How can a believer make progress in holiness? In Romans 6 the apostle Paul gives us clear teaching on the matter. We must know of our union to Christ, consider that union, and then go on to present the members of our body to God as instruments of righteousness.
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The Path To Freedom From Sin: Considering and Presenting
Romans 8:8-14
This morning we continue in our study of Romans 6, one of the most glorious chapters in all of the Bible. If you are interested in your sanctification, Romans 6 is one of the most important chapters in all of the Bible for you to study and apply.
Three weeks ago, we examined Romans 6:1-7. We learned that because of our union with Christ, His history has become our history. When He died to sin, we died to sin. We were buried with Him, and we are risen with Him. When He was crucified, our old self was crucified with Him. Paul is not exhorting us. He is not telling us we should crucify our old self. He’s not telling us we should pray that God would crucify the old self. He’s not even saying that our old self is being crucified. He is telling us that our old self was crucified with Christ. It’s done! Therefore, if you are in Christ, you are a new creation! The old person you were in Adam is gone. You have been taken out of Adam and engrafted into Christ. You are now one with Him, and because He has died to sin, so have you. You are no longer under the dominion of sin, but are under the dominion of grace.
Now, remember that in verses 8-14, Paul is still answering the question that he posed at the beginning of the chapter, “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” His answer is, “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” Paul has taught us how it is that we have died to sin, by virtue of our union with Christ. But he is not done with his explanation of why we can’t continue to live in sin. There is more we must understand and apply in order to find victory over sin.
In order for us to make progress in personal holiness we need to understand three more truths:
1) The Christian has been united to Christ in His resurrection
2) The Christian must consider that he is dead to sin and alive to God
3) The Christian must present his members to God as instruments of righteousness
1. The Christian Must Know That He Has Been United To Christ In His Resurrection
In our last study we saw very clearly that we have died with Christ to sin. Paul expresses this again and again.
6:2, “How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”
6:3, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?”
6:5, “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection”
6:6, “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;”
6:7, “for he who has died is freed from sin.”
So, in the verse 7 verses of Romans 6, Paul’s emphasis is that we have died with Christ to sin. But in verses 8-11, his emphasis changes. Now, he instructs us that we have risen with Christ.
6:8, “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him”
6:11, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
6:13, “but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead”
And this idea really shouldn’t surprise us, because Paul reiterates this truth again and again in the New Testament.
Colossians 2:12-13, “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.”
Colossians 3:1, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
Ephesians 2:5, “even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ”
You see, just as we have been united to Christ in His death, so too we have been united to Christ in His resurrection. His death is our death, and His resurrection is our resurrection.
The Christian has experienced one aspect of Christ’s resurrection already, and he will experience another aspect of His resurrection later.
There is a sense in which Christ’s resurrection has already impacted us.
6:4, “so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
6:11, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
6:13, “present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead”
There is a sense in which we have already partaken of Christ’s resurrection life. When we were grafted into His tree, we partook of the life of the tree. His resurrection life is in us. This is what it means to become a Christian. We came alive spiritually when we were united to Christ. Our dead souls have been awakened to the beauty and glory of Jesus. We go from being indifferent or even antagonistic toward Him, to where He is our supreme treasure. We go from unbelief to faith in Him. We go from serving ourselves to serving Him. We go from doing our own will to submitting to Him as Lord and doing His will. When a person is united to Christ and is given spiritual life, everything changes! “Behold, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come!” This is the only explanation for what has happened to you. You have been joined to Christ!
There is another sense in which Christ’s resurrection will impact us in the future.
Notice the future tense of these passages.
6:5, “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection”
6:8, “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him”
So, how will union to Christ in His resurrection affect us in the future? His resurrection has already raised our souls from death, but in the future it will raise our bodies from death. Union to Christ guarantees that your body will be raised up to live with Him. It is this truth that caused Paul to write in Philippians 3:21, “who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
2. The Christian Must Consider That He Is Dead to Sin and Alive to God
In verses 9-10, Paul lays out what is true about Christ.
- Christ will never die again.
- Death is no longer master over Christ.
- Christ died to sin once for all.
- The life that Christ lives, He lives to God.
Now, why does Paul tell us all of these truths about Christ? Because he knows that what is true about Christ is also true about you, because you are in Him. If you are in Christ, you will never die again. Death is no longer master over you. You died to sin once for all. The life that you live, you live to God.
