A Study of the Book of Romans

Lesson # 14 

“How To Live In Victory!”

Romans 6:1-14 

       In our last study of Romans we looked a Contrast between Adam and Christ (5:11-21). We have now come to a turning point in our study of the book of Romans.  In Chapter five the subject had been justification and now in Chapter six the subject is sanctification. The word sanctification appears five times in the New Testament (1 Cor. 1:30, 1 Thess. 4:3-4, 2 Thess. 2:13, and 1 Peter 1:2). It can be defined as the work God does in believers to bring us into increasingly greater conformity to His Son, Jesus Christ.  

       In verse one, Paul as he often does, seems to anticipate a question. “What shall we say then Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound” Paul realized that someone might misunderstand what was meant by the next to the last verse of Chapter five (5:20) which said, “Where sin increased, grace abounded more.” Someone might think, “Hmmm. The more I sin, the more grace. So why not just keep sinning If there is enough grace to cover any and all sin, why bother to overcome sin” 

       That seems like an odd question, doesn't it In order to understand it properly, we need to learn a new word -antinomianism. That's a word that is itself made up of two shorter words—"anti" meaning against, and "nomos" meaning the law. An antinomian is a person who is "against the law." Antinomianism describes a point of view that we might call "Spiritual Lawlessness." An antinomian is a person who wants to live life unencumbered by any rules whatsoever. Perhaps most notorious proponent of this heresy was a man by the name of Rasputin. If you remember your history you remember that Rasputin (also known as the mad monk) was the confidant of the Empress Alexandria of Russia (Nicholas & Alexandria were the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia). Rasputin defended his immoral life-style by teaching that salvation came by repeated experiences of sin and repentance. His argument was that those who sinned more required more forgiveness and therefore those who give themselves over completely to sin will as they repent experience greater joy in forgiveness, therefore it is the believer’s duty to sin.   

       We see the same attitude expressed in the prevalent modern fashion by individuals who believe that, “Having been forgiven and guaranteed a place in heaven, they can now get on about the business of living any way they desire without having to worry!”   

       In verse two Paul replies to this idea.

“Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it” The word translated “certainty not” is the strongest repudiation found in New Testament Greek (genoito) and it means “by no means or may it never be!”

          Paul says that "We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer" Underline the word "died." That's the key word for this whole chapter. Paul's entire doctrine of the Christian life hangs on the truth that we died to sin. Note the tense: We died to sin. That's a past tense. It refers to something that has already happened, not to something that needs to happen. This is not a present tense -"We are dying to sin" - or a future tense - "We will die to sin" - or a command -"You need to die to sin!" Nor is it an exhortation - "You should die to sin." This is past tense -"You died to sin."  It is a simple statement of fact – the truth is that if you are a believer, you have already died to sin. It's a past event, an accomplished fact.

       Paul is reasoning that since repentance is a conscious decision to turn away from sin, to quit living for sin, to die to sin, and start living for God, why would the believer want to continue to living in sin.

   So what does “dead to sin” mean It does not mean that sin is dead in me, that I can no longer sin. Some use these verses to defend their belief in the doctrine of sinless perfection. That is the belief that “once a Christian is sanctified, they will never sin again.” There are some obvious practical problems with that belief. First, it goes against the plain teaching of the Bible. (1 John 1:8, 10) ”If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. … (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

   Secondly, it is just so patently obvious that no one is perfect or sin free. “Some of you have heard of Dr. Ray Stedman, who is with the Lord now. For many years he was a pastor of the Penisula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California. One day, Ray was in the Midwest doing a Bible conference, and he need a haircut so he walked into a barber shop off the street. The barber didn’t know who Ray was, and Ray didn’t tell him. They started talking about spiritual things, and the discussion got around to sin. As the barber was cutting Ray’s hair, he happened to say, “Well, I haven’t committed a sin in fifteen years. I’ve attained the state of sinless perfection.” Dr. Stedman said, “Is that right” The barber said, “That’s right.” Ray Stedman said, “Well, I guess you know the Bible.” He says, “Yes sir, I know the Bible.” Ray Stedman said, “Well do you believe the scripture that says, “For him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” The barber said, “I sure do believe that.” Ray Stedman just started quoting scripture after scripture about things Christians ought to do continually. He would quote the scripture, and he would say to that barber, “Do you do that all the time” The barber says, “Well, not all the time.” Ray Stedman said, “That’s sin, brother.” He’d quote another scripture. “Do you do that all the time” “Well no.” “That’s sin, brother.” It just went on and on. The barber got mad! Finally, he was just angry and Ray said, “Brother, you are angry at me, and brother, that’s a sin right there too!” Ray Stedman said it was the worst haircut he ever got in his life.” [Ray Stedman. “Can We Go On Sinning” www.pbc.org/dp/stedman/romans2/3513.html]

Can we still sin Yes. Is sin necessary No. Is it inevitable No. What makes a Christian sin A Christian sins when he chooses to yield to the sin which still indwells his body.

       How then can we have victory over sin in our lives The answer is found in three key words found in verses three through fourteen.  

       The first key word is Know found in verses three, six, and nine. Underline the word “know” or “knowing” as they appear in the text. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death (4) Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (5) For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, (6) knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (7) For he who has died has been freed from sin. (8) Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, (9) knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. (10) For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

          First the believer must KNOW the facts! These facts pertain to the death and resurrection of Christ. These facts center upon what Christ has already accomplished by His death and resurrection (His FINISHED work). The emphasis is not upon what I do, but on what He has already done!

       The Next key word is Reckon found in verse eleven. Now underline the word “reckon” in verse eleven. “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

            The New King James version says, “reckon” isn’t that a good Southern word You can ask someone if they’re doing okay, and they’ll say, “Reckon so.” In the South that word that means “maybe, perhaps, or I suppose.” That’s not what that word means here. It doesn’t mean “possibly or perhaps.” It is an accounting word, (logizomai) from which we get our word, “logic.” It means “to compute, to calculate, to consider, or to understand something to be true.”  So the New Testament meaning of “reckon” is to “understand and act upon that understanding.” What that means in practice is that day after day, moment after moment you must keep acknowledging, “I’m dead to sin.” “I’m dead to sin.”

       Something very unusual happened in 1982 on the island of Guam. A Japanese soldier came out of the jungle. He had been living in the jungle for 37 years, he had been in hiding since the end of World War II. Why Because when the news came at the end of the war, he refused to believe that Japan had surrendered and the war was over. So for 37 years he lived in the jungle.
       So during those 37 years was he free to come out of the jungle Of course he was. At any time from 1945 until 1982, he was completely free to come out of the jungle. He was free. He could come out in 1950 or 1955 or 1969. He was completely free on a theoretical basis. But because he didn't believe it - because he would not accept the fact of his freedom to be true - he lived in self-imposed bondage in the jungle for 37 years. Was he free Yes. Was he free No, because he chose to stay in bondage, in hiding, in fear in the jungle.
       Many Christians are still living in the jungle of sin. The war is over, Christ has won, but they refuse to believe it. They live in self-imposed bondage to sin. They are still in the jungle spiritually because they refuse to believe that Christ has set them free.

       The third key word is present or yield found in verse thirteen. Underline the word “present” when it appears in the text. In verses twelve through fourteen we read,

 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. (13) And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (14) For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

       We are told to stop yielding ourselves to sin (v. 13a). And start yielding ourselves to God (v. 13b). In John chapter eight Jesus reminds the believer to stop living like slaves and start living like sons, (vv. 34-36) “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. (35) And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. (36) Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”