Romans 6:11-23

• 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
• 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
• 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
• 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
• 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
• 16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
• 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.
• 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
• 19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
• 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.
• 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!
• 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
• 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Introduction: In these verses, Paul is continuing his teachings on Sanctification, which covers all of chapters six, seven and eight of Romans. In 6:1-10 Paul taught us that we should not sin because we have been made one with Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We must not sin, and thereby bring dishonor to Jesus Christ and His body, the Church.

Now what? How can we make progress in Sanctification? How can we conquer sin in our lives? In Romans 6:11-23 Paul tells us three things we must do with our minds....

I. We must count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11).

"Count" is translated other ways in other English translations.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

King James Bible
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

American Standard Version
Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.

Bible in Basic English
Even so see yourselves as dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus.

Weymouth New Testament
In the same way you also must regard yourselves as dead in relation to sin, but as alive in relation to God, because you are in Christ Jesus.

The Greek word is logizesthe, and means "to regard something in a certain way."

It is used in Romans 4:5 about Abraham's faith being "credited as" righteousness.

"However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness."

So, with our minds, we are told by Paul to firmly consider ourselves as being dead to sin. That means that when temptation comes along, we are to react to temptation as would a dead man. i.e., no reaction.

Illustration: Paula Deen is a famous tv cook from Savannah, Georgia. She is coming to Chattanooga in July. She loves good tasting old-fashioned Southern cooking, especially if it has a lot of butter in it. Suppose she passed away. We have gone to her visitation at the funeral home. We are trying to bring her back from the dead. (This is just a silly illustration, remember!) We hold a piece of freshly fried chicken under her nose -- no reaction. We try chocolate cake -- no reaction. We try fresh brewed coffee -- no reaction! Of course not, she is dead!

Likewise Paul says this is how the Christian should try to be with regard to temptation. We are united with Christ in His death. We are dead to sin. We should have no response to temptation. Rather the opposite: When we are faced with an opportunity to do good, we should come alive with anticipation, excitement, and desire to serve the Lord.

II. We must see our bodies for what they are (Romans 6:12-13).

• 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
• 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

Paul just begins to touch on the nature of the body here (in chapter six), but he expands on it in later verses.

First: Our bodies are sources of sin and temptation.

Our bodies are "mortal." We will die. Why? "The wages of sin is death." There is a principle of sin at work in our bodies, and that is why we die. If Adam and Eve had never sinned, they would never have died.

Our bodies are mortal, corrupt, and are sources of temptation to do evil. When you became a Christian you were given a holy spirit, created in righteousness. But that shiny new holy spirit you became is still housed in a sinful body. That is why we are so conflicted about sin and temptation. Your body is not good. Your body is not neutral. Your body is not your friend to help you serve God. Your body is an enemy that must be fought against constantly to make it do what is right, instead of what is wrong.

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?25 I thank God --- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:18-24)

(Beware the NIV translation in Romans 6 to 8, because it constantly mis-translates the Greek word "flesh" as sinful human nature.)

Second: Poor though they are, our bodies are all the tools we have to serve God.

"Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." (Romans 6:13)

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship." (Romans 12:1)

• 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
• 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
• 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.
  (I Cor 6:18-20)

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
(Hymn by Frances Havergal)

III. We should contemplate the consequences of our actions.

• 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!
• 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
• 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  (Romans 6:21-23)

What are the results of sin? Look around. Read the newspaper. Watch television. The world is a better place now than it was 2000 years ago, thanks to the preaching of the Gospel and the growth of the Kingdom. But we still have a lot of Kingdom work to do. Sin is still rampant and destructive worldwide.

What are the results of coming to Jesus Christ and living for Him? Holiness and righteousness in this life, and eternal life with the Lord forever. We must not forget the first part of the benefits, as we so often are prone to do...

Some Christians say...."Well, the world is just getting worse and worse, and we now live in the Post Christian Era; and Christianity is dying, and there's nothing we can do, so we will just hope that Jesus comes back today and rescues us from all the evil."

Let me remind you that during the first three centuries of the New Testament Church it was illegal to be a Christian. Christians were jailed. Christians were killed. Christians were thrown to the lions in the Roman arena. Christians were stuck on poles and tarred, and lit on fire, to illuminate the parties of the Roman emperors. Now that was a Pre-Christian era. But the Gospel triumphed, and continues to triumph. There will be ups and downs in the various regions of the earth. But the steady progress over the centuries has always been up, and it will continue to be UP.

Jesus has commanded us to be salt and light, to preach the Gospel everywhere, and to make disciples of the nations. When we do what Jesus said, we advance the Kingdom in the world. In the past 2000 years we have done a lot of that, and the results have been wonderful! Why should we quit now, when we are making such good progress worldwide? (Be careful not to be provincial, and be careful not to be short-sighted!) "I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not be able to withstand it."

Conclusion: Sanctification. What do we learn about Sanctification in these verses about how to make progress in Christian living?

• 1. We must learn to see ourselves as dead to sins temptations, and alive to God's opportunities. Remember, we died with Christ, and we live in Him.
• 2. We must see our bodies for what they are: a) Sources of tempation and corruption; b) But still, we may use our bodies to serve God.
• 3. We must always think ahead to the consequences of our actions.