But let’s just say I could guarantee that you would never get caught, could you imagine robbing a bank of millions of dollars?
Well, such a prospect might be more tempting for some of us more so than for others, but I would hope that most of you would never do such a thing, even if you knew you could get away with it. But maybe robbing a bank is too much to consider. Let’s just drop the severity of the crime down to, say, just a common sin. Maybe something that wouldn’t get you arrested, but nevertheless something that you know is wrong. How about a little white lie? How about lusting after a woman? How about cheating on an exam? How about hating someone?
The question is, if you know that you aren’t going to be caught, and take that a step further and say you don’t think that God is going to hold you accountable – because, after all, you’re under grace and not the law – would you go ahead and sin? I’m afraid that if we are honest with ourselves, many of us might have to say, not only might I do such a thing, I probably already have done so on more than one occasion.
But let’s suppose you have done something that you know is a sin. The question might be asked, so what? Or you might even ask the question, why not? After all, Paul has already established that as Christians we are not under the law, nor the penalty of the law, but we are under grace. So there is no condemnation to those under grace. Furthermore, we might argue that grace glorifies God because it shows that our salvation is not because of how righteous we are, or how much good we might do, but grace glorifies the love of God, the goodness of God.
So you might even go so far as to justify your sin by saying that your sinfulness demonstrates the grace of God and therefore glorifies God. After all, Paul said in 5:20 that where sin increased, grace abounded more. So unfortunately, for some of us, this isn’t a merely theoretical question. We have already willfully sinned so that grace might abound. We don’t worry about condemnation because Romans 8:1 says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We don’t worry about divine discipline because Paul said that where sin increases grace abounds more. So the more I sin, the more grace God bestows on me.
Now Paul is saying in this passage that kind of thinking is counter to the doctrine of salvation. And as a means of disputing that kind of twisted logic, Paul asks the rhetorical question, “Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase?” In asking this question Paul isn’t denying that there will be no sin in a Christian’s life. There will be sin occurring in a Christians life as long as he is in the body. John said in 1John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” So Paul isn’t saying that Christians will never sin.
But what he is questioning is the attitude that accommodates sin, that says, “I don’t need to be concerned about sin, and in fact I can deliberately practice sin without being worried about it, because increasing sin causes more grace to abound, and grace glorifies God.”
And we know that such thinking was prevalent in some circles in the early church because Jude said in vs 4, that certain individuals had crept into the church and turned the doctrine of grace into a license to sin.
So to answer his own rhetorical question, Paul gives an emphatic “No!” He says, “God forbid!” The very suggestion that the end justifies the means is abhorrent to Paul. And he equates such thinking as being as incompressible as having died to sin, and then living in it. He is likening someone who has died from a terrible, corrupting disease and then being brought back to life, only to continue to live in the corrupted filth which caused the disease in the first place.
Peter speaks of the same principle using the analogy of animals. He says in 2Peter 2:22 “It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, [returns] to wallowing in the mire.” I can tell you as someone speaking from experience, someone who has a couple of dogs, that nothing will make you lose your own lunch quicker than watching your dog throw up, and then go back over to it and try to eat it. I get sick thinking of it. But Peter uses such a disgusting analogy in order to explain how abhorrent it is to return to sin when you have been delivered from it. The idea that a Christian would voluntarily give opportunity to sin to operate produces a revulsion in Paul, as it should in us.
So the better question is not should you sin that grace may abound, but how can we live in sin when we have died to sin? What that question teaches us is that in Christ we have died to sin. Remember in the last chapter we talked about the representative man? That we were all once under the representative man who was Adam according the flesh, and suffered the sin nature and the condemnation of death as a result of our relationship with him. But then Paul showed that Christ is the second Adam, and by faith we can change our allegiance and identify with Christ, who died on the cross for us as our substitute so that we might have life.
The principle then is that as Christ our representative died for sin, so we too die to sin. Our conversion comes as a result of faith in what Christ did – dying on the cross for our sin as our substitute. And as we believe that, and trust in the efficacy of what He did, we too die to the old man, we die to sin vicariously with Christ. Listen folks, this is why I emphasize again and again that repentance is necessary for salvation. Repentance is dying to sin. Repentance is nothing less than realizing the awfulness of our sin, and realizing that our life in sin needs to pass away. Repentance is turning away. It is a desire to change, to do a 180, to leave the way in which we were living, to turn to God for a new beginning. We need to be wiling to renounce sin, to let go of sin, to die to it, to change, to be converted. Asking God to make me a new person, to give me a new life because the old man resulted in death.
