Liberated From Sin, Enslaved to God

And then finally, news that the One Friend that they had called for, the One whom they thought they needed to stop their brother’s sickness and the one whom they needed now to comfort them with His tears had come.

After weeping comforting Martha with His death-defeating gospel and weeping with Mary, the disciples saw their Master approach the tomb of his dearly departed friend and command that the stone be rolled away.

With their ears and their eyes, Peter, James, John and the rest witnessed Christ call out into the darkness of the sepulcher’s stench saying, “Lazarus, come out!”

They had witnessed before the power of that loud voice calming the storm, casting out the demons, calling them to follow after him; and now just as from eternity past when He called the lights of the world out of the darkness, He called Lazarus out of the darkness of his death into the light of life

and out Lazarus came wrapped in his grave clothes, freed death’s grasp by the glorious power of God.

Now stop and imagine with me an alternate ending. An ending where, once he exited from the tomb, Lazarus refused to be unbound from the clothes of his crypt. That Lazarus refused to walk back to Bethany with His Lord but instead turned right around and went back to his tomb.

This would have been an absurd, unbelievable, unclean, abomination for the living man return to his dark, cold, stinking tomb. This made up script is so unrealistic, it’s so head scratching, if not downright idiotic.

An Absurd Objection

And that is Paul’s point in our passage today when he answers an objection to the gospel of grace alone by faith alone. Should we who have been justified continue in sin our sin that God’s grace in forgiving our sins may abound? To Paul, such a thought is absurd, unbelievable, and an abomination. And so as we will shortly see, he answers this question with a resounding no - may it never be!

Main Point & Structure

And the reason for his answer is this: our union with Christ. We who have been United with Christ must not remain in sin but instead walk in newness of life for when Christ died we died, and when He rose from the dead we were made alive. This is Paul’s argument in this passage and this is our main idea today. We must not remain in sin for we have been United with Christ. When He died, in a very real sense we died. And when He rose from the dead we too experience fruits of this resurrection.

We can see this argument mapped out like this: In verses 1-2 we see Grace Interrogated. In verses 3-5 Paul defends his answer that we should not continue in sin by holding up our Union with Christ through Baptism. And then in verses 6-7 Paul presents another grounds for his argument by pointing to our Union with Christ at the Cross.

Grace Interrogated vs 1-2

Union through Baptism vs 3-5

Union at the Cross vs 6-7

Let’s look back to the book of Romans as I read verses 1-2 and we begin our first section, Grace Interrogated.

Grace Interrogated vs 1-2

Romans 6:1-2 “1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

Context for the Question

Now this question doesn’t come out of no where and it is not a parenthesis in Paul’s argument or logic. Just as he did in chapter 2, here Paul engages this imaginary opponent in order to advance his argument to focus more fully on what it means to live under grace .

Last week Shaan taught us from Romans 5:17-21 that just as sin and disobedience brought death to all the descendants of Adam, eternal life and grace has been given to all who have been made righteous through the obedience of the New Adam, Jesus Christ. And if you remember, the key verse in that passage was Romans 5:20 “20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,” The Law of God exposes our sinfulness and increases our natural bent to rebel against God so that our sins abound. But the good news of the gospel is this: Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.

And it is from this amazing gospel reality, that this objection is raised, “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” If grace abounds over and above the increases of my sin, and this triumph brings God glory, why should I stop sinning? Wouldn’t more sin lead to more abundance of grace and more glory for God?

The Legalist

Now, on the face of it, this question seems to be coming from the lawless one who idolizes their sin, but in actuality the question actually arises from the legalist who idolizes the law. Remember that in chapter 3 verses 5-8, Paul addresses the slander that his opponents spread. They lied saying that Paul taught that evil should be done that good my come.

And the reason for their objection is that the gospel is so radical and grace is so free that it leaves no room for the legalist to justify himself. Many of us grew up in Catholic backgrounds. When you work and you work and you work, for year after year, decade after decade to earn God’s favor and forgiveness and then you hear that this favor and forgiveness has been earned for you by Christ and it is yours by faith alone, it is so hard to come to the realization that all that work was in vain. That Jesus paid it all. That you can come to Him and find rest from your work.

