Romans 6 – Baptism: Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

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Big Picture

Romans 1:18 – 5:11
  • Romans 1:18 – 3:20
    • Men sinful acts
  • Romans 3:21 – 5:11
    • Justification by faith in Jesus Christ
    • Christ’s blood covers our sins
    • Believers are credited as righteous
Romans 5:12 – 8:39
  • Romans 5:12 – 5:21
    • Sinful nature
    • Sin entered the world through Adam
    • God’s grace came by Jesus
  • Romans 6 – 8:39
    • Santification
      • Romans 6
      • Baptism – Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
        • Slave of righteousness
      • Romans 7
        • Struggling with sinful nature
      • Romans 8
        • Live according to the Holy Spirit

Meaning of Baptism

  1. It is an outward symbol of an inward experience
  2. Baptism pictures the reality – transformation of a person when he believes
  3. Baptism alone does not save us from sins, we must believe and repent
  4. When a believer is baptized, he is baptized into Jesus death, he is buried with Jesus, and resurrected with Jesus (v3-v4)
  5. Full water immersion (Act 8:36-39) vs. sprinkling
  6. We baptize because we obey Jesus’s command (Matt 28:19)
God’s way of dealing with our sinful nature
  1. God sent Jesus to dead for our sins. Jesus’s blood covers our sins, if we believe, we are credited as righteous, our sins are forgiven.
  2. However, because sinful nature is in us, believers will continue to sin even after believing in Jesus Christ
  3. God’s salvation plan is a complete plan, He has not only saved from our sins, He has also given us the solution to live a holy life – sanctification
  4. God sets us free from the dominion of sin, not by strengthening our old self (man), but by crucifying him. (v6)
  5. We used to be slaves of sin. We had no freedom. When we believe in Jesus, our old self has died with Him, we have been freed from sin (v7)
  6. Just as Jesus has resurrected and live forever (Rev 1:18),we’ve also resurrected with Christ so we can live a new life (v4). We are new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). We were born again.

4 Steps of How to live a new life (v6-v14)

  1. Know our old self has die (v6)
    • Although when we believe in Jesus, our old self has die, however if we do not know it, it has no effect in our life
  2. Believe we are resurrected and live with Christ (v8)
  3. Count (consider, reckon) yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (v11)
    • Let our knowledge becomes reality in our daily life
  4. Offer (Present) yourselves to God (v13)
    • offer our body as instruments of rightenousness to God, to be used for His kingdom

Slaves to sin vs. Slaves to righteousness (v15-v23)

  1. We are slaves to the one whom we obey (v16)
  2. Before we were saved, we were slaves to sin, free from righteousness (v20), which leads to death (Spiritually, physically, eternally) (v16, v21)
  3. After we were saved, we were slaves to righteousness (v18) and slaves to God (v22), free from sin (v18), which leads holiness (santification) and eternal life (v22)
  4. The new life of believers is a life of submission and obedience to God

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