The Christian’s Chains to Sin Have Been Broken by Death!
Romans 6:1-5
June 26, 2023
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I. Introduction (Romans 6:23)
A. Mankind has a done lot of sinning throughout history
1. Sin reigns in this world – it is the king of this universe, causing absolutely everything to wind down, wear out, run down, fall, and die!
2. Sin ruins politics, businesses, marriages, churches
3. Defiles movies and music
4. It ruins everything
5. There is no one who does not sin, break God’s laws, hurt other people, and offend God
a. Every day, the newspapers report it
b. The laws of God expose it
c. Our conscience knows it
d. The only reason why most people don’t believe they are very bad is because they purposefully are ignorant of God’s laws, and burn out their own conscience
B. Sin brings death
1. A universal law that there are always consequences to the things we do – especially when we sin (Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2. It is part of what is called the Second Law of Thermodynamics
3. And in life, it is called corruption and decay
C. But instead of letting sin win, and bring death to every one…
D. God has covered all our sins – personally paid for it all – because of His grace
E. And He made it possible for every believer to no longer be a slave of sin, and continue in any sin – JESUS broke the grip of sin on us!
1. Every believer in this room can and should live in victory, where once pornography, and lust, and bitterness, and anger, and shame and depression, and hurt, and sorrow, and covetousness, and lying, and laziness and greed were winning!
2. Romans chapter 5 (last week) told us WHY we are offered victory
3. INFINITE GRACE!
4. Romans chapter 6 and 7 explain HOW to live in victory as believers
II. Review Chapter 5:14-21
A. In simple words, for every time we sin, and get angry, and lust, and lie, there is more grace to cover it and fix it.
B. Because of Jesus Christ, we can never exhaust the grace of God (Romans 5:14,15)
1. Romans 5:14,15 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
2. Death reigned because of sin
3. But a free gift has been given that is greater than our sin
C. Unlike sin, was the gift (Romans 5:16) – they are not in the same category!
1. Romans 5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
2. Sin brought condemnation of sinners
3. God’s grace brought justification of the same sinners
4. Laws could not pay for sin, and could not correct the human heart
5. But GRACE can pay for all of sin, and change the human heart! Hallelujah!
D. Righteousness reigns in the life of a believer now (Romans 5:17-19)
1. Romans 5:17-19 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
2. By Adam, death reigned - judgment came on all men – condemned
3. By Jesus Christ, righteousness reigns now – in the life of every believer!
4. And righteousness is a free gift made so many sinners righteous
5. By one man, Adam’s disobedience, so many people were made sinners
6. And by one man, Jesus Christ OBEDIENCE, so many are made righteous
7. Adam sinned for all of his descendants – passed death down onto all of us
8. Jesus Christ died for all his followers – and passed eternal life onto all those who believe on Him
9. No one chose to be born by Adam
10. But everyone must choose to be born again by Jesus Christ, in order to receive the benefit of Christ’s death burial and resurrection
E. God has More Grace than We have Sin! (Romans 5:20)
1. Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
2. The laws of God were written to make us aware of just how sinful we all are
3. But where sin abounded, God’s grace was more abundant
4. We never go into overdraft!
F. So, Grace is Greater than All Our Sin (Romans 5:21)
1. Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
2. Since sin dominated people’s life to bring them to death…
3. In the same way, God’s grace reigns now to bring eternal life all because of Christ’s righteousness
G. So, how do we Christians handle temptation and sin now?
1. We still are tempted to sin – to do the wrong thing (lie, look at wrong things, etc)
2. And we all give into temptation some times
3. Are we still trapped in sin?
4. What good is grace if we still sin?
III. Message
A. Are We Free To Sin Now? (Romans 6:1)
1. God gave us the Law to show the amount of sin that is in every one of us – like a disease, a cancer
a. Sin is in us – the desire to do wrong is still in us – till death do we part!
b. It is our nature to be selfish, proud, hurtful, mean, liars, thieves
2. God also gave GRACE to pay for the removal of all that sin, at His own expense!
a. Grace is an attitude towards the offender – the sinner
b. An attitude of kindness, that gives the offender what they do NOT deserve
c. God gave us a substitute – His only begotten Son in our place
d. Who would personally, and perfectly pay for every sin I and all people everywhere, and for all time, have committed
e. THAT is grace!
f. Example of a criminal standing before a judge
1) And the judge determining all the evidence proves the criminal is guilty and must pay for his crime.
2) And then the judge asking if the man would accept someone else paying for his crime, to which the criminal says YES! Of course!
3) But the man asks, “Who would that be Judge?”
4) And then the judge stepping down from his bench, and allowing the sheriff to place HIM under arrest, and being marched down to prison
5) While the sheriff removes the handcuffs off the convicted criminal, and tells him he is free to go!
