Baptism into Jesus (Romans 6:1-11)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:05.440 Well, let's hear a God's word now from Romans six again, versus one 2 00:00:05.559 --> 00:00:16.750 through eleven, one through eleven. So I'm going to read one through eleven 3 00:00:18.030 --> 00:00:22.300 and in the sermon this morning, will focus in particular on verse three, 4 00:00:23.820 --> 00:00:31.339 Paul's connection to baptism. So Roman six, one through eleven. What shall 5 00:00:31.339 --> 00:00:36.049 we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 6 00:00:36.929 --> 00:00:42.369 By no means how can we who died to sin still live in it? 7 00:00:43.210 --> 00:00:47.369 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ, 8 00:00:47.409 --> 00:00:53.320 Jesus, were baptized into his death? We were buried there for with him 9 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:58.359 by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from 10 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:03.039 the dead by the glory of the father, we two might walk in the 11 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:07.510 newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death 12 00:01:07.629 --> 00:01:11.870 like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 13 00:01:12.269 --> 00:01:15.909 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the 14 00:01:17.109 --> 00:01:21.379 body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer 15 00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:26.579 be enslaved to sin, for one who has been died has been set free 16 00:01:26.659 --> 00:01:30.579 from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that 17 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:34.569 we also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the 18 00:01:34.650 --> 00:01:38.170 dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him, 19 00:01:38.609 --> 00:01:46.049 for the death he died he died to sin once for all, but the 20 00:01:46.170 --> 00:01:51.599 life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves 21 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:57.519 dead to sin and alive to God in Christ, Jesus. This ends the 22 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:07.710 reading of God's word. You may be seated. For several chapters one through 23 00:02:07.909 --> 00:02:14.349 five, Paul has been building this argument that justification comes by faith alone, 24 00:02:14.389 --> 00:02:21.819 through Christ alone, period. This is Paul's primary, primary thesis at this 25 00:02:21.979 --> 00:02:25.460 point. This is the thing that he's been emphasizing, underlining, showing in 26 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:30.849 all kinds of different ways that there's only one way that we can be reconciled 27 00:02:30.930 --> 00:02:35.530 to God, only one way that we can have peace with God, only 28 00:02:35.650 --> 00:02:38.729 one way that our sins can be forgiven, and it is through Jesus, 29 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:46.039 Christ on the Cross, washing away our sins by his blood, imputing to 30 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:52.439 us his righteousness so that we can stand before God not as filthy sinners but 31 00:02:52.520 --> 00:03:01.830 as people who are clean, holy, new righteous. And so when this 32 00:03:02.030 --> 00:03:07.389 question, this rhetorical question, is asked at the beginning of chapter six, 33 00:03:07.590 --> 00:03:12.069 what shall we say, then, are we to continue in sin that grace 34 00:03:12.110 --> 00:03:17.819 may abound? Paul answers with these three short words. By no means. 35 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:25.539 How can you think it for there, why would you say such a thing? 36 00:03:25.780 --> 00:03:30.090 We can't. Why would you go and think that it would be a 37 00:03:30.250 --> 00:03:38.729 good thing to continue and sin considering what God has done? Now then Paul 38 00:03:38.090 --> 00:03:44.800 transitions from this in verse two by S or. In verse two he says, 39 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:47.400 how can we who died to sin a still live in it? This 40 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:52.159 is his answer to the question. The answers the question with another question. 41 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:55.870 How can we who died live? How can we who died to Sind live 42 00:03:55.949 --> 00:04:00.310 in it? And then, if anyone doubts that, if anyone has any 43 00:04:00.430 --> 00:04:05.909 concerns about that, he brings up verse three, our focus for today. 