Romans chapter 6. If you're visiting with us or if you just need to borrow a Bible, there's one at your feet and you're welcome to use that. It's the thicker black one. And you can turn to page 942 in that Bible. Romans chapter 6. Well, this is an exciting day. This is a very exciting day. As I was preparing, I was remembering back when I used to be a teacher, I was a literature teacher, and I loved teaching literature, and we'd cycle through books, and we'd read one book and move on to the next. And there's this thing I like to do with my students where we would have finished one book, and they'd have gotten tired of it, and they kind of finally finished the thing. And on the day that we were starting the next book, I would start class and I'd start off the class by saying, you know, this morning I woke up and the alarm went off and it was just, I was so tired. It was just miserable. It was dark outside. I hit the snooze. One of those days is just miserable. It was cold outside the bed and finally I kind of tore myself out of bed and I stumbled down the hall. I was just feeling bummed, bummed about life and stumbled in the bathroom and as I'm there brushing my teeth, I start thinking through what do I have to do today? I start thinking through my day. Okay, I got to go into the school and then I'm going to be teaching history and then And then, I remembered. Today is the day. Today is the day we start that new literature book, whatever it is, Beowulf, Much Ado About Nothing, Tale of Two Cities. And I said, and then suddenly my world was transformed. The sun came out and everything was bright and shiny and there was this lilt to my step and a gleam to my eye and I was singing in the back, and my students got used to it and they would groan every time I would do that. Well, this morning, there'd better be a lilt to my step and a gleam to my eye because today we're not talking about starting a new book, as great as Beowulf is, we're talking about new lives. We're talking about people who have been transformed by Jesus Christ. And that, that is exciting. Romans chapter 6 presents some of the marvelous truths that we get to rejoice in, the things that God has done in the lives of these young men and so many in this room. So please follow along as I read from Romans chapter 6, the first four verses. Paul here is responding to some people who apparently believe that grace is such a good thing that they were proposing, why don't we sin so that we can get more grace? And here's what Paul says, Romans 6, verses 1 through 4. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we, who died to sin, still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried, therefore, with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Let's pray. Lord, we're thankful for this day. I thank you for these young men, their profession of faith in you. And Lord, your word tells us there's more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 who think they're righteous but never turn to you. And so what a day of rejoicing this is for us. And Lord, we pray that you would fill us with joy as we look into your word. Lord, as we turn to the waters of baptism, would you restore to us the joy of our salvation? Would we delight in a God who saves? We pray, Lord, now that you would bless the preaching of your word. Use my preparation and my lips to speak clearly your truth. Prepare our hearts to hear it. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, our passage here, you may have noticed, references baptism. And this morning, I want us to think about baptism and what is the significance of this ordinance that we practice. Why do we baptize? We know it has something to do with becoming a Christian, but why this? Why do we take somebody into a pool of water, we dunk them under, and then, hopefully, take them back out? Don't get nervous, guys. Why do we do that? I mean, isn't there a better way to welcome someone in as a new Christian? You know, couldn't we just have them sign a contract? Sign a paper? Or we could extend to them a handshake and kind of welcome them into our group. Some sort of swearing-in ceremony. Why baptism? Well, for some people, baptism is no more than simply an initiation. If you want to join the club, you've got to be baptized. If you want a BJ's membership, you go over to BJ's and you sign up for one of their cards. If you want a church membership, you've got to sign up for baptism. But certainly, baptism is more than that. Others might think, well, we baptize in order to represent purity. Christians are supposed to be clean. They're supposed to be sinless. And so we use water to show that they've been cleaned up. I was reading recently this article about, it was in Christianity Today, it was about baptisms in the Jordan River. So apparently if you travel to Israel, you can go to the Jordan River, and there's this place that they believe is the location at which Jesus was baptized. And they're advertising, you can go there and you can be baptized in the Jordan River. It was a big thing because the Christian rap artist Lecrae recently got baptized in the Jordan River. So you can go there, it's kind of like a tourist trap And one of the things that they say is if