The Licentious

Now that’s not to say that this thought is not whispered into our ears by the serpent to keep us in love with our sin. Even though this objection arises from the heart of the legalist, this lie is spread by the Devil so as to tempt us to stay in the dominion of darkness. This was the heart of the apostates that Jude warns about in Jude 4, they are, “ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

But as John Stott points out in his commentary, “While recognizing antinomianism in others, however, we must not be allowed to conceal its ugly presence in ourselves. Have we never caught ourselves making light of our failures on the ground that God will excuse and forgive them?” Surely I am not absolved of guilt here. How often do you and I give into temptation and sin with this thought in the back of our minds, “this sin has already been forgiven, Jesus paid it all”, “not even this sin can separate me from His love”, “God’s grace abounds over this”. Surely these promises are true. Jesus did pay it all, nothing will separate us from His Love, God’s grace abounds all the more. But it is a sinister thing to assuage our souls with these words that are to help us cling to Christ and flee temptation. Brothers and sisters in Christ, such an attitude and action is what Jude described as ungodly and tantamount to denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Think about this reality, when we engage in such thoughts and practices we are no better than Peter standing by the fire shouting I don’t know Him as His savior stands in the next room on trial for his sins.

Application: Be On Guard to this tempting thought

Oh dear saints, be on guard. Answer the tempter with Paul’s next words Romans 6:2 “2 May it never be! How shall I who died to sin still live in it?” May it never be. This is not a calm cool and collected, well actually you’re wrong. No, this is the most emphatic and animated rejection Paul could use, Not at all! Never! By no means! Paul will have nothing to do with such a suggestion. And neither should we.

Why? Paul spends the next 5 verses answering that question. But the thesis statement for why we who have been justified must not continue in sin is this, “how shall we who died to sin still live in it?” See that Paul describes sin as not just a single act of lawlessness but as a power. In Romans 5 Paul used the language that sin reigns over all who descended from Adam. Later in our passage Paul will use the language of being slaves to sin. In Romans 6:14, Paul writes that sin no longer rules over those who are under grace. Sin is a slave master, but the slave is only under his master’s rule when he is alive. That is Paul’s logic here. Dead people don’t live in sin, because they are dead.

Not Perfection

Now, Paul is not preaching the erroneous doctrine that Christians no longer sin after coming to faith in Christ. We do not and will not achieve sinless perfection until we are fully sanctified, until we are glorified. We know full well, and quite personally, that Christians are still sinners. And that is why Paul says we do not live in sin - to live in sin, or continue in sin from verse 1, is the idea of staying put. This is like Lazarus staying in his grave clothes and returning back into the tomb to breath in the stench of death instead of following His Lord. We do not do that, we don’t stay put, we don’t remain, we don’t continue in sin.

Application: Do You Believe in Your Death?

Notice also that that phrase in verse 2, “we died to sin” this is not an imperative. Paul is not commanding us to be dead to sin. This is an indicative in the past tense. This is good news that Paul is proclaiming about the reality of the one who has been justified by grace through faith - we have died to sin. Think about the beautiful parallel between this statement and Ephesians 2:1. Once we were dead in sin. Now, we have died to sin. Do you believe this reality dear saint?

If so then follow Paul’s logic with me and let it strengthen your resolve to pursue holiness: we have died to sin, past tense - history. How then could we live, present tense - here and now, in sin any longer? Impossible. One commentator put it so well, “We have died, once for all, to sin; can we breathe its air again?” May it never be.

So then what does it mean for us to have died to sin? Let’s move on to our next section, Union through Baptism, and learn Paul’s first answer.

Union through Baptism vs 3-5

Do you not know?

Romans 6:3, “3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?

Let’s start with that first phrase, “or do you not know”. Remember, Paul, had not yet met the readers of his letter. And yet he is here assuming that the believers in Rome would have known the significance of their baptism. They would have know that their baptism intimately related to their union with Christ, to their union with Him in His death. I want us to see two things here.

