The Epistle to the Romans
Lesson 12
God’s Method for Victorious Living

Reading Assignment: Romans 6

Introduction
You now should possess a firm grasp of the meaning of JUSTIFICATION. From Romans 3:21-5:11 Paul’s theme was justification through imputed righteousness unto all and upon all them that believe.
This emphasis was followed by a transitional passage (Romans 5:12-21), which we have just studied, in which Paul presents Christ as the federal head of a new creation, the source of our sanctification, and gives us several remarkable contrasts between Adam and Christ.
Now an entirely new theme is introduced. From Romans 6:1-8:17, Paul’s emphasis changes to “Righteousness Imparted for Sanctification.” In Romans 3:21-5:11, we learned how to become a Christian. Now we are about to learn how to live the Christian life.
In Romans 3-5, Paul has been dealing with Christ’s death in relation to the acts of sin. In Romans 6, he deals with our sinful natures.
In Romans 3-5, Paul had in mind our deliverance from the guilt of sin by justification. In Romans 6, his emphasis is on our deliverance from the power of sin through sanctification.

Importance of this Lesson

• It is of major importance that we learn the difference between justification and sanctification.
• God never meant for us to be content to be justified – saved from the guilt and condemnation of sin by grace through faith.
• God’s purpose and desire for those of us who believe is that we live holy, separated, sanctified lives.
• Romans 6 reveals the method God uses to separate us from our old nature and provide us with a new one. This lesson will teach us how to live a sanctified life.

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The Lesson

I. A COMPARISON OF ROMANS 6, 7, AND 8

1. Romans 6 presents the means or method God provides to live a Spirit-filled life.
2. Romans 7 unveils the hindrances to living a holy, sanctified and Spirit-filled life.
3. Romans 8 reveals the process by which we are enabled to live a Spirit-filled life.

II. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION
(Learn these contrasts for your exam.)

1. Justification – What God did FOR us.
   Sanctification – God working IN us.
2. Justification – Delivers us from the GUILT and PENALTY of sin.
   Sanctification – Delivers us from the POWER of sin.
3. Justification – Declares us to be righteous.
   Sanctification – Makes us righteous.
4. Justification – Relates to and deals with the acts of sin we commit.
   Sanctification – Relates to and deals with our sinful natures.

III. THE MAJOR LESSONS IN ROMANS 6 REVOLVE AROUND TWO QUESTIONS FOUND IN VERSES 1 AND 15:

• “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1).
• “…shall we sin, because we are not under the law?” (Romans 6:15).

Remember, in Romans 6 Paul is NOT considering the characteristics of the Christian life. He does that in Romans 12-14. Here he is describing the method or means, which enable us to live it!

1. The KEY to understanding Romans 6 is in learning the use of the noun SIN.
   1. Romans 6:1 refers back to the use of sin in Romans 5:21 – “sin hath reigned.”
   2. This can only refer to our sinful natures. And so it is consistently used in this chapter.
   3. So, whenever you encounter the word SIN in this chapter always read it “sin nature.”
2. The question in Romans 6:1 should therefore read, “Shall we continue to let our old sin nature control and dominate us so that God’s grace can be magnified?”
   1. Who asked such a question? Those, even in Paul’s day that would take advantage of the grace of God. The more the sin, the greater the grace! Thus, by sinning they would magnify God’s grace, making it to abound (Romans 6:1).
   2. Here we should refer back to Romans 3:8 where Paul was accused by some of teaching this heresy …Let us do evil, that good may come….
   3. How does Paul reply? In both instances, Romans 3:6 and 6:2, he says, God forbid, or “away with such an idea.” Paul never taught that grace provided a license to sin.
      • In Romans 6:2-6, Paul continues to reply to this question by revealing our total identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, symbolized by our baptism. In Christ we died and rose again and now have a whole new life to live.
3. The question in Romans 6:15 should read, “Since we are no longer under law but under grace, shall we allow our old sinful nature to show its ugly head occasionally by acts of sin?”
   1. Paul’s answer, again, is “God forbid.”
   2. You become the servant of the thing to which you yield, “…whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness” (Romans 6:16).

IV. THREE THINGS ABOUT SANCTIFICATION THAT MUST ALWAYS BE KEPT IN MIND.
(Understand these three for your exam.)

1. It is POSTITIONAL – as being “in Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:2,30).
2. It is EXPERIENTIAL – as being by the power of the Spirit (1 Peter 1:2) and through the power of the Word (John 17:17).
3. It is FUTURISTIC – as when we are presented to Christ “…a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle…” (Ephesians 5:26-27) and when “…we shall be like him…” at His coming (1 John 3:2).

• The basic idea of sanctification is to be “set apart” for God.
• NEVER in scripture is sanctification presented as meaning eradication of our old nature. This lesson and numerous other scriptures relate how we can live victoriously over our old natures.

