If you could turn your Bibles now to Romans chapter 6. We're going to be reading verses 1 through 4. It's really connected to the rest of the chapter, but we're going to just begin with 1 through 4 this morning. Romans chapter 6 verses 1 through 4. What shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means, how can we who die 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? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in a newness of life.

Let's pray. We thank you, Father, for your patience. We thank you for your goodness. We thank you for our church, our brothers and sisters that you've placed us in this family, this community, Lord God, where we can pursue and honor you with all our heart. We pray for soberness.

We pray for energy. We pray for the Holy Spirit, Lord God, to continue to intercede and groan on our behalf to long for the Father. We want to hear from you and you alone that we may hear your Son's voice and follow Him. So we pray for your grace this morning.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You know, when I think about my childhood, one of the things that I remember the most vividly was the first time my parents came to the United States in 19... My dad came first in '74 and I came in '75. So you can imagine, you know, Korea at that time being such a poor country and then coming to the United States, it was well-developed and, you know, the streets are large.

It was exactly as I pictured it in my head or at least heard about and how everybody was filthy rich, you know, and you can have all the food you want and all the bananas you want. I remember the very first memory of my childhood when I came was, it was the first Halloween.

You know, the first Halloween in Korea, you know, it was, again, it was a very poor country at that time. And, you know, I remember very rarely having candy. And every once in a while if my mom wanted us to do something, my mom would tease us with, you know, that she would give us sugar water, basically put some sugar into the water and then so that I could drink that.

And that was our form of candy, okay? Yeah, I'm a fop. So that's how... That's what I remember. And then coming to the United States and saying, "Oh, there's Halloween." And then we had a cousin who was here in Philadelphia and told us that if you wear some sort of a mask and you go door to door and knock, they give you free candy.

So I was like, "What? This is great country." So we didn't have a mask. We didn't know what it was. I just remember getting the paper bag. And my older brother was too embarrassed so he wouldn't come. So me and Phillip got this bag. And we only had one bag.

So we put, you know, faces on it. And then so I would first wear it and go knock on the door and then get some candy. And then I would give that back to him. And then he would go and knock and then come back and we'd get some candy.

I remember coming back, we had about a half a bag full of candy. Looking back at it now, it wasn't a lot of candy compared to what the kids get today. But that was free. You know, it's like, "Wow, this is an awesome country. They just give you free candy for wearing a paper bag." You know?

And I just remember that's one of the most vivid memories that I have of our childhood, just how happy I was. And then that happiness lasted for a long time because that candy was in the kitchen for a long time. You know? But the other memory that I have is much later on in high school when I became a Christian.

In 1983 when I met the Lord, everything that I knew before I went up to the retreat was completely flipped upside down. You know, my love for baseball at that time, you know, I was like obsessed with baseball at that time. I was outside playing baseball, practicing, trying to make it to the baseball team.

And that's all I did all day, all night. You know? And then all the anger, the bitterness that I had from moving around so much, and especially as a teenager, just instantaneously. I remember when I met the Lord, it just completely changed overnight. And I know a lot of people go through counseling and all this stuff, but for me, it was instantaneous.

As soon as I met the Lord, I knew knowing that God had a purpose for all of that, it changed everything. But I also remember during that period, I had quite a few friends who became Christians at the same time, who are no longer walking with the Lord. You know, and it didn't take long for them to fall away.

Some of them fell away a year after, some of them fell away several years after. Every once in a while, I'll run into them, and I would ask them how they're doing. And obviously, they've drifted away. Some of them never graduated high school, some of them never graduated college.

And when I asked them about where they stand with God, they'll tell me confidently that if they die, they're going to go to heaven. And so I asked them, like, what is that confidence based on? It's like, well, because it's not by works. It's by the grace of God.

At that time, the way the gospel was being taught, it was almost kind of like Halloween. I mean, I'm not saying that where I got saved, it was like that. But a lot of people understood the gospel message as just free salvation. You just go and raise your hand, come down the aisle, and you're done because it's by grace, not by works, right?

Well, isn't that what Paul said? Didn't Paul himself say that where sin increased, grace abounded all the more? So when Paul began to give this message, some of the people were saying that he's actually telling people to sin. He says that in Romans 3, 8. Why not do evil that good may come as some people slanderously charge us with sin?