And then Paul comes to this incredibly important statement, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” The words “even so” mean that just as these things are absolutely true about Jesus, even so they are absolutely true about you too! And since they are true about you, you must consider them to be true.
The First Exhortation In This Letter
What is so important about verse 11, is that this is the first time Paul has told his readers to do anything in this entire letter! He has been merely instructing us from 1:1 to 6:10. But now in verse 11, we are finally told to do something. What is it? Consider something.
Meaning of “Consider”
Most modern translations render the word “consider.” The KJV and the NKJV render it “reckon.” The NIV renders it “count.” What exactly does this word mean? Well, if you are from the South, when someone says “I reckon”, it means “I suppose” or “I guess” or “I think.” None of those meanings are correct when applied to this verse. The Greek word for “reckon” or “consider” is used 41 times in the New Testament, and 19 times in the book of Romans. We have seen this word many times already. In Romans in the NASB version it is usually translated “credited” or “imputed”. Perhaps the best translation is “to put to one’s account.” So, when Paul says “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus”, he means, put the truth that you are dead to sin and alive to God to your account. Consider it as true in your own life. It is to believe that what God says about you is actually true. It is not enough to know that we are dead to sin and alive to God if we don’t believe it and act on it. We must also consider that truth. We must put that truth to our account. In the first 5 chapters, Paul has emphasized faith. In chapter 6 we don’t see the same repeated mention of faith. Has Paul’s emphasis on faith changed? No. The word “faith” or “believe” has just changed to “consider” or “count.” To “count” and to “believe” are practically the same thing. We are to not just know of our union to Christ, but we are to consider them and keep them ever before us. We are to constantly consider this truth. We are sanctified through faith (Acts 26:18).
When we “consider” or “count” these things as true of ourselves, it isn’t make believe. We aren’t pretending that something is true that is not true. I’m not talking about the power of positive thinking, which Norman Vincent Peale made famous. I’m not saying that if you just say to yourself over and over that you are dead to sin and alive to God then it will somehow magically be true about you. I’m saying that it is true about you already, and that’s why you need to count it as true. The word “consider” or “reckon” is an accounting term. If I put $5 in my checking account, I can’t write a check for $5,000. Likewise if my old self is not crucified with Christ, I can’t consider that it is. When I consider that I’m dead to sin and alive to God, I’m not writing $5,000 in my checkbook as a deposit, hoping that $5,000 will somehow magically appear in my bank account. If I only have $5 in my checking account, but tell myself over and over “I have $5,000 in my bank account”, nothing is going to change. I will still have $5 in my checking account. I can only “consider” to be true about me what is actually true. God tells us to consider that we are dead to sin and alive to God, not so that by that process I will become dead to sin and alive to God, but because I am already dead to sin and alive to God.
Many people know that they are dead to sin and alive to God, but it doesn’t do them any good. Why? Because they don’t consider that truth when it matters. If you are born again, this is true about you. It will always be true of you. If you have fallen into temptation it is still true about you. If you are living in victory, it is true of you. If you don’t believe these truths, it is still true of you, but you just won’t receive any benefit from them. I am Brian Anderson. I will always be Brian Anderson. Even if I get amnesia and forget who I am, I am still Brian Anderson. So too, if you are united to Christ, you will always be united to Christ whether you count on that union or not. But you must know and consider your union to Christ for it to have benefit in your life.
3. The Christian Must Present His Members To God As Instruments Of Righteousness
Notice Paul’s Flow of Thought
In verse 12, Paul gives a command – “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lust.”
In verse 13, Paul tells us how to fulfill this command. There is something we need to stop doing – “do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.” There is also something we must start doing – “but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”
Then in verse 14, Paul tells us why we can count on victory over sin – “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Therefore
Why does Paul begin with “Therefore” in verse 12? Well the word “therefore” tells you that the author is drawing a conclusion based upon what he has already told us. What has he told us? That because of our union to Christ in His death and resurrection, the dominion of sin has been broken in our lives. Paul is saying, because the power of sin has been broken, don’t let sin exercise its power in your life.
Sin Is Not Dead
To say that we have died to sin, is not the same thing as saying that sin is dead. Sin is not dead. If it were, Paul wouldn’t have to tell us not to let it reign. Sin has not been eradicated from our lives. I am not teaching the doctrine of Christian Perfectionism.
Sin’s Lusts
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts.” What does the word “its” refer to – sin or body. It has to be sin, because both the word “sin” and “its” are feminine in the Greek. The word “body” is neuter. So Paul is telling us not to obey our sinful lusts. Now the word for “lust” is not necessarily a negative word. It simply means “a strong desire”. It could be a strong desire for something good. However, in this context it is a strong desire to do something that our sin commands.
