Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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Well, let's hear a God's word
now from Romans six again, versus one
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through eleven, one through eleven.
So I'm going to read one through eleven
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and in the sermon this morning,
will focus in particular on verse three,
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Paul's connection to baptism. So Roman
six, one through eleven. What shall
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we say then? Are we to
continue in sin that grace may abound?
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By no means how can we who
died to sin still live in it?
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Do you not know that all of
us who have been baptized into Christ,
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Jesus, were baptized into his death? We were buried there for with him
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by baptism into death, in order
that, just as Christ was raised from
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the dead by the glory of the
father, we two might walk in the
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newness of life. For if we
have been united with him in a death
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like his, we shall certainly be
united with him in a resurrection like his.
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We know that our old self was
crucified with him in order that the
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body of sin might be brought to
nothing, so that we would no longer
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be enslaved to sin, for one
who has been died has been set free
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from sin. Now, if we
have died with Christ, we believe that
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we also live with him. We
know that Christ, being raised from the
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dead, will never die again.
Death no longer has dominion over him,
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for the death he died he died
to sin once for all, but the
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life he lives, he lives to
God. So you also must consider yourselves
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dead to sin and alive to God
in Christ, Jesus. This ends the
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reading of God's word. You may
be seated. For several chapters one through
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five, Paul has been building this
argument that justification comes by faith alone,
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through Christ alone, period. This
is Paul's primary, primary thesis at this
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point. This is the thing that
he's been emphasizing, underlining, showing in
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all kinds of different ways that there's
only one way that we can be reconciled
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to God, only one way that
we can have peace with God, only
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one way that our sins can be
forgiven, and it is through Jesus,
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Christ on the Cross, washing away
our sins by his blood, imputing to
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us his righteousness so that we can
stand before God not as filthy sinners but
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as people who are clean, holy, new righteous. And so when this
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question, this rhetorical question, is
asked at the beginning of chapter six,
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what shall we say, then,
are we to continue in sin that grace
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may abound? Paul answers with these
three short words. By no means.
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How can you think it for there, why would you say such a thing?
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We can't. Why would you go
and think that it would be a
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good thing to continue and sin considering
what God has done? Now then Paul
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transitions from this in verse two by
S or. In verse two he says,
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how can we who died to sin
a still live in it? This
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is his answer to the question.
The answers the question with another question.
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How can we who died live?
How can we who died to Sind live
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in it? And then, if
anyone doubts that, if anyone has any
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concerns about that, he brings up
verse three, our focus for today.
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Do you not know that all of
us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus,
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were baptized into his death? Here's
how Charles Hodge, one commentator paraphite,
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paraphrases that question or this passage.
If anyone doubts what has been said
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in verse two, he must be
ignorant about the nature and purpose of baptism
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and about the relationship to which Christ, to Christ which it involves. You
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see what you're saying there. He's
saying if you have any doubts that about
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this question, how can we,
who died to sins to live in it?
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Well then, you must not even
understand your own baptisms. That's the
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way Paul's putting it here. Do
you not know? How could you say
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this? Do you not know?
It be like somebody Um cheating on their
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spouse and then the spouse goes them
is. Do you not know? Do
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you not remember what we did on
that day and May, how we married
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one another, how I gave you
a ring? Do you not remember?
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Do you not know? That's what
Paul says here. Do you not know
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that all of us who have been
baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into
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his death. That's what it was
all about. So, to put it
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another way, your baptism as a
Christian symbolizes and seals certain things, particular
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things that, as a Christian,
you should call to your mind and call
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to your heart. In answer to
this question, should I sin? Is
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Sinning? Okay, what kind of
life should I live to God? Your
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baptism is connected to that question.
That's what Paul says here. That's the
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move he makes. Do you not
know? This is, of course,
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God's design? Paul says it with
this kind of confidence. Because God has
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designed it this way. He's instituted
baptism for this a particular purpose. Baptism
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isn't something that we make up,
it's not something we just do because it's
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old. It's something we do because
God has commanded it, something that God
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designed, a symbol, a sign, a seal that God himself has particularly
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designed for you, and one of
the applications of that baptism is so that
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you can answer with complete confidence this
question. How should I live my life?
