“Alive to God”

(Romans 6:12-14)

I. Introduction.
A. Review.
1. Paul, in telling us about God’s mercy, did not want us to take it wrong.
a. Many today use grace as an excuse to sin.
b. But grace is never to be used in this way.

2. Paul said that if we are in Christ, we have died to sin.

a. When Jesus died on the cross, we died with Him.
b. When He rose from the dead, we were raised with Him.
c. This was actually applied to us when we believed.
d. Now we are to count ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God.

3. Paul went on to tell us that if we share in the likeness of His death, we will also share in the likeness of His
resurrection.
a. This is just another way of saying that sanctification will follow justification: If we have real and genuine faith, it will
change the way we live – we will bear good fruit.
b. James puts it in the negative, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead”
(2:26).
c. We must be overcoming our sins and living more like Christ: this is the evidence that we are born again by the
Spirit, that He is working His holiness – His likeness – in us.
d. Without sanctification, we will not see God (Heb. 12:14).
e. This doesn’t mean we need to reach perfection in this life – we are made positionally perfect in Christ – but we do
need to be growing in and striving after holiness/Christ-likeness.

B. But as we saw last week, dying to sin and obeying God is not automatic.
1. The Spirit gives us the desire to live for God’s glory, but sin is still there.
a. The struggle to live godly really begins at conversion.
b. Now we have two opposing desires – flesh and Spirit.

2. When Paul says, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v. 10), he means
there is something we have to do.
3. This is what we will see this morning: We must not yield to sin, but to God.
4. Think of this as the application of what we saw last week.

II. Sermon.
A. First, Paul says, sin must not control us – we must not choose to sin.
1. Before we came to Christ, sin was in control – it was our master.
a. Paul showed us this earlier.
(i) What do the Gentiles do by nature? Sin (Rom. 1:18-32).
(ii) What do the Jews do who have the Law? They break it, which is sin (Rom. 2).
(iii) What is the condition of everyone in the world? Dead to the things of the Lord. None seek Him. None do
good (Rom. 3:10-12).

b. Apart from Christ, all are dead in sin and under its power.
(i) All they can do is sin.
 (ii) As we saw last Sunday evening: man in a fallen state is not able not to sin.

2. But when we come to Christ, that dominion is broken.

a. We were once inclined to go one direction – that of sin – but now we want to go another direction – that of
righteousness.
b. If we are Christ’s, God has circumcised our hearts by His Spirit. Now we love Him, trust in Him, want to serve
Him.
c. When that change was made, the dominion of sin was forever broken.
d. Paul writes, “Sin shall not be master over you” (6:14).

3. But again, this is not automatic: it doesn’t happen without effort on our part.
a. He writes in vv. 12-13, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not
go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.”
b. Literally, he says, “Because we have died with Christ and been raised to newness of life, we must not let sin
dominate us; we must not yield ourselves to it.”
(i) Thankfully, it will never have complete control: God’s Spirit within us will not allow it. No matter how weak
we become spiritually, we will always struggle against it.
(ii) On the other hand, there will always be a struggle no matter how spiritually strong we become: in this life, we
will never be free from the effects of sin.
(iii) However, the Bible tells us that the overall pattern of our lives, through this struggle, will be one of
righteousness. John writes, “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices
righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has
sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (1
John 3:7-8).
(iv) Jesus, through His life and death, has destroyed sin: not only its damning effects, but also its corrupting
effects in our lives.

4. Therefore, we must choose, by God’s grace and strength working in us, not to use the members of our bodies – our
minds, wills, eyes, feet, hands – in the service of sin.
a. Though sin can’t dominate us, it can affect us.
b. Consider your own experience: are you ever tempted to do what’s wrong?
(i) Are you tempted to look at evil with pleasure?
(ii) Are you tempted to think evil thoughts?
(iii) Are you tempted to hate when you should love?
(iv) Are you tempted to take things that don’t belong to you?
(v) Are you ever tempted to break God’s commandments?
(vi) Do you ever give in to those temptations?

c. The way that sin is carried out is through the members of our bodies: Our eyes see evil, our minds think it, our
hearts desire it, and far too often, we carry it out – we sin.
d. Paul is telling us here that we must not yield to it.
(i) We should not look at things that will tempt us.
(ii) If we do, we are not to dwell on them, but take our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ.
(iii) We must not allow our hearts to incline any further towards them.
(iv) We must certainly not consummate that sin by carrying it out.
(v) When Eve saw that the fruit was good to look at, she should have immediately reminded herself God
commanded her not to eat of it.
(vi) But she saw it, she thought about it, her heart inclined towards it, and she ate it.
(vii) We have choices to make as well. Paul tells us not to choose sin.
(viii) But we need to remember that God has broken the power of sin through Christ: we don’t have to sin.

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B. Instead of choosing to sin, Paul writes, “But present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members
as instruments of righteousness to God” (v. 13). Choose instead to do what is right.
1. We have died with Christ and have risen to newness of life.
a. Paul tells us to live this truth: consider that you have been dead, but now God has raised you up.
b. We are alive now only to serve Him, not ourselves or anything else.
c. We must yield the members of our bodies now only as instruments of righteousness – to use them only to do what
is good, according to God’s Law.

2. The Lord knows that one of the best ways to defend ourselves against our sinful desires is to exercise our gracious
desires towards righteousness.
a. When you stop peddling your bicycle up the hill, it begins to go backwards; but it won’t as long as you’re
peddling. When you are rowing a boat upstream the same is true: if you stop rowing, the current carries you
downstream.
b. In the same way, if you’re not actively pursuing righteousness – in other words, if you’re not actively exercising the
grace that is in you – you will very naturally go in the other direction.
c. This is why Jesus tells us that we must strive to enter the narrow gate (Luke 13:24). This applies to Christians, as
well as awakened sinners. Walking casually won’t do it. We will be more likely to leave the path.
d. This is why Paul said he buffeted his body and made it his slave (1 Cor. 9:26-27). If you don’t beat your sin
down, it will overpower you.
e. We must actively pursue righteousness, or we will find ourselves going the other direction.

C. Finally, Paul gives us a closing word of encouragement to remind us that we will win: “For sin shall not be master over
you, for you are not under law, but under grace” (v. 14).
1. If we were under law – under a principle of works – our success would depend on us; and if it depended on us, we
would fail, as Paul has already showed us and as we know very well ourselves.
2. But as he will show us, we have died to law to be married to Christ: we are not under law, but now under God’s
grace.
a. Christ has taken away our guilt and clothed us with His righteousness.
b. He has broken the power of sin; it no longer has dominion over us.
c. It cannot keep us in its power, though it might for a time, constrain us.
d. Because we know it can’t hold us down, we also know that we can win, if we use the means Christ has given us
and strive forward.

3. And so let’s strive forward with all our might.

a. Let’s be faithful in feeding our souls with spiritual nourishment.
b. And let’s avoid all those things that grieve and quench the Spirit.

4. But if you find that you can’t this morning, because you are still bound in sin, then turn to Christ.
a. You will never do it in your own strength.
b. The Scripture tells us that it would be just as impossible for the Ethiopian to change the color of his skin or the
leopard his spots.
c. But the things impossible to man are possible to God.
d. Christ can change your heart. He can break that dominion, if you’ll come to Him and ask for His help.
e. And so come to Him now. Believe in Him. Receive His Spirit and live. Amen.