Rev. David Holwick W Romans series #7
First Baptist Church (well-received)
Ledgewood, New Jersey
July 17, 2005
Romans 6:1-13
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I. Grace is wonderful. Too wonderful?
A. Paul's thought up to this point.
1) The earliest chapters highlighted humanity's sin and need
for salvation.
2) Chapters 4 and 5 bring out the wonder of God's grace.
a) We cannot earn our salvation but we can receive it as
a gift.
b) Only God's grace, not law, can bring us salvation.
B. Paul's argument, that grace trumps the law, can be abused.
1) The more we sin, the better God looks? 6:1
When we sin, God can graciously forgive us.
The more we sin, the more grace he gets to pour out.
Jules Feiffer, an agnostic and screenwriter for the movie
"Carnal Knowledge," once facetiously said,
"Jesus died to forgive our sins.
Dare we make his martyrdom meaningless by not committing
them?" #24380
2) Obedience and good works no longer necessary?
a) Paul himself was accused of teaching this.
1> Official term is "antinomianism" - against the law.
2> Rules don't matter anymore, only unlimited freedom.
b) Recent American Baptist convention in Denver.
As many of you know, our denomination has had a bitter
fight over the issue of homosexuality.
Some churches want to accept homosexuals and marry
them and ordain them, whether they repent or not.
Conservative churches want to kick out the
pro-homosexual supporters.
Churches have been expelled, only to be accepted by
other associations - halfway across the country!
One group stresses God's grace and acceptance of us,
no matter what.
The other stresses God's high standard of morality.
Which way would our denomination go?
Up to now, the leadership has tried to appease both
sides so the denomination doesn't split.
However, General Secretary Roy Medley's keynote sermon
emphasized that God's "Radical Acceptance" is what
we are all about.
For example, Jesus was confronted by a woman who was
caught in the act of adultery.
It must have been a very dramatic moment - what would
the preacher of love do with this obvious sinner?
Jews were supposed to do what Afghans do to this day:
stone her.
What did Jesus do?
Basically, he said, sure, go ahead and stone her to
death.
Just make sure the first stone is cast by someone who
has never sinned.
Sheepishly, the crowd quietly dissipated.
Jesus then turned to the fallen woman and said, has no
one condemned you?
Then neither do I.
This is well and good.
It is certainly an example of "radical acceptance."
But what is the last thing Jesus said to her?
"Go and leave your life of sin." John 8:11
That last sentence is what every Protestant denomination
is fighting about today.
Is there any place for the enforcement of biblical
morality?
C. Grace forgives, and it also delivers us from sinning. (Stott)
1) God's grace justifies.
a) He declares us "saved" because of his love for us.
2) God's grace sanctifies.
a) He calls us to repentance and righteous living.
b) Morality still matters.
c) Motivation for morality is what changes.
1> We do not follow rules so we will be acceptable.
2> We stay within God's moral boundaries because it
is for our good, and honors our Creator.
II. Baptism till the bubbles stop.
A. There is a sense in which Christians are dead. 6:3
1) Paul's illustration of baptism.
a) (we will have one in Sam Mino's pond in two weeks)
b) Baptism associates us with Jesus' death.
1> Baptism has variety of meanings, one is drowning.
Has anyone here almost drowned?
You may not know it, but my wife Celeste cannot
swim.
She had an ear reconstructed and cannot get it
wet, so she never learned how.
But she loves the ocean.
When we were first married we lived in Ipswich,
Massachusetts, in an attic apartment.
Little furniture, less money, but a wonderful
beach.
One day Celeste went to the beach by herself.
She wouldn't swim, of course, but she waded in to
her knees and walked along a sandbar.
Then the sandbar disappeared and she was in over
her head.
Not much over - maybe six inches.
She is bobbing up and down, trying to get a
breath.
The lifeguard thought she was fooling around.
Fortunately, a person nearby realized something
was wrong and pulled her out.
Celeste doesn't wade anymore.
But she knows what it is like to drown.
Baptism is like this.
It is like going down into a grave.
2> Sometimes it is literal - Linnea Stoddard, daughter
of the Presbyterian minister in Succasunna, died
following her baptism in the Ledgewood Pond.
The Presbyterian chapel was built in her honor over
one hundred years ago.
A> If you knew baptism might kill you, would you
go through with it?
B> Paul says baptism DEFINITELY kills you, and
that's a good thing.
2) Different metaphor - our old self is crucified. 6:6
a) A grimmer image of death, but effective.
Robert Farrar Capon writes,
"The only qualification for the gift of the Gospel is
to be dead.
You don't have to be smart.
You don't have to be good.
You don't have to be wise.
You don't have to be wonderful.
You don't have to BE anything... you just have to be
dead. That's it."
#16491
b) 6:6 - "So that" - this dying serves a purpose.
B. Dead people are freed from sin. 6:7
1) Body of sin must be done away with.
a) "Body of sin" is most likely our old sinful nature.
b) We are no longer slaves to sin.