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Your baptism answers that question. How
do I live my life in relation
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to God and to Unto My neighbors? Should I sin so that grace may
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abound? Should I continue to sin? Should I walk in death? Your
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Baptism Says No. God in your
Baptism Says No. You are called to
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something different. If you know what
your baptism is, then you'll know why.
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It's crazy to think that living in
sin is an option for a Christian.
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So let's take some time this morning
and think about baptism, think about
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the fine Paul points us to and
consider how we ought to live. Well,
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the first thing we want to say
about baptism is that it unites us
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with Christ, that unites us with
Jesus. He says this in one way
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in verse three. Do you not
know that all of us who have been
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baptized into Christ, Jesus, were
baptized into his death? You're that kind
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of language there. You are connected
with him, you have been baptized into
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his death. He uses this language
of baptism to show our connection with Jesus.
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That language of unity that's implied there
is very clear in verse five,
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for if we have been united with
him in a death like his, we
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shall certainly be united with him in
a resurrection like his. Now there's other
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ways that the Bible talks about baptism
and unity, sometimes in a hypothetical way,
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sometimes in a in a very real
way. So, for example,
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Paul Talks about the Old Testament Saints
Being Baptized into Moses. There was a
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unity there that they had with Moses, with him, they with Paul means
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there is that they were brought under
the law, Under this this covenant that
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Moses brought to them from God.
In a hypothetical and somewhat negative way.
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Paul speaks against being baptized into him. Faul says, you haven't been baptized
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into me, you don't have union
with me, you have union with Jesus
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in a positive and real way.
We are also said to be baptized into
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the church or into one body.
Now that's not a contradiction to say that
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we're both baptized into Christ and baptized
into the church, because they are united
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together. We as a church are
his body, scripture says, and so
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our connections to one another are very
real because of our union with him.
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That, by the way, makes
our church life very significant, because their
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relationships that are formed and bound by
the Holy Spirit himself, by Jesus himself.
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So baptism is a way away,
is a symbol and a sign,
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a seal of a union that happens. That's the way the Bible puts it,
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and here in Romans six he's saying
we are united with Christ. We
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are united with Christ. Sometimes,
going back to the example of a a
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wedding ring, sometimes we think of
the wedding rings as our wedding rings,
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and that's true, but if you
remember how the ceremony works, your ring
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if you're married, comes to you
from the other person. Right you don't
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go to the store and buy a
ring as a symbol of your great love
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of and your commitment to this other
person. Know, you buy a ring
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and you give it to the other
person as your sign and commitment to them.
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It's very much the same way with
baptism. Baptism is like God's ring.
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With this ring, I the wed
I give you this sign and promise
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to you that you are united with
me. So for Christians, when we
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think all about our baptism in the
way that Paul puts it here, our
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primary union isn't with Moses, it's
not with Paul, it's with Jesus and,
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through him, with one another.
So that's the first thing that's important
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to point out from this passage.
Our Baptism demonstrates our union with Christ it's
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important to say, though, it's
a union that's not, excuse me,
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automatic. Sometimes people think of baptism
as a as a ceremony that enacts certain
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particular promises automatically. Some people think
that baptism is an automatic thing by virtue
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of the one who baptizes, that
the pastor the priest is holy in such
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a way that the baptism becomes effectual. Well, I'll tell you, brothers
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the sisters, I sin and there
is a no way that I have any
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kind of holiness capable of imputing to
you a washing away of your sins.
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You Know Me, I don't have
to argue this point at length. So
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it's not the ceremony, it's not
the pastor, but neither is it divine
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obligation. Baptism isn't just the quarter
that you put into the vending machine,
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pull the lever and get out the
blessings of God as a kind of automatic
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mechanism. Paul is not speaking here
of an automatic kind of blessing. When
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he says you have been united.
Do you not know that those who are
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baptized into Jesus have been baptized into
his death and resurrection? How do we
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know that? Well, we know
it because Paul's not speaking to here,
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to a general audience, about some
kind of spiritual or ceremonial mechanism that gets
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people connected with God. Who is
he talking to? Well, you can
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go back chapter one, verse seven, to all those in Rome who are
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loved by God and called to be
saints. He's talking to the church he's
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talking to those who have been loved
by God and called to be saints.
