Romans Part Six
IV. A changed life means a changed future 6;23
1. Wages are earned
2. A gift is freely given
3. Promise of eternal life
4. Death no longer has dominion vs. 14
5. Alive in Christ vs. 8 & 14
We have seen so far that we are all in the “same boat” --- guilty of sin against a righteous God. Therefore, no one is without excuse. It doesn’t matter who we are and where we live or into what social or ethnic group we are born, we all are sinners bound for hell fire. It doesn’t matter if we grew up in church and attend every Sunday service, near miss a Bible study, or even if we witness to others, without confessing our sins and receiving Jesus as both Lord and Savior --- we are lost. Salvation is not by our works “least any man shall boast”.
6;23 teaches us, “for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Wage --- a reward for labor. Wages are compensation for our life. Therefore if we are sinners, we receive a sinner’s reward --- death. If Adam and Eve had not sinned, they would be alive today. Sin changed the world and it is changing it today. We suffer the “wages” of sin in our society today --- sin has consequences both present and future.
All men die --- but some die twice. The second death is eternal punishment is hell’s fire. People often ask why a loving God would punish people is such a harsh way. The answer is the wages of sin is death. God is not guilty --- the sinner is the one who made a choice --- he chose to deign Christ’s sacrifice.
Gift --- is freely given. God holds this gift up and says to the world “whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
It is not God’s desire that any should perish but that all come to repentance…..
How do we become dead to sin and alive to God?
6:4 “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 the newness of life.”
To walk in the newness of life means we must leave the old life-style behind. Our future has changed and so should our purpose. We have buried the old sinful person and have risen a new creature in Christ.
6:5 “for is we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.
6:6 “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.”
6:7 “for he who has died has been freed from sin.”
6:8 “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him”
6:9 “knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.”
6:10 “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.”
6:11 “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
6:12 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts”
6:13 “and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”
6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Paul is still teaching us about true sanctification. Again, Sanctification is the process of being made holy resulting in a changed life-style for the believer.
Christ died in payment for our sins --- the wages of the believer was paid by Him. If we follow His example we will share in His results. If we are buried with Him, we will be raised like Him. If our changed life-style is Christ-like, we get Christ-like results.
If you are asking, “Where is Christ in my life?” ---- consider if your life is like His.
Let us pray….