The Road Through The Waters of Life Romans 6 The Appian Way Preaching through Romans April 21, 2013

Can bad be good? or Does good come from bad?

“Where sin increased, grace increased all the more…” Romans 5:20

So then… If you do bad, then that gives God more opportunity to do good to you? So that is good. – right? No, that is wrong. That thinking is not good but really – bad!

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue to sin so that grace may abound? If sin brings God’s grace, and more sin means more grace, then sinning isn’t so bad. It might even bring good.

God’s answer to that idea… 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Don’t you know that all of us who have been baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 So then we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Jesus says that baptism is being born again. (John 3:3, 5-6) 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a person is born again … of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Baptism is the tool the Holy Spirit uses to unite you with Jesus. That sinful part of you died on the cross with Jesus. When Jesus rose, you rose with Him – born again!

5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we shall certainly be united with him in his resurrection. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin...

8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.

Born into this physical world makes us slaves to our physical weaknesses. Death frees people from all the ills and pressures of life. Our sinful nature died with Jesus. So, it can no longer dominate us.

11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ.

We have a choice to make. Dead and raised with Jesus – it is a fact! You need to make it a reality in your living! This is the choice: You cannot save yourself. But you must make the choice to live.

12 So then do not let sin take control of your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 Do not give yourself over to sin as instruments for unrighteousness…

…but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin has no control over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

That is great news! You have a choice. You are not controlled by your past, bound to make the same mistakes in the same old way. You are the object of your emotions; no longer the victim of your passions.

Make the right choice! “Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.”

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! – (No way!!) 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?...

… 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become servants of righteousness…

… Just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as servants to righteousness leading to sanctification.

We come right back to the same question: “What then?” Jesus died for all your sins, past, present, and future. No matter what you do, you are forgiven! One conclusion is that it does not matter what we do. We are still forgiven.

We are forgiven. But what we do, matter very much. It matters even more now, for we have a choice.

20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what benefit did you get from doing the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death…

… 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become servants of God, the benefit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus has freed us from all that. We now can make a better choice. Why would a person want to go back to that which is destructive?

Paul lays it out very clearly: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. You can either get what you earn, or receive God’s gift in Jesus.

There are two great forces from God at work in us all – Justification and Sanctification.

Today we are led down a new road in life. We are connected with Jesus in a very real way through the act of baptism. We are connected with Jesus in his death, so our past is dead and buried. And we are connected with Jesus in his resurrection, so we have a new and exciting life with him.

And the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Amen