Romans Study
2016
“…Present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”Romans 6:13b (NKJ)
Lesson 7 Romans 6
Before you begin your study this week:
•Pray and ask God to speak to you through His Holy Spirit.
•Use the Bible first and then other study materials for your answers if needed.
•Write down your answers with the verses you used.
•Answer the “Digging Deeper” questions if you want to go deeper.
•Try each day to work on your study. Your answers can encourage someone in your group
Review:
First Day: Romans 6:1-5
In the first 5 chapters of Romans, Paul has helped us understand the enormous breakthrough in history that resulted from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! In Romans 5:20, Paul declared that where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. The problem of sin has been completely solved in Jesus Christ!
1. This chapter begins with another question. If you haven’t noticed by now, Paul uses questions to bring out some of his main points for teaching. In what two verses in this chapter does Paul ask pointed questions? Write out the question.
2. Read Paul’s first question in verse 1. What wrong conclusion does Paul say might arise?(This question might surely arise from the opponents of Paul’s gospel)
3. In Romans 6:1, Paul asks, “Shall we continue in sin?”The verb tense of the phrase “continue in sin”(the present active tense) makes it clear that Paul describes the practice of habitual sin. He is not talking about isolated failures, but a lifestyle of sin. What answer does Paul give to the question he raised? (Romans 6:2a)
a. For Paul, the idea that anyone might continue in sin “that grace may abound” is unthinkable!His answer is blunt and absolute! “Certainly not” is a strong phrase. It might also be translated, "Perish the thought!" Why might a person who isn’t born again or a new Christian ask the question Paul raised?
4. Romans 6:3 says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Look up the word “baptized”in your Concordance and write out the definition.
5. What is our “new identification”? Use Romans 6:3b–5 to note and comment on how baptism represents our identity with Christ in His death, His burial,and His resurrection.
His Death
His Burial
His Resurrection
*We died to sin when we were baptized into Christ, which means it is a completed act!Now, even though this is talking about water baptism, it is speaking of what water baptism symbolizes! It symbolizes our union with Christ and the new identity we have in Him.
Baptism is the outward declaration of what has happened inwardly, profession,symbolizingthe old man buried and the new man raised, empowered to walk in the newness of life in Christ!
6.Personal: Have you been baptized in water since you have believed? If not, why not make arrangements to be baptized? If you have, write down when and where you were baptized.For further study on water baptism, look at:Matthew 28:19, Mark 1:9-11, and Acts 10:47.
Second & Third Day: Romans 6:6-10
1. The magnificent truth, one of the most important truths of the Christian life, is this: the old man has been buried and the new man raised, empowered to walk in the newness of life in Christ. Continuing in the theme of our “new identity in Christ”. Use the following Scriptures to enhance your understanding of your new identity. What ministered to you from the passages below?
Galatians 3:27-29 (NLT) “27And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on the character of Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”
Colossians 2:11-14 (NLT)“11When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. 13You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.”
Philippians 3:10–11 (ESV) “9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) “7 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
2. Paul is still discussing the question, “Can a believer go on sinning?” (i.e. living a life of habitual sin). In Romans 6:6, Paul uses the term “our old man” in reference to our sin nature. According toRomans 6:6a, what happened to “our old man” when we came to Christ?
David Guzik— “THE OLD MAN is the self that is patterned after ADAM, the part of us deeply ingrained in rebellion against God and His commands. The system of lawis unable to deal with the old man, because it can only tell the old man what the righteous standard of God is. THE LAW TRIES TO REFORM THE OLD MAN, to get him to ‘turn over a new leaf,’ but the system of grace understands that the old man can never be reformed. He must be put to death, and for the believer the old man dies with Jesus on the cross.”
a. Why was itnecessaryfor the old man to be crucified with Him? Romans 6:6b
3. Verse 6b says, “that our body of sin might be done away with or destroyed.” Look up the word “destroyed” in your Concordance and write out the definition.
4. David Guzik’s Commentary below brings tremendous clarity to these verses. Read it below and share how it has helped you.
“‘If the old man is dead, why do I feel a pull to sin inside?’It comes from the flesh, which is distinct from the old man. The flesh is a problem in the battle against sin because it has been expertly trained in sinful habits by three sources. First, the old man, before he was crucified with Christ, trained and ‘imprinted’ himself on the flesh. Second, the world system, in its spirit of rebellion against God, can have a continuing influence on the flesh.
Finally, the devil seeks to tempt and influence the flesh towards sin.
*With the old man dead, what do we do with the flesh? God calls us, in participation with Him, to actively do day-by-day with the flesh what He has already done with the old man; to crucify it, make it dead to sin! (Galatians 5:24) But when we allow the flesh to be continually influenced by the old man's habits of the past, the world, and the devil, the flesh will exert a powerful pull towards sin. If we let the new man within us influence the mind, the will, and the emotions, then we will find the battle less intense!”
5. Sin tries to get its foot in the door and demands we satisfy it. What do we learn about resisting sin from these passages?
Galatians 5:24-25
Ephesians 4:22-24
Colossians 3:9-10
James 4:7-8
6. Romans 6:6-7 says, “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” What is the result we have gained by the old man being crucified with Christ?
Timothy Keller offer a vivid illustration in reference to Romans 6:6-7: “If a wicked military force had complete control of a country, and a good army invaded, the good army could throw the wicked force out of power, and give the capital and the seat of government and communication back to the people. But the out-of-power soldiers could still live out in the bush as a guerrilla force and create much havoc for the new government. It could often impose its will on the country by sheer force, even though it could never get the power back.”
7. According to Romans 6:8, what is our new position?
a. How do we go forward in this new position in Christ? See Galatians 2:20.
