Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 6. Romans 6. In the first five chapters of Romans, Paul has taught us many things similar to what we've been hearing the last few days in our Good Friday and Easter morning services, and that is that although we were under the wrath of God, because of Christ's death and resurrection, we are justified. And we are declared right with Him. And then in Romans 6, Paul moves on to think further about this. And we'll be reading Romans 6, verses 1-14. And the text we'll focus on is the first 11 verses. So Romans 6, beginning at verse 1, this is the Word of the Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means. We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again. Death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master because you are not under law but under grace. Dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, in these last few days, we've been reminded of a stunning truth. That our God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, came down 2,000 years ago, dwelt in the flesh among us, let us kill Him, and then rose again on the third day. And as we heard this morning, despite what the nations and the rulers wanted to say, His body was not found, and the message has gone forth to all nations. And we've been reminded that we have nothing to offer to God. We never did have anything. But we're born in sin. And everything we have is from Him. Everything we have is what He did on that cross and what He did coming out of that tomb. And it is all given to us and so we can boast in Him alone. And as Paul has shown in Romans 1-5, we are justified because of that. And we can rest and we should. We are saved. Nothing can change that. But it's easy for us to stop with that. It's easy for us to get into the mentality of thinking, well, Christ is up there in heaven. He's going to come back someday, probably far into the future, and my job is just to believe and wait until He comes back. Sometimes we're reminded of the things that He called us to do, of the radical commands to love one another in the Gospels and in the Epistles. Sometimes we feel impassioned about witnessing to our neighbors and showing them the love of Christ. But frequently, we're focused on earthly things. We sin. We'll admit it. But after all, we're human, aren't we? After all, we're not in the new heavens and the new earth yet, are we? And after all, God's grace will cover our sins, won't it? It's all from Him. None from us. so why worry about things that we can offer to Him? And you see how easily we can slide into this error that at first we think we would never say. How easily we can find ourselves saying, why not sin because grace will abound anyway? Or even sin, that grace may abound. Now, many of us wouldn't put it that way. But we would put it more subtly without even realizing it. We think, well, I don't commit any of the major sins of Scripture. I don't murder. I don't commit adultery. I even give a tenth of all I have to the church. But we stop yearning to live and walk in the love of the power of the age to come. To push ourselves more and more to experience living that love towards others. Because we think, after all, we're human, aren't we? And God will cover it, won't He? Now, I trust that this isn't true of you. And hopefully many of us can't identify with this at all. And perhaps we sit here and we think, well, I long to walk in righteousness. I long to walk in love, but I feel oppressed by sin. And perhaps you struggle with the love of money or lust or envy and you feel you can't conquer it. And if you are tempted to the error of which Paul's speaking. It is in the form of despair. Must I sin that grace may abound? Must these sins dominate me until Christ comes again? And you see, this is not the boast that says I will sin that grace may abound. This is the fear that I have to keep sinning. And all of us know that fear. But to every version of this error that thinks that we ought to or must keep on sinning, Paul's response is a powerful, by no means. May it never be. And he goes on to give a very tight, reasoned out argument as to why that is. And I'm going to work through that with you now. And it's basically three points. First, you are crucified with Christ. Second, you are raised with Christ. And third, therefore, you can live to God. You are crucified with Christ. You are raised with Christ. You can live to God. Brothers and sisters, the central point in all this is if you have believed the Gospel, if you are baptized into Christ Jesus, you walk in His power. You have been raised. And therefore, sin need no longer dominate you. Now, Paul begins his argument by showing over and over, actually, he asserts it many times in these verses that you are crucified with Christ. Listen to what he says. He says, in answer to this question, shall we sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? And then verse 3, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? And then again in verse 4, we were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death. And again in verse 5, if we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death. And in verse 6, we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing. And again in v. 8, now if we have died with Christ. You see, over and over, Paul wants us to see Christ's death is not just something that happened objectively 2,000 years ago, although it did. It is not just something that enables you to be justified, although it is that. You died with Christ. He said it in just about every imaginable way so that you will see you died with Him. He didn't just die for you. In v. 5, He uses the word, we don't see this in our translation, but the actual word is that we have grown together into the likeness of His death. It's that close. This organic union that we have with Christ in His death. Now as we look around at each other, Or perhaps we think of our own lives, we might be tempted to wonder, well, how do I know if I have this