2) An interpretive dilemma.
As I read various commentaries, I grappled with a
problem here.
Paul is definitely saying Christians have a different
relationship with sin after conversion.
But from personal experience (and especially watching
you guys) I realize we can sin as much as anybody.
Is real salvation limited to a few special people?
Or is "death to sin" supposed to be limited?
(Some commentators give it a "positional" meaning.
Death to sin doesn't mean Christians sin less, but
it is killed on the cross and we are not judged for it.)
3) Is sin impossible for real Christians?
I once got a letter from a group of families near Sheldahl,
Iowa.
It appears they had formed some type of fellowship or
church, and they wanted to warn me about false
teaching that was infecting Christianity.
I had never heard of them before; they probably got
my church's address through the Yellow Pages.
Their letter argued that real Christians cannot sin.
Romans 6 was lifted up as a proof text.
Not only is sin impossible, but Christians should be
perfect.
I suspect if I met this family, I wouldn't be running
into perfect people.
#749
4) Sin is not impossible, but neither is it inevitable.
a) Sin should no longer rule us, Paul says.
1> We can still sin, perhaps gravely so.
2> But our relationship with sin is different.
3> Our heart's desire should be to honor God.
b) We should "count ourselves" dead to sin.
1> It is a new mental frame of mind.
A popular movie several years ago, based on real events,
gave an interesting angle on this.
Apparently most states that have Death Row put the execution
chamber close to that cell block.
When a prisoner comes to that fateful day when he is to be
killed, he is released from his cell.
One guard walks in front of him and others are behind him and
on both sides.
At Louisiana's death row, the guard who walks in front of the
prisoner shouts out, "Dead man walking."
Why do they say that?
They're taking him to die, but he's not dead.
He is as alive as he has ever been.
But Louisiana considers a condemned person on his way to the
death chamber as being a dead man already.
He's physically alive still, but he's under sentence of death.
Sermon #21298
In the same way, Christians are dead people.
We are still walking around, but our status is already changed
in the sight of God.
III. Resurrection follows death.
A. In our baptisms, the bubbles don't stop.
1) The person is lifted up - resurrected, as it were.
Especially with my deacons who assist me.
They literally launch candidates out of the water!
2) The possibility of new life in Christ. 6:4
B. Be alive to God.
1) Our new life in Christ is open-ended.
a) Our death is past tense, done.
b) Our life is present tense, and on-going.
2) Do not live as if you are on Death Row.
a) Have a positive outlook on life.
b) Enjoy God's presence and blessings.
C. Live as liberated people.
1) We can be freed from the tyranny of sin.
a) God can break addictions and compulsions.
2) We can also be freed from the tyranny of legalism.
a) We obey God out of love, not compulsion.
IV. Does sin still enslave you?
A. It can put up a squawk.
Kay Martin, a secretary to a New Zealand politician, got the
fright of her life a few years ago.
According to the Auckland Sunday Star, she and a friend were
chatting when they heard a chicken squawking.
The bird sounded in some distress, so they went outside to
investigate.
They thought that it might have escaped from one of the
neighbors.
But there were no chickens anywhere.
Then Martin realized with horror that the sound was coming from
her own kitchen.
As a matter of fact, it was coming from her oven, where she had
put a chicken in to roast half an hour earlier.
"It was as if it was shrieking at me from its grave," she said.
"It was so bizarre I just froze."
As they approached the oven, the squawking reached a crescendo.
They took the tray out, and as the chicken began to cool, the
squawking died away.
Martin chopped the neck off and threw it in the sink.
She noticed that the vocal chords were intact.
"Steam was coming up the neck from the stuffing," says Martin,
and this had caused the dead bird to squawk.
She has not cooked chicken since then!
Those are us who are Christians have put to death the sinful
nature.
Unfortunately, though, sometimes the "old man" rears its ugly
head and makes a commotion in our lives.
Take drastic action to shut it up!
#7510
B. We can live for God.
1) Don't let the struggle over sin monopolize your life.
2) Your emphasis should be on honoring God and enjoying him
forever.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 749 "Real Christians Cannot Sin," an unsolicited letter from "the
Sheldahl families" of Radcliffe, Iowa. April 3, 1989.
# 7510 "A Chicken Speaks From the Grave," Alan Smith, Thought For The Day,
November 10, 1999. Roddy Chestnut illustration collection.
#16491 "You Just Have To Be Dead," Robert Farrar Capon, from Rev. Brett
Blair's Illustrations by Email, www.sermonillustrations.com,
June 29, 2003.
#24380 "Sin That Grace May Abound," Jules Feiffer quote, from unknown
sources on the internet.
Kerux Sermon #21298, "Dead Man Walking," by Rev. Perry Sanders,
http://www.thejoyoflife.org/artman/publish/article_109.shtml, July 14, 2002.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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