Weekly Sermon
Romans 6:11-13 reads, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 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.”
In Romans 6:12-13 we who are God’s children are instructed, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 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.” Yet is this really possible for us in this life? Can we really refuse to allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies? Can we really refuse to obey sin and the lusts of sin? Can we really refuse to yield ourselves to be used by sin? Can we really refuse to walk in the ways of unrighteousness? Can we really say, “NO,” to sin? On the other hand, can we really yield ourselves to God to live for Him? Can we really yield our members to be used of God for His glory? Can we really walk in righteousness so as to be pleasing unto the Lord our God? The answer to all of these questions rings back from the Lord our God Himself through His holy Word – Yes, we can!
The Biblical assurance that in our daily lives we really can refuse to yield ourselves unto sin and really can yield ourselves to serve God is founded upon the fundamental change that the Lord our God produced in us at that moment of our faith in Christ for salvation. Even so, the first half of 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” In the context of Romans 6, this fundamental change is presented in Romans 6:11, wherein we are instructed, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is the believer’s foundation for daily Christian living. Brethren, whether or not we know it and whether or not we believe it, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ every single one of us is spiritually “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God.” Let us then consider these truths.
Romans 6:11-13 reads, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 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.”
In Romans 6:12-13 we who are God’s children are instructed, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 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.” Yet is this really possible for us in this life? Can we really refuse to allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies? Can we really refuse to obey sin and the lusts of sin? Can we really refuse to yield ourselves to be used by sin? Can we really refuse to walk in the ways of unrighteousness? Can we really say, “NO,” to sin? On the other hand, can we really yield ourselves to God to live for Him? Can we really yield our members to be used of God for His glory? Can we really walk in righteousness so as to be pleasing unto the Lord our God? The answer to all of these questions rings back from the Lord our God Himself through His holy Word – Yes, we can!
The Biblical assurance that in our daily lives we really can refuse to yield ourselves unto sin and really can yield ourselves to serve God is founded upon the fundamental change that the Lord our God produced in us at that moment of our faith in Christ for salvation. Even so, the first half of 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” In the context of Romans 6, this fundamental change is presented in Romans 6:11, wherein we are instructed, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is the believer’s foundation for daily Christian living. Brethren, whether or not we know it and whether or not we believe it, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ every single one of us is spiritually “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God.” Let us then consider these truths.
Our Death to Sin
Every child of God, from the very moment of his or her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, was made and now remains spiritually “dead indeed unto sin.” Furthermore, in Romans 6:11 the Lord our God literally commands us to reckon (to understand and believe) this to be true in our own lives. So then, what does it mean? The answer is provided in the earlier context of Romans 6:1-10 – “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 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. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”
In the first place, we learn that at the moment of our faith in Christ for salvation, we were spiritually joined with Him into death. In the opening portion of Romans 6:4, the truth is given, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death.” Yet in the second place, we learn, not that we were simply joined with Christ into death, but that we were specifically joined with Him into the likeness of His own death. In Romans 6:3 the truth is given, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.” Again in the opening portion of Romans 6:5, the truth is given, “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death.” So then, what kind of death did our Lord Jesus Christ Himself die? In the opening portion of Romans 6:10, the answer is given, “For in that he died, he died unto sin once.” Even so, in the third place, we learn that at the moment of our faith in Christ for salvation, we were spiritually joined with Him into His death, a death unto sin. He died unto sin once. Likewise, spiritually we died unto sin with Him.
So then, we now understand how we were made “dead indeed unto sin.” Yet the question remains before us – What does it mean? In the opening portion of Romans 6:6, the answer is given, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him.” In like manner, Galatians 5:24 declares, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Even so, in the opening portion Galatians 2:20, the apostle Paul gave testimony, saying, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live.” Every human individual comes into this world as a living soul with a physical body and an eternal spirit. Our living soul includes who we essentially are as a living person. It encompasses all of our personality. It encompasses our intellect, mind, and thinking. It encompasses our emotions, attitude, and affections. It encompasses our will, purposes, and motivations. It encompasses our heart, character, and priorities. As such a living soul, we interact with this physical world through the five senses of our physical bodies. Furthermore, as a living soul we interact in spiritual fellowship with God through our eternal spirit. Now, according to the teaching of God’s Word physical death is to be defined as the separation of the living soul and eternal spirit from the physical body. When this separation occurs, the physical body dies. This is physical death. In addition, according to the teaching of God’s Word spiritual death is also to be defined as a form of separation. It is to be defined as the spiritual separation of the eternal spirit from the life and fellowship of God.
