Even though I’ve had to take a couple of breaks from the series on Romans, it’s still going – and going strong, it seems.  Our church folks are saying they have consistently enjoyed these sermons more than others I have done.

So this post continues into Romans chapter 6.  As some of the prior entries in this series, this post is more “commentary” than sermon – these were the notes I took in preparation for the actual sermon.

Intro: “Easier to Ask Forgiveness…”

(1) What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?  (2)  By no means!

Paul is picking up where he left off before – “where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (5:20).  Using a typical rhetorical device, Paul anticipates the questions and objections of his hearers/readers.  “So if grace is ALWAYS going to be greater than sin, then we can keep on sinning, right?  It will always be forgiven later, after all!”

Before we write this off as something we would never do, think about it.  Have you ever thought like this before?  I have.

And it’s not uncommon for us, as human beings, to think like this.  While we are here on this side of heaven, our nature will always be to work contrary to God.  And sinful ways are tempting – that’s why we want to go back to them.  It’s fun!  That’s just the way we are!

Paul’s answer, of course, is a resounding NO.  In fact, in Greek this phrase, me genoito, is something like “God forbid!” or “heck no!”

To emphasize his point, Paul uses two main images that help us understand what has happened to us when we choose to follow Christ.

Death and Life: Identifying with Christ

(2) How can we who died to sin still live in it? (3)  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  (4)  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.  (5)  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  (6)  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  (7)  For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Two weeks ago we talked about how we must identify with Christ in our sufferings if we are to identify with him in his glory.  Here Paul says that we must also identify with Jesus in his death – not a physical death this time, but a spiritual one.  When we join with Christ, we “die” to our old selves – and just as one who dies physically is freed from slavery to sin, so are we freed from slavery to sin.  And then we are “raised to walk in newness of life.”

Again, this is not an “either-or,” but rather a “both-and.”  We must accept the death to sin if we want to accept the resurrection.

(8) Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  (9)  We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  (10)  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  (11)  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Paul continues to follow his train of thought – this time comparing our spiritual journey with the physical journey of Jesus.

Jesus dies                                   =>       We die to sin

Jesus is raised                             =>       We are raised to new life

Jesus no longer subject to death    =>       We are no longer subject to sin

Jesus lives forever in new life         =>       We live forever free from sin

One of my favorite books to read with the girls has been Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. There are all kinds of lessons we can learn from the story of the butterfly, and there’s an important lesson for us in regards to this passage, as well.  Before he was transformed, the caterpillar had no choice but to crawl.  He didn’t have wings… he only had legs.  But once he became a butterfly, he didn’t LOSE his legs – he could still crawl if he wanted to.  But now he had a CHOICE – and the easier choice was to fly!

But imagine if the Very Hungry Caterpillar became a butterfly… and then wanted to go back to being a caterpillar?  He kept his wings, but he decided never to use them again.  The “Very Hungry Caterpillar” turned into the “Very Unintelligent Butterfly.”  How ridiculous would that be?

Freedom and Slavery

(12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.  (13)  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.  (14)  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

The next illustration might be more powerful still.  Paul speaks of our prior relationship to sin as one of master-slave.  “Slave” is a strong word today, and it accurately portrays Paul’s point.  Before, we were literally slaves to sin.  Like slaves, we had no choice whom to serve – we were sinful through and through.

But now we have been set free.  And we can freely choose which master we want to serve.  Will we continue to serve sin, even though it has no real claim on us?

Suppose we as Americans decided that even though we were free from British rule, we wanted to start paying taxes to Britain again and letting them tell us what to do.  Not only would it be ridiculous, it would be an insult to all the men and women who gave their lives so that we could live free!

So, now that we are free, we should present ourselves and our “members” – that is, our bodies, and our resources – to the one who has bought our freedom.  Our bodies, our lives, our talents and time have been redeemed.  We should no longer use them for sinful things, but for holy things… not just to our own designs, but “for righteousness.”

Choosing Our Master

(15) What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!  (16)  Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?  (17)  But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,  (18)  and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Paul’s tone here seems to indicate, “It doesn’t matter who you DECLARE as your master.  The one you serve is your REAL master.”

(19)  I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.  (20)  When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  (21)  But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death.  (22)  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.  (23)  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Again, Paul chooses rich imagery – that of a person at a job.  The wages of doing the work of sin is death.  These are the wages we deserve – we’ve done the work, and we deserve the fruit of our labor.  We’ve served our master, and we’ve gotten our reward.

But notice that Paul doesn’t use the same terms describing what God has done.  He doesn’t say, “the wages of righteousness is eternal life.”  We didn’t work for this eternal life, and neither did we earn it.

Paul says, “the FREE GIFT of God is eternal life.”  Again, mercy and grace – we should have received the “wages of sin,” but we didn’t.  Instead, we got something we did NOT deserve – a free gift of eternal life.

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

I walked down the aisle of the church in costume, talking to each of the children and blessing them, then I asked them to go out and tell everyone what they’ve learned during the week.  Quick, simple… but very effective.  I told one of the adults afterward, “The way you guys build up to Jesus’ appearance all week long, you could have practically anyone walk down the aisle in a robe and they’d be enthralled.”

I’m sure you’d hear many well-justified jokes about someone asking ME to play Jesus – most of them would come from me.  And it didn’t help the folks at Thrift’s Chapel that I was bald this year… we had to add an extra piece of costume to make up for that.

And there’s more irony.  Because Jesus’ appearance is such a secret, and they don’t want the kids to see the actor ahead of time, I have to park in the grass behind the church and come in quietly.  “Behold, I stand at the back door and sneak in…”

Joking aside, tonight’s experience was very moving for me, because I really got to see the view from Jesus’ sandals.  Those kids had been looking forward to meeting Jesus all week, and when I “interrupted” their gathering in the middle of a song, you could have heard a pin drop.  All the adults had one of those knowing looks, like when someone comes into the party dressed up as Santa Claus.  But not the children.  It was touching to see them looking up at me – some smiling, some awestruck, some afraid, some staring in wonder…

They all wanted to reach out and touch me, and when one little boy reached out with his left hand, I realized he was missing the end of his right arm.  My heart ached to have the power of Jesus for just one moment, to make his body whole.

I thought, “What must it have been like for Jesus, to go from place to place, meeting new people every day?  Most of them wanted something from him – a healing, a miracle, a loaf of bread, some new tidbit of wisdom, the spark for a rebellion… The list was never-ending.  They pressed on him in such crowds that at times he had to go out into a boat to talk to them (or just to get away to the other side of the lake), corner himself in a house, or let his disciples clear the way through crowded streets so he could get from one place to another.  Everyone wanted something from Jesus, and his compassion drove him to try to meet those needs as often as he could – even when it drove him to exhaustion.

How refreshing it must have been, then, when the children wanted to come to Jesus.  They had no agenda – they only knew that Jesus loved them and listened to them patiently.  They didn’t look at him with impatience or skepticism – simply joy and wonder.  They didn’t crowd up against him to get what they wanted – but to get to know this wonderful man who knelt down to talk to them, who laughed with them and hugged them.

Now I imagine, as his disciples pushed the children away, because there were so many more “pressing” needs, Jesus’ voice calls out angrily and almost desperately: “Let them come, and don’t keep them away!”

No wonder he said we had to become like children to enter the Kingdom.

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.