Union with Christ (Romans 6:1-14)
Big Idea: Remember who you are now: someone who, with Jesus, has been brought from death to life, and live like it.
Let me ask you two true/false questions:
- When you became a Christian, your sins were forgiven. True or false?
- When you became a Christian, you were freed from the power of sin. True or false?
The first question comes easily. True. Romans 8:1 declares, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Our sins—past, present, and future—are forgiven. It's finished. Nothing can separate us from God's love in Christ.
The second question? Not so easy. You hesitate because you don't see clear evidence of freedom from sin in your life or others'. Perhaps you struggle with arrogance, jealousy, or a critical spirit. Maybe an explosive temper, bondage to pornography, or selfishness that keeps you from loving others.
Here's the good news Romans 6 brings this morning: Freedom is possible. You can break the patterns of sin that hold you back.
That's what this passage is all about.
Two Profound Realities
This chapter is profound. The great writer Thomas Chalmers said that this chapter is the “passage of greatest interest in the Bible—as that in which the greatest quantity of spiritual light is thrown” on how our justification leads to obedience. It really is a profound chapter.
According to this passage, two profound realities are true of you right now if you are in Christ Jesus. Here's the first:
You are dead to sin’s power (6:1-2)
Look at the question in verse 1: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?"
Where does this come from? Two verses earlier, in Romans 5:20, Paul said, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." The more sin, the more grace. If that's true, wouldn't sinning more produce even more grace?
Paul's answer in verse 2 is immediate and forceful: "By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?"
Read that again. Paul says you have died to sin. You are dead to sin's power.
The word "died" refers to a single completed action in the past. This already happened the moment you were united to Christ. Paul isn't telling us to strive to become dead to sin; he's announcing what's already true.
What This Doesn't Mean
This doesn't mean Christians become sinless or stop facing temptation. "If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves" (1 John 1:8). Romans 6 shows believers still make daily choices whether to present themselves to sin or to righteousness. Romans 7 will address this continuing battle.
Every Christian still feels the pull of the old nature. If we had completely died to sin's presence, Paul wouldn't need to command us not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies.
What This Does Mean
When you came to Christ, your old relationship to sin ended decisively. You didn't get an upgrade; you died. Sin's ruling power over you is broken. Dead people don't respond to commands—they can't. You no longer live under sin's authority. You can still be tempted and choose to sin, but you're no longer obligated to obey. You've moved from sin's dominion into the realm of grace.
John Stott explains it this way: sin has not become extinct, but it has been defeated; not annihilated, but deprived of power. It may tempt you, but it no longer owns you.
This changes how you face temptation today. When that familiar sin comes knocking—lust, anger, gossip, pride—you don't have to answer the door. You can say, "I don't belong to you anymore." You're not mustering up willpower; you're living out who you already are in Christ.
The next time you're tempted, pause and remember: you died to sin's power. It can't force you to obey. You're free to choose obedience because grace, not sin, is your master now.
You're dead to sin. That's a bold claim. It's a gospel reality, but it doesn't always feel like it, which is why we need the second reality:
You are united to Christ (6:3-10)
If you think the first reality—that you're dead to sin's power—is hard to believe, the second one will stretch you even further. Yet it's one of the most profound truths of the Christian life. As John Piper says, "If we can grasp what union with Christ means, we will be a very happy and holy people."
Here's the reality: If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you are united to him so completely that what happened to Christ is counted by God as happening to you. Jesus' past is now your past. Jesus' present is your present. Jesus' future is your future.
You share in his death, his resurrection, and his present reign in heaven. His story is your story. His victory is your victory. You didn't just get inspired by Jesus or receive his teachings. You are joined to him—in Christ—and what is true of him has become true of you.
Think about marriage. When you marry, everything that is your spouse's becomes yours. That's what happens when you come to Jesus.
