Our Death with Jesus

About this sermon

Introduction: Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? The question is raised by Paul because it is a common objection to the truth of God’s grace in salvation. Salvation by grace alone, by faith alone, and in Christ alone, assaults man’s natural way of thinking about himself. As a result, he not only objects to the doctrine of God’s grace, he slanders it. Does grace minimize sin? Does grace celebrate sin? Does grace encourage sin? *The short answer: The short answer is that the very suggestion is unthinkable and repulsive. The attitude taught by the grace of God is one that is absolutely opposed to sin. *The detailed answer: Not only is it unthinkable, it is impossible. How can we who died to sin still live in it? It is not just that a believer SHOULDN’T live the same life they lived before they were saved, they CAN’T. It’s impossible because a change has occurred in their relationship to sin. The believer has DIED TO SIN. We discussed last Sunday night how this is a real point of dispute among professing Christians today. Is this really our understanding of what happens when someone is saved? Do we really believe that they CANNOT go on living the same life? Do we believe that a change has occurred in them, in their relationship to God, in their relationship to sin, which is so profound, so real, so powerful and so unchangeable that they will never live the same life again? That’s what the Word of God is insisting on here, and throughout the New Testament. This morning we begin to engage Paul’s detailed answer to the objection. And where we begin is with our need to understand our death to sin. I. THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND OUR DEATH TO SIN The answer to the question is found in the key statement of verse 2. “We who DIED to sin”. It’s an aorist tense verb. It points back to a time in the past. He doesn’t say that we must die to sin He doesn’t say that we will die to sin He doesn’t say that we are daily dying to sin He says that believers all DIED, at a point in the past, to sin. A. THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE Paul treats this as something that they should know. The only thing standing between them and the right answer to the objection, is a right knowledge. **This is the most important factor in anyone’s sanctification. KNOWLEDGE It is not having a special experience It is not being filled with terrific feelings It is not even self-discipline or mutual accountability If your experiences don’t accord with the truth, if your feelings don’t accord with the truth, if your disciplines are in conflict with the truth, if you hold others accountable and they hold you accountable in ways that represent a misunderstanding of doctrine — YOU ARE NO BETTER OFF. The non-negotiable when it comes to sanctification is learning and walking in God’s truth James Montgomery Boice put it well: “…the key to a holy life is not our experiences or emotions, however meaningful or intense these may be, but rather our knowledge of what has happened to us.”1

Topics

• Heaven & Eternity
• Jesus Christ