First, we see that the sacrament of baptism was so thoroughly practiced and preached in the NT church that Paul could safely assume all the saints in Rome were baptized. Put another way, Paul doesn’t create a special, separate, category of baptised believers here. If you came to Christ in faith, repented of your sins, believed in His death and in His resurrection and proclaimed Him as Lord then you got baptised. That was the standard operating procedure and that is why Paul could safely assume this was true of Christians he never met before.

And here’s my application on this quick detour on baptism. May there not be a distinction in our minds either between baptised and unbaptized believers. If you have come to faith in Christ, which I hope and pray some of you will do so for the first time today, then you must be baptized. Speaking shamefully from personal experience, there is no good reason for you to wait to get baptised after coming to Christ. I waited for 2 years and it’s one of the biggest regrets of my spiritual life. So please come and talk to me or any of the other elders here about being baptized. We love holding baptisms, and we will do one every week if we have to.

Not the Conduit but the Symbol

Now before we go any further we all must understand my second point from verse 3 and that is this: Paul is not teaching that baptism is an instrument of salvation. Baptism is not the conduit or the cause of our salvation. It is not the action that unites us with Christ. It is not the moment or mode that brings about our death to sin or our resurrection to new life.

And the reason I can say that confidently is because of what we have learned in Romans 1-5. Did Paul teach us that a man justified by faith and baptism? No Romans 3:28 “28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” Did we learn that Abraham was justified by his faith and baptism? No, Romans 4:2 “2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” Do we have peace with God because we have been justified by faith and baptism? No Romans 5:1 “1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” We are justified by faith alone dear saints.

So what then is baptism? And why does Paul use baptism here as a reason for why we should not continue in sin? The outward physical act of baptism is that which signifies the inner spiritual act of faith which unites us with Christ. Listen to what Paul says regarding faith and baptism to the Galatians, Gal 3:26-27 “26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Think of the wedding band. Is the ring the instrument that unites a man and a woman in holy matrimony? Is it at that point in the ceremony that they are made man and wife? Are they only married when their rings are on? No, the ring points to the very reality of their union together. It is a tangible dramatization of a reality that is far more than physical. When we are immersed into the water, that baptism points to the reality that we have been baptised into Christ by faith.

Baptism into Christ, into Death

Look back with me again at verse 3, “3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” When we are baptised, we are baptised into Christ Jesus. What does it mean for us to be immersed into Christ? That verb, “into”, is a preposition that implies that something is inside something else.

We got into our cars today, and we came into the church building. When we are baptised we are dunked “into” the water. When we are baptised we are baptised into Christ Jesus.

Think of how we practice baptism here...

Change of clothes into a white robe

Confess with your mouth what you have believed in your heart - that Jesus is Lord

Elder takes you by the arms and submerges you completely into the water so that you are immersed, covered, inside the waters of baptism

And this is Paul’s point - the act of baptism signifies the reality that the believer is completely and fully submerged into Christ. At your baptism when you were under the water, we couldn’t see you, we could just see the Pastor and the water. So too, when you come to be in Christ by faith, you are so immersed in Him that He becomes your identity. His righteousness becomes yours. His loving relationship and access to the Father becomes yours. His spiritual blessings and eternal inheritance become yours. And His death and His life become yours.

Look up at me - is this not the most marvelous of all realities - that we are in Christ? Is this how you think about your own identity? Dear saint, nothing else about how you are in this life should ever eclipse who you are in Christ. Not your profession, not your nationality, not your ethnicity, not your gender, not your role in your family, nothing must define and dominate who you are more than your identity as one who is in Christ.

Look back with me at the end of verse 3 of our passage - We have been baptized into His death. This is an immediate reference back to Romans 5:18 - to that one act of righteousness - to Christ’s obedience even unto death on a cross. Our baptism signifies that our Union with Christ is so complete that His death on the cross for the punishment of sin, was also our death to the power of sin as well. When Christ died, we died too.