44 00:04:08.069 --> 00:04:12.060 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, 45 00:04:12.659 --> 00:04:19.100 were baptized into his death? Here's how Charles Hodge, one commentator paraphite, 46 00:04:19.180 --> 00:04:25.290 paraphrases that question or this passage. If anyone doubts what has been said 47 00:04:25.290 --> 00:04:30.290 in verse two, he must be ignorant about the nature and purpose of baptism 48 00:04:30.170 --> 00:04:36.449 and about the relationship to which Christ, to Christ which it involves. You 49 00:04:36.490 --> 00:04:41.079 see what you're saying there. He's saying if you have any doubts that about 50 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:44.040 this question, how can we, who died to sins to live in it? 51 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:47.000 Well then, you must not even understand your own baptisms. That's the 52 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:50.759 way Paul's putting it here. Do you not know? How could you say 53 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:56.709 this? Do you not know? It be like somebody Um cheating on their 54 00:04:56.790 --> 00:04:59.829 spouse and then the spouse goes them is. Do you not know? Do 55 00:05:00.149 --> 00:05:04.269 you not remember what we did on that day and May, how we married 56 00:05:04.389 --> 00:05:09.259 one another, how I gave you a ring? Do you not remember? 57 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:13.420 Do you not know? That's what Paul says here. Do you not know 58 00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:16.819 that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into 59 00:05:16.860 --> 00:05:21.889 his death. That's what it was all about. So, to put it 60 00:05:21.970 --> 00:05:30.529 another way, your baptism as a Christian symbolizes and seals certain things, particular 61 00:05:30.769 --> 00:05:34.720 things that, as a Christian, you should call to your mind and call 62 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:40.720 to your heart. In answer to this question, should I sin? Is 63 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:44.680 Sinning? Okay, what kind of life should I live to God? Your 64 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:49.550 baptism is connected to that question. That's what Paul says here. That's the 65 00:05:50.029 --> 00:05:56.550 move he makes. Do you not know? This is, of course, 66 00:05:56.670 --> 00:06:00.110 God's design? Paul says it with this kind of confidence. Because God has 67 00:06:00.189 --> 00:06:08.660 designed it this way. He's instituted baptism for this a particular purpose. Baptism 68 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:12.500 isn't something that we make up, it's not something we just do because it's 69 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:16.500 old. It's something we do because God has commanded it, something that God 70 00:06:16.699 --> 00:06:24.370 designed, a symbol, a sign, a seal that God himself has particularly 71 00:06:24.610 --> 00:06:30.370 designed for you, and one of the applications of that baptism is so that 72 00:06:30.490 --> 00:06:34.560 you can answer with complete confidence this question. How should I live my life? 73 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:41.399 Your baptism answers that question. How do I live my life in relation 74 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:46.079 to God and to Unto My neighbors? Should I sin so that grace may 75 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:50.589 abound? Should I continue to sin? Should I walk in death? Your 76 00:06:50.709 --> 00:07:00.750 Baptism Says No. God in your Baptism Says No. You are called to 77 00:07:00.910 --> 00:07:05.100 something different. If you know what your baptism is, then you'll know why. 78 00:07:05.220 --> 00:07:11.139 It's crazy to think that living in sin is an option for a Christian. 79 00:07:13.819 --> 00:07:17.730 So let's take some time this morning and think about baptism, think about 80 00:07:17.730 --> 00:07:26.410 the fine Paul points us to and consider how we ought to live. Well, 81 00:07:26.529 --> 00:07:30.040 the first thing we want to say about baptism is that it unites us 82 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:36.240 with Christ, that unites us with Jesus. He says this in one way 83 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:40.639 in verse three. Do you not know that all of us who have been 84 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:45.709 baptized into Christ, Jesus, were baptized into his death? You're that kind 85 00:07:45.750 --> 00:07:53.069 of language there. You are connected with him, you have been baptized into 86 00:07:53.189 --> 00:07:58.509 his death. He uses this language of baptism to show our connection with Jesus. 87 00:08:00.060 --> 00:08:03.459 That language of unity that's implied there is very clear in verse five, 88 00:08:05.620 --> 00:08:09.980 for if we have been united with him in a death like his, we 89 00:08:11.180 --> 00:08:16.970 shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Now there's other 90 00:08:18.050 --> 00:08:22.569 ways that the Bible talks about baptism and unity, sometimes in a hypothetical way, 91 00:08:22.769 --> 00:08:26.439 sometimes in a in a very real way. So, for example, 92 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:33.039 Paul Talks about the Old Testament Saints Being Baptized into Moses. There was a 93 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:39.000 unity there that they had with Moses, with him, they with Paul means 94 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:43.470 there is that they were brought under the law, Under this this covenant that 95 00:08:43.710 --> 00:08:52.269 Moses brought to them from God. In a hypothetical and somewhat negative way. 96 00:08:52.350 --> 00:08:58.179 Paul speaks against being baptized