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Now, this group of people,
people that are saints, Holy Ones,
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people that are have been loved by
God, called by him. Paul has
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been arguing throughout the book up to
this point that they only receive the benefits
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of that calling, they only receive
the benefits of that regeneration through faith,
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not by their works, not by
the holiness of others, not by the
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Commands of Moses, but only through
faith and through faith alone. Not a
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general faith, not an abstract faith, of faith in Jesus, in his
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death and resurrection for them. So, while baptism is a visible promise,
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the benefits that come only come when
the promise is believed. Baptism isn't an
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automatic thing. It depends on the
working of God and the receiving of those
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benefits by faith. Now, maybe
that faith will come after the baptism,
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as is the case for those who, like Abraham's son Isaac, received the
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sign of the Covenant before he had
capable faith. Or perhaps faith comes a
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or but for the sign, as
it was the case for Isaac's father Abraham.
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Either way, faith is the key
faith that follows the effectual calling of
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God. And it is to these
believers, these ones who have been called
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by God, loved by God and
called to be saints, to them that
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Paul speaks, and it is to
them that he says, remember your Baptisms
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and the Union that they had,
that they have and you have with Christ
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in them. So, with that
caveat aside, that the are stated the
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baptism is not an add automatic thing, and with the point underlined that it
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accumet, that the blessings to us
come to buy, come to us by
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faith, then now we're in a
position to ask, well, what is
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this union? What are those blessings? What does it mean to be united
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to Jesus by OUR BAPTISMS? What
does it mean to put our faith in
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him? Well, Paul points us
to two things here. He says that
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we are baptized into his death in
verse three, and also into his resurrection
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in Verse Five, and in many
other places throughout this passage. We are
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united with him in a death like
his and united with him in a resurrection
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like kids. This is what our
baptism symbolizes it and it does it in
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all kinds of interesting and complicated ways. We won't get into all of that
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now. But the but there are
very simple ways and obvious ways in which
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it's shown. One way it's shown
is by connecting us with the Lord's death.
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Let's start with that and then we'll
go to the resurrection. So first,
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our baptism. Baptism symbolizes US being
baptized into Christ's death. Now Paul
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Talks about that death in two particular
ways, and he does it in reverse
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chronological order, just to be precise. The first thing he talks about is
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burial. The second is crucifixion.
So notice what he says in Verse Four.
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We were buried there for with him
by baptism into death. This is
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a very remarkable thing, right,
if I walked up to you and said
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you have been buried, there aren't
many times that we say that kind of
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thing, but here Paul says it. He says you have been buried with
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him by baptism. He continues to
talk about that death in verse six then,
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when he says our old self was
crucified with him in order that the
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body of sin might be brought to
nothing. So Paul has in mind when
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he says we're BAP ties, he
has in mind not just our burial,
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but our crucifixion as well, and
from that we could extend every part of
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Christ's death. We were baptized into
him and into his death. He starts
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with the burial and it's so strong, isn't it? It's such a strong
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way to speak about death. You
don't bury alive people, do you?
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I suppose if you did, it
was for the purpose of death. There's
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nothing about burial that doesn't speak of
death, and that's what Paul says here.
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You were buried with him, buried
with him, not only buried but
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also crucified. All the pain and
suffering that Jesus took on the cross,
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as we read in Second Corinthians.
Him who knew what, who knew no
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sin was made to be sin when
he took all that way to sin on
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himself, and not just yours,
but the people sitting around you and even
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the whole world. He took it
all on himself, that great weight of
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sin, all that suffering, and
he endured it in his crucifixion. You
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were there, Paul says, just
as you were buried with him, you
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were also crucified with him. That's
what the baptism points to. That's what
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means to be baptized into his death. You were there, not in his
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place, but him in your place. And when Jesus did that, when
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Jesus went to the Cross for you
and took all of your sins upon himself,
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he didn't just wipe away the penalty
of the sin, but, as
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Paul says here, he also wiped
away the power of that sin, as
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he says in verse six, so
that we would no longer be enslaved to
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sin. Or is he says in
verse seven, we have been set free
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from sin, or is he says
in verse nine, that we would no
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longer have that death, the death, and sin would no longer have dominion
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over him and also us. Enslavement, Dominion Death, these are the things
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that Paul speaks of when he speaks
of what Christ did on the Cross.