union with Christ? Yes, Paul says it over and over and over, but how can I be sure that he's talking to me? Now, the answer that Paul gives us might actually surprise us. Listen to what he says. He says, all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. And that throws us for a loop. Does that mean that baptisms would save us, not faith? Well, it doesn't mean that. But it's interesting that Paul says all of us who've been baptized into Christ. And there are several points that we can gather from what he says about baptism. First, baptism is God's promise to you, brothers and sisters, of your union with Christ in His death. And remember that this is the promise of a God who cannot lie. Baptism teaches you that when you've believed in Christ, you are surely united with Him in His death. But second, this promise is so powerful. The picture of baptism is so powerful as what we call a sacrament that Paul can even speak as if it's baptism itself that unites us with Christ. Look at verses 3 and 4. He says, Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death? baptism is such a powerful promise from god that paul can speak of baptism as if that's what's uniting us to christ in his death but third paul is assuming faith he's assuming romans 3 and 4 all that he's taught leading up to this point but it's important to note that that's not what he emphasizes here. He doesn't emphasize though all of us who have believed. He says all of us who've been baptized. And there's an important reason for that. Because he wants you to be able to, if you've believed in Christ, look to your baptism as his promise to you. That if you've believed in him, you are united into his death. And so that's why he speaks of baptism. He wants you to put significance in your baptism as God's promise. And boys and girls, children who have not yet publicly professed your faith, this is important for you too. Because you too have been baptized. For you too, this is God's promise. That if you look to Christ in faith, you are united to Him in His death. And these things, brothers and sisters, are not just true about those of us who have reached a certain state of maturity to profess our faith publicly. These things are true about our infants. That's why we baptize them. These things are true about the unborn. Because our God is the kind of God who does these things for us. He's a God to all of us, from the least of us to the greatest to us. And baptism is His promise that if we look to Him in faith, we are for sure certainly united to Christ in His death. That's a promise to every one of you. If you look to Him in faith, Baptism is that promise. So forth then, from these words about baptism, we see that the Lord wants you to look at baptism as your claim. That if you said, I've believed in Christ, I've called out to Him, then you can look to your baptism as God's sure promise that you are baptized into Christ's death. You have died with Him. But Paul wants to make the point even clearer. He wants your assurance to be even stronger than that. So he says not only were you baptized into His death, he says you were buried with Him through baptism into death. Now when we speak of Christ's death and burial, we often say that His burial is important because it's the proof that He really died. That's what the Heidelberg Catechism says. But then how much more is baptism the proof that those of you who believe in Christ Jesus have really been buried with Christ? In other words, that you've really died. Paul emphasizes this because he wants you to be sure. In all that he's about to say, he wants you to be sure that you have died with Christ. So stop again, both adults and children. Take this point seriously. If you have been baptized, and you believe in Christ Jesus, your baptism is God's sure oath that you have died with Christ, that you've been buried with Him in that tomb as surely as He was. Sometimes we struggle with assurance. Even those of us who've been long in the faith. Am I really saved? I believe. I put my trust in Christ. But do I really know that I have this new life in me? How can I say that He died for me? I believe that He died for sinners, but do I know that it's for me? And Paul's answer is, if you believe, look to your baptism. That's God's sign that you've died with Him. We're afraid that if we put significance in our baptism for assurance, that we'll think that baptism itself saves us. And we shouldn't think that baptism itself saves us, but we should take assurance where God wants us to take assurance. These are signs and seals for us to see. So now let this sink in, because this is foundational for all that Paul is going to say and all that I'm going to say. If you have not been baptized into Christ's death, if you are sitting here, you have not been baptized, you don't believe, you have no part with Him in His resurrection. If you reject Good Friday, you can have no part in Easter Sunday. Everything that I'm going to say, depends on the fact that you have died with Christ. And so I appeal to you. Believe in the good news of Jesus Christ. And if you have not yet been baptized, go to a church and ask, can I be baptized? Can I have this sign of God's promise to me? None of us need be worthy. We've heard that the last few days. None of us need bring anything. None of us brought anything. every one of us can believe and claim that promise. Peter said the promise is to you and to your children and all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. Believe and be baptized and you will be saved. And for all of you, no matter if you have believed and if you've been baptized, no matter how much sin still clings to you, no matter how much you're still tempted to doubt or do doubt, no matter how miserable you feel, no matter how depressed you feel, you're crucified with Christ. Therefore, you no longer live. Jesus Christ now lives in you. Now you might be thinking, I thought this was supposed to be an Easter sermon if you look at the title. So why all this talk about Christ's death? Well, the second step of Paul's argument is that if you've died with Christ, you are also raised with Christ. Look at what he says in v. 4. 