Read with at the first part of verse 4 where Paul continues this thought, Romans 6:4 “4 Therefore we have been berried with Him through baptism into death” Because of the history of language, for us the word baptism really only denotes the Christian sacrament of being baptised. But for those living in ancient Rome the word baptidzo would have also evoked thoughts of violence. It is a term most often used in the secular literature of that day to describe drowning someone, or to describe a ship sinking into the sea. We have been berried...with Him, with Christ...through baptism…into death. As one author put it, “our baptism was a sort of funeral”.

Raised through Glory

However not only do we see in baptism a sort of funeral, we also see in it a resurrection to new life. Read with me again verse 4, Romans 6:4 “4 Therefore we have been berried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Follow the logic of Paul with me here. If we have been united with Christ, then when Christ died, we died and when Christ rose from the dead we were made alive.

But how were we made alive? First see that Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father. Through the glory - Christ was raised by the immense and illustrious and infinite power of the Father over the death of His Son so that God’s glory was supremely displayed. On that third day, the New Creation broke into the Old. The curse of the law was destroyed, death was defeated and the tomb was made empty.And since we have been immersed into Christ, we are also raised from death to life by the glory of the Father. Just as Christ walked out of the tomb, up to comfort weeping Mary, out on the road to Emmaus, and into the locked room so too can we now walk.

Walk in Newness of Life

Everywhere in the book of Romans, the word for life, zoe, is used to describe the eternal life that awaits those in Christ. And yet as we see in this verse this eschatological new life is not just something we look forward to, it’s something we experience in in the here and now. But what does this look like? Surely we have not experienced the resurrection? Surely this is not eternal life? We berried two dear members of this church in the past 12 months. What is Paul saying?

Let’s look to the Old Testament for an illustration. When the Israelites were led up out of Egypt by the Pillar of Fire, were they led immediately into the Promised Land? No they weren’t. They walked in the wilderness for 40 years before they got there. But during those 40 years, were they still enslaved to Pharaoh? No they weren’t. Instead they experienced led by God through through the wilderness, around the enemy city and over the Jordan into the Promised Land. During that time they experienced aspects of the promised Land Life. God fed them abundantly with bread from heaven. God protected them from their enemies. And God dwelt among them in the Tabernacle. So too do we walk through the wilderness of this present life with shoes that do not wear out with shoes that are made for golden streets.

Think also of the context of Paul’s argument. Should continue to live in sin? May it never be! Instead we who are united with Christ are to walk in righteousness, in holiness, in purity and glory. And we are able to do so because we have been made alive in Christ. The same glorious power that raised Christ from the dead empowers us through Union with the Living Christ to walk this newness of life.

What Paul is getting at here in verse 4 is what theologians call the living or vital union with Christ. This is to say that all spiritual life flows from Christ who is the vine to the branches. Our life is not our own nor do we walk this new life on our own, as Paul says in Gal 2:20 “20 “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 gave Himself up for me.”

Simply put, this new life is the life after death to sin. And unlike the old life, it is not one that is filled with sin. It is not one filled with idolatry. It is not one filled with the love of this old world and all its pleasures. No! It is instead a life filled with the love and longing for the joys of paradise set before us. And it is a life that is empowered by the same divine glory that raised Christ from the dead.

Certainly be United with Him

And yet as much as Paul is calling us to walk in this new life, he gives us grounds to hope in the certainty that that eschatological reality will be fully realized. Look with me at verse 5, “5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,”

In verse 4, the new life- the eternal life of Christ broke into the here and now for us believers. But here Paul deliberately looks forward to the completion of our union with Christ in His resurrection. And this certainty of a future resurrection should act as a source of purpose for our present experience of walking in the newness of life. I get this from the word “for” at the beginning of verse 5. What is being said in this verse supports the main point of verse 4. The glorious power that raised Christ, will certainly also raise us up - verse 5 and therefore will certainly enable us to walk in the newness of life - verse 4. It’s like a mathematical proof. If we will certainly be raised like Christ to eternal life, then we will certainly have the power to walk in the newness of life in the hear and now.

And this equation works both ways. If you are walking in the newness of life, if you are growing in your sanctification, if you no longer continue in your life sin then that is proof positive that you have tasted the already but not yet resurrection power of God. So then, since you have been raised from your deadness in sin in the here and now you will certainly be raised on the last day. What a wonderful message of hope.

