Romans 6:8-14
Wednesday Evening Bible Study
January 13, 1999
Introduction
We have seen Paul present the case that man is not made right before God through his own deeds or the keeping of the law, but simply through faith. Our salvation is not a matter of something we’ve earned, it is a "grace", a free, undeserved, gift from God. All we do is trust Him to receive it.
Last week we got into the subject of our sin nature and began to look at how we have been connected with Jesus in His death.
We ended last week with:
(Rom 6:6-7 KJV) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. {7} For he that is dead is freed from sin.
The principle is that if a person is dead, they are no longer affected by sin. At the Disneyland ride "Pirates of the Caribbean", there’s a part of the ride where you’re riding through a dark cavern and you hear the echoing words, "Dead men tell no tales". There’s a lot of truth to that. In fact, dead men don’t just "tell no tales", but they also don’t sin either.
:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
As we mentioned in verse 6, in the Greek, there is a single word that translates "crucified with". Paul could have used separate words for "crucify" and "with", but instead he chose to use a single word. If he had used separate words, there is a greater emphasis simply on the idea of crucifixion, that we’re "crucified with Christ". But because he used a single, compound word, the greater emphasis is being placed on the fact that we’re "crucified with Christ". When He died, we died. We were with Him, somehow, mystically, as He hung on the cross.
Now in this verse, Paul does something similar in that He uses a single, compound word for "live with".
The idea is that we were not only with Him in the crucifixion, but we were also with Him in His resurrection.
Illustration
The proprietor of a drycleaning and dyeing business hung this quaint sign in his window: "We dye to live, we live to dye; the more we dye, the more we live; and the more we live, the more we dye." For the child of God, it is also true that the more he dies, the more he lives!
:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more;
Jesus only died once.
This goes against what the Catholic church teaches in regards to the mass. They teach that each time a priest goes through the mass, that the bread becomes Christ’s body, the wine becomes His blood, Christ is again crucified, and He is again sacrificed for our sins.
Yet Paul clearly says that when Jesus rose from the dead, He would die no more.
The writer to the Hebrews also writes:
(Heb 10:11-12 KJV) And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: {12} But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
:9 death hath no more dominion over him.
hath no more dominion – kurieuo – to be lord of, to rule, have dominion over; to exercise influence upon, to have power over
:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
once – ephapax – once; once and for all; once and only once.
He liveth – present tense – continuous action
He died only once, but He is now presently currently alive. When He died, He died to sin, not to God.
:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,
indeed – men – truly, certainly, surely, indeed
reckon – logizomai – to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over
This word deals with reality. If I "logizomai" or reckon that my bank book has $25 in it, it has $25 in it. Otherwise I am deceiving myself. This word refers to facts not suppositions.
This is the word that was used so many times in Romans 4, such as:
Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Just as God credited "righteousness" to Abraham’s account because Abraham believed God, so we need to credit "death" to our account, to be dead to sin.
Warren Wiersbe writes,
"Paul didn’t tell his readers to feel as if they were dead to sin, or even to understand it fully, but to act on God’s Word and claim it for themselves. Reckoning is a matter of faith that issues in action. It is like endorsing a check: if we really believe that the money is in the checking account, we will sign our name and collect the money. Reckoning is not claiming a promise, but acting on a fact. God does not command us to become dead to sin. He tells us that we are dead to sin and alive unto God, and then commands us to act on it. Even if we do not act on it, the facts are still true."
This is a step of faith, especially when my flesh feels much more alive than it does dead.
(Heb 11:1 NLT) What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.
Even though the evidence around me indicates that my flesh is alive to sin, my acting in faith requires that I act as though it’s dead.
We can do incredible things if we learn to act even when we don’t see the physical evidence of something (having faith).
:11 but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It doesn’t just stop with reckoning ourselves dead to sin. We don’t walk around like a bunch of dead people.
Lesson
Wake up!
Be careful that you don’t just go around as some "crucified" person. God doesn’t want to leave you on a cross. He wants you alive, very alive. But alive to Him.
Just as we are to starve the flesh, we need to feed the Spirit.
Doing things like worshipping God, reading our Bibles, praying, spending time with other Christians in fellowship, witnessing, letting God use you to minister to others.
Doing the things that are right have a way of giving us greater and greater victory.
We’ve seen this principle in Deuteronomy, as God promised blessings to His people if they would simply obey the things He had for them:
(Deu 28:6-7 KJV) Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. {7} The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
Part of the blessings of obedience is that you gain greater victory over your enemies, and for us as Christians, one of our greatest enemies is our own flesh and the temptations it responds to.