Now, the Biblical truth is that we all came into this world as a living soul that was spiritually dead to God and to His fellowship. As Ephesians 2:12 reveals, we were “without God in the world;” as Ephesians 4:18 reveals, we were “alienated [or, separated] from the life of God.” Yea, as Ephesians 2:1 reveals, we were spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins.” Before the moment of our salvation, our eternal spirit was spiritually alive to sin, but spiritually dead to God in sin. However, at the very moment of our faith in Christ for salvation, God re-created our eternal spirit. At that moment two events occurred to us spiritually. The first of these events was that our old spirit, the one that was spiritually dead in sin to the life and fellowship of God, was crucified with Christ and taken away from us. Before that moment we were spiritually dead in sin without Christ. Yet at the moment of our salvation, we were made spiritually dead to sin in Christ. Thereby we were set free from the ownership of sin in order that we might no longer serve sin with our daily living. Even so, the whole of Romans 6:6 declares, “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.” Before our salvation sin owned our eternal spirit, and we were spiritually powerless to deny the reign of sin over our daily living. Yet at the moment of our salvation, our old spirit was crucified with Christ and taken away. Now sin no longer owns our eternal spirit. Now the power of sin over our eternal spirit has been destroyed. Now we can say, “NO,” to sin. Now we can live our daily lives without serving sin.
Yea, now we can live our daily lives in faithful obedience and service to God. Indeed, this brings us to the second event that occurred to us spiritually at the moment of our salvation when God recreated our eternal spirit. Yea, this brings us to the second truth of Romans 6:11 – “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Our New Life to God
At the moment of our salvation, not only was our old, spiritually dead spirit crucified with Christ and taken away, but also a new spirit, one that is spiritually alive in Christ to the life and fellowship of God, was created within us. Not only were we spiritually joined with Christ in His death, but also we were joined with Him in His resurrection life. Even so, Romans 6:4 declares, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” What then is the nature of this newness of life in which we are now able to walk? Well, what was the nature of Christ’s resurrection life with which we have been spiritually joined? In Romans 6:10 the answer is given, “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.” This is the nature of His resurrection life and is thereby the nature of our newness of life. We are now spiritually alive unto God. Before our salvation we were spiritually dead to God in sin. Now we are spiritually alive to God in Christ. At the moment of our salvation, God put a new spirit within us. Yea, now we are partakers of God’s own perfectly righteous nature, for the new spirit that God has placed within us is created after God “in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Thereby we are now able to serve the Lord our God faithfully in our daily living. Sin no longer owns our eternal spirit. Now the Lord our God and Savior owns our eternal spirit. Thus now we can cease to live in the old life of sin, and now we can live in newness of life for God.
Our Responsibility before God
So then, how are we unto respond to these truths? What is our responsibility before God because of these truths? First, we are personally responsible to apply these truths unto ourselves personally. Each of us personally is to recognize and believe personally that these truths are personally true. Even so, in Romans 6:11 the command is given, “Likewise reckon yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Furthermore, we are personally responsible to reject the call of sin moment-by-moment upon our daily lives. Even so, in Romans 6:12-13 the command is given, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin . . . .” Yes, we can every moment say, “NO,” to sin. Therefore, we should every moment say, “NO,” to sin.
Finally, we are personally responsible to yield ourselves to live unto God moment-by-moment in our daily living. Even so, in the closing portion of Romans 6:13, the command is given, “But yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
Every child of God, from the very moment of his or her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, was made and now remains spiritually “dead indeed unto sin.” Furthermore, in Romans 6:11 the Lord our God literally commands us to reckon (to understand and believe) this to be true in our own lives. So then, what does it mean? The answer is provided in the earlier context of Romans 6:1-10 – “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 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. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”
In the first place, we learn that at the moment of our faith in Christ for salvation, we were spiritually joined with Him into death. In the opening portion of Romans 6:4, the truth is given, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death.” Yet in the second place, we learn, not that we were simply joined with Christ into death, but that we were specifically joined with Him into the likeness of His own death. In Romans 6:3 the truth is given, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.” Again in the opening portion of Romans 6:5, the truth is given, “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death.” So then, what kind of death did our Lord Jesus Christ Himself die? In the opening portion of Romans 6:10, the answer is given, “For in that he died, he died unto sin once.” Even so, in the third place, we learn that at the moment of our faith in Christ for salvation, we were spiritually joined with Him into His death, a death unto sin. He died unto sin once. Likewise, spiritually we died unto sin with Him.
