Romans 6:6-14

Freedom From Your Master of Sin

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that the reproach of slavery in the United States would end on January 1, 1863 and from that day forward all slaves would be "forever free."  It was on December 18, 1865 that Lincoln's proclamation became the law of the land in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution forever ending the shameful blight of slavery in all parts of the United States. 

But many of the freed slaves understandably continued to suffer from what has been called the "slavery mentality," in which though having their freedom continued to think and act as if they were still living in bondage.  What they needed was to be reminded of their new, glorious condition of freedom.  They needed to in fact reckon it true in their own minds that they had entered a totally new life where they were no longer subject to their old oppressive master but had been set free.

As we said last Sunday, Paul uses the imagery of slavery throughout chap. 6 to help us understand the tyrannical control of sin in our old lives in Adam.  We were born in sin, enslaved under its rule.  Sin was our powerful master that we were in bondage to obey and therefore rebel against our Creator.

But that power has been broken in Christ so that we no longer have to serve that old master.  But the sad fact of our lives is that though we have been emancipated from the bondage or slavery of sin we continue to think, act, and live as if we are still in bondage to that old master.  We too live our lives with a "slavery mentality" that must be broken?  But what will affect our thinking so that we can truly live our lives in freedom to walk in the newness of life?

This morning Paul brings you back to the only possible answer:  the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is your new life in Christ that now motivates and stirs your heart to walk in obedience to God.  The gospel is your life and it is in and out of the gospel that your life is lived:

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me (Gal. 2:20).

In order to show you how inconceivable it is that you should remain in bondage to sin, Paul describes the deliverance from sin to life as a transfer from one kingdom to another.  Jesus Christ has come to deliver us out from under the tyranny of sin into a new kingdom where grace reigns supreme so that you might walk in a new life of holiness and obedience to God.

And to describe the radical and decisive transference to this new life, Paul uses the language of death and resurrection to impress upon your mind just how glorious the gospel operates in your day-to-day lives.

To understand what has truly happened in your life, Paul divides your life into two realms in which you have lived.  On the one hand, you were born into this world where the sin of Adam caused you to be born into a state of enmity with God.  In Adam, you were born in condemnation and because of Adam's sin you have lived your life in rebellion to God.  This life of sin ends in death and condemnation and it is a life that is common to all mankind. 

But on the other hand when Jesus Christ came into the world, he humbled himself and placed his life under our condition in Adam.  Therefore, Jesus lived his life under the powers of this fallen age and by becoming your substitute he fully experienced your life even to the point of death.  But God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and in his victorious resurrection he forever put to death the powers of this age and he inaugurated a new creation as the new man never to die again.

And every human being finds himself under the headship of one of these two men.  You are either in Adam, the old man, or you are in Christ, the new man.  Each of you were born into Adam and that is the natural state of every man or woman.  But by God's grace, through faith, you have been reborn into the New Adam, you have been raised into a new creation, and your destiny is to live a new life in a glorified paradise for all eternity.

Technically, you no longer belong to this present age.  God no longer considers you in Adam.  You have a new life in which you have been raised.  The powers of the old age no longer control you and you have been delivered from the bondage of the old creation.

However, the fullness of your salvation or deliverance will only be complete when Christ returns and you are fully transformed into his glorious image.  Until then, while the powers of this age have been broken, they still have incredible influence on your life.  While you are no longer under their control, you still often "act" or "live" as if you are under their control.  And this struggle will not end this side of glory.  You will always struggle with sin in this life and long for the perfect holiness of the age to come.

This is why Paul can say in Col. 3 that you have already put off the old man (Adam) and have put on the new man (Christ) (vv. 9-11) and yet in Eph. 4 he now commands you to "put off" the old man and to "put on" the new man (vv. 22-24).

How can Paul speak this way?  Which is it?  Have you already put on the new man or do you still need to put on the new man?

The answer is YES!  You have already been transferred from the old age of sin and death to the new age of righteousness and life.  That happened the moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ and God forever more declares you to be dead to your old life and raised in Christ to a new life.

But the "powers" of that old age continue to influence you and you must continually resist those powers and live a life of holiness to God.  This is the tension between the already of your salvation and the not yet, that is to come.  You already belong to the new creation but because you have not yet fully entered into that new creation, you must still deal with the influences of this present age.  In other words, you are no longer what you were in Adam, but until you enter into heaven there is always the temptation to live as if you were still in Adam.  This is what we are calling the "slavery mentality." 

