Expound: Romans 5-6:7 - Part C

Jesus did say that we are to go into all nations and make disciples, baptizing them, and you go through that ritual. But again, that's the stage, that's the play you are enacting. You are making an outward declaration of an inward transformation, right?

Outward sign, inward change. It speaks of death, burial, and resurrection. Once you give your life to Jesus, your life is made new.

As Paul said, we were dead in sin, but we are alive in Christ. And today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip shares about the clean slate and fresh start you can have in Christ. But before we begin, we want to tell you about a resource that will deepen your knowledge of God's Word even more. Trials, Temptation, and the Tongue. Those are the mega themes of three booklets from Lenya Heitzig that we're making available this month at connectwithskip.com.

Here's Lenya with more on this bundle. In Don't Tempt Me, I hand you the keys to unlock the thoughts, circumstances, and fears that can cause you to give in to temptation. And in Speak No Evil, I encourage you to avoid setting fires with your words and instead use them to bring showers of blessing. Lenya Heitzig's booklets, Don't Tempt Me, Speak No Evil, and Happy Trials, provides help, hope, and encouragement in dealing with life's challenges. This bundle of three booklets are yours for a gift of $20 or more to help keep this Bible teaching ministry on the air. Get yours when you give today by calling 800-922-1888 or give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer. That's connectwithskip.com slash offer. Okay, we'll be in Romans chapter six for today's study.

So let's join Skip Heitzig. I have two little Welsh Terriers, Mac and Maisie, and they bark. Now, Maisie is the younger one. Mac is the older, gruffer kind of mean old man. And Mac doesn't like something or like what he sees, he barks. Maisie started out being very docile and not barking, but she noticed that Mac barks, so she barks. And now she barks more than Mac. She just barks a lot. Now, is Maisie a dog because she barks? Or does she bark because she's a dog? That's it.

The second one. It's not like, well, she bark, you know, she barks, so therefore she's a dog. I bark. I can bark like a dog. I won't do it.

I've done it. But instead of barking, I can articulate a sentence like, you know, I don't like that because I'm human. That's my nature to communicate that way.

So a dog's nature, because it cannot articulate, can't do a lot of things, is just to bark if it's upset, bark if it likes something, bark if it's excited, because it's his nature. We have a sin nature, and because we have that nature, we are sinners by nature, sinners by birth, as well as sinners by choice, based on that nature. That's sort of a theological construct, but it's important that you understand that's our nature. And the reason it all started, as Paul makes the point, is because of what one man did.

One man made a choice. Sin entered. Death entered. The world had not known death, but God said in the day that you eat of the fruit, you will surely die. So death entered.

Death spread to all men, became part of our nature, because all sinned. But what Adam did in the garden is he acted for humanity as what we call the federal head. The federal head, meaning he did something and everybody else, therefore, did it as well. He acted as the federal head.

For a modern example of that, if you're familiar with the movie Hunger Games, and in the show, the premise is that Katniss Everdine, the main character, is a substitute for her sister Prim, right? So that she, Katniss, will act as the federal head, not only for Prim, but for her whole district. If she wins the gladiatorial games, the Hunger Games, then her whole district will be rewarded with food, with feasts, for like a whole year, okay? So she acts as the federal head. What she does, everybody else gets the benefit or loss.

So Adam acted as the federal head. You go, well, that's not fair. You're right. It's not fair. We're not talking about what's fair. We're talking about what is.

And I'll explain this. It is not fair. Jesus dying on the cross for your sins is also not fair. He didn't do anything. He didn't commit anything.

But here's the equity. Because God consigned the whole world guilty because of what one man did, he can now forgive because of what one man did. By saying you're all guilty, he can say you can all be saved if you come through that one man, Jesus Christ.

See how that works? So that's the powerful lesson that he is teaching. For if by one man's death, verse 17, or one man's offense, death reigned through the one much more, those who receive much more, those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation, even so through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men resulting in justification of life. Now again, notice the much more. The much mores of this chapter. Verse 9, much more than. Verse 10, much more having been reconciled. Verse 15, for if the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God. Verse 17, if one man's offense death reigned through the one much more. And then also in verse 20, moreover the law entered that the offense might abound where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.

I have a question based on what we just read. How much grace is there? Well, let's at least say plenty. Enough. Enough for you. Enough for me.

It'll never run out. Much more. Yeah, Adam did this, but Jesus did that much more. So whatever was lost in Adam is gained in Christ much more. That's his point.

He's making an emphatic point. I don't know if I read verse 19 or not, but I don't want to be told I forgot to read it, so I'll read it again. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded. One of my favorite verses ever. Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.

Here's another way to translate it. Where sin abounded, grace superabounded. That's grace superabounded.

That's actually one translation puts it that way. Where sin abounded, grace superabounded or overflowed or where sin reached the high water mark, grace completely flooded over it. The point is sin cannot erect a dam so high that God's grace can't flood over. It overflows.

It overflows. There's nothing that can keep us from his love. Where sin abounded, grace superabounded or did abound much more.

