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Sunday, May 13, 2018

Buried and Raised (Romans 6.1-7)


Sermon by: Robert Austell; May 13, 2018 - Romans 6:1-7

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::: Scripture and Music ::
Lion of Judah (Robin Mark)
All I Have is Christ (Jordan Kauflin)
CHOIR: In Christ Alone (arr. Cottrell)
WT/Cong: This I Believe - The Creed (Crocker, Fielding/Hillsong)
We Know that Christ is Raised (ENGELERG)

:: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) ::
This "manuscript" represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose.

We opened the service today by hearing the account of Jesus’ Ascension. I included that because it came some 40 days after Easter and before Pentecost, which we will recognize next Sunday. And while today’s sermon doesn’t focus on the Ascension, one of the important things about it is that we are united to Christ – we are joined to him who has been crucified, raised, and ascended. As we continue looking at the implications of the Resurrection for our present life, this union with the living and ascended Jesus will be important.

We have three more weeks in the “Raised for a Reason” series and we will be spending them all in Romans 6. The main idea of Romans 6 is that life looks different because of Jesus Christ! Jesus makes a real difference in one’s life. If life with Christ and life without Christ look no different, then we have missed something crucial about who Jesus is, what he has done, and what he is doing even now. We could talk about that in a number of ways, but the place Paul picks up in chapter six of his letter to the Romans has to do with sin. And he has a lot of questions!

Questions Questions (vv. 1-3)

He asks, “What about sin?” If Jesus has conquered sin, why is there still sin? Why do I still sin?

One quick answer is one we still sometimes hear today, that sin doesn’t really matter because God’s grace covers it all! God has forgiven it all and we shouldn’t get wrapped up in naming sin, judging sin, or paying much attention to sin, because God will forgive it. But Paul nips that in the bud, asking “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” Paul’s response is: “May it never be!” Clearly, we not only continue to sin, but we should struggle against it. What follows in Romans 6 is an explanation of how we are then to live, particularly with regard to sin.

After Paul’s “May it never be!” he goes on to ask two more questions that will set up what follows. The first question is: “How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” The second is related to it: “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?”

Both are rhetorical, meaning the point is not just coming up with the answer, but understanding the answer and why Paul asked the question. What Paul is trying to remind us of with these questions is our new reality. Jesus did not need to die and be raised for his own sake. If Jesus death and resurrection were not FOR US, then there was no point to them. Today we will focus on the FOR US part.

Baptized into Death (v.4a)

Paul describes those who trust in Jesus Christ as those who have “died to sin” and are “baptized into Jesus’ death.” Those are not conditions of Jesus’s work; you don’t have to stop sinning for Jesus to die for you. That wouldn’t even make sense because then he wouldn’t have had to die! No, these are the RESULTS of Jesus’ work. Because Jesus died, we have died to sin. That is one of things baptism signifies; that we are marked by his action. That’s what Paul wants you to understand with his two questions. You have died to sin because you belong to Jesus and he died to sin… don’t you know it?

Let me try to illustrate. If the IRS sent Heather a tax bill next week that said she owed taxes on our family income, she or I could respond legitimately by saying, “How shall I who have paid my taxes still owe taxes?” Did she do the Austell family taxes or send them anything? Not personally, but listen to this second question while you are looking at verse 3. “Or do you not know that all of us who wear this wedding ring can file jointly and pay in that way?” I realize that anyone can put on a wedding ring, but so can anyone splash water and say they’ve been baptized. The point is that the covenant of marriage, signified by a ring, enables one to be fully represented by another. So the covenant of God’s grace, signified by baptism, enables one to be fully represented by another. So, I have been baptized into Christ and he has died to sin; therefore I have died to sin because I am united with him. Remember I mentioned that Jesus left the Holy Spirit with us when he ascended? The Holy Spirit unites us to Christ. What is true of him is true for us because of that union with him.

Now, living like that’s reality is another thing! I continue to sin even though I am dead to sin with Christ. Is that even possible?

Baptized into New Life (v.4b)

We have been buried with Christ into death and raised to “walk in newness of life.” (v. 4) Clearly, this is not literal, as we have not been physically buried. But it is one of the things we illustrate in baptism, and baptism is specifically mentioned here. So we are joined to Christ in faith, signified through baptism, by God’s gracious love toward us. If it is helpful to again draw the analogy to marriage: a man and woman are joined to each other in marriage, signified by the giving and receiving of rings. Baptism is like the rings – signifying a deeper reality. So baptism signifies being joined to Christ.

When Christ was crucified, our debt was joined to him; our “body of sin” was joined to him and put to death (v. 6). And when he was buried, our debt and the consequence of sin was complete. When God raised Jesus from the dead in victory OVER sin and death, we too were raised (still joined to him), but no longer under the curse of sin and death.

That doesn’t seem to jive with reality, does it? Sin and death still seem to be all around us, including IN us. And Paul would certainly agree; he wouldn’t have had to write this chapter if sinning no more was a done deal for Christians. So what he HAS said is that there is a new reality. A new life and a new way of living has been secured by Christ, but we continue to struggle with the old patterns, the old rules, and the way things have always been.

We will see in the coming weeks that Paul uses words like “consider” and “remember” and “do not let” – there are still choices before us - choices of obedience. We have to CHOOSE to live as those who have been buried and raised with Christ. Does that seem farfetched? Think again of the wedding ring. It signifies commitment, but we still have to choose commitment. The ring or even the reality of being joined in marriage doesn't do commitment for us. In the same way, we must choose obedience to honor our being joined to Christ.

So Paul declares a glorious reality: through Jesus Christ sin and the curse have been buried and we are raised to a new resurrection life. But as I said earlier, living like that’s reality is another thing. I’d challenge you to read and re-read this chapter – the whole thing, not just the verses we looked at today. We’ll be returning to Romans 6 for the next two weeks. Keep soaking in the Good News reality declared there, even if it is a struggle to bear that out in our lives.

Living the Reality

I used the analogy of marriage to understand union with Christ. And I asked how I can keep sinning if I am dead to sin with Christ. Think about the union of marriage. The two are considered one legally by our laws and also considered one spiritually by God. This is what God meant when he said “the two shall become one.” But let me ask you: Is it possible to be married and still act like you are not? Is it possible to be legally and spiritually united to another person and still act as if not married? Yes; it happens all the time from the trivial to the deepest thoughts and behaviors. We have man caves and she sheds, there is focus on self over the other, there are affairs and other illicit behaviors. And yet… still married. That’s analogous to our union with Christ. We are united to him in his death, resurrection, and ascension; but we also choose to sin and live as if those things were not true. And yet… they are!

This is what Paul is dealing with in this chapter. Do we sin? Yes. Should we strive against sin? Yes! God’s best for us in marriage is faithfulness to our vows and His best for us spiritually is faithful union with Christ. In Romans 6 Paul offers three illustrations to help us understand and navigate this tension between declared and lived reality. Today we looked at the first illustration (baptism, dead and buried). In the next two weeks we will look at two other illustrations Paul uses to address this one reality that we are united to Christ and it makes a difference!


Coming Next: Enlisting Rightly and Gracious Freedom

Next week we will focus on verses 8-13, in which Paul reminds us that we were “formerly dead” but now alive, and uses some imagery of presenting ourselves in service to a just cause to help us understand what it means to live out this Good News reality.

Then the next week we will focus on verses 14-23, in which Paul uses imagery of slavery, mastery, and wages to help us understand that our spiritual freedom is a gift and is life, again to help us understand what it means to live out the Good News reality of being joined to the Risen Christ. Amen.

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