For five chapters, the Apostle Paul has asked us to consider how “the gospel is the power of the God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” In the opening chapters of Romans there are three kinds of sinners ::
In Rom. 1, there are “Flagrant” sinners, whose increasing wickedness and self-destructive ways are apparent to everyone. In Rom. 2, there are “Two-Faced” sinners who harshly judge others, while silently indulging in the very sins they supposedly condemn. In Rom. 3, there are “Formula One” sinners who believe their high-octane life outpaces all the rest of humanity, and impresses God as well!
But Flagrant, Two-Faced, or Formula-One. . . “We all continually fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). We’re all under sin, following in the footsteps of Adam, reaping the wages we deserve for our sin, which is death (Rom. 6:23). And yes, “the wrath of God is being revealed against all mankind.” We’re accountable for every thought, every deed. All of humanity, without exception, stands condemned.
But thanks be to God… because “while we were still sinners Christ died for the ungodly.” The wages of sin many very well be death, but thanks be to God, the “gift” of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord! God does not pay us what we deserve, but afflicts upon his son, Jesus Christ, the punishment that was upon us all. Though God’s wrath is being revealed against all the unrighteousness and ungodliness of our age… we are not without hope. Why? Because, Romans 1:17, “in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” We are not without hope. Why? Because Romans 5:20, “where sin increased, God’s grace increased all the more.” God reveals his wrath but simultaneously reveals his all-surpassing, hyper abundant, all-sufficient grace for all under sin!
So whether like David in Romans 4, we’re being overcome by sin. Or whether like Abraham and Sarah, we’re overcome (and are “as good as dead”). . . our faith is in Christ Jesus! He is our salvation, our hope, our righteousness, our justification, our sanctification, our only prospect of ever gaining eternal life. God’s desire is that by faith, grace might reign in our lives, and that God’s mercy & grace might conquer all the sin, darkness, and wickedness that resides within.
So in the end, we’re not ever trusting in our power. “The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe!” Romans 5… as in Adam all die, so now in Christ, all may live! In under five minutes, I just re-preached by last ten sermons!
As we get to Romans 6, Paul addresses the question that’s been nagging at us the entire time. The question is whether “grace” really is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. We know the wrath of God isn’t powerful to save us. Neither the threat of hell, nor condemnation, nor judgement, nor the wrath of God being revealed, nor fire and brimstone, nor the preaching of the law, nor pointing out sin or sin’s ultimate consequence (death)… saves us. Instead, it’s the “reign of grace” that is powerful to save us.
Consider God’s purpose in Romans 5:21, “just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” I want you to hear very clearly what it is that saves us. It isn’t just “grace,” but rather the “reign of God’s glorious grace” that saves us. It’s not just the presence, or availability of grace. Rather, it’s that God’s grace would rule over us, govern over us, be sovereign over us, break us, chasten us, heal us, compel us... it’s not just that God would offer grace to all who believe, its that we’d believe God, trust God, yield to God, surrender to God! The power of the gospel is not just grace, but the “reign of grace.” The reign of grace breaks the power of sin, the reign of grace produces righteousness, the reign of grace leads to life everlasting!
Romans 6:1… “shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” Well, not if grace is reigning! Righteousness increases wherever grace reigns. If sin is increasing and righteousness is decreasing, one of two things is true. (1) Either you do not know grace of our Lord Jesus Christ… or (2) You’re showing contempt for God’s grace. Knowledge is an intellectual issue, easily resolved; Contempt is a heart issue!
Contempt was an issue Paul addressed back in Romans 2:4, “Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” It’s the same issue here in Romans 6:1, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” Romans 6:2, “BY NO MEANS!” Inconceivable! “we are those who have died to [the reign of] sin; how can we live in sin any longer?” Its not enough that you “know” about grace. Are you “allowing” grace to reign from your heart? If so, righteousness ought to be evident all over your life!