The problem is that I’m afraid many of us have not truly repented of sin. We may have reached a place where we want out of the predicament that we are in. We may want God to help us get out of the crisis that we have ended up in. And so perhaps we call on God, or turn to God, or pray to God for help. And maybe God does help us get through that crisis. But maybe also we have never repented of our sin. Maybe we have never recognized how really sinful we were, and that no matter what I have to give up, no matter what I have to let die, it is worth it, and it is even necessary, if I am to have new life.
I’m afraid a lot of the church is like Israel after God delivered them from slavery in Egypt and brought them out into the wilderness to travel towards the promised land of Canaan. But they weren’t many days out of Egypt and Exodus records them whining about how much they missed the delicacies of Egypt. And it wasn’t long until they even were thinking about how they could return to slavery in order to feed their desires. Unthinkable, and yet such is the nature of sin that is not repented of.
In 1Cor. 10:1-6 it says concerning Israel in those days, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.”
Now the analogy to what we are talking about today should be obvious. But there is something else I want to point out to you that parallels this passage we are looking at today. Notice it says, “they all were baptized into Moses.” Obviously Moses did not baptize the Israelites, so what is he talking about? He is using baptism as a metaphor for identification with Moses. That is a primary function of the ordinance of baptism. In baptism we publicly identify with Christ. And in light of what Paul has said about Christ being our new representative man, to whom we have allegiance by faith, then I think it makes vs 3 of our text more clear.
Vs3, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
So in light of the relation to baptism as being identified with someone, whether Moses or Christ, Paul says that to be baptized into Christ is to be brought into identification with Christ. To be brought into a personal relationship with Christ. And to be baptized into Christ is to be baptized, or identified with His death.
Now I hope that you have all been baptized. But the ordinance of baptism is not so much being taught here as it is being used as a metaphor for our relationship to Christ by identification as our representative. And by extension, we identify with Christ’s death. But also, the very act of baptism illustrates the necessity of death. Paul says, “you have been baptized into His death.” When you are lowered into the water in baptism, you are in effect saying that I die to the old man, being buried with Him in death, and then being raised to newness of life in Him. When you recognize the horror of your sin, the inherent death that sin causes, then certainly you agree with Christ that there needs to be the death of sin.
So Paul speaks to that reality of dying with Christ in Galatians 2:20 saying, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
Now for those that are crucified with Christ, who have become united with Him in death, Paul says in vs5 they shall also be united with Him in a resurrection like His. Vs 5 “For if we have become united with [Him] in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be [in the likeness] of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with [Him,] in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.
So the point is that if we have died with Christ, then we shall live with Christ. Paul isn’t talking about the resurrection of the body here which is to come at the end of the age. But he is saying that if you die with Him you will also be empowered to live with Him. He is talking about the new life that comes as a result of our conversion. He is speaking of a likeness of the resurrection, that is, we that die to sin are raised to live a new life, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Instead of wallowing in sin in order that grace may abound, we are washed, we are cleansed, we are dressed in righteousness, and we are empowered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that we might live as He lives. Listen, dying to sin and being justified by grace results in a transformation. We are transformed from death to life. We are transformed from sinners to saints. We are changed from slaves to sin to servants of righteousness.
Let’s go back to Galatians 2:20 again for a moment: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the [life] which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Because I die to sin, I am crucified with Christ, therefore I am made alive by faith in His life, and I am changed from the old man to a new man, from allegiance to Adam to allegiance to Christ. So by faith we receive the righteousness of Christ, the life of Christ, the mind of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the inheritance of Christ, and even the body of Christ when we are glorified on that day when we shall see Him and be like Him.
That great and awesome reality of new life is stated succinctly in vs 8,9; “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.” Christ in His death died for sin. But in His resurrection He triumphed over sin and death. And because He is my representative, He establishes the same reality for me. Death has no hold over me because sin has lost it’s grip on me. Because He lives, I have power over sin and death, because He has conquered sin and death.
Let me try to illustrate that idea of a representative man again with a familiar story. It’s the story of David and Goliath. Goliath was the dread champion of the Philistine army. And every day he came out and challenged Israel to send a man to fight him, and the result of their battle would determine the outcome of the larger battle between Israel and the Philistines. David, you will remember, upon visiting his brothers heard the giant give that challenge. And in the power of God he went out to meet the giant on the field of battle and slew him. And then all the Philistines fled before Israel, as the Israeli army chased them and defeated the Philistines. Now that is a picture of the representative man. David is a type of Christ, who defeated the enemy so that we might have victory over sin through Him. He represented us, and we achieved victory through Him.