If — Then

And here is another message of hope. Notice the if—then argument here. If one reality is true, then the second reality must also be true. If we are united with Him in the likeness death, we shall certainly, certified fact, no shadow of a doubt, be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection.

Dear brothers and sisters? If you struggle to have such a confident expectation look to Christ and look to your union with Him. Just as He rose from the dead, defeating death, we shall rise as well. Why? Because of anything we do? No because we are in Him. Listen to the sweet words of 1 Cor 15:51-57 “51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” How do we get victory over death? Through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to give us one more foothold for your faith in this sure and certain future. This act of being united with Christ was not something you earned or did, “30 But”, 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 , it is, “by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”” We did not get ourselves into Christ, it was not by our effort. It was God who united us with Him. Which means we can never get out. Therefore, we certainly shall be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. Praise by to God. Amen!

Transition

With that let’s move on to our last section, United at the Cross, where Paul will hammer home the idea that we who are in Christ have died to sin.

Union at the Cross vs 6-7

Read verse 6 with me, Romans 6:6 “6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

Our Old Self

The word old is not a reference to our chronological oldness but it refers to something that is completely worn down and wore out - it’s useless, and its only worthy home is the dump. The old self is like shoes so worn out there are holes in the soles that make the feet bloody when walking a mile in them.

And In the context of Paul’s argument here it refers to who we were in Adam. Our old self was united to him, inheritors of his sinful nature, and under the condemnation, under the reign of death. It refers to who we were before justification. We were suppressors of God’s truth, blasphemers of God, fools with darkened hearts and depraved minds, worshippers of creatures rather than the Creator, impure and dishonorable, filled with wickedness, greed, evil, envy, murder, malice, deceit and discord, slander and strife, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful - worthy of death. This was our DNA. This was our sin infected and sin infested old self. And it was worn down and wore out

Crucified with Christ

And the beauty of the gospel is this: that old self.... was crucified with Christ. Look down at verse 6 and underline or highlight or circle that word “was”. Just as the crucifixion of Christ is a historical reality of the past, so too is the destruction of our body of death, of our old self. It’s ancient history.

Such is the nature of being united with Christ. Paul is making it crystal clear what it means for us to have died to sin, verse 2, to be baptized into His death verse 3, to berried with Him verse 4, united with Him in the likeness of His death verse 5. Just as Christ died once and for all, our old self has died once and for all if we are in Christ. So then, to come to Christ means a complete end to the life of sin. There may be slips, there may be failures, but they are never fatal - death has already happened.

Body of Death

This was the purpose of our crucifixion, that our old self, that our body of sin would die, would be done away with, destroyed, nullified, abolished and annihilated. This is not to say that our physical bodies are intrinsically evil or that our bodies are the reason for sin’s existence. Instead, this phrase, “body of sin” describes our physical bodies under the power and possession of sin. We have been crucified with Christ so that our bodies and our hearts would no longer be under the mastery of sin. And this is exactly what Paul says at the end of verse 6, look down and read with me, “our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.”

No Longer Slaves

For all who are in Adam, there is no freedom, only slavery. This does not mean that sin is forced upon you against your will. It means that there is no freedom to chose the contrary. In Adam, our wills, our desires, our volition is chained to sin so that... invariably we will choose to sin because that is the only choice we want to make, its the only thing we desire. And for us who have come to Christ, who have been crucified with Christ, who are united in Christ, for us, this slavery has ended. Our chains are gone. We’ve been set free to walk in the newness of life. We may still struggle with sin, we may stumble when tempted but we are no longer slaves. The presence of sin may still exist, but sin’s mastery over us has been shattered.

So then, since we are no longer slaves, since the old sinful flesh is hung on the cross, Colossians 3:10, “put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—” Our desires, our wills, our volition is no longer captive. The power of sin has been made powerless so that we can as Paul says later in Romans 6, let sin no longer reign in our mortal bodies so that we obey its lusts but instead we can present ourselves to God and our bodies as instruments of righteousness to God. We can, Romans 12 present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, not conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay Fast bound in sin and nature's night; Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;My chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth and followed Thee. Amazing love! how can it be That Thou, my God, should die for me!