So some of them were hearing this and wait a second, we've been living all our lives to earn righteousness before God. And Paul is saying that that not only does that not give you righteousness, it only brings condemnation. That the law, all it did was reveal a greater part of sin.

And even the passage that we just looked at before in Romans 5, 20, now the law came to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Now if Paul's gospel, if the gospel of Jesus Christ ended there, yeah, it would make sense. A lot of people would just kind of go off and say, yeah, I mean, of course we should live righteously, but living righteously is not required.

I mean, we can almost say that wouldn't that lead to that then? Aren't we afraid when we're raising our kids that if we like to spoil them, they're going to grow up and thinking like, well, you know, I could do whatever I want. I never get punished, right? Whether I go to school or don't go to school, get good grades, don't go get good grades.

I mean, imagine raising your kids, telling them constantly that no matter what you do, that I love you. Not to say that's not true, but imagine if that's the only message that you give them, there's no consequences to your behavior. Imagine what that child is going to grow up to be.

So if we're not careful, that same kind of thinking, that's where the Jews were afraid of. That's what the Judaizers were afraid of. Paul, if you are saying that salvation is by grace and by grace alone and not the law, the righteousness doesn't add to your salvation, isn't that going to get a bunch of people who are just committed to licentiousness and they're going to do whatever they want?

And so some people were actually saying that's the gospel that Paul was preaching. Sad to say, some people today actually believe that that's what the gospel is. The gospel basically frees you from any obligation for righteousness. That no matter what you do in life, it just doesn't matter. Paul says in verse one, in fact, the whole chapter six and chapter seven is to answer that question.

Some people were saying that that's what the gospel is. Absolutely not, he says in verse one. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means, right? In English, you can't use two negatives, right? At least that's the grammar that we learn in English class.

But in the Greek, oftentimes there's two negatives that are used for the purpose of emphasis. That's exactly what he does here. The word by no means in Greek has two negatives, basically no, no, no, basically. Absolutely not. How can we who die to sin still live in sin? If the whole point of the gospel is to deliver us from our own sins, how can somebody continue to live in sin?

That is a contradiction of its terms. That is a misunderstanding of what the gospel is. So for the next two chapters, chapter six and chapter seven, Paul's going to be expounding and trying to qualify, yes, salvation is by grace alone. And it is not by your righteousness. It is not by your works, by grace and grace alone.

But when you are genuinely saved by grace alone, when your sins are justified by the blood of Christ alone, it does not lead to licentiousness. It actually leads to greater righteousness, even in practice. And that's basically the premise that when we look at chapter six and seven, that's the argument that he's going to make.

But today I want to look at the first four verses where he talks about how can we continue to sin when we have died to sin? First and foremost, the question that he's trying to answer here, is it a practical question or is it a positional question? I don't know if you understand what I mean by that.

Let me explain. The question that he's posing, the answer that he's giving, is he basically challenging us that because of salvation, you should live righteous lives? Or is he saying that you've been delivered from sin? That's your position before God. The answer to that is both. But the first thing that he deals with is where we stand before God.

What happened to you? Before he gets into, therefore, since this is what happened to you, this is how you ought to live. But first and foremost, we need to understand what salvation is in the first place. What took place in salvation? And until we understand where we stand before God and what actually happened in salvation, how do you live up to the calling of your salvation if you don't understand exactly what happened?

Some people think that salvation basically means that your penalty of sin has been paid for so you no longer go to hell, but that now you're just going to go to heaven. Nothing has changed in you. The only thing that changed is where you stand before God positionally. But that is not true.

The first and foremost, Paul takes the first part of this passage to expose it to us. What happened at your salvation? Again, so if we don't understand that, you won't understand what he means by live up to the calling when we get to Ephesians chapter 4 later on. So what again, what does he mean by that?

What shall we say? If some people are saying this, that our righteous life doesn't matter, that we can live in sin and still be saved, what shall we say? Are we to continue on sin that grace may abound? By no means. Absolutely not. How can we who died to sin still live in it?

John makes it very clear in 1 John 3, 4 to 6, everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

So first thing that we need to distinguish what Paul is distinguishing here is somebody who is living in sin versus somebody who is wrestling in sin. Let me say that again. Someone who is living in sin versus someone who is wrestling in sin. So if you notice here he says, how can somebody continue to sin that grace may abound?

