MPC 11th June 2006.June 11 - Romans 6 - "New Life, New Living"
Phil Campbell MPC 11th June 2006.
Did you know, Australia plays Japan in the first of the World Cup Soccer games tomorrow night? And lots of us will probably be watching. Because somehow, we feel that we're stakeholders.
It's funny how it works, isn't it? I mean, even the words I just said. Australia plays Japan. Because the reality is, we don't.
It's just a very few Australians who happen to be quite good at soccer. Playing just a very few Japanese who will probably be better! And yet somehow, what happens with those small teams of players, it counts. For all of us. And if they win by some sheer stroke of good fortune, if the Australian team wins, there'll be celebrations in the streets. And all of us will hold our heads higher. Even me.
I mean, what would it take for Australia to really beat Japan at soccer? In reality? For a start, you'd need a pretty big field. With 127 and a half million players on one end and 20 million on the other. And the refereeing would be chaotic.
Which may be why we've boiled things down to this idea of representation. Where we just send a team. To play for us. To stand in for us. In fact, to be Australia. In the world cup.
And when they win, we celebrate as if we've won.
And when they lose, we hang our heads. As if we personally have been disgraced.
In a very real sense, they... are us. And Australia's world cup hopes rest on that little team of guys. One for every million Australians.
With that in mind, in Romans chapter 6 we're looking at a very similar idea. Another representative man. The man Jesus Christ. Who's taking the field in a much bigger game. The game of life and death. And God's judgement for sin.
The sport metaphor doesn't really cut it any more. Because this is far bigger. And yet as Paul explains it, the exactly the same kind of idea at work.
That the suffering of the one can be the suffering of all of his people. That the victory of the one... is the victory of all.
That the death of the one... can be the death of his people. And most especially, the life of the one... life for us all.
And that, says Paul, is the way it really is. Which is why it's the way you should count yourself. And the way you should conduct yourself.
It's all packaged as the answer to one fundamental question that Paul addresses twice in the same chapter. A question that might have occurred to you over the last few weeks. Which is, "if being right with God isn't something you earn by keep commandments and rules... then surely that means you can just do what you like?" Most specifically, to the Israelites, he's saying it's no longer about the law of Moses. And when non Jews become Christians, there's no need to bang the law on to them.
But in simple terms it boils down to this. "If I'm not going to be saved by being good, then why bother being good?" If Christianity's all about God's forgiveness, why not give him more to forgive?
Which reminds me of the famous last words of the German poet Henrich Heine, who apparently as he died in 1856, said the words, "of course God will forgive me. It's his job."
That's the attitude behind the question in Romans 6 verse 1. "What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" Sin more. To give him more to forgive. Because that's his job?
Look ahead. Because it's a similar question in verse 15. "What then? Shall we sin because we're not under law but under grace?" Does the fact Jesus died for me, does the fact that the era of the Old Testament law is over mean I can cheat on my tax return, that I can cheat on my wife, that I can cheat in my business? Does the fact Jesus died for me mean I can lie when it suits me, that I can excuse my selfishness, that I can excuse my materialism, that I can excuse my lust, that I can excuse my jealousy, that I can say it doesn't matter - I can do what I like - because God's going to forgive it anyway?
To which Paul says twice, exactly the same words. No way. By no means. He says it in verse 2. And he says it in verse 15. Is God's grace just a license to sin more? No way!
And it's all to do with the fact that we need to count ourselves dead... because Jesus died. And count ourselves alive. Because Jesus rose.
And so we should conduct ourselves accordingly.
Take a look at the first few verses, and you'll see the same pattern over and over again. Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? So God gets to be more and more and more generous? No way.
Because, in a nutshell, we died to sin. When it comes to sin, we're nailed on a cross. Because, says Paul, and here's the soccer team thing again, when he plays for us, it's like we're in the game. He says, when we joined up with Jesus, when we're baptized into Jesus, when we link up with Jesus... that's actually what we're doing. We're baptized into his death. We're taking him on as our representative. And because of that, verse 4 says, what he's done, we've done. We died with him. Verse 4, "We were therefore buried with him," it gets better from this point... in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Died with him. Buried with him. Which means new life with him as well. Not just in the future sense of a life after death; but in the now. Make sure you notice those words at the end of verse 4; present continuous tense. Talking about life now. Christ was raised from the dead, so we too may live a new life.
Verses 5 and 6 say the same thing all over again. Since we've been united with him like this in his death, then we'll certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. We know, verse 6, our old self was crucified with him so 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.
Which is true, isn't it? Death has a wonderful way of getting rid of your old temptations.
So now, verse 8, if we died with Christ, we believe we'll also live with him. If we've taken that step of faith and we're supporting the Jesus team, we've first and foremost put ourselves on the cross with him. And now we've got a new life. That's different.
Now that's the logic. You might be used to the idea, or at least used to the words that Christ died for our sins. But this is the flip side. Your sinful nature is dying there with him. And more than that. The other end of the Easter Equation. You get new life with him as well. Not only in the future. But now.
And the implications of that come together in verse 11.
Which is a verse that should have flashing neon lights around it, because it's a turning point in the letter. It's a first. And it would be a shame if we read it and didn't even notice.
Because Romans chapter 6 verse 11 is the very first sentence in the whole of the letter with a command in it. The first five and a half chapters, in a sense it's the theory. All about God's gift of righteousness. How the Jewish law was not the way to get right with God. How Jesus died for you and rose for you.
So here's the first instruction. Verse 11, "In the same way, count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
The command is... count yourself.