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. And notice the in order that. You had to be baptized into His death in order that you might be raised with Him in His life. So how does this work? Well, that's what Paul goes on to argue in verses 5 and 8. Look at verse 5 first. And remember, all that I've said about your certainty that you've died with Christ. And now hear these words. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. Listen to the logic. If everything I've said about you in the first point is true, if you've been united with Christ in His death, and you have, you will certainly be united with Him in His resurrection. Now, let me clarify something. Paul is not just making a prediction here. He's not just saying if this one thing has happened in the past, this resurrection is going to happen in the future. The statement that he's making, and the original Greek bears this out, is a conditional certainty. Paul's concern is more on the logic of what he's saying than the time. What he's saying is, If A, if you've died with Christ, then certainly B has to happen. You will be raised with Him. That's the point. It's not that this is still future. He wants you to see the certainty of this link so you can't miss it. And again, let me emphasize, the focus is not as if we're supposed to think of this our being raised with Christ as simply future. where he says that we too may live a new life. The actual original communicates the idea of walking in the newness of life. And walking always has to do with what we do now in this life. In other words, we're raised with Christ and we think of it that way already now. And that's confirmed in verse 11 where he says, consider yourself alive. So the point is not that we simply think, I'm sure that I've died with Christ so I know that someday I'm going to be raised with Him. That is true, but that's not all he's saying. He's saying that happens already now. Listen to Colossians 2, verses 11-13, and Paul makes this point explicitly. He says, Colossians 2, verse 11, In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, which is His death, having been buried with Him in baptism in which you were also raised with Him. Past tense, you were raised with Him. Through faith and the powerful working of God who raised Him from the dead, and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him. And the point is that this has already happened. Baptism means both union with Christ in His death and union with Christ in His resurrection. It's at the same time, brothers and sisters, It's true right now. Now in Romans, he doesn't put it that way. But there's a reason for that. And that's because in Romans, he's concerned that you see the relationship between these two things. That if you've died with Him, you will be raised with Him. Union with Him in His death demands, necessitates, that you be raised with Him in His life. And Paul is very concerned with your certainty. That's how I keep emphasizing this point. He wants you to be certain, brothers and sisters. He wants you to be sure because there's no other foundation for doing good things. Doing good works. Not sinning that grace may abound. You have to be sure that you've died and been raised. So that's why he says, if this, then certainly that. But then he says, to make sure you get it, that the first thing is certainly true. Listen. He says in verse 6, knowing this, that your 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, for one who has died has been justified from sin. This has happened. Therefore, the second part has also surely happened. And it's important that he uses the word justified, and again, our translations often don't show it, but where it says that the one who died has been freed from sin, the word justified is the same word Paul uses in other places. Has freed is the same word as justified. So stop and think of the logic. If you've been justified, brothers and sisters, and remember, you're justified by faith in Christ, then you are surely united with Him in His death. And that means you're surely united with Him in His resurrection. And your baptism is a promise. So you can be sure as sure as you can be that you're baptized if you believe you can be sure that you've been raised with Christ now Paul is so determined to make this point that at first glance he seems very repetitive and he is a little bit repetitive but in verse 8 he makes the point again this time focused on the resurrection he says now if we died with Christ we believe that we will also live with him so here he's not just saying if we died with Christ, then we know that we are in His death. But here He's saying, we know that we will live with Him. And when He says that we will live with Him, He's not just talking about as we live together. He's not just saying someday you're going to be with Him in heaven as if it's a matter of locality or presence or living in the same place. That's not the point. Any more than that's the point when He said that you died with Him. What He means is you live through Him or He lives through you. Remember, I no longer live Jesus Christ now lives in Me. And that is powerfully important for how we look at what happened on Easter. Because that means everything He did on Easter, that life that Easter represents, that Easter is, is also you. As our great hymn that we will sing in a few minutes says, ours the cross, the grave, the skies. So keeping that in mind, listen to these words and remember that where it says Christ, it is also a description of you. For we know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, He will never die again. For the death He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God. That means that since you, brothers and sisters, have been raised from the dead, you will never die again. For the death that you have died, you died