Romans Chapter 6

Romans 6:1-2 ~ It is Impossible for A Believer to Sin

There is a difference between The Sin, who is a spiritual being, and committing acts of sin. It is impossible for me to live under The Sin Principle, or source of sin, continuously in my life. If that happens then I am not saved. Because that is what it means to be saved. I am saved from the sin principle, the source of sin that has energized my life and led me down the path of sin. I have been saved from him / it. And then the Spirit of Christ came into my spirit and I am born of the Spirit of God.

Romans 6:3 ~ The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

When Christ comes into a person's life He brings His death, burial, and resurrection. Paul even expressed that he experiences the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection by Christ coming into his life. By Christ dying on the cross He died my death. Therefore Paul says, "I have died." Christ did not substitute Himself for me so that I would not have to die. He substituted Himself for me and therefore I am dead. Dead to sin; separated from sin, the sin principle, Satan himself; and I belong to Christ. But belonging to Christ comes with hardship. Many emphasize the healing ministry of the Lord, the miracle producing ministry of the Lord, and that is all part of Him but they do not emphasize the identification with His sufferings. They do not emphasize the fact that we were crucified with Him when He died on the cross.

Those are the things that we do not like to hear. But those are the things that are brought into our life. And in verse 3 Paul is saying, "Here is the foundation for the statements that I am making to you, you have died to the sin principle. And it is impossible for you to live any longer under the sin principle if indeed you have been born of the Spirit of God." It is impossible. And he will spend the rest of the chapter telling us exactly how this sanctification process broke Satan's control over us; how it broke sin's control over us; and the power we have in Christ to be set apart.

Romans 6:4-6 ~ The Believer Has Been Crucified

This fellowship that we have takes place in the psuchē, the arena. Paul calls it, "the mind." But I am not talking about mental concepts. I am talking about the live feed of energy impulses of Christ’s Spirit, and of course Satan through the flesh and the world. These thought impulses that I experience. And I serve Christ out of my decision-making. It is not a religious decision; it is not just a matter of correct beliefs about Him. My service to Christ is presenting myself as a living sacrifice. What is God's will for my life? As emotionally and psychologically and circumstantially I am being torn in different directions and I am throwing up prayers, "God, what do you want me to do?" There is only one thing that He wants us to do. Make a decision to present your body as a sacrifice. A living sacrifice presented to Him several times a day. When it comes time to make those decisions I am no longer my own. I have died to that fleshly impulse. I am to make the decision to surrender my life to God’s Spirit. That is all that I can "do."

Romans 6:7 ~ Every Believer is Free from Sin

If you are saved and because you are saved you cannot go back. You died. Sin produces death and I have died to the sin principle. So even if I were able to go back and participate in my life of sin again, what would I experience? It would not be life. I would experience death because sin produces death. And Paul is making a distinction. We have died to sin. We are free from sin; we are not free to sin.

Romans 6:8-11 ~ Faith in Believing the Facts of What Christ has Done in Spite of Feelings

My feelings dictate to me in the struggle with my flesh that what God's word says about my salvation is not true.  That is why we live by faith.  I am to receive and believe by faith what Jesus did for me on the cross.  I am separated from and have died to the sin principle.  Not that sin in my flesh ceases to exist, but that I have been saved from the power of sin dominating my life.  It is still there in the flesh, but I am not plugged into it.  I am plugged into a different source now, the Holy Spirit, and no longer into Satan energizing my flesh.  But I am stuck in this body and constantly battling with the flesh.

See, I do not feel like I have been delivered from the control and power of sin.  Yet as I look back over my life, there is a difference.  I commit acts of sin but there is a spiritual control over my life that is different than before.  And I know it is not me because I have tried to go a different direction.  The Bible teaches that He keeps me in Christ Jesus. 

Romans 6:15-18 ~ Everyone is a Slave to Something

My trials are designed for my specific relationship and function in Christ and my function in the body of Christ.  And some people wonder for years, "How much difficulty must I go through, and what is this really all about?"  It is to minister to the people who will go through the same things.  And once I have experienced Christ through those difficult times, I can honestly sincerely come up to someone who is going through the same thing and say, "I know what you are going through.  Let me tell you how faithful Christ is.  Let me share with you what He has done in my life and for my life."  I am not talking about reading out of a brochure or some kind of sales presentation.  I am talking about real life experience with Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:15-23 ~ The Wages of Sin and the Gift of God

My life is either producing death and destruction, or my life is producing the expression of eternal life.  The word "eternal" does not just talk about duration, it talks about quality of life.  Yes, it is forever.  But eternal life is quality of life.  It is not something that He gives to us, it is something that He is.  Therefore, if I have Christ, I have eternal life.  Why then do I as a believer want to bring into my life such a shallow destructive force, in looking to and being involved with the world, and the material things, and make that be my life and my satisfaction?  Death.  Corruption.  Decay.  That is all it is.  When I have the quality of God's nature living inside of me, I have all that I need.