By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? So he's describing an individual where there was no change in life. But after you met Christ, the life you lived prior to meeting Christ and the life you lived after you met Christ, there is no distinction.

You're still pursuing after the same sin. That your life, your language, your thoughts, your hopes, your values, nothing has really changed other than the fact that you go to church on Sunday. That your confession has changed. But your life hasn't changed. He said, how can that be? How can somebody who declares to have been delivered from sin continue to sin?

That's the question that Paul is asking. Obviously, the answer is he cannot. In Romans 6, 12-14 it says, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies." In other words, Paul is not simply telling us that if you've been Christian that you're not going to struggle with sin. Just automatically that those desires disappear.

Is that true? When you became a Christian, did your pride just die? Did your lust just disappear? I met Christ and then boom, I had no desire. Is that true? Some of you are saying no. You should all be saying no. Let's be honest. It didn't just disappear. There's a reason why the Bible has imperatives.

There's a reason why there's commands in the scripture. Like even Paul in the very next section, he says, "Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness." Paul is not saying that you've been delivered from sin. You've died to sin, so therefore you don't have any desire for sin.

That's not what he's saying. Because if that's the case, he wouldn't be making the command to not to present your members to sin. In fact, in Philippians 2.12, it says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." It means that you need to work it out. You need to identify what the sins are and you need to avoid it.

1 Corinthians 9.27, "But I discipline my body and keep it under control, as after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified." So Paul describes even his own spiritual life as wrestling with his own flesh to conquer sin. So Paul is not saying that we've been delivered from sin, that we died to sin.

He's not saying that you're not going to be struggling with sin anymore. But there is a difference between struggling with sin and living in sin. Douglas Moo, who is the leading scholar of the book of Romans, and he says this about this particular passage. He says, "The imperative thou shalt would be futile and frustrating demand without the thou hast of the indicative." Let me say that so that it's easier to understand.

The command to do something would be absolutely frustrating without the revelation of what has happened to you. To make it simple. In fact, if you read the scriptures, you'll find that the Bible always lays out first and foremost what happened. Romans chapter 1 through 11 is about what happened to you.

When you met Christ, when you confessed your sins to Christ and your sins were justified, what happened to you? Hebrews chapter 1 through 11, when you met Jesus Christ and He became your High Priest, what happened to you? First 11 chapters. Ephesians chapter 1 through 3, first 3 chapters, is what happened to you.

And that Paul is praying as he's expositing how he pursued you and loved you and he adopted you. And then he'll jump into Romans chapter 12, "Therefore, in view of this mercy of God, that this is what you ought to do." Ephesians chapter 4, "In conclusion of knowing three chapters of revelations of what happened to you, therefore live up to the calling that you have received." And we get to Hebrews chapter 12, after 11 chapters of exposition of what happened to you, chapter 12 continues on and says that we ought to continue to live, to fix our eyes upon Jesus, author and perfecter of our faith.

So in every instance, before we get to the imperatives of this is what you ought to do, it tells us first and foremost who we are, what has happened. So the first thing that he points out, if you think that just by preaching salvation by grace is going to automatically lead to the sentience, do you not know that first and foremost that you died to sin, died to sin.

Not only did you die to sin, he says you have been baptized into his death. We have been united with Christ and baptized into his death. So this morning I'm going to look at those two phrases and what that means. So the first phrase when he says, do you not know that you are dead to sin?

The very first thing that happens to a Christian when he meets Christ is that he dies. I know that everything that we talk about is about receiving eternal life, that Christ came to give us abundant life, right? God so loved the world, gave his only begotten son, whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

So all about Christianity, all about our hope is about life. But before we have life, there is death. And that's why Jesus Christ says, if you want to live, if you want to follow after me, pick up your cross and also follow me. Because the path to life was through the cross.

Path to life was first and foremost death. When we confess our sins before God for justification, we're not just confessing that we feel sorry for our sins. There's a lot of things that we do we feel sorry for. There's a difference between feeling sorry and repentance. Feeling sorry is how you feel.