to sin once for all, But the life you live, you live to God. Not because you physically actually did these things, but because you're in Christ. And now note two important things here. First of all, Christ's life, this new life, is once for all. It is eternal. This is not like Lazarus' resurrection where Christ could die again or He could sin again and therefore die again. It's eternal. It's forever. But that's not all. It's not just life that's eternal, but life to God. And in a sense, that's far more glorious. The life He lives, He lives to God. And that means the life you live, you live to God. So just as Christ is no longer subject to temptation, no longer under the law, no longer under the curse of the law, no longer considered sin for us, He's conquered all that in His death. And so therefore, so have you. And He's been raised as the new creation, living to God, pouring forth the fruits of the Spirit, righteousness love joy peace loving kindness and every one of those things is also true in you you have risen with christ so what does this mean for us and that brings us to paul's or our third point in verse 11 he says in the same way count yourselves dead to sin but alive to god in christ And now you see how important it is that you see this union with Christ that you've been baptized into. You have to see this because listen to how he says it. He says, so you also. The whole point is that you see this as happening to Christ and that you see that that necessitates that it also happened to you also. He says, so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. And this is really amazing when you stop and think about it, what Paul's telling you here. Because you know full well, brothers and sisters, that you still have a mortal body. And Paul knows that. He says it in verse 12. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body. And you know full well that you still sin. And yet, Paul is commanding you, don't think of yourself that way. Don't think of yourself as destined for death. You're not destined for death. You're destined for life. And don't think of yourself as under the power of sin. You are not under the power of sin. You're dead to sin. You're alive to God in Christ. And that is part of the Gospel of Easter. And this is not simply a case of living as if. Paul's not simply saying live as if you were alive. Live as if you were dead to sin. He does not say that. And he's also not simply saying that it's so certain that therefore you can live as if it's true since it's certain to happen. No, neither of those things. He's saying this has happened. You can consider yourself dead to sin because you are dead to sin. You can consider yourself alive to God in Christ because you are alive to God in Christ. And this is baffling. We don't tend to think of ourselves this way when we face sin. But listen to 2 Corinthians 5, verses 16 and 17. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. The new has come. So you can look at one another and say, your old man's passed away. As surely as Jesus died in that tomb. The new has come as surely as Jesus rose. But listen to Colossians 3, verses 1-3. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died. And your life is hidden with Christ in God. Now again, we're tempted to wonder how this be, and there comes a point where I simply can't explain it. It's crucial to understand the role of the Spirit that Paul doesn't mention explicitly in our text, but he does elsewhere. In Romans 8, he says, if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So it's through the Spirit who unites us with Christ. And baptism is the promise of that. That we can be said to have died with Christ and rise with Him. And I sat for a while and tried to think of an analogy of this and I couldn't think of one because I don't think there is one except the Lord's Supper. When we partake in communion, we say, as the Scripture says, that we eat Christ's flesh and we drink His blood. We say, well, how can that be? We're not actually chewing on Christ's physical flesh and blood. And yet, the Spirit unites us with Him through this sacrament to teach us that as surely as we eat this bread and this wine, we are united with Christ. We are with Him in the heavenly places. And we are alive to God. And so through the Spirit, you can say that the flesh and blood of the new creation is pulsing through your veins. Think of that every time you take communion. This is not just a myth. It's really in you. You really are raised by the power of the Spirit in Christ. And now think back of what I said a few minutes ago of how we as Christians tend to be. We tend to think of Christ being up there, us down here. Christ coming long in the future and us having to wait. And ourselves as still being under sin because we're still in this age. And there's a sense in which those things are true. but not in the defining sense, not in the most important sense. In the most important sense, Paul is saying, don't think of it that way. We are with Him, in Him, by the power of the Spirit. That's why he says set your mind on things above. We are not just waiting for Him to bring us the new heavens and the new earth, but they are already here. We are already a new creation. And therefore, we are not under the power of sin. We are not. And don't let anyone ever tell you that you are. Because we've died to sin. So live that way, brothers and sisters. Even now. Why put off enjoying this blessing? Paul says in v. 12 and 13, Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies to make you obey their passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. Don't live as those who know that you're going to be brought from death to life. Live as those who have been brought from death to life. Now, what are the practical implications of this? And think of the... In the beginning, I was speaking about the temptation we have to think of sinning that grace may abound. Think of it this way. brothers and sisters, will a Christian ever say, could a Christian ever say and mean it, why not sin that grace may abound? Can you imagine yourself saying that? After all that Christ has done for you. After the new life that He has given to you. Uniting Himself with you. Would you ever say that? It's unthinkable, isn't it? And if you find yourself saying, well, I do kind of think that, then listen to this warning from Galatians 5 that Paul gives. He says, Now the works of the flesh are evidence. