Principles To Live By: Dead To Sin

 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
-Galatians 2:20 (King James Version)

We're studying some Principles To Live By, as Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20. Yesterday, we began looking at what it means to be "crucified with Christ." You can read that post here. Today, we're going to dig a little deeper.

We read this in Romans 6:1-6, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." I know this is a long passage, but let's dig into it.

In Romans 5, Paul talks about being made right through Jesus. He concludes the chapter by saying, "That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Sin leads to death, but the grace of God leads to life through Jesus. Then, Paul asks in Romans 6:1, "What shall we say then, shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" In other words, Paul is asking, "Shall we continue to live our life of sin, even after we've given our lives to Jesus, so that the grace of God may grow in our lives?" He answers that question in verse 2, "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Paul is saying that we should never, never continue living in sin because we are dead to it. Wait! What's he mean?

Verses 3-6 tells us about being dead to sin. Verse 3 says, "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"  Paul is teaching us that when we were baptized, we were baptized into the death of Jesus on the cross. We live in a day and age where the church celebrates in the number of people that have been baptized. We like to get people to the altar, then get them dunked. Can you tell I attend a baptist church? But, all too often, we get people baptized, and they really don't understand what baptism is and what it means. Is it more than just a ritual? Is it more than just a way to add names to the membership role of the church? Is it more than just a way to get numbers? Yes, and I think we are doing a poor, poor job as a church explaining and teaching what baptism is. Matthew Henry wrote this in his commentary on Romans 6:3

Baptism teaches the necessity of dying to sin, and being as it were buried from all ungodly and unholy pursuits, and of rising to walk with God in newness of life. Unholy professors may have had the outward sign of a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness, but they never passed from the family of Satan to that of God. The corrupt nature, called the old man, because derived from our first father Adam, is crucified with Christ, in every true believer, by the grace derived from the cross

Romans 6:4 teaches us what baptism is all about, "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." When we are baptized, when we go under the water, we are putting to death our old life, our old sins, the ways we used to walk. Then, when we raise out of the water, we are rising up to the new life we have in Jesus. We'll talk more about this new life tomorrow. For today, though, let's finish up by looking at verse 6, " Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Know this, if you've given your life to Jesus, if you've been baptized, then you are not the same as you once were. Your old man, your old way of life has been crucified with Jesus, and you should no longer serve sin. 

Does sin still have a stronghold in your life? Think About It.