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He set us free from these things. He set us free from not only
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the penalty but also the power of
sin, Death to having a dominion over
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us as a powerful thing and another
portion of scripture, it's described as a
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tool which Satan uses, almost a
bludgeon people to make them afraid and do
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bad and evil things. That's all
taken away if you have been baptized into
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Jesus. You have been baptized into
his death. Your sins are gone,
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the penalty has been paid, the
power of them has been taken away.
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But he doesn't stop at the death, does he? Not only have you
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been baptized into his death, you
have been baptized into his resurrection. Jesus
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didn't stay in the tomb. He
rose and he walked in the newness of
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life and, according to the glory
of God, he came out of the
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tomb as a victor, as a
champion, as a leader. He walked
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out of a death match with against
death itself, with death defeated, lying
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in the grave and him never to
die again once for all, as verse
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ten says. And this life that
he lives now, he lives to God
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as it was always lived, but
now he lives on the other side of
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the test, as one who's no
longer under probation, as one who no
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longer is under a test, but
one who has been confirmed in his victory.
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Well, that makes sense for Jesus
Right. It makes sense that Jesus
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lived this great life, passed the
test overcame death and now lives in this
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glorious resurrection to apply that, to
us is a remarkable thing, isn't it,
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to say, for me to say
to you, which is what I'm
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saying, that you have passed the
test, that the probationary period has ended,
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that you have conquered sin and death
and risen to new life? You
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would rightly ask how, how would
that in any way be possible for me?
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He knew no sin. That makes
sense, but I oh, I
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no sin. Intimately, in depth, personally, it happened and it applies
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to you because of what God has
done, because Jesus didn't go to the
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Cross as an example for you to
follow, but to do what you were
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incapable of doing. He went to
the Cross with you united to him,
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so that his death would be your
death, so that his resurrection would be
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your resurrection. And that's why we
say it's all of grace, because we
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don't go to God and say I
passed the probationary period, I passed the
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test of righteousness in myself. We
go to God and we say Jesus is
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my righteousness, he is my death, he is my resurrection, and so
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in that we live this resurrected life. What all that means, then,
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is this baptism which you have been
baptized with. If you are a Christian,
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you've been baptized into Jesus's death.
You have been baptized into Jesus is
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life. So the promise is that
God has fulfilled in Christ and are then
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made visible and confirmed in your baptism, are true for you and all who
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believe in what he has said.
These are God's promises fulfilled for us in
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Jesus, made visible to us in
our baptisms. That means that if you've
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been baptized, you have this physical
thing, this physical thing that has been
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done to your body, a physical
thing that marks you and your body as
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God's, as belonging to him.
Just as my wedding ring marks me is
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belonging to my wife, your baptism
marks you as belonging to God. You
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are a resurrected person. You are
no longer born in Adam and under that
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sin. You live as one who
is a new creature, as one who
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is renewed through your union with Christ. This is, I will say again,
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an amazing thing. To consider ourselves
resurrected now and not just in the
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future. Is An amazing thing,
but that is what Paul says. The
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resurrection, the newness of life that
is connected with the resurrection, is not
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just future. It's already begun,
not just in Jesus, but in you
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and as one who has entered a
resurrected life, marked by your baptism and
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to be fulfilled and vindicated on on
the day of Resurrection of our of our
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bodies. Now we come to this
question. How shall We then live?
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Do we live as dead people?
Do we feed our sins? Do we
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walk as those who are enslaved,
as those who have been baptized, as
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those who have received that promise,
as those whose bodies have been more art
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or shall we present our bodies,
the members, the physical members of our
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bodies, are spiritual selves, to
our minds everything. Shall we present them
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to God as instruments for righteousness?
Of course we do, and to the
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other by no means. Will you
walk as one who has been resurrected,
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as one who both, who participates
in the newness of Jesus's life? Will
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you walk as a dead man doing
the deeds of the body? Will you
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walk in uncleanness, though you've been
washed by the spirit? By no means.
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Let us not sin, that grace
may abound. Let us live in
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the righteousness of God and enjoy the
grace that comes to us in his promises
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made in Christ, confirmed for us
in our baptism. Preach to us in
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the word, sustaining us in communion. Here is how God meets with us.
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This is what he has done.
Let us walk in that way and
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let us be servants of God.
Let us pray