V. SANCTIFICATION OF LIFE IN ROMANS 6 IS MADE POSSIBLE IN THREE WAYS:

1. By our total union with Christ (Romans 6:1-10).
2. By our two-fold reckoning (Romans 6:11-13).
3. By our exchange of masters (Romans 6:13-23).

• In Romans 6 we have Christ, the ground or basis of our sanctification.

VI. THREE KEY WORDS IN ROMANS 6, WHICH REVEAL OUR RESPONSIBILITY IN RELATION TO GOD’S SANCTIFYING WORK. (Know these key words and where they are found for your exam.)

1. KNOW, in Romans 6:3,6,9, relating to our total union with Christ.
2. RECKON, in Romans 6:11, relating to our two-fold reckoning, alive to God and dead to sin.
3. YIELD and/or OBEY, in Romans 6:13,16,17,19, relating to which “master” we wish to obey.

VII. FIRST, OUR TOTAL UNION WITH CHRIST (Romans 6:1-10)
The key word in this passage is KNOW, Romans 6:3,6,9. Our sanctification is effected by our knowledge of certain facts. What are these facts?

1. We …were baptized into His death (Romans 6:3). Every believer is baptized (submerged, immersed) into Christ by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). Our baptism in water symbolizes our death, burial and resurrection with Christ (Romans 6:3-4).
2. Our old nature is crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6). Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). We are so perfectly and totally identified with Christ that when He died, we died. We are to “know this” and claim it as a fact.
3. Christ being raised from the dead is never to die again (Romans 6:9-10). Christ died unto sin once, that is “…once for all…” (Hebrews 9:26, 10:10-12). We are to know that since He rose from the dead, never to die again, we were raised up with Him and shall never die (John 10:28, 11:26).

VIII. SECONDLY, SANCTIFICATION IS MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR TWO-FOLD RECKONING (Romans 6:11-13)

1. The second KEY word revealing our responsibility in relation to God’s sanctifying work is RECKON.
2. What does “reckon” mean? We are not merely to suppose! We are to count on or rely on. We are to consider it as having been accomplished.
   1. In other words, put into practice what you know, as revealed in Romans 6:3,6,9. Be a living dead man.
   2. Note Romans 12:1 where we are exhorted to be a “living sacrifice.” It is a two-fold reckoning.
      1. We are to consider our old nature as having died with Christ. Treat it as you would anything that is dead.
      2. We are to consider ourselves to be “alive unto God” – to all that God is and has for us to appropriate and enjoy.

IX. THIRDLY, OUR SANCTIFICATION IS MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR EXCHANGE OF MASTERS (Romans 6:13-23)

• The KEY words here are YIELD (Romans 6:13,16,19) and OBEY (Romans 6:16,17).

1. YIELD – Romans 6:13. Yield yourselves first – then your members! If God has you, He will have your members (hands, feet, tongue, eyes, and ears). We are to use them as instruments (actually, weapons) of righteousness.
   1. …yield yourselves unto God… (Romans 6:13). We once yielded to and obeyed sin. It reigned in our mortal body (Romans 6:12). But now we have a new master – God Himself. We now yield ourselves to Him.
   2. …to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are… (Romans 6:16). This is Paul’s answer to the question in Romans 6:15, shall we (commit acts of) sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? In John 8:34, Jesus said, “Whosoever committeth (practices) sin is the servant of sin.” Paul is saying you are the servant of that to which you yield yourself, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness (Romans 6:16).
   3. …yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness (Romans 6:19). In our former life as sinners, we yielded our members as servants to uncleanness and “to iniquity unto iniquity.” We went from one sin to another.
2. OBEY – Romans 6:16,17
   1. Romans 6:16 – We used to obey sin. Now we OBEY righteousness and seek to do what is right in the sight of a Holy God.
   2. Romans 6:17 – While once we were the servants of sin, we have, as believers, “OBEYED from the heart” the doctrine (the truth concerning Christ) delivered to us through which, by faith, we became the servants of righteousness.

X. Brief Commentary on Romans 6:20-23

1. Romans 6:20 – for when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from (that is separated from) righteousness (of God).
2. Romans 6:21 – We are now ashamed of the life we once lived and now realize that the fruit of that former Christless, aimless, purposeless, empty sinful life was death itself.
3. Romans 6:22 – But now, having been liberated delivered and set free from the power of sin by the sacrifice of Christ and the power of the Spirit, we, as servants of God, bear a different kind of fruit. It is fruit that brings glory to God and magnifies His holiness, the end of which is everlasting life.
4. Romans 6:23 – Live for sin, obey sin, be the servant of sin and you will be paid – with death! There will be a “pay day some day” for all that deny Christ and yield themselves to sin.
5. “The gift of God” is in contrast to wages. God never pays wages! All we are and have is by His grace. Our eternal life in and through Christ is the free gift of God’s amazing grace.

Examination

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