Christians and non-Christians feel sorry for what they do. Non-Christians commit crime and they stand before the judge and they say, I'm sorry, right? That's not repentance. Repentance is not feeling bad for something that you did. Repentance literally means to change your mind. There has been a change, a radical paradigm shift that whatever it is that you were doing, whatever life that you were living was wrong.

That you were pursuing the wrong thing, that you were worshiping the wrong God, that you were living the wrong way, that you were acknowledging that you were an idolater. So repentance isn't simply feeling sorry that I did that. Repentance basically is to take my life that you were living and to crucify with Christ that you may live a new life.

See that's justification. So what Paul is saying, how can somebody who has genuinely been justified and says, and genuinely repented and said, you know I've been crucified with Christ, how can he continue to live on sin? That would be a contradiction. That's why Paul himself says in Galatians 6.14, "But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." That's the beginning of salvation.

Beginning of salvation is when we are crucified to the things of the world. We are no longer of this world. Paul says that before we were justified in our sins, that we were under the reign of this sin. That everything that we had, every inclination, every thought, every desire was tainted by this sin.

But when we met Christ and we confessed our sins to Jesus Christ, the world and all that we were pursuing, all that we valued, had been crucified, was put to death along with Jesus Christ. That's the evidence of genuine salvation. One of the books that made the biggest impact that I enjoyed reading more than anything else, probably in the last 30 years, was a book from Jonathan Edwards called Religious Affection.

In that book, he's trying to describe a revival that was taking place during his time period. A lot of people were saying, "Oh, that's not real. Everybody's just getting emotional." He writes an article, at that time an article basically was a book, and he writes this article explaining what is genuine affection and what is false affection.

What is genuine worship and what is false affection. So he takes half of the book describing like what, like all this emotions and religious duty and all of this. You can do all of that and not be genuinely saved. And then he, second part of the book, he describes what genuine affection looks like.

And at the top of the description, at the top of the test of whether someone was genuinely saved or genuine revival was taking place, he said first and foremost is a change of affection. Change of affection. A longing for something new. That you no longer long for the things of the world, but that your longing has changed.

If non-Christians are described as people who are blinded so that they do not see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's a description of a non-Christian. A description of a Christian is a person whose the blinds have been taken away and now they see this glory that we've been separated from for all of human history.

Just like it says in Romans 3, 23, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory." So we haven't seen this glory. We don't know what this glory is and it's the most glorious thing that you and I could ever experience. Because that's the source of life. That's the source of hope.

That's the source of comfort. That's the source of our food. That's the source of living water. So we didn't see that and all of a sudden our blinders get taken away and we see that and once we see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the world is no longer the same.

It's no longer the same. So in other words, what Paul is saying is, if you have truly been justified, the world has been ruined for you. It's ruined. You can't go back. You can't go back and enjoy the world like you used to if your eyes truly were opened.

If you've truly tasted the goodness of God, you can't simply turn that off and say, "You know what? I'm going to go and have it all." Isn't that where your frustration comes from? Isn't that what you and I struggle with as a Christian? Is that we want Jesus and we want the world too.

We want Jesus and we want all that the world has to offer without trying to walk that fine line. You know what I mean? You can have as much as you can without having to sin. Isn't that where the frustration comes when Jesus says that you cannot have two masters?

Maybe you serve mammon or you serve God and somehow we're thinking that somehow we're going to find a trick that we can do both when Jesus clearly says that that cannot happen and it won't happen. He says, "But an individual who has truly been justified, his eyes have been opened to the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ." As Jonathan Edwards says, "Your affection has changed.

What you knew before has been crucified along with Christ." The things of sin, the reign of sin has been crucified along with Christ. We're no longer the same. Our nature has changed. He didn't just take somebody who was headed to hell and say, "You know what? We're going to pay the penalty and now you can go to heaven." Our very nature has changed.

That's why the Bible describes as whoever is in Christ, he is a what? A new creation. He's a new creation. When Jesus says that you cannot put old wine into new wine or old wine sin because old wine sin is going to break. He's talking about the Holy Spirit in us.

In order for the Holy Spirit to come and make an indwelling in us, we have to become new creation. So when Jesus died for us on the cross, he made us new creation so the Holy Spirit can come and make an indwelling in us. So when we become Christians, our affection changes.

