A RADICAL CHANGE
#049 A RADICAL CHANGE
Scripture Romans 6:1-23 NIV Orig. 5-20-62 (6-77)
Rewr. 11-9-88 (1-85)
Passage: What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 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. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.
Purpose: Continuing a series from the Book of Romans, here drawing the contrast between sin’s death and Christ’s life.
Keywords: Death God Grace Life Sin
Series Romans Revival
Introduction
Finally, the truth has been revealed relative to the “Shroud of Turin.” For hundreds of years there has been speculation about this simple linen shroud. It was claimed to be the burial shroud in which Jesus was buried, and was for centuries, Christendom’s most baffling relic.
The relic is controlled by the Catholic bishop of Turin, and thus its name, although it is owned by Umberto II, a deposed king of Italy who, at last report, lived in Portugal.
It is just over 4-1/2 meters long, and just under one meter wide. It has been submitted to extensive scientific analysis, including carbon 14 dating, and computer technology. Even pollen samples were evaluated.
The shawl had blood in all the right places. Even the imprint of a human face. But the computers could not confirm its validity, and said absolutely nothing about life after death. It was determined that should this be proved to be the right cloth, then Jesus was 5’10-1/2”, and weighed 175 pounds.
Well, in fact now we know that it was not the burial shroud of Jesus. Even the Catholic Church admits that the early history of the cloth cannot be ascertained.
What if? What if it were the cloth? Suppose that these tests authenticated the shroud. We Christians would have a miracle to flaunt. One of the scientific team members said,
“If Christ was resurrected from the dead, then the gospels are truth, and eternal life—immortality—is offered.” (Ray Rogers—Omni p.95)
But the possibility of a miracle no longer exists. We are not yet without hope, however. The Bible has much to say on the subject, and the apostle here affirms that death, for the believer, will be swallowed up in life. He speaks of a most “radical change,” and it is that death “hath no more dominion.”
I. So Radical a Change Acknowledges Death to Sin. V2 “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” V6 “…Our old man is crucified with him.”
To begin with, Paul has much to say on the subject of death. Beside this note of being “crucified” with Christ, death is alluded to fourteen times in these first eleven verses. It is a subject not given wide circulation in our sophisticated culture. Tabloids on display at check-out lines sensationalize it: “Five Psychics Tell Why They Believe in Life after Death.” The scientific community offers us the name of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross as the most knowledgeable: “Although I do not consider myself a particularly religious woman, I find no conflict between the Christian concept of an after-life, and my own careful studies on death.”
But the death here is not just the cessation of bodily function. Remember the legal ramifications invoked in the Karen Ann Quinlan case. Who could throw the switch? Someone finally did, and she survived on a tube feeding for nine years.
Biblically, death is the soulmate of sin, and is viewed judgmentally. But is God death’s source? The answer is a resounding “No!” We are emphatically told that the “wages of sin is death.” Thus, sin, and its corollary, resulted from acts of will.
So, as death is more than cessation, life is more than breathing and bodily function. A war correspondent in Vietnam told of interviewing a crusty Marine sergeant. He was eating cold beans with his bayonet. “If I could grant one request right now for you what would it be?” “Give me tomorrow!”
A TV special on “Violence in America” concluded with this evaluation, “Biological life alone is not enough for a rational being. He, or she, wants participation in the social process.”
For the believer, death dispels the power of sin to rule and distort lives. Chapter five dealt with sin and grace. Sin and death are personified in Adam. Grace and life are personified in Christ.
The present chapter moves more to the drum beat of faith (sanctification). V14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Having received Christ as Saviour is being perceived of God as following a new leader. Satan has lost the battle for your soul. But he has not lost your address. Depending totally on the carnality of our faith, he exercises influence.
II. So Radical a Change Acknowledges that a New Life is Given. V11. “Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is not mentality that separates man from the beasts of the field. Within limits they have intellect. Consider pets, zoo animals.
Nor is it our ability to communicate. The great whales are said to communicate over hundreds, thousands of miles of ocean. Diane Fosse studied the great apes. Her death may be attributed to her affinity. Brahmans, Hindus, see animals as “brothers with them before God.” (National Geographic, November 1988)
What separates man from beast is his potential to faith-relationship with God. Scriptures declare this uniqueness. Genesis 2:7 “God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” It is that “breath of God” that we know as faith. It is here that “baptism” enters into Paul’s discussion. Baptism is the “sign” of that faith. Not salvation by legalist “rite,” but that baptism is expressive of that faith. Faith shows itself in many ways. Baptism is one.
We also have a fairly complete criteria of what that faith-relationship consists of. First it is dependable. In V11 we read “reckon”—to us often meaning no more than “suppose.” Then, it was an accounting term reflecting absolute accuracy. Secondly, it is free. V20 Enslaved to sin, we are set free to righteousness. V18, 23. Such faith knows no class distinction. Lastly, it is eternal. The word aionios means “eternal,” “endless.”
III. So Radical a Change Comes Through Jesus Christ. V23 “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The place of Christ in the equation of salvation is without equal. We were “baptized” (v3) into Christ Jesus. Our fleshly being was “crucified”(v6) with Jesus. “Death” in Christ Jesus is what frees us from sin (v7). Thus, we come to “live” (v11) through Jesus. And ultimately, eternal life (v23) comes through Him.
Lay to rest any thought that religion is nothing more than a person’s sincerity. There are waves of people who are sincerely wrong. At the abortion clinic, the young pregnant woman advises opponents to keep their “morals off of her body.” People around Louisiana think that devil worship by teenagers is idle (sic) curiosity. Sincere people say “God wouldn’t send anyone to hell.” Satan would, and he would gladly use our being “sincerely wrong” to accomplish it.
Conclusion
An unknown author left a couplet on death.
Some men die by shrapnel, some go down in flames.
But most men perish inch by inch, in play at little games.
Death comes to all alike. The method, manner may change, but only Christ makes a difference in dying. As there is more to life than blood flow, breath, body function, there is more to death than dying.