The Resources You Have for Living the Christian Life
Romans 6:1-7
Intro:
1. Chapter 5 explained that the Lord came to stamp out the sin life ushered in by Adam.
2. The Law was brought in so we could recognize what sin was.
3. This increased the sin instead of stopping it!
4. The Lord, then, extended His grace to cover all your sins by dying on the cross!
5. The question: if the Lord is happy covering all our sins with His grace, why bother stopping sin?
6. The answer: God wants your response to His love & grace to be a transformed life of gratitude!
a. Rom 12:1-2 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.
b. He wants you to live the life He created for you to live (Eph 2:10).
7. Although this transformed life is your gift back to God, He will give you all the resources you need to live it!
8. Baptism - your initiation into your Christian life - demonstrates to you the resources He has given you to live your Christian life successfully!
I. v4 - Baptism Shows You the Power to Live the Christian Life -
The Holy Spirit
A. You identify with the Lord’s death, burial & resurrection when you are baptized.
1. This verse says that you are resurrected by God’s glory - His power.
2. The same Holy Spirit Who raised Lord Jesus from the dead will also give life to you. Rom 8:11 - And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
3. Act 2:38 tells us that when you are baptized you are promised the gift of the Holy Spirit.
B. So - your baptism is telling you that your Christian life can be lived victoriously through the power of the Holy Spirit within you!
II. v5 - Baptism Shows You the Motivation to Live the Christian Life -
The Resurrection
A. Knowing that you will live forever with the Lord in heaven helps you to live for Him right now!
B. The resurrection illustrated. I Cor 15:36-38 - What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.
1. The seed is planted, it dies, it decays & then it blossoms.
2. The Lord Jesus died, was buried & then resurrected.
3. When you die to sin & are buried in baptism - you are resurrected to a new life.
C. Baptism gives you a picture of the hope of the resurrected life just like the Lord’s. This is the incentive for living the Christian life!
III. v6 - Baptism Shows the Freedom to Live the Christian Life -
The Crucified Self
A. In baptism - you crucify the old self. (KJV - “the old man”)
1. You’ve got to humble your pride to be immersed in a tub of water.
2. God wants a humble heart because a humble heart is a usable one. Matt 23:11-12 - The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
3. The Lord says this 3 times - Lk 14:11 & 18:14 - so it must be important.
B. When your old self is taken off the throne of your life, the Lord can take His rightful place there! ILL: Bill Bright’s circles with self dethroned & Christ enthroned.
IV. v7 - Baptism Shows You the Escape from Guilt to Live the Christian Life - The Forgiveness of Your Sins
A. It’s when you are baptized that you are promised the forgiveness of your sins. Act 2:38 - Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
B. The forgiveness of your sins could only be provided through the shedding of innocent blood for you.
1. In the Old Covenant - Day of Atonement was for forgiveness.
a. By celebrating this ritual, Israelites could become “one” with God & have the consequences of their sins postponed for 1 year.
b. Heb 9:22 - In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
2. In the New Covenant - the Lord’s death on the cross was for forgiveness. Jesus died once & for all for your sins. (Heb 9:28)
3. The difference:
a. The Day of Atonement: had to be continued annually, sin’s consequences were only postponed.
b. The Lord’s death: was once & forever, sins are completely forgiven.
c. ILL: A honey bee can only sting once - then he dies.
d. ILL: “The Gods Must Be Crazy” - burning the grass down wind to keep from being burned.
C. Baptism shows you that because of what Jesus did for you on the cross, you are a forgiven person!
What a better way to proclaim forgiveness than by identifying with the gospel message in baptism where the Lord provided it!
http://biblelifemessages.org/