Now in v. 6, Paul says that you know this to be true.  You know that your "old man" -- your old life in Adam -- has been crucified with Christ.  The moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ, God considers or reckons you to have died the same death Christ died. 

Here Paul uses the phrase "crucified with" in the same way that he used "buried with" in v. 4 to assure you that you have certainly died to that old life even as Christ certainly died at his crucifixion.  Paul wants you to truly understand and believe that even though sin is still present in your daily life -- and will be present until death -- that God in fact considers you to have died to that old life in Adam, which bore fruit unto death.  Your bondage to that old master has been broken and you are no longer slaves to sin.

And by being united to Jesus Christ in his death, the master of sin in your life has been rendered powerless (v. 6).  Paul describes your whole person (body and soul) as a "body of sin."  He uses this language to describe what we call "total depravity" in theology.  Sin has so affected you that it has corrupted every part of your life.  In Adam, sin dominated you and controlled your life so that all you could ever do was sin against God.  Not that you were as bad as you could be, but every choice you made was tainted by sin and rebellion to God.

But because you were united to Christ's death, that old life of sin and death has been severed so that you are no longer the helpless instrument of sin and you no longer have to serve that old master.  As Paul says in v. 7, the shackles of sin which held you hostage have been forever broken and you have been set free.

But not only have you been united to Christ in his death so that the power of sin has been rendered powerless, but you have been given access to a glorious new power which is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Not only has the old power been defeated, but through Christ's resurrection a new, more glorious power is at work in you so that you may live your life in service to God (vv. 8-10).

This is why you must see your new life in Christ.  You have been joined to Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection so that He is your new life and you now live in him. 

In vv. 8-10, Paul first stresses what Jesus Christ has done for you.  This is the life that he lived for you.  But Paul doesn't just stop there.  He goes on to tell you that -- AND THIS IS KEY -- it is in this new life that you now have everything to live in service to God and you need to daily, constantly put into practice what you already are in Christ.

Again Paul reminds us what we already know (v. 9) -- that when Christ was raised from the dead, he conquered death forever, never to die again.  While Lazarus was raised only to die again, Jesus' resurrection was the decisive and final break with death and all its power.  And his resurrection was the firstfruits of all who will one day be raised in Him (v. 8).  Christ's resurrection was the beginning of a new glorious age and new creation in which death will one day be no more.

When Christ came into the world, he came under the powers of this age.  In his death, he conquered death so that he is no longer under its lordship.  It no longer has control over his life.  He will never submit to death again.  And his victory over death looks forward to and anticipates our final victory over death in Him. 

But he not only died to death, he died to sin once for all (v. 10).  What does Paul mean?  How could Jesus die to sin when we know that he was in fact sinless?

Remember that Paul is speaking of the ruling powers of this present age and when Christ came into the world ruled over by Adam he fully submitted to all the powers of this age as our substitute.  This means that when Christ came into the world, he submitted -- for you -- to rule of death and death finally conquered him at the cross.  But in submitting to the powers of the age, Christ also came under the ruling power of sin but with one critical difference from the rest of us -- Christ never succumbed to that power and actually sinned.  Rather, Christ became our sin as our substitute and under sin he was condemned to death. 

But when Christ died, he died to the power of sin and forever destroyed is tyranny and control.  And he has done this "once for all."  Therefore, since death is the result of sin and sin has been conquered, then death can no longer rule over him.

And death has now become in Christ the gateway or entrance to eternal life with God.  Christ, the new man, has been raised to glory in heaven where he now lives his life in service to the glory of God (v. 10).  Jesus Christ, as the eternal Son of God, has always lived his life in service to the Father, but now as the New Man, our new representative, he forever lives his life in eternal submission and service to God for us.

Now, here's the glorious connection that Paul is making:  As the death of Christ severed the power of sin, so you too have died with Christ and you must now regard your life to be dead to sin (v. 11).  AND as Christ's once for all death led to resurrection and new life in service to God, so you too have been joined to the resurrected Christ so that you may live your life in total service and commitment to God.

