Sermon on Romans 6:1-11, for the Baptism of our Lord 2020 (B), "Identified with Christ!"

 

In the Name of the Father who is “well pleased” with His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who rested upon Jesus in His baptism. Amen.

Questions of identity are inevitable in life. Knowing our identity steers and guides our life for better or worse. Without a clear identity we stumble and stagger without direction and get lost. If our identity is intertwined with our sin, then it will steer us down the wrong path. We can surrender our God-given identity to a self-created identity which we choose to define by our sins. On the other hand, with a clear identity of who we are in Christ Jesus, we walk with direction and purpose, with joy and peace. It’s not enough to simply define identity on paper or in words…but we need to live out our identity in Christ Jesus. If we know who we are in Christ Jesus, He will keep us on the narrow path that leads to eternal life.

Today, our readings point us to questions of identity—who are we? How can we live in that identity? Knowing who we are in Christ Jesus shapes our direction and action in life

• Outside of Christ, we are children of wrath (Eph. 2:1-3), sinners, fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23)
• Outside of Christ, we are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9:36) 
• Outside of Christ we are lost sheep, each turning their own way (Isaiah 53:6)
• If you are still outside of Christ, God invites you to come to Him!
• Baptized into Christ our old sinful self is crucified, dead, and buried by baptism into Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and burial. (Rom. 6)
• Baptized into Christ we are certainly united in a resurrection like His (Rom. 6:5)
• Baptized into Christ we are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:11)
• Baptized into Jesus, we take our place in and under His identity—His identity envelopes ours; not erasing it, but taking us into Him and making us whole, healthy, and well. God declares His pleasure with sons and daughters adopted into His family in Christ. 
• This is the foundation of our identity in Christ Jesus, THEREFORE….

In Romans 6, St. Paul explores what our identity in Christ Jesus means for our life. Should we continue sinning, so God’s grace will increase? “No way!” Paul knew this question would arise, since he teaches so beautifully about grace in Romans 5. He said that the law increased sin, but where sin increased, grace abounded! Sounds awfully good to the person (in the flesh) who thinks: God likes forgiving, I like sinning—we’re set! But Paul strongly rejects this conclusion. That would despise Christ’s sacrifice for us and His forgiveness. I compare it to the person who gets out of jail free, and you ask, “what do you want to do now?” And the answer is, “Break the law!” That’s the fastest way back to jail and slavery, not how to live in freedom.

What if we ask (and we should!): “Will my life look different as a called disciple of Christ?” Emphatically “Yes!” Searching out our new identity, Paul concludes: “you also must consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11).

Embrace and live in this new reality, not in the old dead past of our sin. You are a New Creation! Break with your old sinful past! Sin belongs to our past life, but we’re still fighting with it till the grave (Rom. 7). When he writes “You must consider yourselves”, he’s saying we have to count ourselves this way. Believe we’re dead to that old life, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Determined to take God’s side against our old flesh. He’s calling us to see ourselves the way that God sees us, not as we see ourselves in the mirror.

What does it mean to be alive to God in Christ Jesus? Transformed by the renewal of our mind (Rom. 12:2), not conformed to the world. Our identity in Christ, influences and reorients our thoughts, words, and actions. In the flesh, the world approves of selfish living, in rebellion and sin. But the Spirit calls us to sacrificial love, obedience, and holiness. One way of living is trapped and enslaved. The other way is freedom and joy and life, in the midst of struggle. The victory is promised because of Christ, not by our strength.

We came to the waters of baptism with all our sin. All the dirt, infection, and brokenness of sin that we laid on Jesus, who entered His baptismal waters pure and sinless…He made them holy and cleansing for us. All that is washed from us is taken up by Jesus. All our heavy baggage of sin. We come out of the waters of baptism with God’s pledge of a clean conscience—God forgives all our sins because of Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. Jesus was baptized, in His own words, “to fulfill all righteousness.” We are made clean in Him. God sees us in Jesus, and He says you are His beloved son or daughter, with whom He is well-pleased.

It’s not easy to count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. Easy to say the words, but not so easy to have faith and see ourselves the way God sees us. Then translate that faith into action; “SINCE I am dead to sin, I walk in this new way.”

Why would we think any different? Why sell our new identity short? What we see and hear might persuade us that sin is alive and winning. Our internal, individual struggle with sin might lead us to question: “Am I saved?” But faith trusts Jesus' victory over our sin at the cross. Faith trusts in the unseen, objective reality that Jesus died and rose, and we are buried and raised with Him by baptism into Christ.

Feelings cloud our view. The devil wants to hide Christ from our eyes and only focus on ourselves, our sin, our weakness, and our failures. He wants us to FEEL afraid, FEEL defeated, FEEL uncertain, and to trust our Feelings, not God’s Word. Faith says, “BUT I trust Christ’s words and promises over my feelings! I won’t listen to your lies and manipulations, devil! I know the world and my sinful flesh want to wedge me apart from my Lord Jesus!” But faith sees past the appearances. When we face crosses, obstacles, suffering, tragedy, uncertainty or frustration, our faith steadily looks beyond the darkness and uncertainty to the guiding light of Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ is the Light of the World! The light no darkness can overcome! See yourselves in His light, as God sees you!