Smack dab in the middle of this discussion about letting grace reign in our lives, Paul brings up the topic of baptism. It sad how the waters of baptism have become so muddy through the Christian centuries. But for the Apostle Paul, baptism marked the pivotal moment when a person understands and accepts the gospel of grace… when a person invites God’s grace to reign… when a person declares their allegiance to Christ!
Many of you, because of your background, really struggle with baptism. Some of you have been taught that baptism is circumcision 2.0. When a male child was born in Jewish culture, he was dedicated to God and circumcised on the eighth day according to the Law of Moses. Circumcision was only for people under the Law of Moses, and only male children were circumcised.
The closest the Bible comes to comparing circumcision and baptism is Colossians 2:11-12. “In Christ you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self, ruled by the flesh, was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were raised with him through your faith in the working in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
What you should notice in Colossians 2:12 is neither the faith of a priest nor a parent is in view… but rather it’s that own person’s “faith in the working of God.” Nowhere in Scripture, do we ever get the notion that the faith of a priest, or parent, or anybody could ever be transferable to a child. It’s important that you develop a biblical view, as opposed to denominational view, of baptism.
Some have been taught that baptism is a magical cure. The reasoning is that because a child is born with the “guilt of sin”, or “original sin,” it’s a matter of utmost urgency the baby be baptized. A sacramental view of baptism is that the water saves, even apart from the faith of the infant. It’s the faith of the church, the faith of the priest, or the faith of the parent, that’s often in view. Even if you believe in original sin, where do we get this idea that baptism in itself, apart from faith, is the cure? In some cults, people are even baptized for their loved ones, or for the dead. Again, its never the faith of a priest or parent or other believe that’s in view in baptism… its that person’s own faith.
Some have been taught that baptism limits God. The belief is that God can only save someone if they have been baptized. But it seems obvious that God is not bound by baptism. When the thief on the cross came to faith, Jesus told him “truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). In the Old Testament, Abraham and many others died never being baptized. However, their faith was credited to them as righteousness. Not everyone has opportunity, or even the mental capacity, to hear and respond to the gospel. King David’s child died at a young age, yet David had confidence he would one day again “go to his son.” (2 Sam 12:22-23). Once when Jesus was surrounded by children he announced that “their angels always see the face of the Father in heaven.” (Mt 18:10). God’s salvation is wider than our narrow understanding.
Some have been taught that baptism is their basis for assurance. In other words, baptism is like hell insurance. Sometimes I’ve done funerals for somebody who maybe got baptized as a child, but for their whole life, never darkened the door of the church, nor shown any fruit they were under the reign of grace. Someone will say, “Oh, don’t worry, so -n- so was baptized.” I could see God saying to disobedient Christians about baptism the same thing Paul said to Jews about their circumcision back in Romans 2:27, “the one who is not circumcised physically yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.”
Some have been taught that baptism is trivial, insignificant, inconsequential. They say, “It doesn’t matter whether you do or don’t, what matters is your heart.” The Bible actually teaches that faith without works is dead. In Luke 7:30, when the Pharisees refused to be baptized, Luke tells us it was because “they had rejected God’s purpose for their life.” They were convinced they were children of God in their hearts, but their disobedience declared otherwise. In Acts 26:20, Paul tells King Agrippa about his preaching, “I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.” Again, its false to say God is only concerned about the heart. He wants our lives to evidence the “reign” of grace. Baptism is one of many tangible evidences in our lives that God’s grace reigns over us.
Let me state some general facts about baptism, before returning to Romans 6. First, baptism is always a heart matter. It’s true, people have intellectual reservations about baptism. Maybe you haven’t been taught from the word. Maybe your whole life you’ve only been taught from various church creeds and catechisms. If you gave me an hour, I could clear up all your intellectual reservations about baptism simply by having you read every passage about baptism in the Bible. But you know what people often say? “I know I should be baptized but. . .” It’s the heart!
Second, baptism is always a personal matter. Throughout Romans, Paul says, “offer yourselves.” Nobody can offer your life to God on your behalf! Personal faith is always in view. You can offer yourself to sin, or to grace. You can offer yourself to ever-increasing wickedness and death. Or, you can offer yourself to righteousness and eternal life. What reigns in your life is your choice.