8. Why was Christ’s resurrection from the dead so significant? Romans 6:9
9. When Jesus Christ died, what did He die to,“once and for all?” (Romans 6:10a)
a. Connect Romans 6:10, with Hebrews 10:10. What do you see?
b. Describe the life He lives. (Romans 6:10b)
10. Personal: George MacDonald said - "Christ did not die for us so that we might go on living our own petty, selfish lives the way we want to live them. Rather He died for us so that we might henceforth turn over our lives to Him in willing, glad devotion." How does this challenge you?
*Good Job Ladies! This was a packed day full of amazing truths! I hope you’re enjoying this process and are as blessed as I am in writing it!
Fourth Day: Romans 6:11-14
1. Since God has set us “free from sin”, (verse 7) what is the first step we take to have victory over sin? (Romans 6:11)
*The word “reckon” is an accounting word. Paul tells us to account or to reckon the old man as forever dead. God never calls us to "crucify" the old man, but instead to account him as already dead because of our identification with Jesus' death on the cross.
a. How does knowing these truths help you make better choices in a day? Share an area in your life where you need to apply this.
b. What actions do you need to make to live for God? See Ephesians 4:20:22-24.
2. Because we are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ,” what are we NOT to do? (Romans 6:12-13a)
a. The Greek is emphatic in verse 12,“Be not at all allowing sin to reign!” Look up the word “reign” in your dictionary or concordance for a fuller understanding of this admonition.
3. According to James 1:14-15, and 2 Peter 2:18-19, what happens when we let sin reign?
James 1:14-15
2 Peter 2:18-19 (read on to verse 22)
4. Because we are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ”,what ARE we to do instead according to Romans 6:13b?
For your information—Keep in mind the cultural context in which Romans was written. Gentile (and Jewish) citizens of ancient Rome had a firsthand understanding of what it was to present sacrifices. Romans 6:13 would have helped them understand the picture of Paul's call to stop presenting themselves to Sin.
Modern believers do not have this first-hand understanding of literal sacrifice and there is a tendency to take this serious call to present ourselves to God less seriously, much to our loss.
5. Look up the word “instruments”, in your concordance and write out the definition below.
6. Through Christ, our members that were once used for destruction are now used as a tool for righteousness. Another word for “instruments” in the Greek is “weapons”. That’s a pretty powerful picture. How does this speak to you in your everyday life about the potential or choice of using your members for a weapon for sin or a weapon for righteousness? Fill in your answers in the chart below.
A weapon for sin: (Example: James 3:5-6) / A weapon for righteousness:(Example: Proverbs 8:13)7. Romans 6:14 says, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Look up the word “domain/master” in your Concordance. Insert the meaning into this verse.
For sin shall not be______over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (NASB)
a. Why is grace a greater power against sin than the law according to these passages?
Romans 3:20
Romans 5:17
8. We are not under the Law. We are not accused before God. We are under grace, and God understands our struggle with sin. He knows we battle with temptation, and He is not angry with us. He is alongside us, eager to pick us up when we stumble and to lead us in the way of righteousness. He gave us His life and Holy Spirit to empower us. Sum up what you’ve learnedand how you’re encouraged from the following passages below.
1 Corinthians 10:13(ESV)“13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
Romans 8:33-34 (ESV) “33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
1 John 1:9(ESV)“9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
9. Personal: What a glorious gift we have been given. We are children of God. The condemnation of sin is no more and the power of sin has been broken. Because we live in a fallen world there will be times of temptation, failure, and victory. But God is with us through it all. Read the passage below, personalizing it by inserting your name.
Titus 2:11-14 (NLT), “(11) For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to ___ people. (12) And ______are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. ______should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, (13) while ______look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. (14) He gave his life to free ______from every kind of sin, to cleanse ______, and to make ______his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”
Fifth Day: Romans 6:15-23
1. Read Romans 6:15. Put Paul’s question in your own words. Is his question identical to his question of 6:1? What issue is he now addressing?
2. What is Paul’s answer? (Romans 6:15b)
3. Moral restraint has not been removed from us; instead we have been set free to choose our master. From Romans 6:16, what masters may we choose between?
a. What is the result when we offer ourselves to obey sin?
b. What is the result when we offer ourselves in obedience to God?
4. Everyone is a slave to something or someone!We “offer” ourselves as sacrifices on some altar. We are all serving some cause, or some pleasure and that something becomes a master and we its slaves. Two key words in Romans 6:16 are, “present”, and“obedience”. How do these action words fit into your everyday life?
5. Personal: I love the quote by Rebecca Pippert and D.M. Lloyd-Jones below. It’s convicting and telling. It prompts deep contemplation and prayer by asking the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and present truth of what masters we have offered ourselves to and are controlled by. Do a self-examination and audit of your heart. Commit to God any areas He’s not your master.
Rebecca Pippert —“Whatever controls us is our lord. The person who seeks power is controlled by power. The person who seeks acceptance is controlled by acceptance. We do not control ourselves. We are controlled by the master of our lives.”
D.M. Lloyd-Jones—“But you say, ‘I’m not religious.’ ...but everybody’s religious. What is your religion? Well, your religion is what you rely upon... Your religion... is what you live for, is what you hope for... Your god is that to which you give yourself, you give your time, attention, your greatest thought, your money — you live for it. It is the thing that keeps you going... It is what you turn to when life gets so hard. Everybody has a religion. But the question is – what is your religion?”
6. Use Romans 6:17–18 from the NASB, to answer the following questions:
“17But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
a. What was our former condition?
b. Who deserves the gratitude for our new condition?
c. How are we set free from being slaves of sin?
d. What is our new position?
(1) How does this underscore the importance of obedience to God from the heart? See also Ephesians 6:6.