In the physical sense, when a person dies, they cannot commit any more sin. That is finished. In verse 8 we have that small word “if”. If we be dead with Christ. If you have died to yourself and identified with the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, Paul stated that we believe that we shall also live with Him.
When a person turns to God in repentance, it is a death to self. It is the desire to stop sinning. The repentant sinner turns to God and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. It is that trust that enables the repentant sinner to be changed. There are many self-help programs that try to help people deal with some sin, although they do not call it sin. They cannot overcome their problem because no man can overcome their sins on their own. They might substitute a certain sin for another, but they cannot get away from it.
Smoking is a sin that is very invasive to the person’s life. It is a drug that cripples the person. The world offers a nicotine patch to help the smoker get off smoking. They might succeed in getting off cigarettes but they now are hooked on the patch.
When a person gets saved, they can throw the cigarettes away and when the craving for a cigarette comes, they pray to God and He enables them to refuse the urge to smoke. Eventually the craving is gone and the person is free from that craving. That is the result of turning to God and trusting in His power to deliver the repentant sinner from sin.
The same is true for drunks or any other sinner. God provides the means to stop the sin when a person is saved. He can do what is impossible for man. That is what makes salvation so special. God can deliver the repentant sinner from the bondage of sin.
Paul’s belief was not misdirected. God gave him those words. It is a fact that those who have died with Christ, have also been raised to newness of life with Him. We have been changed and we now think and behave differently.
In verse 9 we see that Jesus Christ will not die again. The Catholic mass is an abomination. They suggest that Jesus Christ dies every time they partake of the mass. In fact they still have Jesus Christ on the cross. Their religion is very confusing. They have Him dead on the cross and alive and they also claim He is far too weak to be able to save anyone. His mother Mary is needed for salvation, according to their heresies.
Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and He is alive forevermore. Death has no dominion over Him. He is the Victor. He died for our sins. He proved the power to save by rising again from the dead.
In verse 10 we are again reminded that Jesus Christ died once. He accomplished all that was needed for all mankind to be forgiven and saved. He is alive now and He is in heaven seated on the right hand of His Father. He is interceding for the saved. He is the mediator of those who pray to God.
In verse 11 Paul made the connection to those who are saved. He does that with the word “likewise”. We, those who are saved, have also died with Christ. The old man has been slain. We have been made alive in Christ. We need to see ourselves as God sees us. We are now alive unto God. We do not serve ourselves, if we are saved. We serve God. We have been saved to serve God. We cannot serve God if we are dripping with sin.
Notice as well that Paul was directed to write that it is through Jesus Christ our Lord, that we have been made alive. Jesus Christ is the Lord of every true born again Christian. He is the Master. He leads and He provides all that is needed for His followers.
In verse 12 we see that we have a responsibility as God’s children to choose to follow Him. We see that we have been changed in salvation. We need to choose to follow the new way. We have been given the power to follow God faithfully. If we have been saved, we will want to follow God faithfully. We cannot continue to live in sin if we have been saved. We need to actively choose to follow God’s way. We should not obey the lusts of the flesh. We still could because the old man is there, but because we have been given eternal life, we now can put the old man to death.
In verse 13 Paul continued to point out that we, those who are saved, should not yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. We now can choose to yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness. Now we have a new nature and it is contrary to the new nature to sin. When we choose to sin, we deliberately ignore who we have been made to be in Christ. We need to choose to yield ourselves unto God. We have that option after we are saved. We need to behave as those who are alive from the dead. Our members need to be yielded as instruments of righteousness unto God.
In verse 14 we are again reminded that sin shall not have dominion over the saved person. It does not say it might not, but it shall not. The saved person is not under the law, but under grace. We see that this grace is not law. The born again child of God does not serve God because he has to. He does so because he has been changed by God and his new nature desires to serve God. The devil tries to get in there and feed the believer lies, but the true child of God has the Holy Spirit indwelling him and He shows him what is truth. The true child of God needs to be in God’s Word faithfully and needs to yield to the Word of God.
As we have mentioned before, carnality is not acceptable to God. He did not save you to be a careless Christian. He saved you to glorify Him. Jesus Christ shed His blood for your sanctification. You have the power to be called a son of God from the moment you are saved. The Holy Spirit, now indwelling you, will show you what is truth and what is not. He will be working in your heart to enable you to be obedient to the Word of God.
As a lost sinner you could not help but sin. That was according to your old nature. The law of sin ruled. Occasionally you did what was right, but sin came quite naturally. After you were saved by God’s grace, you were able to draw from God’s grace to choose to do what is right. No true child of God will be content to follow the old path of sin. The Holy Spirit will not let one of God’s children remain in sin. The grace of God works to guide the true child of God in the right way.
Rather than accept the Calvinist position that God’s grace will overlook our sin, we know that the grace of God is not a license to sin, but rather the help that is needed to enable the true child of God to say no to sin and yes to God.
God’s salvation makes a difference that is recognizable in every true child of God. There is a false salvation that is often promoted that is not recognizable from God’s Word. It is promoted in many pulpits, but as we have noted before, no one will stand before man after death. All will answer to the true God and Saviour. The saved will be at the judgment seat of Christ and the lost will be at the great white throne judgment. The saved have the inner desire to please their heavenly Father. They need to grow in their walk with God.
Pastor Bartel