Now those are the principles or doctrines of being dead to sin and the new life that we have in Christ. Paul then adds to the doctrine exhortation in the last four verses of this passage. Exhortation simply means emphatically urging someone to do something. He has given us the reasons why we should, now he exhorts us to make sure we do so.
He gives us three exhortations by way of application. First, he says in vs11, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” The key word there is consider. To consider is to think, to contemplate. Sin starts in the mind. It starts with an attitude. We must constantly bear in mind that we are not what we used to be. We must constantly remember that sin leads to death. And we have died to sin so that we might live to Christ. Don’t let the devil tempt you to go back to the slavery of Egypt because he makes it seem like the old sin wasn’t really that bad. I don’t know how many millions of people have gone back to drinking or drugs because they started thinking that I could have a couple and it won’t hurt me. I know that I used to be addicted and it caused me a lot of problems. But I can just have a little bit and it won’t hurt me. That’s a lie from hell and it will drag you back into depravity and death. Sin starts in the mind.
Second exhortation is in vs 12; “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts.” The key there is sin reigns. If the devil is able to find a chink in your armor, no matter how small, then he will continue to exploit that opening. It’s like a boxer who recognizes his opponent is weak in his stomach, and so he continually jabs the same weak spot, again and again until he is able to defeat you.
As I said earlier, Paul isn’t saying that as a Christian you will never sin. But it’s another thing to give into it, and let sin rule in your life. It’s another thing to go back to the enslavement to sin. It’s another thing to surrender to sin. The author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 12:4 “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.” There is a battle in your body, in your members, between sin and godliness. And we are to put sin to death even as Jesus Christ shed His blood in His battle against sin. Don’t let sin have it’s way. Guard against any encroachment. As Psalms 119:11 says, hide the word of God in your heart that you might not sin. And if you sin, confess your sin immediately, repent of it and ask God to cleanse you from it. Don’t surrender to it. Don’t wallow in it.
The third exhortation is in vs13; “and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin [as] instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness to God.” What he means is stop putting the parts of your bodies at the disposal of sin, but instead present your bodies to Him to be used as weapons of righteousness.
I think Romans 12:1,2 speaks to this very clearly; “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Instead of presenting your body to sin, and letting the your bodies be conformed to the world’s ideas and passions and way of thinking, he says instead present your bodies to God.
I really think that verse is an injunction to go to church, in person, in the body. That verse is one of the reasons that I feel so strongly that church cannot be done effectively online. I don’t doubt that good things can be accomplished through an online study or online preaching. But there is something about presenting your physical body to the Lord in the assembly of other believers. It is the means God uses to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ. The church is His body, and that body is spiritual, but it is also physical. And the temptations of sin are those which for the most part are done in the body. And so the discipline of putting yourself under the authority of the church, presenting your body to the Lord, to be held accountable to the other members of the body, and to be conformed to Christ by the preaching of the word is something that cannot be accomplished any other way. The physical, local church is God’s blueprint for the sanctification of the saints and nothing else can be substituted for God’s plan with anywhere near the same degree of success. Paul says if you want to be free from sin, then offer your body to God. And that is done in the assembly of Christ’s church.
Sin starts in the mind, but it bears fruit in the body. Die to sin while it is still in the mind and it will never get acted out in the body. And the way to die to sin in the mind is to be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that as the word of God cleanses and informs you you are no longer conformed to the world, but conformed to God.
Finally, Paul gives an assurance. He has given us the doctrines, the principles of our sanctification. He has given us three exhortations to be sanctified. And now he gives us the assurance that we are being sanctified in vs 14, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
If you know these things, if you consider and contemplate on these things and then if you put these things into practice, then sin will not rule over you. Sin’s reign over you will be broken. You are not under law, not the judgment of the law nor the condemnation of the law, because thank God you are under grace.
Paul answers that question he started with; what then, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound. And the answer is no, God forbid, for we are not under the law, but we are under grace. And the demands of grace are even more binding upon me when I consider all that Jesus has done for me, than the law which I never could accomplish. So rather than grace being a license to sin, it should be the means of liberation from sin, and liberty to live as Christ lives in me, empowering me through His Spirit.
I trust that you have truly been converted today from the old man to the new man. I trust that you have repented of your sin and died to sin so that you have been given new life in Jesus Christ. Salvation is not just an intellectual assent to the facts of Christianity. But salvation is a supernatural transformation that God accomplishes in the heart and mind of a man or woman. If that transformation has not happened in your life then I urge you today to call upon the Lord and ask Him to save you, to forgive you, to change you and remake you and give you life. He will not turn you away, for His purpose in dying on the cross was to save sinners.