into him. Faul says, you haven't been baptized 97 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:03.179 into me, you don't have union with me, you have union with Jesus 98 00:09:05.539 --> 00:09:09.210 in a positive and real way. We are also said to be baptized into 99 00:09:09.289 --> 00:09:15.649 the church or into one body. Now that's not a contradiction to say that 100 00:09:15.809 --> 00:09:20.690 we're both baptized into Christ and baptized into the church, because they are united 101 00:09:20.730 --> 00:09:28.440 together. We as a church are his body, scripture says, and so 102 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:33.879 our connections to one another are very real because of our union with him. 103 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:39.509 That, by the way, makes our church life very significant, because their 104 00:09:39.590 --> 00:09:48.990 relationships that are formed and bound by the Holy Spirit himself, by Jesus himself. 105 00:09:52.149 --> 00:09:56.059 So baptism is a way away, is a symbol and a sign, 106 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:01.940 a seal of a union that happens. That's the way the Bible puts it, 107 00:10:03.539 --> 00:10:07.649 and here in Romans six he's saying we are united with Christ. We 108 00:10:07.730 --> 00:10:13.769 are united with Christ. Sometimes, going back to the example of a a 109 00:10:13.970 --> 00:10:18.649 wedding ring, sometimes we think of the wedding rings as our wedding rings, 110 00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:22.440 and that's true, but if you remember how the ceremony works, your ring 111 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:28.360 if you're married, comes to you from the other person. Right you don't 112 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:33.919 go to the store and buy a ring as a symbol of your great love 113 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:39.750 of and your commitment to this other person. Know, you buy a ring 114 00:10:39.909 --> 00:10:43.710 and you give it to the other person as your sign and commitment to them. 115 00:10:45.110 --> 00:10:48.669 It's very much the same way with baptism. Baptism is like God's ring. 116 00:10:50.059 --> 00:10:54.379 With this ring, I the wed I give you this sign and promise 117 00:10:54.539 --> 00:11:03.500 to you that you are united with me. So for Christians, when we 118 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:07.450 think all about our baptism in the way that Paul puts it here, our 119 00:11:07.610 --> 00:11:11.929 primary union isn't with Moses, it's not with Paul, it's with Jesus and, 120 00:11:13.129 --> 00:11:20.039 through him, with one another. So that's the first thing that's important 121 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:26.399 to point out from this passage. Our Baptism demonstrates our union with Christ it's 122 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:30.279 important to say, though, it's a union that's not, excuse me, 123 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:35.710 automatic. Sometimes people think of baptism as a as a ceremony that enacts certain 124 00:11:35.789 --> 00:11:41.990 particular promises automatically. Some people think that baptism is an automatic thing by virtue 125 00:11:41.990 --> 00:11:48.059 of the one who baptizes, that the pastor the priest is holy in such 126 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:54.179 a way that the baptism becomes effectual. Well, I'll tell you, brothers 127 00:11:54.299 --> 00:11:58.820 the sisters, I sin and there is a no way that I have any 128 00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:03.850 kind of holiness capable of imputing to you a washing away of your sins. 129 00:12:05.570 --> 00:12:09.769 You Know Me, I don't have to argue this point at length. So 130 00:12:09.889 --> 00:12:15.009 it's not the ceremony, it's not the pastor, but neither is it divine 131 00:12:15.129 --> 00:12:18.440 obligation. Baptism isn't just the quarter that you put into the vending machine, 132 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:22.919 pull the lever and get out the blessings of God as a kind of automatic 133 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:31.950 mechanism. Paul is not speaking here of an automatic kind of blessing. When 134 00:12:31.950 --> 00:12:35.470 he says you have been united. Do you not know that those who are 135 00:12:35.590 --> 00:12:41.710 baptized into Jesus have been baptized into his death and resurrection? How do we 136 00:12:41.830 --> 00:12:46.059 know that? Well, we know it because Paul's not speaking to here, 137 00:12:46.379 --> 00:12:52.820 to a general audience, about some kind of spiritual or ceremonial mechanism that gets 138 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:58.370 people connected with God. Who is he talking to? Well, you can 139 00:12:58.450 --> 00:13:05.450 go back chapter one, verse seven, to all those in Rome who are 140 00:13:05.610 --> 00:13:11.610 loved by God and called to be saints. He's talking to the church he's 141 00:13:11.690 --> 00:13:16.120 talking to those who have been loved by God and called to be saints. 