Keep on sowing to the Spirit:
(Gal 6:7-9 KJV) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. {8} For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. {9} And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
reign
– basileuo – to be king, to exercise kingly power, to reign; metaph. to exercise the highest influence, to control. The form of the verb is a present imperative – continual action, a command, "let not sin continue to reign …"mortal – thnetos – liable to death, mortal (from thnesko – to die, to be dead)
obey – hupakouo – to listen, to harken; to harken to a command, obey
lusts – epithumia – desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust
(James 1:13-15 KJV) Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: {14} But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. {15} Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Our lusts draw us away and entice us. If we allow the lust to go unchecked, it gives birth to sin, either in the realm of the mind (as in "thinking on a woman to commit adultery"), or in the actual carrying out of the sin.
Don’t let your lusts bully you around!
Illustration
Big John Doesn't Pay!
One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and drove off along the route. No problems for the first few stops-a few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well. At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet eight, built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He glared at the driver and said, "Big John doesn't pay!" and sat down at the back. Did I mention that the driver was five feet three, thin, and basically meek? Well, he was. Naturally, he didn't argue with Big John, but he wasn't happy about it. The next day the same thing happened-Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And the next day, and the one after that, and so forth. This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him. Finally he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that good stuff. By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong; what's more, he felt really good about himself. So on the next Monday, when Big John once again got on the bus and said, "Big John doesn't pay!," the driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and screamed, "And why not?" With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, "Big John has bus pass."
Just say "no".
:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
yield (both places) – paristemi – to place beside or near; to stand beside, stand by or near, to be at hand, be present. In the first occurrence of the word in this verse, it’s a present tense, a continual "placing near". The second occurrence is an "aorist" tense, talking about a one time occurrence.
(Rom 6:13 NIV) Do not offer the parts of your body to sin …
(Rom 6:13 NASB) and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin …
members
– the parts of your bodyinstruments – hoplon – any tool or implement for preparing a thing (not a musical instrument), whether in the tool shop or a weapon of warfare.
Vincent: "The word is used from the earliest times of tools or instruments generally. In Homer of a ship’s tackle, smith’s tools, implements of war, and in the last sense more especially in later Greek. In the New Testament distinctly of instruments of war (John 18:3; 2 Corinthians 6:7; 10:4). Here probably with the same meaning, the conception being that of sin and righteousness as respectively rulers of opposing sovereignties (compare reign, v. 12, and have dominion, v. 14), and enlisting men in their armies. Hence the exhortation is, do not offer your members as weapons with which the rule of unrighteousness may be maintained, but offer them to God in the service of righteousness."
Where are you going to stand?
It’s like you have two places to "hang out". Are you going to hang out with sin, or hang out with God?
Illustration
There was once man on a diet who prayed, "Lord, if you don't want me to go get donuts, then let there not be any parking spots at the donut shop." But he had to give in to the donuts because sure enough, when he got there, there was a parking spot right in front of the door … after his twentieth time around the block .
Are you going to hang out in the place that will lead you towards sin? Or are you going to hang out in the place that’s going to lead you towards the Lord?
:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
shall not have dominion – kurieuo (same word used in verse 9) – to be lord of, to rule, have dominion over; to exercise influence upon, to have power over
Just as death has no "lordship" over Jesus any longer, so sin no longer has "lordship" over us.
Paul is giving another reason why sin no longer has a hold on our lives. How does this work?
Part of the function of the law is to make sin "abound" or become more clear:
(Rom 5:20 KJV) Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Somehow, the abounding of sin, the clearness of it being bad, only gives more strength to sin:
(1 Cor 15:56 KJV) The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
(1 Cor 15:56 NLT) For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.
One commentator wrote, "Law inflames, grace kills the love of sin."
In other words, when you live your life completely by having a huge list of things you’re not supposed to do, and every day you continually review the list telling yourself what you’re not supposed to do, it ends up provoking you into doing the very thing you’re not supposed to do.
Illustration
Close your eyes and try to follow what I’m telling you. Whatever you do, be sure that you don’t think of a great big bowl of vanilla ice cream. And certainly don’t think of putting hot, thick, gooey chocolate fudge on it. And whatever you do, don’t think about the huge mound of whipped cream on it, especially all those chopped nuts and a nice big, red cherry on top. Now, what are you thinking about?
When we have chosen to try and live our lives to please God by the keeping of the Law, or by keeping a list of do’s and don’ts, the list itself will help push us into breaking it. But when we choose to live under God’s grace, understanding that He’s done it all for me, and I just learn to open myself up to the working of the Holy Spirit, then I don’t have to worry about what I’m doing because the Holy Spirit will guide me to do what is pleasing to God (we’ll see this when we get to Romans 8).