United with Christ

Please read Romans 6:1-11.  In Romans 5:20 we read, “Where sin is abound, grace is more abound,” that does not mean it’s ok to sin.  Being a Christian makes a difference in how we live.   With every major life event we are altered.  We are changed through relationships, accidents, careers, illness, healing, death of a loved one, finances, and traumas and of course, forging a relationship with Jesus. 

Have you ever considered that grace is God’s currency.  Grace is free and abundant. It’s getting what we don’t deserve.  Paul’s question may cause us to think…shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? This sounds like sarcastic logic.  Paul’s words are not a license to sin.  This does not mean that living a life of sin is acceptable. What Paul is driving at is, that the Spirit will empower us to live as a new creation through Christ, a life faithful to God, with our effort and God’s help.  

Take a moment to reflect on this past week.  Where did you miss the mark? Maybe you found yourself rebelling, lying, gossiping, or turning your head from something wrong.  Sinning is something we don’t need to learn, it’s in our DNA.  Throwing someone under the proverbial bus is in our toolbox of responses. Sin separated us from God and so our Father sent a Savior.    However, receiving Jesus as our Savior, changes our relationship with sin. United to Christ and having faith in his redemptive work, we too can be delivered from sin and from death.  To live in sin is a contradiction of who we are in Christ.  Paul is explaining that in baptism, we packed up…leaving sin behind to live in grace.

In Christ’s resurrection we are forgiven.  Not only are we accepted as righteous, but, and this is important, we are transformed.  No longer allowing sin to dictate how we live.  Our transformation is evident in the marks of a Christian: including prayer, being connected to other believers, serving others, loving all (including those we find hard to love), demonstrating faith, and sharing the gospel.  

Paul is explaining that one cannot receive Christ, be covered in Christ, and immersed in Christ’s death and resurrection and not be a new creation. Friends, this is not about our good works, as we discussed last week we are justified by faith alone.  Paul is explaining that baptism is God’s gift of grace and also God’s summoning us to respond to that grace.  Baptism calls us to repentance, to faithfulness, and to discipleship.  Baptism in Christ connects us to Christ, we are united with Him, buried and raised with Him.  

Again, we are all sinners, it is in our nature, and it is impossible to live without sinning.  So, how are we dead to sin?  God treated Jesus as if He were a sinner, though He was not, and had Him die for the sins of all.  And this is grace; God’s kindness toward us.  It is difficult for us to understand because we are not wired to extend grace or receive it because apart from God, we don’t fully experience it.  Offering grace requires the strength of God; when left to our own thoughts, extending grace is not our go-to response. That is why it is important to study God’s word.  (See 2 Timothy 1:9.) 

What does this mean for us today?  In Christ we are new and in that transformation, we may experience discomfort as we reposition ourselves with better habits, different friends, or a kinder vocabulary.  We need to actively align ourselves participating in living as a new creation.  

A mess or crumpled, crisp or finely creased we are priceless to God. Because of Jesus sacrifice for us, we are no longer alive to sin and dead to God - in Christ we are alive to God and are dead to sin and in gratitude strive to live in ways that reflect Christ. In Jesus we are redeemed, reconciled, and no longer separated from God.  We have a restored identity; no longer a slave to sin but living in God’s freedom.  

Finally, let’s imagine you were offered $ 20. That scene can play out several ways.  First, no one takes it, and the point of a free gift of grace falls flat.  Second, the person who accepted the $20 insists on giving it back, missing the point.  Simply participated for the sake of the example but then saying, “I cannot take what I did not earn in good conscience.”  Wow, if one struggles with accepting $20, think about the struggle swirling in the mind about salvation.  The final scenario is hoped for.  The $ 20 is in someone’s pocket.  He/she received the free gift and grasped a greater understanding of living under God’s grace and knowing His reckless love for us.  And all God’s people say, amen.

Blessings,

Pastor Kerry

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