And that's what Paul means first and foremost when he says that you have died to sin. How can someone continue to live in sin? How can someone who continue to live in the pattern of this world, if your sins have been crucified with Christ, if you've been delivered not only from the penalty of sin, but also delivered from the power of sin.

The world is no longer the same. And I think every Christian in this room, every true Christian in this room will know exactly what I'm talking about. Whether you are living in obedience or not, whether you feel like you're in the center of the will of God or not, whether you feel intimately close to God or not, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

That life is found at the center of His will. And you know that if you're not living at the center of His will, something's out of whack and you're trying to fix it. You're trying to fix it in every other way other than to come to God. You're trying to fix it by your marriage.

You're trying to fix it by more money. You're trying to fix it by traveling. You're trying to fix it by other means. But if you are a genuine believer in Christ, you already know that your nature has changed. That the only place where you feel alive is when you're at the center of the will of God.

So an individual who confesses to be justified in faith and then continue to live in sin is a contradiction. You're trying to do two things at the same time when Jesus said it is impossible. So that's why Paul says it's like, "That's not possible." You're saying, "I'm not going around telling people that you can sin." I'm not.

Paul says that's not the case at all. In fact, those who have been genuinely delivered will pursue more passionately the things of God than even before. See, the Pharisees pursued righteousness so that other people can see. Pharisees prayed so that they can compete with each other to see who's going to be praying more.

Pharisees even evangelized because that's how they measured whether someone was holy or not. See, but in the new covenant, an individual whose affection has changed. I do what I do because that's where I find life. That's where I find joy. That I don't do this because of expectation. I don't do this because that's a standard or that's because of accountability alone.

I do this because that's the desires of my heart. God changed my desire. You know, people always say, "Pastor Peter doesn't like Chinese food." I love Chinese food. Let me make that very clear to everyone. I love Chinese food. I don't like food in China. That's the difference. I love Chinese food.

I don't like food in China because all these years I've been going out to China, I don't want to ruin it for all of you, but I've seen a lot of things. I've seen where they cook their food. I've had strange things coming in my mouth. We had a whole team one summer hospitalized and had to get IV for several days as a result of delicious food, right?

And so it's not Chinese food that I don't like. It's when I'm in China, I'm a lot more cautious. So when I go there, when I look at the Chinese food, it's like, "Oh, smells great." You know, but it just doesn't incite in me, "Oh, I want some of that." I lost the desire because I know what's in that thing.

My eyes have been opened. And once my eyes have been opened, I can't shut it. It's just no longer the same. And in the same way, the Bible says that once your eyes have been opened and you really understand what this world is about, that this world is under condemnation, under the reign of the penalty of sin, and the wrath of God is being revealed in everything, in everything that you pursue, everything that this world is thrown at you as temptation, all of that is under condemnation.

So it no longer has the same kind of appeal. And so once our eyes have been opened, the reason why we come every Sunday to worship God is because He is more worthy than anything else that we see. So when He says, "An individual who has truly been justified, he has been crucified, even in the sin." So how can you be continuing to live in sin?

An individual who feels comfortable in the world, an individual who feels right at home in the world, and he feels uncomfortable at church, that may be evidence that his eyes never been opened. See, a believer, where his eyes have been opened, even in the struggle, no matter how hard and difficult it becomes, we can never turn away, because there is no other way.

No matter how difficult, no matter how many relational problems you have, no matter how frustrating it may get, and in the end, we persevere. We have to persevere, because there is no other way. But not only does He say we have died to sin, He says, "Do you not know that you have been baptized into Christ Jesus, baptized into His death?" We always talk about His new life, but before we talk about new life, we have to understand our death in Christ.

Before Jesus was resurrected, He was first crucified. So when He said, "Come, follow me, and pick up your cross," He was also telling us, "You have to come through the cross as well." The word "baptism" literally means to be immersed. So those of you from Presbyterian backgrounds, explain that.

So baptism literally means to be immersed. You're at a Baptist church, I'm safe here. I grew up as a Presbyterian, my dad was a Presbyterian, but he's not here. Baptism means to be immersed. The word, so when we think of baptism, we think of the ceremony, like going into the water or the ocean, we're being immersed.

