RESTORED RELATIONSHIP
Romans 6:1–14
Dead to sin (1–7)
Paul writes these early passages as though he is debating a Jew who feels justified by his relationship to Abraham and his keeping of the law. In Romans 6–8, Paul defends the doctrine of justification by faith. He answers their potential objections that it seems Paul has made God’s law sinful. He viewed the opinions of some of the Jewish believers as a lack of understanding of either law or grace. They were going to the extremes of either legalism or license.
To the question, “Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?” Paul states emphatically, “Absolutely not!” (I would recommend the humorous reading of Romans 6:1–2 in the Cotton Patch Gospel.)
Paul goes on to give a wonderful explanation about sin. We are alive in Christ and dead to sin. Baptism is the believer’s identification with the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Previously, we were identified with Adam and condemned by our sin. Verse 6 states that our old sin nature was crucified with Jesus Christ. We died with Him. A dead person is unresponsive. Therefore, we are no longer responsive to sin. I have a friend who says that baptism is putting on the uniform. It is the first step of obedience for a Christ-follower.
What power does sin have upon a committed believer?
Alive in Christ (8–11)
We are told in 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” A key verse in this section is verse 10: “For the death He died, He died to sin once for all time.”
Warren Wiersbe writes, “Justification by faith is not simply a legal matter between me and God; it is a living relationship.”
In verse 11, Paul instructs the reader to “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” To reckon means to count or to think. It is found 41 times in the New Testament. Nineteen of those times are in the book of Romans.
How does reckoning yourself dead to sin and alive to God work itself out in real life?
Instruments of righteousness (12–14)
In this section, Paul talks about the reign of sin and admonishes his readers not to yield to or offer themselves as servants of the old nature. Paul states that who you obey is ultimately your master.
You see, before Jesus, we are puppets who dance on the end of Satan’s strings. However, the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ cut the strings so that we no longer dance to the devil’s tunes. Instead, Paul urges these believers to yield themselves to God to be instruments of righteousness.
The Bible is filled with stories of people who yielded to God. God used a rod in the hand of Moses to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt. He used a sling in the hand of David to defeat Goliath. He used the womb of Mary to birth our Messiah.
How can you offer yourself to God to be used by Him daily?
Every day we should DECLARE that we have been crucified with Christ and are dead to sin. We should RECKON that this is true in our lives, and then we should YIELD ourselves to be used by God.
By Don Fugate
Senior pastor of Foxworthy Baptist Church in San Jose, California
