Jesus Only, Jesus Everything: Me-ward – Romans 6

In Romans 6 we see the power of the cross to destroy our old life. The Christian life is not a changed life, but an exchanged life.

This chapter is jam packed with the power of the cross, but we’re just going to look at it in a nutshell. We already know that the Holy Spirit points us to Jesus Christ. Throughout the Christian life 1) the Holy Spirit reveals to us something about our Lord, 2) in faith we accept what He has said and count it to be so, 3) then our life begins to exemplify what we have accepted. This is the Christian life; this is growth in Jesus Christ. And this is what we see here in Romans 6.

1) KNOW (6:1-10) “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (6:6) “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him” (6:9). The heart cannot be cleansed. It must be crucified. We just saw this in the last blog article, however very briefly. The old nature cannot change; it must be put to death. And God provides this death through the Lord Jesus’ work on the cross. Romans 6:6 and 6:8 – we WERE crucified with Him. It is a fact. You have died; just as much a fact that He has died on the cross. It is nothing we do, or try to do, or work into. It is done. God has done it.

We cannot overcome sin, only the life of Jesus Christ can overcome sin. When I came to salvation, it was because God revealed Jesus Christ to me – that is the know stage. Now that I’m saved I might say “I need more strength to overcome my sin” But that is not God’s way. The sinner must be put to death, not fixed.

2) Reckon (6:11) “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (6:11). Sin, the old master, is still around. But the sinner, the slave who served him, has been put to death. Satan is very successful at lying to us. He always tries to tell us that we are very much alive. And if we look at our day to day experiences we will probably think that he is correct. But what did God say here in Romans 6? He said that we are dead to the power of sin. We must reckon it so in spite of what we may think. We are dead, not in ourselves, but in Christ. The work of God is done not in ourselves, but in Christ. Reckoning is a definite attitude that we must have. God does not remove the sin, but the sinner. He doesn’t give us victory over sin, he puts away the sinner.

3) Yield (6:12-13) “…yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead…” (6:13). You will yield yourself to God if you know and reckon that your old man is dead. You yield yourself, as alive from the dead. He is our life. Your old man was crucified with Him, now you are raised from the dead with Him. Alive unto God, and not unto yourself. When it came to salvation God revealed Jesus Christ to me, and immediately I reckoned it so and yielded to Him. It happened quickly. You might say that someone can know the gospel for a time before they reckon it true and yield to it. But knowing is not just an intellectual knowing, but an opening of the eyes by God. But if you know that you have a check for one million dollars in your pocket, it won’t be long before you reckon it so and yield to walk cautiously and with one hand in your pocket on that money.

So, when I know that I am crucified with Christ, then I will reckon myself dead (vs. 6 & 11), and when I know that I am raised with him, then I will reckon myself alive unto God (vs. 9 & 11). In death the focus is “I in Christ” and in resurrection the focus is “Christ in me”. When we know and reckon with this, then the outcome will be yielding to His life; for now our life is dead, and Christ is our life (Colossians 3:3-4). He is the source of our life. Holiness is separation unto Him. Holiness is simply being wholly His.