But the word just literally means immersed. And the reason why they use a baptism ceremony for conversion, and it wasn't unique just to Christians, they use a baptism ceremony for any time somebody was basically abandoning their old life, whatever it was, and they're becoming new, they're dedicating, they would go through this baptism ceremony.

It's just that John the Baptist came in and he basically Christianized this institution and it became a Christian activity. But it wasn't unique to Christians at that time. It was basically kind of like, whenever you graduate, you have this ceremony, or you're graduating to the next stage in life.

And so it was kind of that type of thing. And then people would go into the water and come out, meaning that you're dying, your old self is dying and your new self is coming. So when Paul says, "Do you not know that you have been baptized with Christ?" It means that you have been united with Christ, you have been immersed.

That when he died, you died with him. And that's why in Galatians it says, "I've been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live." That's the first and foremost thing that every Christian needs to come to accept. Until you and I have been crucified with Christ, even pursuit of righteousness can be a pursuit of our own ambition.

Even in the church. Think about all the years of Christianity where corruption came into the church because worldly ambition followed along with certain people. So the first and foremost, what Christ calls us to do is to be crucified with Christ. That is no longer my life to live. How much of our struggle, even today, is wrestling with, "What do I want to do with my life?" That question in itself is what's getting you in trouble.

That question in and of itself is what's causing the frustration in your life. It is no longer your life to live. So that's not a question we should be asking. What do I want to do with my life? It doesn't matter what you want to do because it's no longer your life.

The question ought to be, what does God want to do with this life that he purchased? It's no longer my life. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Christ who lives in me. So when he says, "Do you not know that you have been baptized?" You have been immersed, united with Christ in such a way that everything that happened to him happened to you too.

So what he is reminding us of is the presence and the union of Christ. So a lot of times people come to church, there are things that you won't do here that you will do as soon as you leave. And as a pastor, I know. I know when I enter your car, everybody's radio station is 92.7.

You know what I mean? The Christian radio, I know it wasn't there before. You know what I mean? I don't have anything against the other kind of music you listen to, but for whatever the reason, everybody feels like they need to turn on a sermon because Pastor Peter is getting in the car.

I know it. I see you. I see you when you're driving up. It's like you're switching the channels. It's like, "Hey, that's okay. I'm okay with that. I listen to that too." Right? But for whatever the reason, we think like, "Okay, this is a holy place because this is where there's a greater presence of the Holy Spirit.

There's where Jesus is and where the leaders are, and so we're careful." But as soon as we go home and we're outside, like we're gone. See, Paul is reminding us that our union with Christ is in every way, not just, "Oh, we got to say one day we're going to be with Jesus forever." He makes us indwelling in us.

We're that intimately tied with, we're immersed with Christ. That's what it literally means to be baptized in Christ, means that we've been immersed. We've been so united. You know, you see two couples who've been together for so long and they had a good marriage, they start sounding alike. They start eating, have the same appetite.

They start dressing alike. You know what I mean? I know some people that are like that, right? The longer you are together, you start to talk alike. You start to have the ... One thing I noticed with Esther, Esther was not sarcastic when we first met. She's become a little bit more sarcastic.

I'll take credit for that. There are certain things that I hated noodles, and then I started liking noodles. When two people are together and so united that closely for that long, it kind of rubs off on each other. She's saying, "Do you not know that somebody who's been justified has been united with Christ?" He's been immersed.

It's not just, "Oh, we come to church and we dabble in Jesus." Every single Christian, the Holy Spirit makes an indwelling inside of you. It's not like the old covenant where the Holy Spirit came and was upon people and then they left. He said, "Now the Holy Spirit makes an indwelling on you, and there is no place where the Holy Spirit does not dwell." As long as you are you, as long as you are alive, the Holy Spirit is in you, whether you are at church, whether I'm in your car or out of your car.

That's how intimately that we've been united with Christ. So he's saying, "How can somebody who's been united with Christ all of a sudden continue to live in sin and feel safe?" That's a contradiction. And that's why John Stott says of this, he said, "It's not that it's an impossibility for a Christian to wrestle with sin, but it's incongruous for a Christian to continue to live in sin." In other words, it's not consistent.

It's like somebody saying, "I dress like a duck, smell like a duck, eat like a duck, swim like a duck, but I'm a cow." And that's what he's saying. He's saying, "To act like a duck, eat like a duck, swim like a duck, and then go around telling people, 'I'm a cow, don't judge me.'" That's so judgmental.