I had a friend a few years ago who came back from an Amway Sales Conference in Sydney. He said, "They told me that the first thing I had to do to be a success was to start thinking success. They said, think of the red Porsche convertible you're going to own. Park it in your mental drive way. The key to success is to count yourself successful already." When I saw him a few weeks ago sadly the mental Porsche hadn't yet materialized. I think it had scaled down to a mental Commodore.
The sad thing is, in that sort of case the power of positive thinking doesn't amount to much more than a daydream. And it never will.
But have a look at what Paul says. Because here's a bit of self image that's profoundly important. And rooted in reality. Your self image, the way you count yourself, is incredibly significant. But don't waste it on counting yourself successful in business. Paul says, make sure your self image matches up to what you really are. "Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
What he's talking about here is a whole new way of thinking. And I want you to try it. He says, when temptation comes, when there's something you're really tempted by, you don't whip out a list of rules, and say, gee, I'd better not do that or I'll be in trouble. You say, wait a minute. That sort of selfishness is just not me anymore. That's the old me. Beause I died to sin. And now I'm alive to God." Count yourself as someone who's dead to sin. And alive to God because you're with Christ Jesus. And celebrate the win!
See, the way you count yourself, it's going to have an impact on the way you conduct yourself, isn't it? And there are more instruction words in verse 12. "Therefore," says Paul, because you're counting yourself dead to sin, "don't let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Don't offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness."
If you've got a mouth that keeps sinning, put the brakes on. And say something that matches your new life instead. If you've got an attitude that leads to sin, try disobeying it.
Say what the little kid used to say in the cheese advertisement, "you're not the boss of me".
The instruction is, don't offer the bits of your body to sin.
Paul says, you've died to sin, you've been given a whole new life. so use it the way it was intended. Instead of living the old way.
Crazy then, to say let's sin more so God's grace can abound. When the whole point of the gospel, the whole point of what Jesus has done, the whole essence of God's plan... was to give new life where you didn't have to.
Count yourself dead to sin. And alive to God in Christ Jesus. And then live like it.
Now if you've been a Christian for a while, the power of this might not be quite so fresh in your mind. But as I've said a few times in the last few weeks, find someone who hasn't been a Christian for very long and ask them. Because I've seen it over and over again. That they really do start putting to death their sinful nature. That they really do realize they've started a whole new life. And it's exciting. And it's kind of a sad that we ever get used to it.
So whatever you do, don't 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.
Think of a way today. Think of a way tomorrow. That you could put the parts of your body, that you could put your time and your energy and your talent... that you could put yourself to work as an instrument of righteousness. That fits the new you. No longer under law that just condemns you. But under grace.
Verse 15, Paul moves on to the second statement of the question. Okay, you say the law is gone, you're saying the law of Moses in the Old Testament is not the way to righteousness... so surely that means anything goes? Surely, people are just going to do what they like? Look at his words in verse 15. "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?"
And again, the answer is by no means. No way! Becoming a Christian doesn't mean you've got no boss. It means you've got a new boss.
Which is what he's spelling out from verse 16 to 23 . You're under new management.
I noticed Zanetti's Café round in Blackwood St has had a sign out the last few weeks. And it was written up in the local paper. Under new management. Which means, according to what I read in the paper, a whole new approach. A whole new menu. Maybe even better coffee as well.
Well, Paul says, it's like that with you. You used to be slaves to sin. Which leads to death. But now you're under new management. Pick up in verse 16.
Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Same logic as the first section. Here's what's happened. You've gone from slavery to sin, to what he calls slavery to righteousness. And so, verse 19, it's command time again... make sure you live like it.
I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now, offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
Maybe you think that sounds a bit dull? Maybe you think sin sounds like more fun? Trouble is, the stuff we excuse like that is so often the stuff we end up feeling ashamed of, isn't it? And the consequences lead to death. Verse 20 and 21, Paul says, you're free now from the stuff you're so ashamed of. Free to do right instead.
So make the most of it. And don't squander your freedom.
Apparently in the United States when the Emancipation Act was brought into effect after the civil war in 1865, proclaiming freedom for slaves, not much changed. There'd been a war fought over it. Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated over it. And yet somehow, at least at first, nothing changed. One slave who was interviewed back in 1865; he was asked what he thought of Abraham Lincoln. And he said, "I don't know nuthin 'bout Abraham Lincoln, 'cept they say he set us free... and I don't know nothing about that, neither."
Equally tragic... if we... having been set free from slavery to sin... still live like slaves. When the war has been fought and won.
Read verse 17. He says this.
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You've been set free from sin, and have become slaves to righteousness.
You know, there are people genuinely asking the sort of question Paul's answering here. Who either want to abuse the grace there is in the gospel. Or are so fearful other people will abuse the grace... that they turn Christianity back into rules.
And so they miss the point that what we're really on about is new life. With a new heart. See, let me say it again. Christianity isn't a religion of rules. It's re-starting a relationship; a new life with God. And It's wanting to do what God wants us to do, not cause of the rulebook - but because we want to please him from the heart.
I guess I've known dozens of people who have become Christians over the years. And time and time again, I've watched their lives change. To be honest, it's really the only reason I'm in the job I'm in. Because it works. And it's exciting. They're not running round ticking off rules - they're living a new life. Serving a new master. In a relationship with God that makes them really want to please him.
Don't forget, no matter how long you've been a Christian, it's meant to be the same story with you. So can I ask you this morning to have a look at yourself. Your own attitudes. Maybe you're a Christian who's got a bit too casual about sin. Because we can't be. Paul says, count yourself dead to sin. Have nothing to do with it. And count yourself alive to God. Don't use your body to serve sin... but to serve righteousness. Because now, on the inside, that's the sort of person you really are.