6) That’s when the criminal understands what GRACE IS! Undeserved kindness
3. What shall we do with the abundance of grace that God has given us?
a. So, Paul asks, shall we continue to sin so that grace may abound?
b. Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
1) If sin results in God's grace abounding towards us then shouldn't we just keep on sinning so that grace can keep on abounding and abounding, more and more?
2) It would be like being given some money when you are sad. Should you therefore stay sad in order to get money? Hmmmm.
3) We give money to people who are poor. But it is wrong that a person STAYS poor so that they can just keep getting money.
c. Example of driving on the wrong side of a road for a while.
1) Just because cars may move over and give you grace for a while, should we CONTINUE to drive on the wrong side of the road?
2) NO! You cannot continue to drive on the wrong side of the road just because cars are being nice and giving you space
3) After a while there WILL be an accident.
4) So, Grace does not mean you now can do as you please.
5) There are still consequences for sin in this life!
a) Smoking still kills – no matter how saved you are
b) Drinking still will mess up your thinking, your marriage, your job, your life
4. So, shall we continue to sin so that grace may abound?
B. God Forbid! (Romans 6:2)
1. Romans 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
2. Paul says, God forbid.
a. It is the most emphatic no in the Bible
b. Certainly Not! No way, Jose! Never!
3. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?
a. Some of THE most important words ever written to the believer
b. Ponder those TWELVE words… How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
c. These words are written to Christians. None of what I say from now on will help anyone here unless they become a believer
4. The answer is in the question!
a. If you decide to abandon your old life, how could you continue to live that old life still?
b. If you are offered a job paying 35 an hour, how could you neglect that job, and instead keep working for €11?
c. If you just got married to the love of your life, how could you continue dating an old girlfriend? News-flash: you won’t be able to do it for very long!
C. Because We Are Dead To Sin (Romans 6:2)
1. The Bible says we who have been saved, are now dead towards sin
2. Romans 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3. Remember that sin made every one of us dead to God
a. Sin separated us from God – like taking the battery out of your phone – dead
b. Example: An adulterous man is dead to his wife. She will refuse to recognize him or notice him because of his sin.
c. In the same way God is not impressed with us as sinners. Doesn’t notice us
d. Until we WANT to be free from sin (Ephesians 2:1-6) And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus
4. Thankfully, Christ makes every believer dead to sin! ALIVE to God (Col 3:1-3)
5. We are either Dead towards God… Or dead towards sin
a. It is one or the other
b. If sin doesn’t bother you, then you are dead towards God
c. But if you are alive towards God (born again), sin will bother you, because it is like holding onto something that is DEAD!
d. The moment I got born again, part of me died to smoking, cursing, swearing, lusting, stealing, lying, hating, etc.
6. You find out by discovering WHO is boss of your life
a. Before we were saved, SIN was Lord over our life. We did what we felt like doing. Whatever came natural. Whatever everyone else was doing – DRINKING, FORNICATING, DRUGGING
b. But after we were saved, Jesus became Lord over our life. And we do what He wants us to do, even when it is NOT easy or natural / like everyone else is doing – LEARNING THE BIBLE, PRAYING WITH BELIEVERS, SOUL-WINNING
D. We are Free from Continuing in Sin
1. Modern thinking wants to be free TO sin
a. Believe it no longer matters to God if we break His laws
b. That’s what liberals and progressives believe – that all the things in the past that we used to believe were so wrong, are no longer wrong now
c. Really?
d. How is that working out for you?
1) I guess I will just stop by your house next time you are away and break right in and take everything I believe I deserve more than you do
2) I guess it would be okay for someone to take off with your husband
3) I guess it would be okay to take your purse and use your personal information and use your credit cards to pay for some all expense paid tours of the Caribbean!
e. That is, if all those old laws are no longer any good now! Irrelevant
2. The fact is…
a. We are NOT free FROM sin – that takes place when we die and enter into God’s presence in heaven one day – Sins still pull at us, and we will always struggle
b. But we, who are born again ARE free from continuing to live sinfully, against the laws and will of God
c. Justification and salvation makes it possible for us to NOT live and talk the way the world lives and talks anymore
d. Because Sin has no more power over us – as we shall see! This is the big truth so many Christians know nothing about, and lost people give up trying to be good, because they have no power to do good!
e. But Christ does! He has all the power we need to help us do right every minute of every day!
3. We finally are free to choose right!
a. Instead of God’s law cracking down on us in an instant (like having speed cameras everywhere and CCTV cameras everywhere) grace gives you freedom to choose the right thing to do.
b. And we have been given the supernatural ability to choose the right thing!
c. We never had that power before!
d. And as we do the simple things now… reading through our Bibles, feeding our souls, and praying about everything… we find ourselves choosing right things!