So that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In chapter 6 he asks a question, what shall we say then? What can you say then? How about this?

Wow! Or awesome! That fits. Or praise the Lord. Thank you Jesus. What shall we say then?

Well, he asks a question. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? So if my sin causes the overflow of God's grace, right? So the more I sin, God just keeps getting more and more gracious and he's just overflowing, overflowing, right?

It's over the falls. Might as well keep sinning and just get soaked in God's grace. Now that's a warped way of thinking but sometimes people do think this way. I remember in the church that I grew up in, I grew up in a Catholic church, there was the idea that all you had to do man is go to confession. So you confess your sins, go live it up a little bit. Go sin because all you got to do is step into that little box and say those things to that guy and you're going to get your slate wiped clean again and fill it, chalk it back up. You say, well nobody thought that way.

I did. Here's a Protestant version of that. I remember speaking to a gal who was very loose with her morals or she thought she could be. She came to know the Lord but then she came to a point where she's struggling with the past and she said, you know what? I believe in eternal security.

Because I am eternally secure, I really can do anything. So the question comes, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Verse two, certainly not. Or God forbid or perish the thought or no way Jose, however you want to translate.

Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? And then he gives the example of baptism. You know baptism is, we always tell people an outward sign of an inward reality, inward change. But we always tell people that, and for what we're about to read, that a baptism is a funeral. It's like a funeral.

It's a symbol. You're acting out a play and the water is the stage. And when you put a person under the water, it indicates we're burying the old you. The old way of life.

The old person that controlled you with all of its impulses. That's buried. And coming up out of the water is resurrection, man. New life.

New power. So shall we continue in sin? No way. We're dead to sin. You know, I was at the funeral. I saw the guy get buried. What do you mean he's still alive running around? I saw him get buried.

So look at his illustration. Or do you not know, verse three, that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection.

Quick background note. Christian baptism comes from a Jewish ritual that predates Christianity. And it was the ritual bath that Jewish people would go through and still go through, but they went through in older times before making a sacrifice in the temple, before offering the sacrifice to the Jewish people. Before offering the sacrifice, they would be ceremonially cleansed in a baptismal pool, full immersion.

There was no sprinkling. They had to go completely under the water. And that baptismal pool was called a mikvah, a mikvah in Hebrew. And a mikvah is the pool. So they would walk into the mikvah. They would say their prayers. They would walk out, towel off, make their sacrifice. So John the Baptist comes along and baptizes differently, not for a ceremonial sacrifice in the temple, but he baptizes for the remission of sins at the Jordan River. Tells people it indicates a changed lifestyle. That sort of introduces the idea of baptism.

That becomes the practice of the church because Jesus did say that we are to go into all nations and make disciples, baptizing them. And you go through that ritual. But again, that's the stage. That's the play you are enacting. You are making an outward declaration of an inward transformation, right?

Outward sign, inward change. Speaks of death, burial, and resurrection. I remember a few years back, I was baptizing our tour group in Israel at the site we have been doing it for years, the baptismal site at the Jordan River. And we usually have several buses, so we have a few hundred people. And it takes a while to baptize a lot of people. And so we mark off a good chunk of the day, maybe even after lunch, the latter portion of the day. And we have a beautiful baptismal service in the Jordan River in Israel.

Well, I remember on this occasion, not only was our group around, but there were buses outside the fence and people watching from outside the fence looking in at what we were doing. And after I was all done, did the last person to get baptized, and I'm stepping out of the water. I'm cold by this time because February waters can be cold. So I'm about ready to tell off. My teeth are starting to chatter.

I'm ready to go in. This gal on the other side of the fence waves at me and I say, hi. And she goes, no, come here. And she introduces herself. Her name is Olga. She's from South America.

I forget which country. And she said, can you explain to me what you have been doing the last hour? I said, well, this is Christian baptism. He goes, well, I'm familiar with baptism, Christian baptism, but it seems so different from what I'm used to.

Where babies go or babies go into a church and they sprinkle a few drops, baby doesn't remember it. But this is something grand. So she said, explain. So I explained this section of Romans that we're reading. That it describes somebody who has been, their slate has been wiped clean. They have a whole new start. They're fresh and new before God. And it says the guilt is gone, et cetera.

And she's just listening, listening. She goes, would you mind baptizing me? I say, well, I will, if you understand what I just said and you are willing to do what these people have done and make Jesus Christ the one that saves your soul, that you are going to follow. You're going to commit your life to him.

Life's going to be different because he's going to change you, but you're making him master of your life. I explained the gospel to her a little further. She goes, I want that. I'm ready to do that.

So I said, well, you know, figure out a way to get over from that side to this side, and we'll do it. So she came over. She didn't have a bathing suit on. She was just in her clothes, and we just baptized her in the Jordan River. And she got on her bus back to South America, a changed individual. Knowing this, verse six, knowing this, that our old man was crucified, that our old man was crucified. That is not your father.

It's the old you. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin, for he who has died has been freed from sin. Now, it says the body of sin might be done away with. The words done away with is the English translation of a Greek word katargao.