For example, the desire for food is a neutral desire, but when sin captures that desire it expresses itself in gluttony, or anexoria, and it rules us for the sake of the enemy of God. These sinful lusts turn the members of our body like our tongue, mouth, and stomach into instruments (weapons) of unrighteousness.
The desire for drink is a neutral desire, but when sin captures that desire it expresses itself in drunkenness or caffeine addiction, and it turns our tongue into an instrument of unrighteousness.
The desire for sex is a neutral desire, but when sin captures that desire it expresses itself in fornication, adultery, homosexuality, masturbation or pornography, and it turns our sexual organs into instruments of unrighteousness.
The desire for rest and sleep are neutral desires, but when sin captures them it expresses itself in laziness and over-indulgence.
So sin will exert strong desires in your life. The Christian must not let these strong desires express themselves in his mortal body. And notice the word “let”. That word implies that we have the ability to allow sin to reign or to forbid sin from reigning.
How Are We To Overcome Sin’s Lusts?
Negatively, we are to stop presenting the members of our body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. This is how we lived before we came to Christ. Now we recognize that Christ is our Lord, and He has a claim on what we do with the members of our body. Perhaps before you came to Christ you presented your eyes to gaze upon pornographic web sites or movies. Perhaps you presented your ears to listen to gossip and filthy talk and coarse jesting. Perhaps you presented your lips to speak profanity. Perhaps you presented your hands to fighting, or stealing. Perhaps you presented your feet to walk to drug deals. Because we have been united to Christ in His death and resurrection, we can stop presenting the members of our body to sin.
Positively, we are to present ourselves to God as those alive from the dead. If we have been made alive from the dead with Christ, it only makes sense that we would present ourselves to God as His loving servants. This is what Paul is talking about in that famous passage of Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Notice that even before we present our members to God, we present ourselves to God. We surrender and commit ourselves to God to do His will and live for His glory. Furthermore we present the members of our body to God. We present our mouth and tongues to speak words of edification, to eat and drink in moderation. We present our eyes to God to read the Word and see hurting people with compassion. We present our ears to God to hear God’s Word preached and listen to the troubles of others. Now we present our lips to pray, sing, and witness for Christ. We present our hands to serve others and labor for Christ. We present our feet to take us where God wants us to go.
How Do We Know We Can Overcome Sin?
Verse 14 tells us: “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.” Remember that Paul has told us in 5:21, “so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Grace reigns as a king! When grace reigns what happens? Righteousness! Where does the reign of grace take us? To eternal life! Through whom? Through Jesus Christ our Lord. To be under grace means to be under the dominion or reign of grace.
Paul tells us explicitly that we are not under law. If we were under law, sin would be master over us. In 7:5 Paul explains, “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.” When you are married to the Law, sin will be master over you. It is only when you are married to Christ, that you will have victory over sin. Paul tells us in 7:4, “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” Do you want to stop bearing fruit for death, and instead bear fruit for God? It only happens through a union, a marriage to Jesus Christ. As His resurrection life becomes yours, you find the power to forbid sin from reigning in your mortal body. It all comes down to a close, committed relationship to Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
If we boil all of this down it simply means that if you are “in Christ” you don’t have to let sin reign in your body any more. Since you are dead to sin and alive to God, you can present yourself to God, and your bodily members to God as instruments of righteousness.
We must Know, Consider, and Present. That is the path to freedom from sin. Know that you are united to Christ and you share His history. You have died with Him to sin and have been raised with Him to newness of life.
Consider or count on that truth. Keep it before your mind. Dwell on it. In temptation, tell yourself what is true.
Then consciously present yourself and the members of your body to God to do His holy will.
You can conquer sin! Sometimes it may feel like you can’t, when temptation is strong. But the truth of God’s word is that you can have victory. Remember, that cruel and mean-spirited drill sergeant doesn’t have any jurisdiction over you any more. You have been discharged from the U.S. Army. That drill sergeant can’t make you do anything. If you obey him or salute him, you do it because you choose to, not because you have to.
You can make holy choices. You have the power in Christ. We need to stop making excuses for our sin. “Everyone else is doing it.” “It’s really not that bad.” “I don’t think the Lord really cares about that.” “It’s just a little thing.” If it caused Jesus to suffer, bleed, and die, then we must repent of it, and put it to death. May God help us to do so for His glory!
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