Personal Note: After wrestling much of the night over my sermon for May 2, 2004 (Gen. 32:20), the Lord revealed to me the title and basic contents, I humbly believe.
Everybody is alive to some things.
- How many of you are alive? Everybody raises their hands, except those already asleep.
- How many slept last night? So you are alive to sleep.
- How many ate breakfast? So you are alive to food.
- How many drove a car to church? So you are alive to an automobile.
- How many received and spent a paycheck in the last month? So you are alive to money.
- How many bought new clothes in recent days? So you are alive to clothes.
- How many of you love your wife or husband, your children and grandchildren, your girlfriend and boyfriend? So you are alive to those you love.
But suppose I turn and ask you this question, How many of you are alive to God? Keep in mind that being alive to something means you love it and it becomes a practice of your life. What does it mean to be alive to God? Jesus was God in the flesh and to be alive to God means to be alive to those things Jesus loved and practiced in His life. Jesus was alive to living holy, alive to worship, alive to attending church (Lk. 4:16), alive to winning the lost, alive to the poor, to little children, but especially to the lost of the whole world. Be honest- are you alive to God?
One thing is certain, according to our text, before you can become alive to God, you must be dead. Dead to what? To sin. Sin is what keeps us from being alive to God.
Isaiah 59:1 says “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.”(NIV).
Jesus came from heaven to earth, died on the cross, rose again and sent the Holy Spirit that we might be alive unto God. How can we realize this in our lives today? Paul answers this all important question in our text – Romans 6:1-14. He says there are 3 steps to being alive to God:
You Must Know That You Are Already Dead To Sin And Alive To God. In Paul’s day people were saying “we are saved by grace so it is all right for us to continue in sin.” What does Paul say in Romans 6:1-2, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? How can we who died to sin live any longer therein”? When does a person die to sin? When he received Jesus and is born again. Paul does not command us to become “dead to sin”, but plainly says “you are already dead to sin”.
What does it mean to be “dead to sin”? We must first understand what it does not mean.
- It does not mean we can never sin again.
- It does not mean we will never be tempted to sin.
What it does mean is that when we were saved we were united to Christ in his death to sin. And Christ not only paid the penalty of sin but also broke its power. When we receive Him, we die to sin through Him. This is pictured in immersion baptism, which shows that we are united with Christ in His death to sin and He through the power of the Holy Spirit gives us power over all sin. Paul did not say “to feel” or “to understand” but “to know”, reckon and yield once and for all.
Not Only Must We Know We Are Dead To Sin, But We Must Also Reckon
that we are dead to sin and alive to God, (v. 11). Reckon does not mean “hope so” or “suppose so”, but it means “to know so”, so much that we accept this as an accomplished fact and we constantly remind ourselves of this fact. Vs. 11 could be translated like this: “Keep reminding yourself, every moment of everyday, that you are dead to sin and alive to God.” As you do so, your psyche will be controlled by the thoughts of victory over sin. This enables the Holy Spirit to make this real in your life. Prov. 23:7 says “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” So, what you continually think is what you will continue to do.
Illus: Eleven steps lead us to my study. As I ascended those steps this morning, I said on every step, “I am dead to sin, I am alive to God.” God said it; I believe it and that settles it.
But you say, “all this is theory. How does it work out in real life?” Paul answers.
- It is not enough to know you are dead, and not enough to reckon, but you must put this truth into practice in our bodies. Note verses 12 and 13:
- Do not let sin dominate in your body.
- Yield yourself unto God as “alive from the dead” and the parts of your bodies as instruments of righteousness, (yield yourself “once for all”).
What does yield mean? To place yourself at the disposal of the Holy Spirit. Look at your bodies and be sure each part is used for the glory of God – use your eyes to look upon that which is good, your ears to hear right things, your hands to handle what is right, your feet to go visiting, your knees to pray, your lips to speak the gospel, etc.
In closing, I repeat my opening question, what are you alive to? There are Three Attitudes toward sin.
The deadly attitude – this is those who are dead bent on sinning and keep on sinning and will do so until they die, and they will reap the wages of sin – death (Rom. 6:25). Their destiny is hell, separation from God.
- The second view is that of many Christians or professing Christians. “I cannot Keep from sinning. I must sin and all I can do is to run to confess it every night and yet keep right on living as I have been doing. This is the defeatist attitude toward sin.
- The divine attitude or the Biblical view which was Jesus’ view (John 8:34), Peter’s view (I Peter 2:24), Paul’s view (Rom. 6:14) and John’s view (I John 3:9).
Are you dead to sin and alive to God?
Ask yourself these questions?
- Are you truly born again? If so, you can know you are dead to sin in Christ.
- Do you know this fact?
- Do you remind yourself daily that you are dead to sin and alive to Christ?
- Are you yielding your body as an instrument of righteousness?
Praise the Lord, the war against sin is over. Christ fought it for us, but will we enter into our liberty.
Illus: I read of a Japanese soldier who went to the Philippians Islands in 1944 to fight. He faded away in the wilderness and kept fighting until 1974 because he did not know the war had ended. Finally, his commanding officer flew from Japan and said, “The war is over. Lay down your arms.” I say to you, “Jesus has defeated sin, His victory is our.”
There are those of you who wrestle with all kinds of sin: anger, temper, lust, internet pornography, etc. You confess those sins and improve temporarily and in a few days, you are back in the same old rut. Today God is inviting you to claim your freedom.
- Know those sins are dead.
- Keep reminding yourself every moment that they are dead.
- Use your body to prove that they are dead.