Brief Summary:
If sin resulted in an increase in grace, should we go on sinning so that grace may increase all the more?
By
no means!
In
God’s sight we are counted as having died to sin with Christ and are counted as having been raised with Him to a new life.
Therefore
we have a duty to obey God and not sin.
(Romans 6:1-14)
Detailed
Summary:
Those who are justified by
faith cannot continue to live in sin because through their identification with
Christ, they are dead to sin (Romans 6:1-11)
•
In
Romans
•
If
then, the increase of sin
resulted in an overflow of grace, would it not be a good thing to sin purposely? Would this
not magnify God’s grace even more?
•
Since
some might reason in this manner, Paul asks:
–
Romans 6:1 - What shall we say, then?
Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
•
The
apostle then answers with an emphatic NO! and shows why this
cannot be:
–
Romans 6:2 - By no means! We died to
sin; how can we live in it any longer?
The fact of the believer’s
death to sin is established first by a reference to the significance of baptism and secondly, by showing why Christ was crucified
(Romans 6:3-7)
•
Baptism symbolizes the believer’s death
with Christ to sin and the believer’s resurrection with
Christ to a new life:
–
Romans 6:3-5 - Or don't you know that
all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 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. If we have been united with Him like this in his death, we will certainly also
be united with him in his resurrection.
–
When the believing sinner is buried in the watery grave of baptism, he
identifies himself with Christ’s death (thus confessing that he is dead
to sin)
–
When the believing sinner is raised up out of the of the water, he identifies himself with Christ’s resurrection (thus confessing he is alive and will walk
in newness of life)
•
Christ was
crucified for the purpose of destroying sin - to free His people from sin’s guilt
and dominion:
–
Romans 6:6-7 - 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-- because anyone who
has died
has been freed from sin.
•
Because of His
death on the cross, Christ’s people are:
–
Justified (freed from the condemnation of sin)
–
Freed
from the dominion of sin in their lives - they are no longer slaves to sin.
Just as Christ died once to sin (i.e., its guilt) and now lives
to the glory of God, so the believer must
consider (reckon) himself dead to sin and live to the glory of God
(Romans 6:8-11)
•
Romans 6:8-11 - Now if we died with Christ, we believe
that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the
dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He
died, He died
to sin
once for all; but the life he lives, He lives to [the glory of] God.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
•
Only by realizing
that he is dead to the condemning power of sin and alive to God “in Christ” can
a sinner truly love or trust God.
•
Only as the
believer sees what Christ has done for him can he find the motive to do what
God requires of him.
•
Once he sees
God’s love for him “in Christ”, he no longer wants to “live in sin.”
•
“If a man does not thus identify himself with Christ’s
purpose to destroy sin, and if, instead of grief and hatred of sin, he
cherishes the notion that he may continue in sin that grace may abound, the
conclusion is inevitable that this man knows nothing of Christ and has not been
justified. To speak plainly, it is psychologically impossible to trust Christ’s
redeeming blood and want to continue in sin. Sanctification [i.e., living a
holy life] is not merely the purpose of justification, as if the purpose might
fail; but rather sanctification is the inevitable result.”
–
Gordon
H. Clark, “Romans,” The Biblical Expositor, p.243
•
In light of the
fact that believers are counted as having died to sin and alive
to God in Christ, Paul calls upon them to yield themselves, not
to sin, but to God.
–
Romans
•
As a further
motive for such action, Paul appeals to the fact that they are under grace
not under law, and thus are free from sin’s dominion.
–
Romans
•
Note: Believers are
not under law as a way of salvation. This does not mean they are free from God’s law
as a rule of duty - they are under the law of Christ:
–
1 Corinthians 9:21 - To those not having the
[Mosaic] Law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from
God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those
not having the [Mosaic] Law.