Romans 6:1-4

Romans 6:1-4

1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We 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.

Transcript

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Hi, this is doctor Bill Branks, author of Love the Word. I'll read today's text for us. It is Romans six verses one to four. 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. It was very warm for early May, so I decided to sleep in my cool basement. About five AM, I rolled over in the darkness and saw an odd reflection off the floor. It looked like a small puddle of water. Maybe I spilled my bottle and didn't know it. I reached down to touch it, and my hand was immediately immersed in water. I jerked back because the water was very cold. I turned the light on next to the bed, and it illuminated the extent of the problem. My basement had ten inches of water in it. A pump station had broken down and hundreds of homes in our neighborhood were flooded. It started about 2 AM for all of us. It's unsettling to remember that I was asleep in the dark when water began seeping into my basement through two drains. As I slept soundly just a few inches above it, the water was rising. It crept in quietly and slowly, finding its way all over my basement with silent destruction, and I had no idea. My flood in the darkness is a good picture of what Paul writes about in Romans 5 verse 20. The law came in so that the transgression would increase. I knew there was a little water, but when the lights came on, they revealed what had been there all along. Water was flooding in. Before we could be saved by grace, we needed to know the extent of the flood of sin that was destroying us. It took the light of the law to do that. The law exposed the extent of sin like turning the lights on in a basement you didn't know was flooded. When the law reveals the holiness of God, our sin condition suddenly becomes urgent. Then grace. The destruction of sin in our hearts and minds had to be stopped. We were drowning and didn't know it. The power of forgiveness driven by God's grace dries up the landscape of our hearts. Grace is a welcomed, formidable force that gives us peace knowing our sin is being dealt with, so much peace that we may take grace for granted. Paul writes about this as well. We must not wink at sin because we are covered by grace. Every sin must be taken seriously, from a seemingly harmless to the most vile. Grace is an amazing reality in every believer's life, but it is never to be taken for granted. Walking in the newness of life in Christ should make us in his sin killers. Forgiveness comes in the form of grace and transforms sin guilt to righteousness. Sin has become our enemy, and with or without grace, we are to do nothing to encourage sin. How can we who died to sin still live in it? We must be vigilant to kill sin and never find ourselves sinning again. Grace is not a bailout plan for willful sin. We have been baptized into Christ Jesus and baptized into his death, buried with him in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we are with him and victorious over the sin that we now abhor. Are you wondering what my response was to the flood in the darkness? I doubled up on pumps and immediately started pushing water out. At the same time, using rubber mats and sandbags, I blocked it from coming in. This is a good strategy for the sin we have in our hearts. Get rid of what is there and close every ingress of heart and mind where sin may seep in. Grace is no excuse to sin. It is the comfort of forgiveness and a tool to kill sin in our lives every day.