Live by faith, knowing you are dead to sin and alive in Christ. Every day we surrender our fleshly desires to death by repentance. Pray: “Lord, forgive all my wrongs this day, and put to death all sin in me, and raise me up to walk as Your child!” You are a “work in progress”, promised to be completed on the Lord’s time schedule, when we die and go to Him, or He comes first to us. Whatever we face in life, our circumstances don’t control or defeat us or define us, because Christ wins in the end, and our identity is found in Him.

We all have a personal struggle with our sins. Yours is not the same as mine. But whatever sin looks like in your life, we CANNOT have the attitude of “shall I sin more so that grace will increase?” Or some people think: “This is a great relationship—God likes to forgive and I like to sin!” WRONG ANSWER! That’s what Paul’s fighting against! “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery…for you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Gal. 5:1, 13). In other words, don’t use your freedom to choose a path back into slavery and bondage! That’s not what your freedom is for. Peter says the same, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God” (1 Pet. 2:16). So in our personal struggle against sin, we can’t just take God’s grace and our freedom to hide sin and evil. God never blesses off on our sin. Forgiveness isn’t about increasing permission to sin. 

All sin exacts a grave and deadly penalty—death—and Jesus shouldered that penalty for us. Walking in faith, we mourn our sin as the cause of His affliction. Our sin that made Him suffer; therefore I cannot love my sins anymore. If we don’t yet know or understand that, we will still want to walk in our old sins. But with eyes opened by faith, we engage in the fight against our sin. Forgiveness is about a great relationship between God and us—a great relationship where Jesus has taken away all our guilt, given us His innocence and freedom to live a new and God pleasing life by the gifts of His Spirit. Forgiveness is a great relationship because God makes us a new creation, dead to sin, but alive to Him in Christ Jesus, alive for the purpose of doing good.

Eyes open by faith, a new creation in Christ, we do the works that Christ has prepared in advance for us to do. Sin and slavery can no longer be our identity, in weakness, hopelessness, and defeat. Rather we take hold of Christ Jesus. Identified with Him, we walk in His strength, confident of His victory on the cross and His empty tomb. The great thing is His victory is already in evidence! We’re not still waiting for it, as the OT believers. It has already happened. 

The devil tries to sow doubts or hide Christ’s victory from us. He throws our sin and failures in our faces and says “See how weak you are!” But Christ holds up His finished work for you, and says, “See how strong I am!” The devil tries to throw your guilt in your face and say, “How could God love you?” Christ shows us His death and empty tomb, and says, “See how I have loved you!” The devil tries to throw your shame in your face and say, “look at who you are and what you’ve done!” Christ shows us His holy and innocent life, and says, “See who I am, and what I have done for you! You are my new creation. You are my forgiven and redeemed child! I have covenanted to forgive your sins and remember them no more!” Our new identity is in Christ Jesus. Outside of Christ Jesus, we are nothing, we are lost in our trespasses and sins. But in Christ Jesus we have all the grace and blessings of God. A renewed, holy relationship with God. Dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 

In your personal struggle against sin, daily take your sins to Christ. You might pray like this: “Lord, I confess that my greed, my pride, my selfishness, my lust, my doubt, my worry, my deceit, my fill in the blank, is sinful and unclean in Your sight. Crucify that sin in me. Bury my sin and raise up in me the new life and new identity that lives on Your promises and in You. Raise up in me generosity, humility, sacrificial love, sexual purity, a confident trust and hope, a spirit and voice of truth, and fill in the blank whatever fruits of the Spirit need nurture and growth in me.” Pray and struggle, because God has already begun this good work in you, baptized you into Christ’s death, and making you alive to God in Christ Jesus. He invites you, urges you into this new life, into this freedom that is already yours in Christ. Free to love and serve others, free to do good and walk in the footsteps of Christ. This is your mission and purpose.

When Jesus entered the waters of baptism for us, He came up to these affirming words of His Father: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” God was satisfied with the obedience of Jesus. So also, buried and raised with Jesus by baptism into His death and resurrection, the Father affirms you as His beloved son or daughter in Christ Jesus. God is pleased with You because You are in Christ. We can’t find God’s affirmation outside of Christ Jesus, but only in Christ Jesus. It’s a remarkable gift. 

There is nothing to love about sin. To the old sinful flesh, sin is appealing and desirable, just like Eve saw the fruit of the forbidden tree as pleasing. But to the new spiritual person, the mask comes off the hidden deadliness of sin. We see it as gangrene or spiritual rot. It so easily entangles us, like walking into a spider web that we didn’t see. When sin gets its hold, it infects us and spreads. But it’s always pulling a glossy mask over what’s beneath. Easy to fall for. But nothing to love about sin when our eyes are opened. 

On the contrary, there is everything to love about what is good, right, and holy. “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it” (1 Peter 3:10). Alive to God in Christ Jesus, we long for the good. We love the good. We desire to love life and see good days. It reorients how we look at everything, to seek out what is good, noble, and lovely. This is why we embrace that new identity in Christ Jesus and consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. See ourselves as God sees us, and live His new identity day by day. They’re words to live by, in Jesus’ Name and strength! Amen