United with Christ: Dead to Sin, Alive in Grace

Paul grounds the church’s identity in the gospel that makes Jew and Gentile “heirs together, members together in one body, and sharers together in the promise.” Christ must be the Messiah for His death and resurrection to carry any saving weight. Christ died for sins according to the Scriptures, and His death puts God’s justice and God’s love on display in the same place. The cross also destroys the devil’s claim, disarms hostile powers, and reconciles God’s image bearers to the Father.

Paul’s argument in Romans 5 brings the church back to Adam. Adam acted as the representative head of humanity, so sin, death, and condemnation came through his one trespass. Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even before the Mosaic law, showing that this problem goes deeper than simply breaking a list of rules. Adam’s decision affected everybody under Adam, just like decisions made by a family head or national representative affect those connected to them.

Christ comes as the second Adam, but the gift is not like the trespass. Adam brought sin, death, and condemnation; Christ brings grace, the gift of righteousness, justification, and eternal life. Grace does not operate on the premise of fairness, because nobody deserves the gift. Grace overflows where sin increased, and it brings believing people into an entirely new representative head.

Paul answers the question of continued sin not by saying, “Just be good,” but by declaring, “We died to sin.” Believers were placed into Christ, identified with His death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism in Romans 6 means being placed into Christ, not primarily being placed into water. Just as Israel was baptized into Moses, identified with its leader in the exodus, believers are identified with Christ in His exodus from death.

Christ’s death became the believer’s death to Adam, condemnation, separation, and sin’s ruling power. Christ’s resurrection becomes the believer’s new life before God. Paul therefore calls believers to count themselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Sin has not changed, and the flesh has not changed, but the believer has changed. Sin no longer has to be master.

God calls those made alive to offer themselves to Him as instruments of righteousness. God is the great musician, and the believer is the instrument in His hand. Paul finally makes the shocking claim that sin will not rule because believers are not under law but under grace. Romans 7 and Colossians 2 will press further into what it means to be separated from sin, law, and the basic principles of the world.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Adam’s trespass is not final Adam’s one trespass brought sin, death, and condemnation into humanity’s story. Christ’s one righteous act brings a greater reality: grace, righteousness, and life for those identified with Him. The bad news of Adam makes the good news of Christ shine even brighter. [66:26]
• 2. Grace is bigger than fairness Grace does not give people what seems fair, because fairness would leave humanity under Adam’s condemnation. Grace gives what Christ purchased and what sinners could never earn. God’s gift is freely given, even while sin still exposes the depth of human need. [69:07]
• 3. Believers died with Christ Christ’s death did more than provide an example or a future hope. Christ’s death separated believers from Adam’s realm of sin, death, and condemnation. The old representative head no longer defines the believer’s standing before God. [92:14]
• 4. Sin is no longer master Sin may still tempt, accuse, and feel familiar, but it no longer has the right to rule the believer. Christ has given His people the real ability to say no rather than excusing anger, lust, gossip, jealousy, or bitterness. The issue is not pretending temptation is weak, but recognizing that Christ is greater. [98:35]
• 5. Offer yourself to God God does not call His people back under a black-and-white system of moral striving. God calls His people to make themselves available to Him as alive ones. God produces righteousness through lives yielded to His grace, like a great musician playing through an instrument.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [45:29] - Why the Gospel Is Essential
• [46:39] - Christ Died for Our Sins
• [49:35] - Why Christ’s Death Matters
• [53:12] - Reconciliation With God
• [54:58] - Romans 6 Through 8 Changes Everything
• [60:12] - Adam as Humanity’s Representative
• [66:09] - Christ, Grace, and the Greater Gift
• [73:28] - Why the Law Increases Trespass
• [80:35] - Should Grace Lead to More Sin?
• [85:35] - Baptized Into Christ’s Death
• [93:47] - Buried and Raised With Christ
• [97:36] - Dead to Sin, Alive to God
• [104:42] - Not Under Law but Under Grace
• [107:39] - Looking Ahead to Romans 7

Bible Reading

Romans 6:1–14

> 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. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

[01:25:35] [01:32:14] [01:33:47] [01:37:36] [01:44:13]

Romans 5:12–21

> Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[01:00:12] [01:06:26] [01:09:07] [01:13:28]

1 Corinthians 15:3–4

> For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

[00:46:39]

Colossians 2:11–15

> In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

[01:47:39]

Observation questions

1. In Romans 5:12–21, what repeated contrasts does Paul make between Adam’s trespass and Christ’s gift? What comes through Adam, and what comes through Christ? [01:10:26]
2. Why does Paul point out that death reigned from Adam to Moses, before the Mosaic law was given? What does that show about the root problem of sin and death? [01:04:27]
3. In Romans 6:3–5, what does Paul say believers share with Christ? Notice the sequence of death, burial, and resurrection.
4. In Romans 6:11–14, what commands follow Paul’s statement that believers are dead to sin and alive to God? What are believers told not to present themselves to, and what are they told to present themselves to? [01:42:37]

Interpretation questions

1. Adam acted as humanity’s representative head, and Christ is the head of a new humanity. How does this help explain why Christ’s obedience and righteousness can bring justification and life to those who belong to Him? [01:06:42]
2. Paul says that grace abounds where sin increases. Why does he immediately reject the idea that believers should continue in sin? What truth does he use instead of simply telling people to “be good”? [01:21:09]
3. Paul describes believers as baptized into Christ and into His death. How does the example of Israel being identified with Moses in the exodus help explain this identification with Christ? [01:29:37]
4. Romans 6 says that sin is no longer the believer’s master, while temptation and the flesh are still real. What is the difference between sin being present and sin ruling a believer’s choices? [01:38:35]

Application questions

1. Which old patterns most often try to speak as though they are still master—anger, lust, jealousy, gossip, bitterness, fear, materialism, or something else? What would it look like to remember in that moment, “I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ”? [01:40:47]
2. When guilt or condemnation comes after failure, what thoughts usually follow? How might the truth that there is no condemnation for those in Christ change the way a believer comes to God? [01:36:20]
3. Grace is not based on what feels fair or what anyone deserves. Where is there a tendency to measure God’s goodness by fairness, either toward oneself or toward another person? [01:09:12]
4. Paul says not to present the members of the body to sin, but to present ourselves to God. What is one ordinary part of life this week—conversation, phone use, work, money, family conflict, or private thought life—that can be intentionally offered to God as an instrument of righteousness? [01:44:13]
5. Sin often feels unavoidable because it has become familiar and patterned. When a familiar temptation comes, what practical choice could help create space to say no and walk in the life Christ has given? [01:39:08]
6. God is like a great musician, and believers are instruments in His hands. Rather than trying to earn righteousness through striving, what would it mean to make oneself available to God in a specific situation this week? [01:45:02]