Third, baptism is always a public matter. When you are a baptized you are declaring your new identity in Christ. Someone reminded this week that baptism is a lot like marriage. In marriage, you give all your heart to another person. In marriage, you are pledging your faithfulness. You speak your vows before witnesses, you exchange rings, you celebrate, its announced in the papers. It’s a big deal! And it becomes a matter of public record at the court house!
You know some people have a big church wedding, but some just go before the justice of the peace. Some people get baptized on Sunday mornings, some just go before the minister midweek and say, “let’s do this.” You have both examples in scripture. The Ethiopian Eunuch didn’t get baptized in front of the crowd, he took care of business with Philip out on the road! What matters is that you do it!
We’re told that people are waiting longer than ever before to get married. Well, its true in the church too. People are waiting longer than ever to get baptized. People profess to love Jesus, but refuse to get married. People profess to be in Christ, but only want to date the Bride of Christ. When you refuse to get married, are you not rejecting God’s purpose of marriage? Romans 12:1 says, “in view of God’s mercy, offer yourselves as living sacrifices.” Where do we offer ourselves in marriage? At the altar! Where do we offers ourselves to Christ? On the altar? Yea, but what altar? Well for starters, how about the altar of baptism!?!
What does Paul say in Romans 6:2-4, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” What do you do at the altar? You die to self. You lay down your life. You’re put your old self to death. You’re body of sin is done away with. You bury you’re old self. And what does God do at the altar? He takes your offering, your life, and he raises you up in Christ Jesus! Baptism is your altar!!
“Oh, okay, well, sorry. I’m not into altars. I’m looking for an altar-free marriage to Christ, an altar-free church, an altar-free Christianity. I love the idea of grace, and righteousness, and eternal life… I just don’t want grace to reign. I was kind of hoping to keep letting sin reign, while reaping the fruits of righteousness. Do you have anything like that?” How Ridiculous!
Let me share three specific truths about baptism out of Romans 6.
FIRST, BAPTISM IS MY DECLARATION OF HOPE (Romans 6:1-10).
In the Bible, baptism was always done by full immersion. In repentance, a person dies to self. In baptism, we offer our life upon that altar, and like Abraham, being fully persuaded, not weakening in faith and not wavering through unbelief, we put our hope our hope in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. Baptism is not just a picture of death, burial, and resurrection, it’s a declaration of our hope for God to do for us what he did for Jesus! I love Paul’s explanation in Col 2:12 that baptism is “faith in the working of God.”
Romans 6:4, “we were buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead. . . we too may live a new life!”
SECOND, BAPTISM IS MY DECLARATION OF ALLEGIANCE (Romans 6:11-17).
I already mentioned how Romans 5 ends, inviting us to embrace the “reign of grace.” But what happens in baptism? Romans 6:11-14 says, “… count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires… do not offer any part of yourselves to sin… offer every part of your body as an instrument righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master!”
Romans 6:17 says, “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.” BTW, 1 Peter 3:21 describes baptism as a “pledge of a clear conscience before God… that saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Do you see how internally consistent the Bible’s teaching on baptism is? Baptism is your pledge to make, and nobody can do that for you, and it’s a pledge we invite you to make.
THIRD, BAPTISM IS MY DECLARATION OF FREEDOM. (Romans 6:19-23).
Romans 6:7, “anyone who has died has been set free from sin.” Romans 6:18, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Romans 6:19-23, “Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Our declaration of hope in baptism is this: “Jesus is my Savior.”
Our declaration of allegiance in baptism is this: “Jesus is my Lord”
Our declaration of freedom in baptism is this: “Jesus is my Victor.” Sin no longer reigns, grace reigns. Death no longer reigns, I’ve found life in Christ. The flesh no longer controls, the Spirit of the Living God has set me free!
The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of all who’d believe… of all who might lay down their life on the altar, and let grace truly reign…