New Life in Christ" June 21st, 2026

Death Valley and Mount Whitney give Romans 6 a clear map for the Christian life. Death Valley sits low, dry, and inhospitable, a place where life has to work hard just to survive. Mount Whitney rises high, surrounded by forests, streams, lakes, and life. Romans 6 sets the world of sin beside the world of God’s new life, and the contrast is not small. Sin is a valley of death. Grace is a mountain filled with life.

Paul answers the twisted logic that says, if grace increases where sin increases, then sin should continue so grace can abound. Paul does not simply list the evils of sin. Paul draws a line between the old life before Christ and the new life in Christ. The old life was slavery to sin, and God has set his people free. The question is not whether sin still tempts or troubles. The question is how those who died to sin could go on living in it.

Romans 6 points to baptism as the place where the old life is crucified with Christ. Baptism joins believers to Christ’s death, so the life of sin ends and the journey toward new life begins. Death Valley has been left behind. The mountains of God’s new life stand ahead. Whoever has died is freed from sin, and that freedom means sin no longer owns the one who belongs to Christ.

Paul also points forward. Those united with Christ in a death like his will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. The Christian life now stands in an in between place. The old heart has been removed, like a heart transplant patient waiting for the new heart to come. The old life of sin is gone, and the full resurrection life is still ahead. In that in between time, Christ keeps his people alive to God.

Jesus gives this new life at the cost of his own life. The new heart comes because another gave up his life. God makes his people saints, not because of spectacular performance, but because they have been set apart for God’s side. Sin remains self absorbed, like Death Valley soaking up water and giving no life back. Christ offers living water, a new life free from sin, and Romans calls believers to consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Grace never needs sin’s help God’s grace abounds where sin increases, but grace does not become an excuse to stay in the valley of death. Sin cannot be used as fertilizer for holiness, because sin always drains life rather than giving it. Grace rescues from sin’s world, not merely from sin’s penalty. [41:15]
• 2. Dead to sin means departure Romans 6 does not picture sin as a neighborhood to improve, but as a valley to leave behind. Baptism marks the break where the old self is crucified with Christ and the old life loses its claim. Freedom begins when sin is no longer treated as home. [45:36]
• 3. Baptism joins believers to Christ Baptism is not treated as a bare symbol, but as union with Christ in his death. The old life ends because Christ’s death becomes the believer’s death to sin. The hope of resurrection rests on that same union, because the one joined to his death will be joined to his life. [45:51]
• 4. New life waits with hope Romans holds the Christian life in an in between place, dead to sin now and awaiting resurrection glory. The heart transplant picture shows that the old heart has been removed, and life depends entirely on another’s gift. Christ sustains the one who waits for the fullness of the new life. [48:49]
• 5. Saints are set apart for God The word saint does not first describe moral performance, but belonging. God consecrates his people, choosing them for what he is doing in the world. That calling gives dignity and direction, because new life is life placed on God’s side.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [32:37] - Romans 6: Dead to Sin
• [35:56] - Death Valley and Mount Whitney
• [37:22] - Sin’s Valley and God’s Mountain
• [39:17] - Paul’s Question in Romans 6
• [41:03] - Where Sin Increased, Grace Abounded
• [41:29] - Twisted Logic About Grace
• [42:26] - The Old Life and New Life
• [43:09] - Sin Divides, Grace Reconciles
• [45:36] - Baptism and Dying to Sin
• [47:02] - Joined to Christ’s Resurrection
• [48:07] - The New Heart Picture
• [50:12] - Saints Set Apart for God
• [52:18] - Death Valley’s Self Absorption
• [53:42] - Alive to God in Christ

Bible Reading

Romans 6
“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. 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. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” [32:37] [40:07] [41:15] [45:36] [45:51] [47:02] [48:49] [53:54] [54:45]

Romans 5:20
“Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,” [41:15]

Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [37:30]

Galatians 3:28
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” [44:02]

Observation questions

1. In Romans 6, what actions and images does Paul use to describe the break between the old life and the new life—baptized, buried, crucified, raised, freed? [45:51]
2. What was the twisted line of thinking Paul answers in Romans 6:1, and how is it stated? [41:29]
3. What contrasts are drawn between Death Valley and Mount Whitney, and how do those places help picture sin and new life in Christ? [35:56]
4. In the passages and examples given, what are some differences between the world of sin and the world of God’s new life? [43:09]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul does not only say that sin is wrong; he says believers have died to sin. How does that change the way a Christian should think about ongoing sin—not just as bad behavior, but as something that no longer has the right to rule? [45:36]
2. Romans 6 connects baptism with union with Christ’s death and resurrection. What does that suggest about baptism being more than a mere symbol, and how does that deepen confidence in new life? [46:27]
3. Paul speaks in both past and future tense: believers have died with Christ, and believers will be raised with him. How does that “in between” reality help explain why Christians still struggle, yet are not hopeless? [47:35]
4. The word “saint” points to being set apart for God’s side rather than earning a title by impressive performance. How might that reshape the way Christians view their identity, especially when they feel weak or inconsistent? [50:12]

Application questions

1. Many people try to keep one foot in the old life while also moving toward Christ. Where is that temptation showing up right now—in a habit, a relationship, a thought pattern, or a private compromise? What would it look like to stop treating that place like home? [38:12]
2. Grace does not need sin’s help. Are there any ways a person can quietly excuse sin by assuming, “God will forgive me anyway”? What would honest repentance look like in that situation this week? [41:15]
3. If baptism marks a real break with the old life, how could a baptized believer actively remember that identity during the week? What practices help someone say, “I am dead to sin and alive to God,” when temptation feels strong? [54:45]
4. The old life tends to be self-absorbed, taking in life and giving nothing back. Where does self-focus show up most easily—time, money, attention, hurt, status, or control? What is one concrete way to turn outward in love instead? [53:18]
5. New life in Christ changes how people respond to difference, conflict, and injury. Is there a person or situation where fear, resentment, or the desire to get even has been shaping the response? What might forgiveness, prayer, or reconciliation look like there? [44:28]
6. Christians live in the “in between” time, waiting for the fullness of resurrection life. Where does someone in the group feel that incompleteness most sharply right now? How can the group remind one another that Christ is sustaining his people even now? [48:49]
7. Saints are people set apart for God’s side. What difference would it make to begin each day by remembering, “I belong to God and have been chosen for his purposes”? How might that change ordinary decisions this week? [51:01]