Romans 6 - Dead to Sin, Alive to Christ

Zombies are everywhere! That’s because according to Paul, those who are outside of Christ are dead in their sins. The walking dead are everywhere and they don’t even know it. That’s because the wages of sin is death and we’ve all sinned, are sinning, and will sin. It’s startling to discover that we are dead in our sins. So, how do we escape this death penalty that we so justly earned? There is only one way, and it is by being in Christ.

And in Romans 6 Paul reminds the church of Christ at Rome how they did just that, how they went from death (in sin) to life (in Christ). How did they go from death to life? It was at their baptism that they went from death to life. As Paul wrote, “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.”

It is by baptism that we get into Christ, or better yet, into Christ’s death. The punishment for sin, (my sin, your sin, the world’s sin from Adam til Zacharias) is found in the atoning death of Jesus Christ. He did not sin, he, therefore, was not deserving of death, yet he willingly laid down His life for the sins of mankind. Jesus took our punishment in His death and we get into His death at our very own baptism. We are buried with Him in baptism.

Baptism is our first act of obedience in the covenant God has promised through His son Jesus. Faith and obedience are tied at the heel. They are inseparable. It’s the obedience of faith that drives us to be subject to God.

In this lesson, we take a good look at baptism into Christ’s death. We also discuss what happens when we die in our physical bodies. We learn about the gift of God, eternal life, and the wages of sin, the second death in the lake of fire. Come join us as we explore this super-important chapter of Romans.

Blessings,
PJ