Victory Over Sin Through New Identity in Christ

Romans 6 opens a new stretch in Paul’s argument, where justification does not stall out at “now what?” but moves into victory in the life of the believer. Paul has already laid the foundation: God declares the believer righteous by faith, and that righteous standing is secure in Jesus Christ. Now God shows that there is a holy life that can be lived “in the nasty now and now,” even while sin and perversion press in from every side. Grace does not merely forgive the past. Grace gives a path forward.

Paul begins with the question that always comes after “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Shall sin just keep going so grace can keep showing up? Paul answers, “God forbid.” Grace is abundant, but God is still not okay with sin. A life that knowingly keeps choosing selfishness, bitterness, lying, laziness, anger, addiction, or any other sin is inconsistent with the new identity God has given in Christ. Forgiveness is not permission to sin first and apologize later.

Baptism gives Paul’s picture of identification. The main issue in baptism is not water first, but being plunged into an identity. The Spirit has baptized the believer into Jesus Christ, uniting that believer with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Water baptism publicly testifies to that already finished identification. Because Christ was raised, the believer is raised to “walk in newness of life.” That newness is not like new socks, a new car, or anything else that eventually smells like dirt and stale french fries. Christ gives a life that does not grow stale or wear out.

Paul then points to the old man. The old man is not somebody’s daddy. The old man is the old self in Adam, the one ruled by sin, uninterested in God, bent away from holiness. In Christ, that old man has been crucified. Sin itself still comes knocking, but sin is no longer the master. The believer does not need to drag out the defibrillator and yell “clear” over the old man. The old self is nailed to the cross, so let him lie there.

Paul gives the path of victory with three imperatives: know, reckon, and yield. The believer must know that the old man is dead, reckon that truth as actually true, and yield every member to God as an instrument of righteousness. Feelings may not line up with the facts, but faith starts with what God has declared. Right living comes from right thinking, and grace frees the believer to live like who God has already made that believer in his Son.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Grace never gives sin permission [27:29] Grace answers sin with forgiveness, but grace never becomes a free pass to keep sinning. Paul’s “God forbid” shuts down the idea that God’s mercy makes rebellion harmless. The believer who treats forgiveness like permission is not enjoying grace, but misusing the very thing that cost Christ his blood. [27:29]
• 2. Identity comes before newness [44:34] The newness of life does not come from trying to work up a spiritual feeling. The newness follows the believer’s union with Jesus Christ. When the heart grows stale, the answer is not religious hype, but a clear return to what God has already done in placing the believer in Christ. [44:34]
• 3. Let the old man lie dead [56:23] The old self in Adam has been crucified with Christ, even though sin still comes knocking. Temptation tries to make the dead man look alive again, but the believer does not have to revive what Christ has already judged at the cross. Victory begins when sin is treated as a dethroned master, not an unavoidable ruler. [56:23]
• 4. Reckon truth as actually true [57:21] Paul’s word “reckon” is not a guess or a feeling. It is the settled accounting of life according to what God has said. The believer learns to look at sin and say, “That is not who this person is in Christ,” because right living grows out of right thinking. [57:21]
• 5. Yield every member to God [01:06:09] The body is not neutral ground. Eyes, ears, mouth, hands, heart, and mind can become weapons of unrighteousness, or they can be presented to God for righteousness. Grace does not leave the believer passive, but calls for a daily placing of the whole self at God’s disposal. [66:09]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [18:34] - Romans 6 and Christian Living
• [19:22] - Victory, Liberty, and Security
• [20:40] - The “Now What?” After Salvation
• [22:19] - God’s Path for Holy Living
• [26:03] - Abounding Grace and the Big Question
• [27:29] - God Forbid Continuing in Sin
• [34:10] - Baptism and Identification With Christ
• [40:23] - Walking in Newness of Life
• [45:54] - Planted Together With Christ
• [46:33] - Sin Is No Longer Master
• [57:21] - Reckon What God Says Is True
• [65:03] - Right Thinking Produces Right Living
• [66:09] - Yielding the Members to God
• [71:15] - Preaching the Gospel to Oneself

Bible Reading

Romans 6:1-14
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” [27:29] [27:48] [34:26] [40:23] [45:54] [46:33] [57:21] [01:06:09]

Romans 5:20
“Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:” [26:26]

2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Galatians 2:20
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Observation questions

1. In Romans 6:1-14, what words or pictures does Paul use to describe the believer’s connection to Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection? [34:26]
2. What are some of the specific sins named as examples of continuing in sin as though grace were permission? [32:14]
3. According to Romans 6, what three actions are believers told to take in response to what God has done: what are they to know, reckon, and yield? [01:05:50]
4. In Romans 6:12-13, which parts of a person’s life are included when Paul speaks about yielding the members to God? [01:06:50]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul says, “God forbid,” to the idea of continuing in sin so grace may abound. Why does that answer fit the gospel so strongly, and what does it show about the relationship between grace and holy living? [27:48]
2. Romans 6 ties newness of life to being baptized into Christ. Why does identity come before daily change, and how does that help explain why trying harder by itself is not enough? [44:34]
3. Paul says the old man has been crucified and that believers should no longer serve sin. If that is true, how should a believer understand the fact that temptation still feels very real? [56:23]
4. Paul says believers are to reckon themselves dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God. What does it look like for a person to count God’s word as more trustworthy than shifting feelings? [01:04:27]

Application questions

1. Grace never gives sin permission. Is there any place in life where forgiveness has quietly become an excuse to keep tolerating a pattern of sin? What would it look like to call that pattern what it is and stop making peace with it? [33:39]
2. Newness of life flows out of union with Christ. When spiritual life feels stale, discouraged, or flat, where does the mind usually run first: toward self-effort, guilt, distraction, or back to who that person is in Christ? [45:04]
3. The old man has been crucified with Christ. What temptation most often tries to make the old life feel normal again, and how could someone answer that temptation with the truth, “That is not who I am”? [01:00:01]
4. Right living grows out of right thinking. What false thought about sin, grace, or identity most needs to be brought into line with what God says? [58:21]
5. Believers are told to yield their members to God as instruments of righteousness. Which part of life most needs to be freshly presented to God right now: the mouth, the eyes, the mind, the hands, the heart, or something else? What might that look like this week? [01:06:09]
6. Feelings do not always line up with facts. When feelings say, “Nothing has changed,” what truths from Romans 6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, or Galatians 2:20 need to be spoken back to the soul? [01:11:25]
7. Sin shall not have dominion over those who are under grace. Where has defeat started to feel normal, and what would it look like to begin again from the confidence that Christ has already broken sin’s mastery? [01:08:20]