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. Now listen to this. It's a sober warning. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. And this is in the context of a letter in which Paul is telling us that we're justified by faith alone. The reason he's saying this is because a Christian will not be dominated by these sins. Because he's dead to them. And this is also a warning not to presume on your baptism. Do not assume that just because water was poured on your head that therefore all these things are true of you. if you find yourself not responding in faith to God, if you find yourself longing to do all these things and falling into them, you have no part in the kingdom. And we must remember that, even as much as we remember that baptism is God's promise that if we look to Him in faith, we are raised with Christ. But I don't doubt that that is not the case with most of you. I don't doubt that most of you long to do these things. And I've seen it among you. I've been the benefit of it among you. That you long to love one another in Christ. And that if anything, probably many of you are struggling, as I said earlier, with this sense that I have to sin and I don't want to. I struggle with lust and I can't overcome it. It's too strong for me. And to you who feel that, whether it's lust or whether it's anger or whether it's greed or just not caring about people, he says, don't think that it's inevitable. Don't think that it's sure to happen. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. And I speak this with the authority of Paul, but also from experience. If you think it's inevitable, I'm going to fall, I can't beat this, you will fall. If you think you have to sin, you're just going to want to get it over with and sin. But if you know that you don't have to sin, that you're dead to sin and alive to God in Christ, then by the power of the Spirit, you can conquer it. And that's why this is so important to remember that the promise of Easter is not just that you've been justified and will one day begin to overcome sin, but that already now you begin to overcome sin. Yes, you will still sin. John says if anyone says he has no sin, he's a liar. We're not teaching perfectionism here. But I fear that far too often with Christians, Our danger is not trying to be too perfect, but cutting ourselves too much slack and thinking, I may as well sin because grace will abound. But the Scripture calls us to strive for perfection and if we are believers in Christ, we will long to do that. And John's response, when he speaks to those and when he says, yes, you will still sin, he also reminds us of the Gospel. He says Christ is the propitiation for our sins and He is now our advocate with the Father. And this very Gospel means, as John says very clearly, that the Christian does not continue in sin and he cannot. But this is grounded, brothers and sisters, in the Gospel. We are not to strive to do this in order to be right with God, in order to please God. That's the foundation. Remember, your baptism teaches you that you have died. You have been made alive. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So get anxiety out of your mind. When you think about good things that you can do, when you think about how to love one another, get fear and anxiety that somehow your relationship with God depends on it out of your mind. And think about it. That already now, I enjoy the new heavens and the new earth. you have already been raised. And so as Paul says in Romans 12, already now, brothers and sisters, you can begin to love one another genuinely with brotherly affection. It's not a law anymore. It's something you can do. Already now, you can abhor what is evil and flee from it. Already now, you can outdo one another in showing honor to each other. Here as a body, us as real people sitting in this room can start to do these things as the new creation. You have the power to be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, being patient in tribulation, patient in caring for one another. And I see you already do it for one another. You have the power to overcome American materialism and greed by contributing to the needs of the saints and showing hospitality. You who are wealthy or are powerful or are particularly mature in the faith, you have the power in Christ to show humility towards one another and be willing to associate with those of low estate. You who are mistreated can respond to hatred by blessing those who persecute you. You who are suffering can rejoice with those who rejoice among us. And you who rejoice can mourn with those who mourn. And you, and maybe this is the most amazing of all, Because we are not just a human club, you, as a body of sinners, can live in harmony and be at peace with one another. Because you are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. Don't let the devil ever tell you that sin is inevitable. But defy the devil. Defy the world. Defy sin. Say, I am crucified with Christ. I am raised with Christ. are you still tempted to doubt? Do you doubt that you can walk in these ways? Look to your baptism. As surely as that water washed away sin, if you look to Christ in faith, these things are true. It's the Word of the God who never lies. It's not about what you do. That's what's so great about baptism. It's what God does for us. The resurrection is what God does for us. And even all these things that we can do are ultimately God working in us both to will and to do. You are risen with Christ, brothers and sisters. So live in the joy of eternal life. Amen.