Main Idea: It is not: I am going to try harder. It is: I have been crucified with Christ.

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1 Message Series: Studies in the Book of Romans ( ) NEWNESS OF LIFE (Romans 6:4-6) Main Idea: It is not: I am going to try harder. It is: I have been crucified with Christ. "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. (Gal. 2:20) I. INTRODUCTION A. Self-improvement. There is a desire to improve our condition. People want to be the best version of themselves. They want to be efficient, have control of their emotions, achieve their dreams, or at least begin to pursue them. Q: Why is it so popular? Probably because most people admit that there s room for improvement. B. Christian Self-improvement? At this point, some Christians go back into the same old: try to live better, don t do bad things, and try to hurt people less. We put ourselves on this never ending cycle of try harder, fail, try harder, fail, put ourselves in the penalty box, okay, maybe give it one more try, fail, rinse, repeat. We just do it in the name of God now. But we find ourselves stuck in the same loop and bondage to sin. 1. E.g. I might have that fish on the back of my car, but I still break the speed-limit. We can t get out of this unending loop. I might have that smile on my face, but I still have envy, jealousy, bitterness, hatred in my heart. C. Q: How do we truly change? What does the Bible (particularly the book of Romans) say about how we can experience true inner transformation? II. OPEN TO THE FATHER S LOVE A. Understand the Gospel: We were enemies of God, but we ve been given the righteousness of God as a free gift through faith in what Christ had done. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Rom. 5:10) 1. Whether we realize it or not, we were enemies of God. We were far from God. a. God is completely righteous. He cannot punish the innocent and He cannot pardon the criminal. If He did, He would not be just. (1) If a judge on court did not convict people who committed murder, rape, tortured others, abused children, then the judge would be unjust, crooked.

2 (2) God is completely just, there is not even a little bit of evil in Him. The problem is He loved us. But He has to give the just punishment for sin, which is death. God will remove all that hinders love. He must, or else He would contradict His perfect justice. 2. Jesus reconciled us to God through His death on the cross. At the cross, God s perfect love and perfect justice meet. God s justice is satisfied because Jesus paid for the penalty of our sin. God s love is demonstrated as Jesus, the Son of God, sent from the Father, hung ion the cross, bled, and died to pay for the penalty of our sin. B. Our identity (how God views us and how we feel and think about ourselves): We re not sinners trying to live a holy life. We re lovers of God who occasionally sin. The difference between those two determine whether we will continue to pursue God decades from now, or we ll give up trying to live better. 1. Righteousness of God: acceptance of God, the affection of God, the access of God. Not by works of the Law, God likes me. Because of what Jesus did. Because who He is, not because of what I did. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, (Rom. 3:21) 2. You can t resist sin and pursue God without first understanding the truths of Romans 1-3 and the free gift of God s righteousness. 3. There is a place for resisting sin, pursuing God, taking up your cross daily and follow Jesus. You don t do it simply out of religious duty to gain favor, but because Jesus has given you His righteousness. By faith, I m not there yet, but I see the cry of my heart toward God. I belong to Him! I m being transformed into Jesus likeness! I m going to pursue Him. C. Adoption. Once we begin to understand our identity inward, true core-transformation begins to take place. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:15-16) 1. Abba is the cry that arises from our spirit, in the in-most part of our being whether we are in-tune with it or we ve become numbed to the true reality of our separation from our heavenly Father, our Creator, now restored into perfect fellowship D. When you re looking to change something, don t start with the behavior, start with the core: how you see yourself. If the foundation and core is not true, anything you build on it will not be secure. Don t try to improve upon God s righteousness. You can t add anything to it or to God s character

3 1. Don t try to improve yourself. Don t try to lift yourself up by pulling up on your shoelaces. Receive the free gift of righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. It cannot be improved upon. a. To attempt to change and live a little gooder is like putting a band-aid on a crack in the Hoover Dam. III. COME TO JESUS ON THE CROSS A. When Jesus died on the cross, He died in our place. When we put our faith, our trust in Him, we receive the forgiveness of our sins, the free gift of righteousness. That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom. 10:9) B. We have been united with Jesus. That means our old man was crucified with Him. 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. 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, 6 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. (Rom 6:4-6) C. Jesus died in your place. You need to count your old man crucified with Him. 1. In our old nature, we were slaves to sin. We were under its power and influence. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:11) 2. Old man: our old nature, that lived in bondage to sin. It influenced us and kept us bound. It was our nature, it defined who we were, and it was our identity. That nature has been crucified with Christ. Now we are to reckon ourselves dead to sin. D. That law doesn t have a hold on us, because the old man has been crucified with Christ, therefore is no longer under that law. E.g. when the spouse dies, it s not adultery to marry another person. Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? (Rom. 7:1) E. Christ rose from the dead, we will walk in the newness of life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23) F. Don t try to improve yourself. Count yourself (the old man) as crucified with Christ. 1. Self-Improvement vs. the crucifixion. Don t try to improve it, consider it dead! - 3 -

4 2. Q: What is the alternative? IV. WALK IN FELLOWSHIP WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT A. We are to not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:1-4) B. Resurrection Power. Empowerment (8:11) For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Rom. 8:6) But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Rom. 8:11) Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. (Rom. 8:23) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28) 1. You are no longer under the reign, the monarch of sin. You are no longer a slave to sin. You have a new boss now, the Lord Jesus. 2. No condemnation: reckon the old man as dead. You are no longer under the law of sin at operation in your flesh is no longer a. When sin, confess it. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (7:1; 1 john 1:9-10) b. You feel no presence, God can use you. Get that thing out of the way. We know what flesh produced, things we were ashamed of. Live by the Spirit. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6:21-23) - 4 -

5 C. Fellowship with Holy Spirit. 1. The fruit of His Spirit begins to become manifest in our lives. It s not your fruit. It s not the fruit of your mind or your flesh. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Rom. 8:6) 2. Thank You for Your patience in me. D. Intercession of HS and Christ. 1. Intercession (Holy Spirit in us 8:26) (Jesus at the right hand of the Father 8:34) V. CONCLUSION A. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not: Try a little harder on the surface. Behavior modification. B. The rules of engagement with the flesh. Simply one word: Don t! Count the old man as crucified with Christ. Don t try to cover it up, don t try to improve it, don t try to do anything with it. 1. Not just resisting. It s important to resist, but it only lasts for a short time and there is inevitable disappointment. True inward transformation doesn t come about that way. C. In light of God s love, the grace of Jesus Christ, consecration. Jesus is our boss now, our Lord. We follow Him now. (Rom. 6:16) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1) 1. Romans (Next Week). How to live in light of this What to believe. What to obey. These two are related. They can t be separated.. The faith we believe leads us to obey it. the obedience flows from faith (free gift of righteousness). D. The way in is the way on. By grace through faith in Jesus Christ is how you get in (justification) and the way you move on (sanctification) is in the exact same way. There are not 2 different ways. The source is the same: the righteousness of Jesus Christ given to you as a free gift. 1. The Gospel is not trying to become better, live with morals, or trying to hurt people around us less. It s recognizing that no human being is as God intended for them to be. We have been separated from God. We live in brokenness and we live among a people who are broken. E. Implications: 1. God delights in you even in your weakness. The process is more important than the journey

6 Trust in God (faith), Hope (of the work of God in you and through you). Love of God toward you and then through you to others. F. Prayer: 2. You don t have to beat yourself up for not measuring up. Press delete and walk toward God. Don t put yourself in the penalty box. The enemy will try to accuse us. That s his name. 1. Open to God s love in Jesus Christ. 2. Open to a new way of living in the Spirit