Paul highlights two ways we have been united to Jesus:
We Have Died with Christ:
Paul says it five different ways: we were baptized into his death (v. 3), buried with him (v. 4), united with him in his death (v. 5), our old self was crucified with him (v. 6), and we have died with Christ (v. 8). When you were baptized, you attended your own funeral. The old you died—the old you enslaved to sin's power is dead.
The reason you are dead to sin's power is that when Jesus died, you died. This doesn't mean you no longer feel tempted or that you've reached sinless perfection. It means that in your truest identity—your union with Christ—you are completely dead to sin, both its guilt and its power. This is decisive, unrepeatable, and unchangeable.
This is the foundation for all your warfare against sin and all your progress in holiness.
We Now Live a New Life:
Paul also says it five different ways: we walk in newness of life (v. 4), are united with him in a resurrection like his (v. 5), are set free from sin (v. 7), will also live with him (v. 8), and live to God (v. 10). You are alive in Christ—not only in your future resurrection, but right now. You share in Jesus' resurrection life today. As Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
Jesus' resurrection means he conquered sin and death. They could not hold him. Because you are united to Jesus in his resurrection, the same is true for you. The same glorious power that raised Christ from the dead has raised you. This is not something that will happen—it has happened. You are at this moment in newness of life.
Whatever happened to Christ has happened to you through union with him. Your old self died once and for all with Christ. You are now alive to God, sharing in Christ's indestructible life.
You died with Christ and rose with him—sin's authority over you is broken. You now live in resurrection power, where grace, not sin, is your master.
One Application (6:11-14)
All of this leads to the first application in the entire book: “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (6:11).
This is the first command in the book of Romans! Every other religion begins with the imperative: what you must do to gain God's favor. Christianity begins with the indicative: what God has done becomes the basis for what you do. The first command in Romans isn't a call to action; it's a call to reach a conclusion.
Here's what Paul says: you are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. Now live like it. Consider yourself to be who God actually says you are. Believe the gospel is true, and live accordingly. You can't just hold the doctrine; you have to live it. The key to holiness is fully grasping your personal union with Jesus Christ. What you believe about yourself shapes how you live. Think of yourself as a new creature in Christ. Remember who you are! Paul isn't telling you to pretend or believe something false. If you are in Christ, this is already true of you, regardless of how you feel. Continually ponder the reality of your union with Christ.
What does this look like? Read verses 12-14:
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
We're going to look at this more next week, but here's what Paul is saying.
You are engaged in a holy war against sin. Sin is striving to control you through your fleshly appetites. Don't put your body parts at the disposal of the enemy. Don't yield an inch.
Instead, devote yourself to God. Sanctification isn't merely avoiding sin but actively promoting goodness. Use your members as weapons of righteousness.
Victory is assured because you're not under law but under grace. The law is powerless to make you holy. Grace makes you holy by setting you free from sin's dominion and empowering you to do good.
Sin has no power over you, so don't give it any! You're free from its dominion, but not from its presence or influence, so don't give it any room. Instead, give everything—your eyes, ears, hands, feet, mouth, and mind—to the Lord.
Remember who you are now: someone who, with Jesus, has been brought from death to life, and live like it.
I often quote Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the great preacher in London from the 1900s. He was once asked, “When are you going to preach a series of expository messages on the Epistle to the Romans?” He answered immediately, “When I have really understood chapter 6.”
It took him a decade, but eventually he preached it, and he said that understanding Romans 6 to be “one of the most liberating experiences in my Christian life.”
I agree, and it can be your experience too. You died with Christ and rose with him; sin's authority over you is broken. You now live in resurrection power, where grace, not sin, is your master. Now live like it.
You will battle sin this week, maybe today. Sometimes it feels hopeless. When temptation hits, preach the truth to yourself: "I am dead to this sin's power. I am alive to God in Christ." Then act accordingly. Live out the freedom you already have. You've been brought from death to life with Jesus. This isn't wishful thinking; it's gospel truth.
Remember who you are now: someone who, with Jesus, has been brought from death to life, and live like it.