142 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.559 Now, this group of people, people that are saints, Holy Ones, 143 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:26.669 people that are have been loved by God, called by him. Paul has 144 00:13:26.710 --> 00:13:33.350 been arguing throughout the book up to this point that they only receive the benefits 145 00:13:33.389 --> 00:13:37.789 of that calling, they only receive the benefits of that regeneration through faith, 146 00:13:39.950 --> 00:13:43.779 not by their works, not by the holiness of others, not by the 147 00:13:43.899 --> 00:13:48.820 Commands of Moses, but only through faith and through faith alone. Not a 148 00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:54.539 general faith, not an abstract faith, of faith in Jesus, in his 149 00:13:54.730 --> 00:14:01.769 death and resurrection for them. So, while baptism is a visible promise, 150 00:14:01.929 --> 00:14:11.639 the benefits that come only come when the promise is believed. Baptism isn't an 151 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:16.960 automatic thing. It depends on the working of God and the receiving of those 152 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:24.389 benefits by faith. Now, maybe that faith will come after the baptism, 153 00:14:24.149 --> 00:14:30.429 as is the case for those who, like Abraham's son Isaac, received the 154 00:14:30.509 --> 00:14:35.750 sign of the Covenant before he had capable faith. Or perhaps faith comes a 155 00:14:37.750 --> 00:14:41.700 or but for the sign, as it was the case for Isaac's father Abraham. 156 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:48.299 Either way, faith is the key faith that follows the effectual calling of 157 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:54.889 God. And it is to these believers, these ones who have been called 158 00:14:54.289 --> 00:14:58.250 by God, loved by God and called to be saints, to them that 159 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:03.409 Paul speaks, and it is to them that he says, remember your Baptisms 160 00:15:03.610 --> 00:15:09.600 and the Union that they had, that they have and you have with Christ 161 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:16.279 in them. So, with that caveat aside, that the are stated the 162 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:20.750 baptism is not an add automatic thing, and with the point underlined that it 163 00:15:20.830 --> 00:15:24.149 accumet, that the blessings to us come to buy, come to us by 164 00:15:24.309 --> 00:15:28.190 faith, then now we're in a position to ask, well, what is 165 00:15:28.389 --> 00:15:35.820 this union? What are those blessings? What does it mean to be united 166 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:41.259 to Jesus by OUR BAPTISMS? What does it mean to put our faith in 167 00:15:41.460 --> 00:15:48.220 him? Well, Paul points us to two things here. He says that 168 00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:54.970 we are baptized into his death in verse three, and also into his resurrection 169 00:15:56.009 --> 00:16:00.529 in Verse Five, and in many other places throughout this passage. We are 170 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:04.559 united with him in a death like his and united with him in a resurrection 171 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:10.879 like kids. This is what our baptism symbolizes it and it does it in 172 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:15.159 all kinds of interesting and complicated ways. We won't get into all of that 173 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:18.950 now. But the but there are very simple ways and obvious ways in which 174 00:16:18.990 --> 00:16:26.870 it's shown. One way it's shown is by connecting us with the Lord's death. 175 00:16:27.110 --> 00:16:32.190 Let's start with that and then we'll go to the resurrection. So first, 176 00:16:32.190 --> 00:16:38.980 our baptism. Baptism symbolizes US being baptized into Christ's death. Now Paul 177 00:16:40.259 --> 00:16:44.620 Talks about that death in two particular ways, and he does it in reverse 178 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:52.090 chronological order, just to be precise. The first thing he talks about is 179 00:16:52.370 --> 00:16:56.769 burial. The second is crucifixion. So notice what he says in Verse Four. 180 00:16:57.370 --> 00:17:03.160 We were buried there for with him by baptism into death. This is 181 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:06.920 a very remarkable thing, right, if I walked up to you and said 182 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:11.200 you have been buried, there aren't many times that we say that kind of 183 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:17.029 thing, but here Paul says it. He says you have been buried with 184 00:17:17.470 --> 00:17:22.789 him by baptism. He continues to talk about that death in verse six then, 185 00:17:22.829 --> 00:17:26.509 when he says our old self was crucified with him in order that the 186 00:17:26.670 --> 00:17:32.779 body of sin might be brought to nothing. So Paul has in mind when 187 00:17:32.779 --> 00:17:36.740 he says we're BAP ties, he has in mind not just our burial, 188 00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:41.299 but our crucifixion