Slideshow image

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore 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.” (Romans 6:1-4, ESV)

Pastor Abel’s sermon on this passage is titled “Dead, Alive, or In-Between”.

In Romans, Paul addresses two major themes or topics. The first is Justification or how sinners are declared right before God. The second is Sanctification or the process of how God transforms us in this life to walk closer with in him in obedience to his word.

In the above passage, Paul begins to look at Sanctification, how it works alongside Justification, and what the source of transformation in our lives is.

First, after finishing a long discourse on Justification in chapters three through five, Paul asks a logical question. Namely, if God has already declared that we are righteous (aka justified us), then can we just keep sinning and do whatever we want without fear? The answer of course is no. A transformed life (sanctification) is needed.

Second, Paul tells us what the source, and therefore the necessity, of Sanctification is: our union in Christ, both in his death and his life.

It is vital to understand that, in the moment of justification, when God declared you righteous because of Christ’s sacrifice for you, you were also united with Christ. This means that the old you, the sinful, fleshly you, in some real sense died with Christ on the cross. It also means that you are now a new creation because you are now united with Christ who has been raised from the dead.

Justification and Sanctification are therefore intricately connected realities that are both rooted in the work of Christ. On the one hand, Christ’s sacrifice is the grounds by which God makes sinners righteous by grace through faith. On the other, when a sinner is made righteous, they become united with Christ in his death, dying to the old sinful life, and in his resurrection, becoming alive to a loving and joyful walk of obedience to God.

 

For Further Study

 

Small Group Questions

  • Review Romans 6:1-12 and discuss what stood out to you from the Sermon last Sunday.
  • Discuss the danger of using justification as an excuse for living in disobedience to God. Why does this idea not make sense in a true Christian’s life?
  • “You are either dead in sin or dead to sin, choose your death.” Discuss this phrase from the sermon. Why is it often tempting to choose sin and death over being dead to sin?
  • If Christians are dead to sin, why do we still sin so often?
  • What are some practical ways we can pursue sanctification this week?