And katargao means to make void, to abolish, or here's a better translation, to put out of business. It's as if God went to Satan's shop and saw you and I in that shop, and he said to Satan, hey, I'm hanging this sign out in front, out of business. You are out of business when it comes to Skip Heitzigs. You are out of business when it comes to this one, this one, that one, that one. Those who have given their lives to me, I have redeemed them.

I have bought them back. And so as far as they're concerned, here's the notice, you've been put out of business. katargao, to make void, to abolish, or to put out of business, for he who has died has been freed from sin. Now, it's one thing that, it's great, we're dead to sin, we've had a funeral, and we have a new life. But, though that is true, something about the old nature that doesn't want to stay down, stay buried, stay dead. I told you that I've seen several corpses before. I've watched a number of people die, take their last breath, including my mother.

I was at my mother's deathbed. There's something that I find a little interesting and a little bit unnerving at a deathbed. When somebody is nearing death, and they're taking their final breaths, and their breathing is labored, it comes a point where you think they've just taken their last breath. It's this, and then nothing. And then you go, okay, well, that's it. And then all of a sudden, they start breathing again, or even almost sitting up. It's like, whoa! You know, it's like, they just came back again.

They might do that a few times. They're fighting for life, until they do take that final breath. When it comes to the old you, the old manner of life, and it says here, you are to suppose, or to reckon yourself dead, it still wants to go, you know, suck in air and start moving around. So don't think that just because you've had the funeral service, the baptism, and you've given your life to Christ that, awesome, not going to be tempted any longer.

See, we discover that, right? I mean, we should tell people that when they come to the prayer room and give their lives to Christ. Don't think that the war is over. The war is just beginning. Jesus won the most important part of the battle. You're here.

You've given your life to Christ. But a whole other battle now begins between the new nature that you have just received as a new person in Christ, and the old nature that before had no competition. Now it has competition. The new nature wants to get fed. The old nature wants to get fed. It wants to get fed corruption and sin. It wants to stay alive.

It wants to take in that breath. The new nature needs to take precedence over the old nature. So, for example, to fill in the blank a little bit, I'm reading out of Galatians 5. So we're not going to be able to finish chapter 6, as you can see.

So I'm not going to even try. So Galatians chapter 5, this is verse 16. You're familiar with this, but you can look at it later or you can look at it now if you'd like. I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh, the flesh is another term for the old nature, the old man, the old you. For the flesh, lust or wars, fights against the Spirit, the new you, the new man, the new nature. And the Spirit against the flesh. So there's a civil war going on inside of you. That's the new battle.

And these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. So you have a new nature. All of a sudden you go, man, I want to read the Bible. And the old nature said, oh, read it later, man. There's that cool show you want to binge watch.

Go do that. Or the new nature says, I'm going to go to church. The old nature says, oh, church, man, just go hang out with your friends and eat a cheeseburger. Whatever it is, right?

I mean, there's always the conflict that goes on in every decision we make. The flesh, lust against the Spirit. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a very famous story about a doctor named Dr. Jekyll. And Dr. Jekyll came up with a way through science to make a potion that if he took the potion, it would turn him into another man. And that man was Mr. Hyde. So Dr. Jekyll was the amicable, sweet, nice, easy-tempered, easy-going guy, but he drank the potion. Mr. Hyde was a villain, a murderer. And somebody asked Robert Louis Stevenson, where did you get the inspiration for such devious characters? And Robert Louis Stevenson said, I had to go no further than just to look inside myself.

I got the inspiration from me. And we who are believers know what that is like, the Dr. Jekyll and the Mr. Hyde, the spiritual person versus the old nature. So because this is true, we need a battle strategy, right? If we know that, okay, the old man is dead, been to the funeral service, I'm justified by faith, not by works, so I'm right before God, he's treating me righteous. At the same time, I know that I have this old nature that's wanting control, wants to control me like Mr. Hyde, but I don't want to let the old nature control me like Mr. Hyde. I want Dr. Jekyll to take over. I like the Dr. Jekyll and the Mr. Hyde, but I don't want the Dr. Jekyll.

I like the Dr. Jekyll part. So what do I do? Well, you need a battle strategy. And Paul gives you a four fold battle strategy to get victory.

And when we get together next time, we're going to go through that battle strategy. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from his series Expound Romans. Now here's Skip to share how you can keep this broadcast going strong, connecting you and many others to the Lord. Jesus Christ is truth incarnate. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And through Him, we find the meaning of life, individual purpose, as well as eternal hope. That's why we share these teachings everywhere we can to connect you with the real solid truth of Jesus.

And if you'd like to keep these messages coming to you and help others encounter the truth of Christ, I want to invite you to give a gift today. Here's how you can do that right now. Connect with Skip mobile app. You'll have access to a treasure trove of Skip's messages right at your fingertips. Find more information at connectwithskip.com slash app and come back next week as Skip Heitzig shares a battle strategy that will help you fight against your flesh and cultivate your new nature in Christ. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.