as well, and from that we could extend every part of 189 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:48.930 Christ's death. We were baptized into him and into his death. He starts 190 00:17:48.009 --> 00:17:52.890 with the burial and it's so strong, isn't it? It's such a strong 191 00:17:52.970 --> 00:17:59.920 way to speak about death. You don't bury alive people, do you? 192 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:03.119 I suppose if you did, it was for the purpose of death. There's 193 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:08.200 nothing about burial that doesn't speak of death, and that's what Paul says here. 194 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:17.109 You were buried with him, buried with him, not only buried but 195 00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:22.710 also crucified. All the pain and suffering that Jesus took on the cross, 196 00:18:22.750 --> 00:18:27.099 as we read in Second Corinthians. Him who knew what, who knew no 197 00:18:27.380 --> 00:18:33.539 sin was made to be sin when he took all that way to sin on 198 00:18:33.579 --> 00:18:37.180 himself, and not just yours, but the people sitting around you and even 199 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:41.339 the whole world. He took it all on himself, that great weight of 200 00:18:41.490 --> 00:18:48.089 sin, all that suffering, and he endured it in his crucifixion. You 201 00:18:48.490 --> 00:18:52.769 were there, Paul says, just as you were buried with him, you 202 00:18:52.890 --> 00:18:57.000 were also crucified with him. That's what the baptism points to. That's what 203 00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:03.599 means to be baptized into his death. You were there, not in his 204 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:11.630 place, but him in your place. And when Jesus did that, when 205 00:19:11.670 --> 00:19:15.509 Jesus went to the Cross for you and took all of your sins upon himself, 206 00:19:17.670 --> 00:19:22.109 he didn't just wipe away the penalty of the sin, but, as 207 00:19:22.190 --> 00:19:26.220 Paul says here, he also wiped away the power of that sin, as 208 00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:32.980 he says in verse six, so that we would no longer be enslaved to 209 00:19:33.220 --> 00:19:38.490 sin. Or is he says in verse seven, we have been set free 210 00:19:38.569 --> 00:19:42.930 from sin, or is he says in verse nine, that we would no 211 00:19:44.089 --> 00:19:48.410 longer have that death, the death, and sin would no longer have dominion 212 00:19:48.609 --> 00:20:00.480 over him and also us. Enslavement, Dominion Death, these are the things 213 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:04.359 that Paul speaks of when he speaks of what Christ did on the Cross. 214 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:10.670 He set us free from these things. He set us free from not only 215 00:20:10.710 --> 00:20:15.470 the penalty but also the power of sin, Death to having a dominion over 216 00:20:15.549 --> 00:20:19.990 us as a powerful thing and another portion of scripture, it's described as a 217 00:20:21.190 --> 00:20:26.460 tool which Satan uses, almost a bludgeon people to make them afraid and do 218 00:20:26.819 --> 00:20:33.220 bad and evil things. That's all taken away if you have been baptized into 219 00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:38.650 Jesus. You have been baptized into his death. Your sins are gone, 220 00:20:38.809 --> 00:20:44.490 the penalty has been paid, the power of them has been taken away. 221 00:20:45.690 --> 00:20:49.119 But he doesn't stop at the death, does he? Not only have you 222 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:56.759 been baptized into his death, you have been baptized into his resurrection. Jesus 223 00:20:56.799 --> 00:21:03.279 didn't stay in the tomb. He rose and he walked in the newness of 224 00:21:03.430 --> 00:21:07.950 life and, according to the glory of God, he came out of the 225 00:21:08.150 --> 00:21:15.829 tomb as a victor, as a champion, as a leader. He walked 226 00:21:15.869 --> 00:21:22.980 out of a death match with against death itself, with death defeated, lying 227 00:21:23.019 --> 00:21:29.980 in the grave and him never to die again once for all, as verse 228 00:21:30.099 --> 00:21:33.849 ten says. And this life that he lives now, he lives to God 229 00:21:33.970 --> 00:21:38.210 as it was always lived, but now he lives on the other side of 230 00:21:38.250 --> 00:21:42.930 the test, as one who's no longer under probation, as one who no 231 00:21:44.130 --> 00:21:49.839 longer is under a test, but one who has been confirmed in his victory. 