Sermon/Study Guide: Romans - Christianity 101 Author: Steve Hixon Table of Contents	PDF version (176K)	Home

	Lesson 6
In chapters 1-3 Paul describes sin; chapters 4-5 explain justification. Now in chapters 6-8 the subject is the identity of the Christian. Who am I - now that I have received Jesus Christ? What’s changed? On what basis will my life be different? How will God look at my "performance"?

WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Romans 6:1-14 1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin -- 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Re-write verse 1 in your own words: What is this question that Paul anticipates people asking? (And how does he answer it?) Verses 3-4. Most 1st-century Christians were baptized very soon after their conversion, so they thought of those two events as synonymous. When you asked them when they became Christians, they would say, "Well, I was baptized on such-and-such a day." How would you answer that question? Verse 6 is one of the key verses in Romans. (Look up the following key verses and be able to say why they’re "key": 1:17, 3:23, 3:28, 5:12, 6:23, 8:1, 8:39, 12:1) “Crucified” is not a present experience but a past event; those who are united by faith to Christ are reckoned as having been crucified with Him when he was crucified.” F. F. Bruce How does Galatians 2:20 relate to verse 6? Paraphrase verse 11. Exactly what is Paul telling us to do? How do Romans 12:1 and 1 Cor. 6:19-20 relate to verse 13? Verse 14: Why does Paul say we are under grace instead of law? What common misunderstanding about the concept of living under grace does Galatians 5:13 address?

		"A Christian is not simply a person who gets forgiveness, who gets to go to heaven, who gets the Holy Spirit, who gets a new nature. Mark this - a Christian is a person who has become someone he was not before. Becoming a Christian is not just getting something, no matter how wonderful that something may be. It is becoming someone." David Needham, Birthright "If you fail to see yourself as a child of God, you will struggle vainly to live like one, and Satan will have little trouble convincing you that you are no different from who you were before Christ. But appropriating by faith the radical transformation of your core identity from sinner to saint will have a powerful, positive effect on your daily resistance to sin and Satan. The New Testament refers to the person you were before you received Christ as your "old self", which was motivated to live independent of God and was therefore characterized by sin, died, and your new self, motivated by your new identity in Christ and characterized by dependence on God, came to life. Being a new person doesn’t mean that you are sinless, but since your old self has been crucified and buried with Christ, you no longer need to sin. You sin when you choose to act independently of God." Neil Anderson, The Bondage Breaker

		LIFE RESPONSE: What Does it Mean to Me?

There are two major ideas in this passage: the concept of our identity in Christ, and the concept of being under grace instead of law.

1. Read and respond to these two quotes, by David Needham and Neil Anderson. How have you tended to view yourself as a Christian?

What would you have to do in order to have a more Biblical self-image?

What difference do you think this change in thinking could make in your attitudes and actions?

2. Read and respond to the chart below (taken from Freedom from Guilt, by Bruce Narramore & Bill Counts).

How have you tended to view your Christian life?
Have you been living it under law or grace?

How could you change to a more grace-oriented way of living?

What difference do you think this change in thinking could make in your attitudes and actions?

	LAW	GRACE
Eternal acceptance	Earned by works	A gift based on Christ's work
Daily Blessings	Repeatedly earned by our works	Given as gifts based on Christ's work, and as a natural consequence of following Biblical teachings
What God does when we fail	No forgiveness; immediate or eventual punishment. (Bad circumstances are often interpreted as "paybacks" from God.)	Forgives us because of Christ; relationship is unchanged. (He may allow negative consequences as a form of discipline)
Motivation	Heavily based on fear	Based on love & gratitude
Source of power	Our own efforts	The Holy Spirit strengthening us
Result	Condemnation & death	Salvation & life

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