you're going to be baptized at this location, you must wear a white robe. And coincidentally, around the corner, they're renting white robes. But you've got to wear a white robe. Now, why is that? The idea of a white robe, and this goes back in the tradition of Christianity, is that this white robe represents being pure and being washed and being clean. Those images of purity and cleanness should be associated with baptism. In fact, after Paul's conversion, Acts chapter 22, he meets up with Ananias. And Ananias says to him, he tells him to be baptized and wash away your sins. There's that image of washing. And so the image of washing and purity is connected with baptism. But why then don't we do something like have them take a shower? That would represent washing. Why don't we have a hand-washing ceremony? Or why don't we just clothe them in white, you know? Kind of clothe them in a gown of white to represent their purity. Why do we actually lower someone into the water completely and then back out? you see that that question brings us to what is really the the primary symbolism of baptism Yes, it's a public declaration of faith. Yes, it shows the washing away of your sin. But primarily, it shows that you died with Christ, and you were buried with him, and then you were raised to newness of life. And that's pictured for us in these waters. As you go under the water, it's a picture of your death and burial with Christ. And as you come out of the water, it's a picture of your resurrection to new life. So this morning, what I want to do is I want for us to unpack that. I want to look at the significance of being dead in Christ, and then the significance of being resurrected with Christ. But before I do, just a note as to who this sermon is addressed to. Who is this sermon for? certainly this is a this is a sermon that's for for david and christian and steven and jonathan other areas right certainly this is a sermon for you guys i want you guys to listen carefully But also, this is a sermon for those in this room who have already been baptized. Today's service is for you. In fact, today's service should fill you with joy. It should remind you afresh of what God has done for you. You know, sometimes our spiritual lives get sleepy and tired and we keep hitting the snooze button and we're grumpy and we don't spiritually want to get up and we're bummed out about life and we need to be reminded of new beginnings. Ah! There was a new beginning for me. We need those reminders. And some of you Some of you in this room, you've never been baptized. You're not a Christian. You can't even imagine this idea of new beginnings. new beginnings and so i want you to listen and watch carefully as you as you watch what unfolds in god's word and then as you watch what unfolds in the waters of baptism my desire for you is that you'll realize that new life and new beginnings can be found for you in jesus christ well david and christian and stephen and jonathan and the other believers in this room as a follower of Christ, as a Christian, I want to tell you two things that are impossible for you. This morning I want to give you two things that are impossible for you. The first one is this. It is impossible for you to live in sin. It is impossible for you to live in sin. And if you're taking notes, you can then put, you can put dash You have died with Christ. It's impossible for you to live in sin. You have died with Christ. Now you might be thinking, what? Not live in sin? Oh, Pastor Craig, you don't understand. I find myself sinning all the time. How can you say it's impossible for me to live in sin? Well, the key word there, the operative word, is live. It's impossible for you to live. in sin. Verse 2 talks about your living in sin. Verse 1 says, has this idea of continuing in sin. Living in sin, it's talking about where you draw your life. Where do you draw your life? Where do you draw your sustenance, your energy, your being? What is it that gives you life? We use this word this way all the time. You know, something that gives you life. And so, you know, we say, oh man, Xbox 360 is his life. Right? It's the thing that gets him going. It's the thing that excites him. Or we say, oh, she lives for the weekends. You know, the weekends are her life. One book that I looked at says that this word refers to the course, the conduct, and the character of your life. What is the course of your life? What is your general conduct and character? What is the thrust of your life? What is the direction of your life? Where do you find life? And Paul makes it clear here that it is impossible for you to find your life, to find your sustenance, in sin. He asks, in verse 1, he asks, should we continue in sin? And his answer there, his response is, by no means! May it never be! You see, he's even disgusted at the very idea that a Christian would continue to live in sin, to draw his strength and his vitality and his sustenance from sin. Now why? Why is this such a settled thing for Paul? Can't I have Jesus and also have my sin? Can't I kind of worship Jesus and also worship my idols, whatever they may be? And the answer is no. No, you can't, because when I turn to Christ, the Bible teaches that I am in union with Him. And make sure you get that. That's central to this passage. I am in union with Christ. Union with Christ. This doctrine is absolutely foundational to your salvation. It's foundational to what the atonement is for you. When Christ died on the cross, you died with Him. Now, of course, that doesn't mean physically. You didn't die physically with Christ, but spiritually, spiritually, your old man, your old self, verse 6 here says, says the body of sin, your old self died. