Dead to Sin, Alive to God - Romans 6:1-12

Romans 6:1-12 Teaching Outline

"Dead to Sin, Alive to God"

Opening

• What if the problem isn't that sin still has power over you, but that you still believe it does?
• Romans 6 moves from forgiveness to freedom.
• The gospel does not simply improve the old life, it brings us into new life.

Segment 1: Dead to Sin, Alive With Christ

Romans 6:1-7

• Romans 6:1 - The Question of Grace
  • "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?"
  • Grace is never permission to remain enslaved.
  • Paul refuses to weaken grace to encourage holiness.
• Romans 6:2 - You Died to Sin
  • Paul answers with identity, not merely rules.
  • Sin has not disappeared, but its rightful mastery has been broken.
  • The Christian life begins with what Christ has already accomplished.
• Romans 6:3-4 - Buried and Raised With Christ
  • Baptism pictures our union with Christ.
  • His death becomes our death.
  • His burial marks the end of the old order.
  • His resurrection brings "newness of life."
  • Christianity is resurrection, not rehabilitation.
• Romans 6:5 - United With Christ
  • Union with Christ is central to Christian identity.
  • His story becomes our story.
  • Identity precedes behavior.
  • We obey because we belong to Him.
• Romans 6:6-7 - The Old Self Was Crucified
  • The old self "was crucified," past tense.
  • Sin may remain present, but it no longer has rightful dominion.
  • Do not turn a struggle into your identity.
  • Jesus, not your past or your sin, defines you.
• Application
  • Stop negotiating with a master that no longer owns you.
  • Stop trying to rehabilitate what Christ took to the cross.
  • Walk in the new life Christ has already given you.

Segment 2: Live Like You're Alive

Romans 6:8-12

• Romans 6:8-9 - Death Lost Its Dominion
  • Christ will never die again.
  • Resurrection is Christ's victory over the dominion of death.
  • Our future is joined to the risen Christ.
• Romans 6:10 - Once for All
  • Christ's sacrifice is complete.
  • The cross was not a down payment.
  • Nothing needs to be added to the finished work of Jesus.
  • Repentance is biblical, perpetual self-punishment is not.
• Romans 6:11 - Consider Yourselves
  • "Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God."
  • "Consider" means reckon, calculate, count it as true.
  • Faith does not create reality, it agrees with what God has declared.
  • Stop interpreting the cross through your experience.
  • Interpret your experience through the cross.
• Dead to Sin, Alive to God
  • Christianity is not merely about what we stop doing.
  • Holiness is becoming increasingly alive to God.
  • Alive to His presence, purposes, kingdom, love and calling.
• Romans 6:12 - Do Not Let Sin Reign
  • Temptation is not the same as surrender.
  • The presence of sin is not the reign of sin.
  • Sin may knock, but it does not deserve the throne.
  • Jesus is Lord.
• Practical Application
  • Bring your thinking into agreement with the gospel.
  • Bring your habits into agreement with your new identity.
  • Bring your body under the lordship of Christ.
  • Fight temptation from freedom, not for freedom.
  • Begin each day with the truth: "I am alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Closing

• Christ died once.
• Christ lives forever.
• Death has lost its dominion.
• Sin's mastery has been broken.
• You have been united with Christ.
• Don't keep living in a kingdom you have been delivered from.
• Sin may speak, sin may tempt, and sin may knock, but sin does not get the throne. Jesus does.
• Live like you're alive.