Come Forth!

Romans 6

Surrendering to Jesus Christ and following after Him—being a Christian—is a matter of life or death, freedom or bondage, rewards or wages.
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Are you a follower of Jesus, a Christian? What would others say about you? Would they say you have been freed from sin, death, and the grave by which the dead are buried?

The most vivid illustration of Romans 6 is Lazarus in John 11. Being dead to the point of stinking, Jesus raised him from the dead and then said, “Loose him, and let him go.”

“Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” John 11:38–44 (ESV)

Lazarus left the grave, got rid of the graveclothes, and began a new life.

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Colossians 3:1–17 (ESV)

God’s people are; therefore, both “dead” and “alive” and by faith must live accordingly.

In Romans 3:23, we learn that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”—everyone born has sinned; missed the mark, and choose their own way over God’s perfect way.

However, in Romans 6:23, in relation to Romans 3:23, we see that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”

Paul is writing to Christians here. The point is that believers can still choose sin, but when they do, they collect their rightful wages: weakness, sickness, meaninglessness, and the loss of spiritual fellowship with God.

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:5–10 (ESV)

Unbelievers, on the other hand, live in a perpetual state of spiritual death—separation from God.
There were obviously people in Rome who did not understand the grace of God and they would argue with Paul, the writer of this Romans letter, “If God is gracious, then we should sin more so we receive more grace.” However, Paul says, those who trust Christ are identified with Him by the Spirit in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, as pictured in baptism, and I believe Lazarus. The old life is buried! We can reckon it dead and walk in newness of resurrection life.

“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. 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.” Romans 6:5–11 (ESV)

Warren Wiersbe writes that “Being a Christian is a matter of bondage or freedom. Who is your master, Jesus Christ or the old life? You are not under the authority of Moses, but that does not mean you have freedom to break God’s moral law. Yield yourself to the Lord; He is the most wonderful Master, and the “salary” He pays lasts forever.”

But, as we see in Romans 6:23, being a Christian is a matter of rewards or wages. We quote this verse as we witness to the lost in what we often call the Romans Road, and rightly so; but Paul wrote it originally to believers.

Although God forgives the sins of His children, He may not stop the painful consequences of sin. The pleasures of sin are never compensated for by the wages of sin.

We have all sinned, and sometimes, with the seed of sin still living in us and with the temptation of Satan and the pleasures of this life, we choose to sin. However, know that in Christ you and I have the power to overcome sin and to resist the devil and the fall to such sinful desires and actions.

We sometimes fall short and we have to die to that sin all over and remind ourselves that we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. That old self is dead and buried; we have been raised to a new life. We need to listen to the Spirit that indwells and be reminded that sinning is not worth it! With this knowledge and power from the Spirit, we need to bury the sin, resist the urge to look back or to dig it back up. We need to leave the old self in the grave.

What sin seems to continue to allure you and draw you back to the bondage and the grave from which you were raised? What sin do you continue to fall prey? Do you continue to look back?
As a believer, repent and lean into the Spirit to help you walk away from it; never to look back— for death has no hold on you, for you are Alive in Christ Jesus! Let the Spirit restore you from your confession and help you run from the allurement.

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its 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.” Romans 6:12–14 (ESV)

Today, “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

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