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. The old is gone. It's no longer who you are. And you can say, I am not who I once was. That's not me. There's this scene in Much Ado About Nothing where Benedict, who was a professed tyrant of women, he wanted nothing to do with women, has finally fallen in love. And he says to his buddies who want him to hang out, he says, gentlemen, I am not what I have been. In other words, I am no longer what I once was. And that's us when Christ gets a hold of us. We're not what we were. We're a new creation. I don't do those things anymore. Union with Christ is at the center of what Paul's talking about here in Romans chapter 6. He's saying that you died with Christ. You were raised with Christ. Look at verse 5. We didn't read this yet. Verse 5 says, For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. You see, because you live, because you now find your sustenance in Christ, You no longer live in sin. You don't go there anymore. This idea of union with Christ, it really is, it's a remarkable doctrine, but it's, I think, sometimes hard for us to get our heads around. How am I united with Christ? I think part of it's because, even the fact that Christ died physically, and our union with Him does not result in us dying physically, but we die spiritually with Him. And that's hard for us to understand. You might say it this way, being in union with Christ, being in Christ, means that what happened to Christ also happened spiritually to me. So in Christ's death is my death. In Christ's resurrection is my resurrection. In Christ's ascension, I look forward to one day being ascended to see the Father. And so what that means, have you ever wished you could time travel? Right? Have you ever wished you could time travel? What that means is that in one sense you have. I was there with Christ on the cross. I was there with Christ when He resurrected. His death is my death. His resurrection is my resurrection. We might say it this way. His victory is my victory. But you know what? That is hard for us to understand. It's hard for us to wrap our minds around that. And maybe, maybe that's one reason that God gave us baptism. You see, baptism reminds us that we are united with Christ. And so as you go under the water, it represents the fact that you have gone into the grave with Christ. You have been buried with Christ. Paul uses that language of buried. And I think it's very fitting here because the word buried has a sense of finality to it. It's not just that you were dead, and maybe there's this hope of resuscitation, right? Maybe you were in a coma, or you'd fainted, or you'd swooned or something. No, when you're buried, you are absolutely dead. And that's you. You are dead to sin. Isn't that wonderful? And baptism shows this. As we get you all the way under the water, you are entirely dead to a life of sin. Now, before I move on, I do want to make one thing clear. In talking about this, we're not talking here about sinless perfectionism. So please don't get scared or nervous thinking that Pastor Craig is telling me that I can somehow become perfect in this life, that I'm not going to ever struggle with sin. You see, the point here is that sin no longer has mastery over you. You are dead to the tyranny of sin. You are dead to the dominion of sin. You are dead to the reign of sin. Verse 6 says it this way. It says you are no longer enslaved to sin. Now, will you sin? Yes, you will sin. You will still feel that tug toward old temptations. They're still going to be there. You know what? When you get to be my age, you're still going to feel that tug of sin. When you get to be Mr. Creason's age, am I right? You're still going to feel that tug toward sin. But guess what? That sin? is no longer your master. I mean, there was a time, there was a time when you could not resist sin. You just could not do it. You didn't have Christ, you didn't have the Holy Spirit, and so you did not have the power to resist sin on your own. But now, now you can turn away from sin and you can say, no, you're not my boss, you're not my, you're not my master. Now, you might be tempted He's your old master, and sometimes you're tempted to go back to him. One commentator tells this story. He had been a Marine. He said that when he was a Marine, he had a particularly strict sergeant. And this sergeant made sure that the men always did exactly what they were supposed to do. If this sergeant entered the room, you would snap to attention, you would not move a muscle you weren't supposed to move. You made sure you obeyed that sergeant. And he says, eventually the time came when his time was done, and the papers were signed, and he was free to go. Technically, he was no longer a Marine. Are you allowed