Gospel Call

Dear friends, Have your chains fallen off? Have you known HIs Amazing love? Have you been united with Him? If not, might I ask, aren’t you sick and tired of pursuing the passions of your sin only to be disappointed by the emptiness of its pleasures? Lust always leaves you wanting. Hatred, slander, revenge and anger always leave you feeling broken and beaten down. Lies, trickery and cheating always leave you feeling like a fraud. And the worst news of all is that these sins that you pursue every day, these temptations that you say yes to, they lead to eternal death. When you die, your torment is not over, those feelings of emptiness, brokenness, and fraudulence are only amplified and added to by eternal pain and suffering. This is the condemnation and punishment for your sin.

But I tell you this today, you can be freed from that sin. You can put off this worn out and worn down body of death. This power of sin can be broken for you if you only come to Christ. Turn from your sin and turn to Christ who will end the reign of sin and death over you. Come to Christ and enter under His reign of grace. Come to Christ and His perfect, holy righteousness will be given to you so that you, once a sinner, will be made righteous. Come to Christ dear friend and you will be free.

Justified from Sin

Now, look with me at our last verse, verse 7, “7 for he who has died is freed from sin.”

This is not a simple restatement of what we already learned. The key to understanding the significance of this verse, is understanding that the ground for our death to sin, the ground for our freedom from its slavery, the ground for our ability to walk in newness of life is that we have been justified. It’s what I just described in that gospel call.

That last verb, freed from sin, is the same word used by Paul 25 other times in his writing, and it is the familiar word justified. The reason why we can really, truly, completely be free from slavery to sin is that we have the legal right to be free. Sin and Satan and death no longer lay rightful claim to us. We have been made righteous by the righteous and obedient life and death of Christ. And in these verses in Romans 6 we have seen that not only did Christ die in our place, we died with Him. There is no one for Satan to accuse. He might as well leave the courtroom of heaven and go home for how can He accuse the Righteous Son of God of sin. You are in Christ dear saint and there is no better place for you to be.

At the foundation of our freedom from sin, and of our ability to walk in newness of life, is the reality that we have been justified by grace through a faith... that unites us in Christ. So when He died, we died and when He rose from the dead, we were made alive.

Conclusion

So then, dear brothers and sisters do not continue in the deeds of your death. Do not be like Lot’s wife who turned back with the look of lust upon the city of sin. Don’t be like the grumbling Israelites who longed for the food of Pharaoh’s slavery because they grew tired with the bread that came from heaven. Don’t go back into that tomb and live and breath in the stench of sin. Don’t not continue to walk in your sin, you aren’t a slave to it anymore! Instead walk in the newness of your life in Christ.

I want to close by borrowing an illustration from Martyn Lloyd-Jones that he used to describe the relationship between those who are in Christ and their old sinful disposition.

There are two adjoining fields, one owned by Satan and one owned by God, that are separated by a road. Before salvation, a person lives in Satan’s field and is totally subject to his jurisdiction. After salvation, a person works in the other field, now subject only to God’s jurisdiction. As he plows in the new field, however, the believer is often cajoled by his former master, who seeks to entice him back into the old sinful ways. (and) Satan often succeeds in temporarily drawing the believer’s attention away from his new Master and his new way of life. However, (pause) he is (forever) powerless to draw that believer back into the old field of sin and death.

Why is he powerless to draw us back? Because we are united with Christ. May we then be dead to those satanic seductions and be alive to our good and gracious Master as we walk in the newness of life.

Let’s pray

Praise God’s mercy and grace

Praise God for uniting us in Christ

Ask for help in walking in the newness of life

Long for His return where we will be fully and completely raised

Benediction

Dear saints, through Union with Christ, you have been freed from sin’s slavery, so then do not continue in the deeds of death, but walk in the newness of your life in Christ.

1 Thes 5:23-24 “23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” And the church said, Amen. You are dismissed.

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