September 6, 2026, Morning Service
Baptism – A New Beginning
Pastor Greg Isom
In our final message from Chapter 5, Paul compared Adam to Jesus in that each of them gave something to all mankind. Adam, through his disobedience to God, gave us the nature of sin we are all born with and by living and dying in our sin we will be given condemnation. He also gave us a relationship with God that was broken by his sin (and ours) with no way on our own to fix it. But Jesus through His obedience brought to us an answer for that sin; a path to forgiveness and reconciliation. In doing that He also offers us a way to miss the judgment, condemnation, and wrath of God we rightfully deserve to face. Jesus made a way where there was no way. Our path to forgiveness comes through Jesus and God’s grace. Grace is His unmerited favor towards us, and it is bigger than all of our sins. Paul finished the chapter with this:
Romans 5:20-21 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, (21) so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The law was given to show us our sinfulness and that it was impossible for us to live a perfect life “earning” our salvation. Sin became our master and separated us from God. But God sent Jesus and offered us a new path through His grace that our sins would be forgiven. Paul assures us here that God’s grace is bigger than our sin! What a comforting fact that is for us. No matter the size of the sin, God’s grace and love are bigger. This leads Paul to ask the obvious question and in fact many falsely claimed he was teaching this in his ministry as we begin chapter 6.
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
So if God’s grace is so big, why not sin as much as possible to show the world God’s grace in action? That certainly sounds appealing doesn’t it? Do whatever we want and as long as we ask for forgiveness God’s grace will abound! But wait, Paul reminds us that it does not work like that for us.
Romans 6:2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Paul squelches that thought very powerfully, “Certainly Not!” To live frivolously in that way would be taking advantage of all that God offers us and also shows we are underestimating the power of sin in our lives. Paul then asks us; “how can we who died to sin live any longer in it?” What does He mean that we “died to sin?” Is he asking each of us to physically die? He is not. To fully understand this we must be able to know the difference between the spiritual and physical world; both are real and let’s try to understand the difference.
The physical world is the one we are most familiar with. We are able to touch, feel, smell, and hear things in this physical world. The spiritual world is one we can’t see but we know it is there. Jesus explained it Nicodemus by comparing the moving of the Spirit to the moving of the wind. We do not see the wind. We have no idea where it comes from or where it goes, but we know it is real. We feel it on our face, we see it blow the trees and we can hear it as move past us. The Spirit moves in the same way, as we can often feel His presence in a worship song, see Him working is someone’s life, and hear Him speak to us through the Word. When Paul told us we had died to sin, he was speaking of the spiritual realm. When we accept this by faith we are now able to understand Paul’s teaching here..
Romans 6:3-4 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? (4) Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Paul here reveals to us the spiritual side of baptism that is vital for us to understand as we begin our walk with Jesus. Our baptism is our spiritual death to our body of sin. As we are submerged under the water it is to symbolize our being “buried with Him through baptism into death.” We die out to our old sinful nature we inherited from Adam and are “raised from the dead” just as Jesus was resurrected from His grave. Our baptism is our spiritual “death, burial and resurrection” allowing us to arise to “walk in the newness of life!” Paul continues to reveal this to us.
Romans 6:5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection
Follow Paul on this. As we die in the waters of baptism, the likeness of His death, we also are raised from the dead in the likeness of His resurrection. Just as Jesus was made new through His death, burial and resurrection, we are as well. What happened in that water that made us new? Paul explains:
Romans 6:6-7 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (7) For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Are you catching what Paul is pitching here? By faith we believe the “old man,” our old sinful, selfish person “was crucified” with Jesus spiritually dying in the water. With that spiritual death of our sinful self, we are freed and forgiven from our sin. “We are no longer the slaves of our sin.” The wages of our sin are now paid in full by Jesus upon that cross. Sin no longer has dominion over our future bringing us under condemnation and judgement. We died spiritually in the water and through that death we have been set free from our sin. Now rising up from our watery grave we are called to walk in the “likeness of His resurrection and in the newness of life.” Paul goes deeper.
Romans 6:8-11 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, (9) knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. (10) For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. (11) Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
With Jesus dying upon the cross and then being resurrected from the grave, death no longer has any hold on Him. He died once paying the price for the sins of the world, my sins, and now having conquered sin and death lives forever freed from their power over Him. We too by spiritually dying in the waters of baptism are freed from the power of sin and death in our life. We are dead to our sin, but now are alive to God. Paul explained our baptism like this to the Galatians.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Through our baptism, spiritual death burial and resurrection, we now have “put on Christ.” We are given His robe of righteousness and now God looks at us as He looks upon Christ; His beloved Child. Our sins are removed from us and our broken relationship with our Heavenly Father has been repaired. In truly believing this, by faith, and acting upon our faith by entering the waters of baptism we are sanctified through Christ. Which means we are “set apart” for His use. Paul says it so clearly in the 2nd Corinthian letter:
2Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Remember to be “in Christ” refers to our baptism “putting on Christ.” As we climb out of the waters of baptism we are a “new creation, old things have passed away and all things become new!” Back to Paul’s question, “should we continue in sin that grace may abound!” Certainly not!. We are no longer the same person, but have been made all new in Christ. Our old desires to satisfy only ourselves have been removed and replaced with a new desires to please only God. Paul summed it up in his letter to the Galatians.
Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Life has begun all new. We have been given a second chance. Through faith and our obedience of entering the waters of baptism, we have died to ourselves and arisen to live for Christ. Our goal is no longer to serve and please my desires, but I live for Christ and seek to do become all that He created me to be. How do I know this has happened? By faith alone. God said it and I believe it and now I will follow Him wherever He leads me. I am His and He is mine.