232 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:55.559 Well, that makes sense for Jesus Right. It makes sense that Jesus 233 00:21:55.640 --> 00:22:00.359 lived this great life, passed the test overcame death and now lives in this 234 00:22:00.509 --> 00:22:11.349 glorious resurrection to apply that, to us is a remarkable thing, isn't it, 235 00:22:11.470 --> 00:22:15.309 to say, for me to say to you, which is what I'm 236 00:22:15.390 --> 00:22:21.059 saying, that you have passed the test, that the probationary period has ended, 237 00:22:21.380 --> 00:22:27.380 that you have conquered sin and death and risen to new life? You 238 00:22:27.420 --> 00:22:34.730 would rightly ask how, how would that in any way be possible for me? 239 00:22:37.650 --> 00:22:40.890 He knew no sin. That makes sense, but I oh, I 240 00:22:41.250 --> 00:22:52.759 no sin. Intimately, in depth, personally, it happened and it applies 241 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:57.039 to you because of what God has done, because Jesus didn't go to the 242 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:03.910 Cross as an example for you to follow, but to do what you were 243 00:23:03.950 --> 00:23:11.109 incapable of doing. He went to the Cross with you united to him, 244 00:23:11.230 --> 00:23:17.339 so that his death would be your death, so that his resurrection would be 245 00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:22.819 your resurrection. And that's why we say it's all of grace, because we 246 00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:26.059 don't go to God and say I passed the probationary period, I passed the 247 00:23:26.170 --> 00:23:32.849 test of righteousness in myself. We go to God and we say Jesus is 248 00:23:33.289 --> 00:23:40.890 my righteousness, he is my death, he is my resurrection, and so 249 00:23:41.089 --> 00:23:48.400 in that we live this resurrected life. What all that means, then, 250 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:52.160 is this baptism which you have been baptized with. If you are a Christian, 251 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:59.630 you've been baptized into Jesus's death. You have been baptized into Jesus is 252 00:23:59.710 --> 00:24:04.509 life. So the promise is that God has fulfilled in Christ and are then 253 00:24:04.910 --> 00:24:11.539 made visible and confirmed in your baptism, are true for you and all who 254 00:24:11.140 --> 00:24:18.700 believe in what he has said. These are God's promises fulfilled for us in 255 00:24:18.779 --> 00:24:23.970 Jesus, made visible to us in our baptisms. That means that if you've 256 00:24:25.009 --> 00:24:30.369 been baptized, you have this physical thing, this physical thing that has been 257 00:24:30.450 --> 00:24:37.920 done to your body, a physical thing that marks you and your body as 258 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:45.039 God's, as belonging to him. Just as my wedding ring marks me is 259 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:55.589 belonging to my wife, your baptism marks you as belonging to God. You 260 00:24:55.789 --> 00:25:00.869 are a resurrected person. You are no longer born in Adam and under that 261 00:25:02.150 --> 00:25:06.750 sin. You live as one who is a new creature, as one who 262 00:25:06.789 --> 00:25:15.180 is renewed through your union with Christ. This is, I will say again, 263 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:22.250 an amazing thing. To consider ourselves resurrected now and not just in the 264 00:25:22.410 --> 00:25:30.009 future. Is An amazing thing, but that is what Paul says. The 265 00:25:30.130 --> 00:25:34.690 resurrection, the newness of life that is connected with the resurrection, is not 266 00:25:34.839 --> 00:25:42.079 just future. It's already begun, not just in Jesus, but in you 267 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:51.509 and as one who has entered a resurrected life, marked by your baptism and 268 00:25:52.150 --> 00:25:59.349 to be fulfilled and vindicated on on the day of Resurrection of our of our 269 00:25:59.470 --> 00:26:04.099 bodies. Now we come to this question. How shall We then live? 270 00:26:07.099 --> 00:26:11.740 Do we live as dead people? Do we feed our sins? Do we 271 00:26:11.940 --> 00:26:15.500 walk as those who are enslaved, as those who have been baptized, as 272 00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:19.970 those who have received that promise, as those whose bodies have been more art 273 00:26:21.970 --> 00:26:26.970 or shall we present our bodies, the members, the physical members of our 274 00:26:26.089 --> 00:26:33.039 bodies, are spiritual selves, to our minds everything. Shall we present them 275 00:26:33.160 --> 00:26:41.200 to God as instruments for righteousness? Of course we do, and to the 276 00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:51.150 other by no means. Will you walk as one who has been resurrected, 277 00:26:51.269 --> 00:26:56.309 as one who both, who participates in the newness of Jesus's life? Will 278 00:26:56.309 --> 00:27:02.940 you walk as a dead man doing the deeds of the body? Will you 279 00:27:03.140 --> 00:27:10.140 walk in uncleanness, though you've been washed by the spirit? By no means. 280 00:27:12.539 --> 00:27:18.890 Let us not sin, that grace may abound. Let us live in 281 00:27:18.089 --> 00:27:25.730 the righteousness of God and enjoy the grace that comes to us in his promises 282 00:27:26.650 --> 00:27:30.720 made in Christ, confirmed for us in our baptism. Preach to us in 283 00:27:30.839 --> 00:27:37.559 the word, sustaining us in communion. Here is how God meets with us. 284 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:41.799 This is what he has done. Let us walk in that way and 285 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:45.710 let us be servants of God. Let us pray