 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
Tune
in to Grace Radio 24 hours a day!
Romans 6 "United Together"
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Certainly not! (Romans 6:1)
The gospel of Jesus Christ is that by the free gift of God, we are saved
from our sins and reconciled with the Father. Jesus has justified us,
He proclaims us pure and righteous, because we have faith in Him. Now
we know that this is not because we are pure and righteous, but rather
it is by grace. We don't deserve to be approved. There is no quality
of perfection in us that makes us acceptable. Exactly the opposite,
we are all sinners who should receive the wages of sin. Instead Jesus
gives to us the free gift of grace. But the question then comes, if
we are accepted by grace, even though we are sinful, then what is to
keep us from continuing in sin? If I know that heaven's gates will swing
open wide to receive me when I die, why can't I enjoy all the pleasures
of sin here on this earth and then all the pleasures of heaven in the
hereafter? Is this a spiritual loophole? Is it possible to get all of
the benefits and none of the pain?
How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not
know that as many of us as were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised
into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into
death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we
have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we
also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that
our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done
away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (Romans 6:2-6)
There is a perverse easiness about slavery. In the American South there
was a widespread belief among slave owners that the slaves as a race
were stupid and lazy. Abraham Lincoln pointed out that because the slaves
were working for nothing with no hope of personal gain, the easiest
way to avoid more work was to pretend not to understand what was said
to them, and to do any work that was given at the slowest possible speed.
But this was not the only easy thing about slavery. Because all the
choices of life were taken away from the slave and that slave was totally
dependant on his master, many developed a kind of childlike attitude,
looking to the master as their father. Because of this, at the end of
the Civil War, when Lincoln freed the slaves, many had no idea how to
live as a free person. Many slaves were very reluctant to leave their
former masters, because that would mean that they would have to work
hard to make a way for themselves in the world, they would have to become
self-sufficient, they would have to be responsible for their own lives.
Compared to this frightening new reality that they faced, slavery was
easy.
Paul tells us that before Christ, we were slaves of sin. Sin is just
as terrible a master as any slaveowner. Just like the slaves were robbed
of hope, plodding through their lives, doing as little as they could
get away with, sin also robs us of hope. Sin sucks the meaning out of
life, until we just go through the motions of living without really
enjoying it. Just like the slaves were robbed of their freedom, sin
limits our choices, closing in on us until it seems that we have no
choice at all. Like the slaves we become dependent on sin. We look at
sin as normal and it becomes hard to imagine a life without sin. In
fact it starts to look as if slavery is really more desirable than freedom.
After all freedom is so hard, and slavery is much easier.
Do you remember the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt.
Moses had led them out of slavery and into freedom, but no sooner had
they left the Red Sea behind and they were longing for the "good
ol days". It is amazing to us but they actually wanted to give
up their freedom and go back to slavery. But this is exactly the temptation
that we have regarding sin. Even though we have been given our freedom,
we are wondering if we can still enjoy some of the benefits of slavery.
The question of whether or not we can continue to sin, because our salvation
comes by grace is exactly this, it is the longing for the "easiness"
of the slave.
There are very few instances of slavery in the world today. We find
it hard to imagine what the life of a slave could be like. But there
are a number of similar situations that we are unfortunately more familiar
with. A few years ago I read an account of the Om Shinrikyo story. One
of the things that amazed me was that even after being held captive
in terrible conditions with very little food and subjected to all kinds
of psychological terrors, these very same people, after escaping, would
find themselves drawn back into the cult. Alcoholics, who know more
than anyone else the depth of suffering that drink has caused them,
still fall back into the habit even after being dry for years. This
is a kind of slavery, you see. Psychologists have noticed that abused
children develop a kind of dependence on their abusers and often grow
up to marry abusive husbands. You see it is not enough for someone to
come along and suddenly pronounce you free. Even though Lincoln made
the Emancipation Proclamation that gave rights of freedom to every slave
in America on January 1st, 1863, America is still wrestling with the
problem of slavery. The reason why the cultist, the alcoholic, the abused
have such a hard time escaping is because as humans we adapt to our
environments in order to survive. Each one of these people has adapted
to the slavery that they were in, accepting it in some way, to try to
make it more bearable. The slavery has left its mark on them and so
even though their circumstances have changed they are still in bondage.
These are dramatic cases, but actually each one of us has adapted to
the slavery of sin. And because we have adapted ourselves so well to
it, it is very difficult to suddenly be set free.
So the question is not, "can I continue to enjoy the benefits of
sin and still be free?" The real question is "now that I am
free, how do I live as a free man. How do I start being truly free when
I have no experience of freedom, have never been free before and don't
even know where to begin?" Romans 6 gives us the answer to this
question of how. Paul tells us that not only have we been set free by
Jesus Christ, but we have been "united together" with Him.
This is the key to living a truly free life. Paul begins by saying,
"How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it." Did
I die? This is news to me. But "united together" with Jesus
we have died to sin. In verse three we find out that "as many of
us as were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death"
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just
as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in the newness of life." This is not a command
from above, "You are free, now walk in newness of life." It
is an invitation to walk with Jesus, as Jesus, like Jesus. At the end
of the Civil War the slaves in America were simply told that they were
free. The plantations that they had lived and worked on were destroyed
and they had to take the few belongings they had and leave. The problem
was that most of them didn't have anywhere to go to. Our situation in
Christ is totally different, because Jesus not only saves us from sin,
but He also saves us unto righteousness. In three things we are united
together with Christ. First, we are united with Him in death. Paul says
that our "old man", our sin nature, was crucified with Jesus.
I was watching a movie the other day in which the star was running from
the Mafia. The problem was that the gangsters were so powerful that
there was nowhere to run. Wherever he went, sooner or later they would
find him. Finally, he decided that the only way he could escape is if
they stopped looking. So, he faked his death and made everyone believe
that he was dead. This is our escape from sin as well. The only sure
escape is death. But we could not do it on our own, so Jesus has gone
through death for us. Second, we are united with Him in the resurrection.
We are raised into true life with Jesus. This is what we mean when we
say we are born again. We have been given a second chance to start afresh.
Again this is not something that we could do on our own. We are raised
with Jesus. Third, we also live with Christ. With Christ we live unto
God. With Christ we walk in newness of life. With Christ! You see there
is no way that without any experience with freedom we can suddenly live
free. We must look to the One person who truly was free and model ourselves
after Him. We must stay in constant communication with the One who really
knows how to do it. Imagine that as you were flying on JAL to America,
suddenly disaster struck. In the end all of the pilots and staff are
dead and it is up to you to land this huge plane at LAX international
airport. But you say that you have never flown an airplane before. That
is alright, there is a man in the tower who is going to talk you in
every step of the way. We don't really know what we are doing in this
life. After all it is the first time for all of us. But Jesus knows
what to do and if we stay in constant communication with Him He is willing
to talk us through. He is with us. United with us.
| I have a question... | I want to receive Jesus Christ! | I want to confess sin... |
| I need prayer... | I want to come to church... | I want to be a prayer partner |