So then, we now understand how we were made “dead indeed unto sin.” Yet the question remains before us – What does it mean? In the opening portion of Romans 6:6, the answer is given, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him.” In like manner, Galatians 5:24 declares, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Even so, in the opening portion Galatians 2:20, the apostle Paul gave testimony, saying, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live.” Every human individual comes into this world as a living soul with a physical body and an eternal spirit. Our living soul includes who we essentially are as a living person. It encompasses all of our personality. It encompasses our intellect, mind, and thinking. It encompasses our emotions, attitude, and affections. It encompasses our will, purposes, and motivations. It encompasses our heart, character, and priorities. As such a living soul, we interact with this physical world through the five senses of our physical bodies. Furthermore, as a living soul we interact in spiritual fellowship with God through our eternal spirit. Now, according to the teaching of God’s Word physical death is to be defined as the separation of the living soul and eternal spirit from the physical body. When this separation occurs, the physical body dies. This is physical death. In addition, according to the teaching of God’s Word spiritual death is also to be defined as a form of separation. It is to be defined as the spiritual separation of the eternal spirit from the life and fellowship of God.
Now, the Biblical truth is that we all came into this world as a living soul that was spiritually dead to God and to His fellowship. As Ephesians 2:12 reveals, we were “without God in the world;” as Ephesians 4:18 reveals, we were “alienated [or, separated] from the life of God.” Yea, as Ephesians 2:1 reveals, we were spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins.” Before the moment of our salvation, our eternal spirit was spiritually alive to sin, but spiritually dead to God in sin. However, at the very moment of our faith in Christ for salvation, God re-created our eternal spirit. At that moment two events occurred to us spiritually. The first of these events was that our old spirit, the one that was spiritually dead in sin to the life and fellowship of God, was crucified with Christ and taken away from us. Before that moment we were spiritually dead in sin without Christ. Yet at the moment of our salvation, we were made spiritually dead to sin in Christ. Thereby we were set free from the ownership of sin in order that we might no longer serve sin with our daily living. Even so, the whole of Romans 6:6 declares, “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.” Before our salvation sin owned our eternal spirit, and we were spiritually powerless to deny the reign of sin over our daily living. Yet at the moment of our salvation, our old spirit was crucified with Christ and taken away. Now sin no longer owns our eternal spirit. Now the power of sin over our eternal spirit has been destroyed. Now we can say, “NO,” to sin. Now we can live our daily lives without serving sin.
Yea, now we can live our daily lives in faithful obedience and service to God. Indeed, this brings us to the second event that occurred to us spiritually at the moment of our salvation when God recreated our eternal spirit. Yea, this brings us to the second truth of Romans 6:11 – “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Our New Life to God
At the moment of our salvation, not only was our old, spiritually dead spirit crucified with Christ and taken away, but also a new spirit, one that is spiritually alive in Christ to the life and fellowship of God, was created within us. Not only were we spiritually joined with Christ in His death, but also we were joined with Him in His resurrection life. Even so, Romans 6:4 declares, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” What then is the nature of this newness of life in which we are now able to walk? Well, what was the nature of Christ’s resurrection life with which we have been spiritually joined? In Romans 6:10 the answer is given, “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.” This is the nature of His resurrection life and is thereby the nature of our newness of life. We are now spiritually alive unto God. Before our salvation we were spiritually dead to God in sin. Now we are spiritually alive to God in Christ. At the moment of our salvation, God put a new spirit within us. Yea, now we are partakers of God’s own perfectly righteous nature, for the new spirit that God has placed within us is created after God “in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Thereby we are now able to serve the Lord our God faithfully in our daily living. Sin no longer owns our eternal spirit. Now the Lord our God and Savior owns our eternal spirit. Thus now we can cease to live in the old life of sin, and now we can live in newness of life for God.
Our Responsibility before God
So then, how are we unto respond to these truths? What is our responsibility before God because of these truths? First, we are personally responsible to apply these truths unto ourselves personally. Each of us personally is to recognize and believe personally that these truths are personally true. Even so, in Romans 6:11 the command is given, “Likewise reckon yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Furthermore, we are personally responsible to reject the call of sin moment-by-moment upon our daily lives. Even so, in Romans 6:12-13 the command is given, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin . . . .” Yes, we can every moment say, “NO,” to sin. Therefore, we should every moment say, “NO,” to sin.
Finally, we are personally responsible to yield ourselves to live unto God moment-by-moment in our daily living. Even so, in the closing portion of Romans 6:13, the command is given, “But yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
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