Dead in Sin, Alive in God - Romans 6:1-23

First, a little history of Rome at the time of this letter.

By 49 or 50, Jews who were not followers of Jesus and the Jewish Christians had been fighting so much that Emporer Claudius expelled them from Rome. Paul became acquainted with the situation from Aquila and Prisicilla, Jewish Christians he met in Corinth where he worked with them in their common trade, tent-makers.

Paul is writing this letter about 55-56 AD. Some of these Jewish Christians had returned to Rome. So now, the The Christian church in Rome was comprised of Gentiles that had converted to Christianity and Jews who accepted Jesus as their Messiah. The bulk of the Church was formed of the Jews. There was disagreements between the two groups over the "correct" method of following Jesus. The Jewish Christians still followed the Law of Moses, and the Gentiles did not.

Paul levels the playing field, in chapter 3, and says;

"Romans 3: 21-24 But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ."

This letter, like the rest of the Bible, is still relevant to us today, whether we are Jewish or "Gentile".

So far, Paul has been talking about God's life and how God does everything and we do nothing towards our salvation. No work that we do, nor any goodness that we proclaim has anything to do with our being saved. It doesn't matter who we are, who our parents were, our ancestors or anything we've done, God does it all! He treats all people, Jew and Gentile, religious and pagan the same. As sinners.

So, if God does it all, how can Paul tell us to do anything? If no good deed helps us, why do anything good? If God loves us and accepts us even though we sin, why not just sin, and take the easy road?

Because, Paul tell us, our new life of holiness is the sequel to the act of justification, (a fancy theological word that Eugene Peterson, the author of The Message, renders as "in right standing" with God.)

Up to this point, sin was a "crime against the Law" and carried a criminal sentence. Now, it is contrary to who we are (striving to live as Jesus did) and is destructive to our new way of life.

It affects our daily lives, and who we are.

Before, we lived in fear of being discovered and punished because of our sins. Now, it's as if we are engaging in self-destructive practices or self-injury. And we know it displeases God, and He is disappointed in us. How many of us considered our parents' disappointment a more severe form of punishment than any physical or "worldly" punishment. Groundings and having things taken from us doesn't hurt as much as knowing we disappointed the ones we love.

I'm a very sarcastic person and have a, sometimes, nasty sense of humor. It's hurtful to others and it's something I need to ask God to help me eliminate. Sometimes I speak before thinking and end up hurting somebody's feelings. The knowledge that I've done this causes me more pain than if that person would just walk up to me and smack me in the face.

That's how I feel when I've sinned against God, and I know He's disappointed in me.

When we sin, we also make ourselves slaves to the sin. We're bound up in the sinful nature and behavior. The sin takes over and begins to run our lives.
O what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
(Sir Walter Scott, Marmion)

Suppose you have served in the military. You have faced the abuse of your Drill Sergeant in basic training and had to endure his transfer into your unit where he continued to intimidate. One day you get your discharge papers in the mail. On the day you become a civilian again you see you former Drill Sergeant. He barks an order in your direction and you start to obey. Suddenly you remember that this man no longer has any authority over you. So you smile, wave, and keep on walking.



When we place our faith and trust in Jesus we are discharged to a different service. Sin (our Drill Sergeant) no longer has any legal right over us. Our debt to sin was paid by Jesus.

We need to choose that discharge, that freedom, by giving ourselves to God, and living in his ways.

Since we already belong to God, though we've been given the "freedom" to do as we choose, it follows that living the way God intends, is the best way to live. Your car was made to run on gasoline, but you're "free" to put diesel or kerosene in it, but it's not going to run the way the manufacturer intended, unless you put gasoline in it. The same with us, our lives are not going to "run" the way the Heavenly Father intends if we continue to sin.

"Romans 6: 22-23 But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.

Is this going to happen overnight? NO! don't be discouraged by being human, get back up and keep going.

Think about it this way. Suppose you were right-handed. You wrote with your right hand, threw the ball with your right hand, and did most of your work with your right hand. Suppose your right hand was severely injured. Now you have to learn with your left hand. You are willing to learn but development takes time. At first you can barely feed yourself. Everything seems awkward and forced. Your handwriting is illegible and you throw the ball like a preschooler. But you keep working. Eventually you learn to manage with your left hand.



We have been sin-oriented all our lives. Now we begin the difficult task of learning to turn from sin and follow the Lord. At first, our new life may seem doomed to failure. The image of Christ may be barely recognizable in us. But if we keep working and continue to work at following the Lord, we will begin to see the life of Christ built in us.


How are you doing today in your walk with Jesus? Are you securely in his grasp, walking with him, trying to be just like him? Or are you struggling? have you tripped, or fallen? Get up! grab His hand and continue your walk, and if that's a struggle, ask for help from another Christian. We need to pray for one another as we walk with Him. We need to love, support and help one another as Jesus does. We need to watch out for one another. We are His hands, His feet, His disciples here on earth.

So when you see someone struggling, don't just walk on by, stop, offer Jesus' hand of help and love. Lift each other up, spiritually, emotionally and physically, if needed. Let's show the world Jesus through our day to day life.


- Ralph