This is the only way to break the "slave mentality" in which you often suffer.  It is only by constantly reminding yourself, or as Paul says "constantly consider or reckon" to be true that you are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  You are to constantly, day-by-day and moment-by-moment to reckon as true in your life that you have died to your old life in Adam and you have been raised in Christ to live to the glory and enjoyment of God.  This is how you preach the gospel to yourself everyday.

You see what Paul is saying.  In chap. 5, Paul declared that you must daily remind yourself that you have been forever freed from the guilt and penalty of sin.  You have been and will always be forgiven for your sins AND God now considers you perfectly righteous before him and all of this is completely on account of Jesus Christ.  That is your justification.

But your justification leads beautifully and is the ground out of which your sanctification grows.  As you have been delivered from the penalty of sin, you also have been delivered from the oppressive power of sin so that in Christ you may now walk in obedience to God.  In Christ, you have been made to die to sin so that you may live to God.

Now remember that when the power of sin has been severed, that you have been given a new power that is at work in your life.  And that power is at work in you so that you may now become what you already are in Christ.  You are to take the free gift of being united to Christ by faith and draw from it, participate in it -- put it into practice.  You are to live your life IN CHRIST in service to God and it is only by being joined to Christ by faith that your new life can become a day-to-day reality.  In other words, Jesus Christ alone is your life-giving nourishment by which you can live a life of holiness and obedience to God.

But what exactly does it look like to "consider" or "reckon" yourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God?  That's what Paul gives you in vv. 12-13.  He gives you two prohibitions and one command ending in a glorious promise in v. 14.

First, you are not to let sin reign in your body (v. 12).  As you constantly consider in your mind that you are dead to sin, make it your "practice" to not let sin master your daily life.  Don't let sin control you, not even for a moment.  Why?  Because as Paul says, your body is still "mortal" (v. 12).  While God considers you to be dead in Christ and raised to a new life, you still live in this present age where all the weaknesses and suffering is a very real part of your life.  It is only when you arrive in glory will the influences of this present life be fully eradicated.  Until then, you must not let those influences hold you in the grip of its power.

But further Paul says in v. 13a that you are not to present the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.  Paul's language here is very graphic.  Literally, he describes the members of your body as weapons of warfare.  And you are not to turn over your weapons in service to the enemy.  Since sin is no longer your master, stop serving it as if it were your rightful sovereign for you have been freed from its control. 

Rather, now that you have been enlisted in the army of God, use your weapons in service to your new master (v. 13b).  As we are to constantly not present our lives in service to sin, so we are at the same time to constantly present our lives in service to God.

But how can we do this?  Where do we find the power necessary to stop serving sin and to serve only God?

The grace of God in Christ through the gospel is the only means by which we may walk in the newness of life.  It is only through faith-union with Christ that we can live in service to God (v. 14).   

Look at the promise in this verse (v. 14) -- for sin shall not be master over you.  Do you believe its true?  Sin will never again have controlling, reigning power over you.  Sin is no longer your master.  Why?

Because you are no longer under the law, but under grace.  This is the gospel summed up for you and it is your assurance that you can walk in the newness of life.

Again, Paul is referring here to the Mosaic Law which reigned over the Jews.  He is giving us all a picture of what it looks like to live under the reign and control of the law as a covenant of works.  Remember in 5:20-21, Paul told us that when the law came in, what happened?  Did it defeat sin or only make it worse?  Paul says that the law made our transgressions only increase.  In 1 Cor. 15:56 -- Paul says that the law empowers sin. 

Again Paul is describing the old realm that we once lived in where sin, death, and now he adds, the law reigned over us.  To be "under law" was to live your life under a powerful instrument that produced and intensified your sin (cf. 3:20; 4:15; 5:13-14; 5:20) but as Paul says in 5:20-21 that where sin increased, grace super-abounded to not only remove the penalty of sin, but as he is saying in chap. 6 -- to forever destroy the power of sin.

It is only in the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have unlimited, powerful resources to not submit to sin but to live our lives in service to God.  As Peter says, "His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3a). 

This is why Jesus Christ came into the world:

When the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Gal. 4:4-5).

When you sin, remember whose you are.  You are a son of God in Christ.  And your sin has been paid in full.  But also remember that because you are a son of God that you have everything you need to live in obedience to your heavenly Father for you are now dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 

Amen!  -- SDG --