to say that? A Marine's always a Marine. But he was no longer a Marine. He says he remembers exiting the building and he happens to pass by his former sergeant. And he says for a moment he wanted to snap to attention. He wanted to salute his sergeant as he was supposed to do. But then he remembered. He was my old master. He's no longer my master. I don't need to do what he tells me to do. You see, sin if you're a Christian, is no longer your sergeant. It no longer has mastery over you. It's impossible for you to live in sin. Isn't that great? Well, secondly, it's impossible for you to not live in Christ. So not only is it impossible for you to live in sin, it's impossible for you to not live in Christ. This is because you have been raised with Christ. Remember, you are in union with Christ. You're united to Him in His death. You're united to Him in His resurrection. You have new life, and your new life is found in Jesus. Verse 4. says this we we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, that glory of the Father is really shorthand for by the power of the Father. So just as Christ was raised from the dead by the power of God, we too might walk in newness of life. Or look at verse five, it says, for if we've been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. You hear that word united? The word united has this idea of growing together. It has this imagery of even grafting, what you would do with two branches when you try to get them to grow together. And you've been united with Christ. You've been grafted with Him. Galatians 3 says that as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. He's become part of you. You've put on Christ. You now have life that is not your own. Your life is found in Jesus Christ. And it should show. The end of verse 4 says, You should walk in newness of life. That idea of walk is this idea of living. It's the step-by-step pattern of your life. And you go through life walking in newness of life. I'm afraid there are far too many baptisms that really ought to have only been half-baptisms. They ought to have been half-baptisms. And here's what I mean. You've got a person who's happy to accept Christ as the forgiver of his sins. He's happy to go down into the water. But he prefers to continue to live his own life, in his own trajectory, in his own way. It's like he's still under the water. And kids, what happens when you're still under the water? You drown, right? And it's like you're still under the water. You have been raised to newness of life. I am not what I once was. I am not what I have been. My life is now found in Christ. This newness indicates a new state of existence. It's a new kind of existence. A totally new life has been resurrected in the Christian. And so we've got these wonderful truths. Brothers, listen. It's impossible for you to not live in Christ, and it's impossible for you to live in sin. These four young men, in a moment we will enter the waters of baptism As we do that, I want to encourage you to do two things. I want you to do two things. One, I want you to praise God. I want you to praise God. Praise Him for what He's done, because it's only, only through union with Christ that you could ever have died to sin. It's only through union with Christ that you could ever have been made alive to Christ. And then secondly, young men, I want you to resolve to struggle against sin. You see, that's what makes you different. What makes you different is the fact that you now struggle against sin. Before, before you knew Christ, you lived in it. It was your life. It was your sustenance. You wallowed in sin. You were happy in your sin. You were content in your sin. But now, do you want to continue sinning? By no means. May it never be. And what marks you now is not some sort of perfection. What marks you now is someone who lives for Christ and who struggles against sin. You don't want to just happily live in sin. You wrestle sin. You fight against sin. And that's a good sign. And praise the Lord, this struggle against sin is not something that you have to do by yourself. It's not for you to just get out there and fight sin. Remember, union with Christ. You're united with Christ. You are in Christ. Jesus is there to help you. Let me close by reading verse 11. It's a little bit further down. Verse 11 says, So you also, David and Christian and Stephen and Jonathan, So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin, something we see as you go under the waters, and alive to God, as you come out of the waters, alive to God in Christ Jesus. You're dead to sin. You're alive to God in Christ Jesus. Praise the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you for your wonderful work in your people. Lord, to think that we were once absolutely dead in our trespasses and sins. absolutely without hope, except that you came along. Lord, you are the one who has given us new life, and you've resurrected us to this newness of life. We thank you for your wonderful work in our lives, and we think particularly of these four young men. Lord, would you be glorified, would you be seen as the great one who saves, even as in a moment we go and see these baptisms. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.