Everybody's so judgmental. But you're acting like a bird. You're eating like a bird. And then you go around telling people that you're a cow, and then you get all offended when you say, "I don't think you're a cow." In essence, that's basically what Paul is saying. Paul is saying that our very nature has changed, and our union with him has changed.

That's why all throughout the New Testament, he reminds us, "We have been crucified with Christ," Galatians 2.20. "We have died together with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world," Colossians 2.20. "We have been buried in baptism into the death together with Christ," Romans 6.4. "We have been made alive together with Christ," Ephesians 2.5.

"We have been raised together with Christ," Colossians 3.1. "We are fellow heirs with Christ," Romans 8.17. "We are suffering along with Christ. We will be glorified along with Christ." Over and over again, he says, "All our spiritual life is described as with Christ." With Christ. Do you remember Zacchaeus?

He meets Jesus. Jesus doesn't say, "You rotten tax collector, give away all your money. How can you possibly live like that?" He doesn't say that. Jesus says, "Let me come to your house." "Yes, come to my house." As soon as Jesus says, "Come to my house," remember what he says?

"I'm going to give away half of my possession, and I'm going to pay back all that I've done wrong." Why? Simply because Jesus says, "Come into his house." Just because. Because he knew. "Here's this holy man coming to my house. How can I possibly invite him to my house and keep doing what I'm doing?" Just by his presence.

Just by his presence, he repents. And so that's what Paul means. If you have been justified by grace alone, this union with Christ isn't just on Sunday. It isn't just in public. 24/7, he has made an indwelling in us. And if you can see God living in sin, obviously we cannot.

That's why in 1 John 1, it says, "If we say that we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." No one is deceived but ourselves. Until we accept the fact that we are crucified, that we are dead to this world, we cannot live for him.

Because before we live, we have to die. Before we live, we have to die. The very things that causes the heartache in your life, isn't it the rat race? Isn't it the competition with your neighbors and your friends and your family members? The same thing that suffocated your life, the reign of death as Paul describes it.

Aren't those the things that have been suffocating you? Isn't that why you hold on to bitterness and anger? Isn't that why you have relational issues because yourself has been offended? Because the same things that killed us before we met Christ, we're holding on to dear life. And then we're trying to hold on to that and while holding on to the new life in Christ, no wonder we're frustrated.

See, he's not simply saying if you want to follow Jesus, just suck it up and do hard things. That's not what he's saying. He said, "I want to give you this new life, but until you can unite with Christ in his resurrection, you must first understand that you're united with Christ in his death." This life that you and I are trying so hard to do well and live in, and the pattern that this world has set, that's what's killing us.

True life is found in Christ when we see the filth in it, just like the food in China. It was delicious the first year, and then every year after that, the food in China has gotten much better, just to be fair. But I just can't get that out of my head.

I just cannot get that out of my head. And I don't want to ruin it for you. Those of you who visit China, it's awesome. But all the things that I've seen all these years, it's just no longer the same. But isn't the world the same thing? At the end of the day, the things that are tempting us, when we take a step back and look at it, do you not see the corruption in it?

Do you not see the emptiness at the end of whatever it is that we're pursuing? Do you not see the futility of all the energy that the world is putting in to get to the next stage, and then how miserable they are as a result? And yet, when we're not fixated on Christ and how we're tempted by these very things that Jesus saved us from, that's what Paul is saying.

It doesn't lead to less anxiousness. It leads to a greater desire for holiness, greater desire for worship, greater desire to magnify this Christ, to give life, give this life abundantly. If you would take a few minutes to pray with me as we welcome the, pray seem to come up again.

If you guys can take a few minutes, again, to come before the Lord in genuine prayer, examine your own hearts. Have I been pursuing empty things? Have I been frustrated because I've been trying to hold on to the world and God at the same time, and I guarantee you haven't been successful?

I know you haven't been successful, because I know what God says is true. You can't have both. So if you've truly been crucified with Christ and you're dead to sin, the more we embrace the death of Christ, the more we can embrace the life that he promises. Let's take a few minutes to come before the Lord in prayer, in meditation, and confession as the worship team leads us.