4. Why? Because We Are Now Dead to Sin
E. How Did We End Up Dead to Sin? (Romans 6:3-5)
1. Romans 6:3-5 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
2. Something changed our nature – killed the OLD Us!
3. Faith in Jesus Christ! RUINED us! Amen!
a. Touching Jesus Christ by faith, not by our efforts, or money
b. We accepted His life for ours
c. We believed He saves – it is not forced on anyone
d. And when we did that, we received everything He accomplished by His life and death and resurrection!
e. It is like when someone says “I do” and gets married
1) They are two people, but in the sight of God, they are ONE now
2) Just by a commitment from the heart, accepting each other, as they are
3) Jesus accepted us as we are, when we accepted Him as He is
4) THAT is saving faith
4. Paul calls it, being baptized INTO Jesus Christ!
a. NOT baptism into water, or into a church, but into Jesus Christ himself!
b. “Immersed” into Jesus Christ!
c. 2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
d. That is salvation – Christ in me and I in Him! I have all of Him and he has all of me
e. It happens the moment we believed!
f. The Holy Spirit puts a believer into Jesus Christ the moment you're saved. (1Corinthians 12:13) For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body [JESUS CHRIST], whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
g. So legally, according to God, you are dead now. Your old sinful adamic nature died when you by faith touched Jesus Christ
h. The old you is dead and buried, just as much as Jesus was!
5. Everything Jesus went through is applied to us now
a. His death, his burial and his resurrection
b. Baptism is a picture of death—a picture of dying with Christ and being buried, but then rising up into a new life.
c. That’s why baby sprinkling is such a joke and is not right!
d. We were baptized into his death when we believed – we died!
1) Think about that for a minute! The whole point of Jesus coming was to die.
2) So when a person cries out to Jesus Christ to save them God brings you to the cross, and lets you die there with Him!
e. And the fact that Jesus was buried is true in us now.
1) Dead and buried.
2) No life at all towards sin! Sin has no more power to kill us!
6. That's why we can and should walk in the newness of life, not in depression or defeat or misery. Because HE rose from the dead, never to die again!
F. Oh if you only WANTED to be free from sin’s control!
G. Summary
1. We are Dead to Sin
a. Salvation does not mean we do not sin anymore (1John 1:8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
b. It means we don’t HAVE to sin anymore
1) We should not continue in sin
a) Continue in bitterness or anger
b) Continue in lust and porn
c) Continue a life of lying and deceit
2) Sin is not our master controlling our heart and thoughts and actions anymore
3) Jesus is!
c. We ARE eternally saved and secure in our salvation
1) This will be proven in Romans 8
2) Yes, the law constantly exposes all the sin in us – that is its eternal purpose
3) But Grace covers all the sin in us, and more – forgiving us all sin
2. We Have a Totally New Life Now, based on forgiveness instead of expectations
a. To sin we have died…
b. But to God, we are finally ALIVE!
c. What is alive right now is a new nature, given to you – it was given life by the Holy Spirit of God when he came in you
d. The most important truth you have to believe is that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself dwells in your body, and that He is the power you need to overcome temptation and to live in victory
e. Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth 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.
f. So, if you are in Jesus Christ:
1) You – the old you died to sin’s power, and you are buried with Christ’s burial, and have experienced a resurrection to new life, because of Him!
2) We ought to be living like we are alive from the dead, in newness of life
3) Free from sin’s grip on us!
4) It may have owned us in the past, but not now, and not anymore!
3. So, Why would anyone continue to sin if God has forgiven us so much?
a. It is not that we don’t sin at all, but that we don’t continue a sin against God
b. Why would a drunkard who has been freed from the need to drink, go back to drink ever again?
c. Why would a thief who has had all charges paid for by the judge, ever go back to thieving?
d. Only if they have not identified with Christ – been born again
e. Or, if they have never understood their new life given to them by Christ, that is now dead to sin
f. Or if they are just wanting to sin – you still have the choice to do the wrong things
4. Baptism is a great picture of identifying with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection
5. But that is ALL it is!
a. Water baptism is ONLY a picture of salvation
b. It was never meant to be part of a person’s salvation
c. Jesus saves… full stop!
d. To add baptism, or joining a church, or getting circumcised, or saying a load of prayers to your cry to God to save you, is a work, and will not work!
e. Baptism is a visible picture of what our trust in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, that made it possible for our old sinful nature to die, and be buried, and our new life to start the moment we believed!
f. The resurrected life is different than the old life
1) You either are dead towards God, and continue in sin
2) Or dead towards sin, and live in victory
3) You can’t live both ways – not for very long!
IV.Conclusion
A. So, if you have not repented and believed the Gospel
1. You are still dead in your sins
2. And you need to admit you are a wicked, sinful man or woman TODAY! Not tomorrow, not next week. NOW! Because judgment is coming. You know it folks!
3. And then you need to cry out to the only Saviour who can save your soul – and He is waiting to do it today! Talk to Jesus now as we pray!
B. If you ARE born again, but have not been Scripturally baptized in water
1. We will be baptizing in the next few weeks, so come talk to me today!
2. Let’s get it done! You need to tell the world you are dead, buried and alive again in Christ!