Sermon Tone Analysis

“What shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

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 baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised 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 newness of life.

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.

For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

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When you were baptised, you made a statement reflecting your understanding of the Faith.

Of course, I am assuming that you were baptised; however, if you have not been baptised, please do not tune out, as the message will address an issue of greatest significance.

Assuming that you have been baptised, precisely what did you say through the act of baptism?

Baptism pictures one’s belief concerning Christ and expresses the candidate’s relationship to Him.

Because this is true, baptism speaks of what the one baptised holds to be true.

While multiple images might be suggested as being portrayed through baptism, the Word of God informs us that we make a definite statement of what we accept as true through baptism.

Whether the declaration of baptism is in unison with the Word of God, or whether it merely reflects a pious mythology, in no small measure determines the validity of the rite.

To be certain, many people do not remember the rite they called baptism.

Perhaps they have seen pictures or heard accounts of the event, but they were infants and their parents or some other adult answered questions concerning the Faith in their behalf.

Though others were perhaps older when they were baptised, the motive for receiving baptism has dimmed with the passage of time and they are unable to state with precision why the ritual was performed.

Some people were baptised in order to join a church.

Others were baptised out of fear of judgement; they sought to ensure that God accepted them; they felt that through the ritual they could coerce God.

Others were baptised because, well, because their friends were baptised or because they calculated that it would advance a career or open the door to a coveted relationship.

I trust that most sought to honour the Saviour through choosing to receive baptism.

Undoubtedly, the motive for receiving baptism is important.

In a similar manner, the mode of baptism is important.

If baptism is neither an act to compel God to accept the candidate nor a means by which an individual joins the church, then of necessity the rite must convey some significant truth.

According to Paul, baptism does convey multiple truths that are interrelated.

Join me in study of the words he wrote to the Christians in Rome while providing instruction concerning the salvation we have received.

BACKGROUND — The Letter to the Christians of Rome would not be mistaken for a treatise on ecclesiology; the primary instruction provided in the letter revolves around the issue of salvation.

This does not mean that other doctrines are ignored—after all, all theology is interrelated.

Whichever doctrine happens to be studied, we realise that it ultimately derives from the relationship of God to His redeemed saints.

Consequently, there is no teaching of the Word that is unaffected by our understanding of salvation.

In the case of the text for this day, the Apostle is focusing on a philosophy that theologians have described as antinomianism.

Like an untreated infection, antinomianism has resided among the churches from earliest days.

The word “antinomian” is derived from two Greek words that are roughly translated “against law.”

The concept of antinomianism expresses the view that since the believer is saved by graced, she is free from moral law.

Antinomianism could be described as a sort of Christianised Epicureanism or Christianised hedonism.

Antinomianism promotes the idea that because one is saved by grace, he need not submit to the righteous expectations of the Word.

After all, the redeemed individual is forgiven all sin.

Since the sins forgiven were future at the time of Christ’s sacrifice, therefore there is no requirement to live according to the righteous decrees of the Bible.

The antinomian would argue that since good deeds do not promote justification, neither do evil deeds hinder justification.

You can see the logic of the position and readily understand the appeal of the doctrine.

Likewise, you can look at the life of much of contemporary Christendom and see how the doctrine has insinuated itself into the life of the people of God.

In far too many instances, there appears to be scant difference between the professed people of God and those in the world.

The tendency is to swing to one extreme or the other; either we Christians are burdened down with multiple regulations that we have invented to keep us from sinning (though they never work) or we have jettisoned righteousness, adopting an attitude that whatever brings us pleasure is the summum bonum of existence.

Extremes are seldom conducive to righteousness, however.

Though the Apostle is not focused on the problem of artificial standards, it is obvious that he is concerned lest the believers to whom he is writing should slip into a wanton, self-centred or unrestrained lifestyle.

Let’s remember that Paul has just spent quite a bit of time addressing the truth that our standing before God is the result of faith.

We come to the Risen Christ, believing that He died because of our sin and believing that He was raised to give us a right standing in the presence of the Father.

As Paul would teach in another of his letters, we are complete in Christ.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” [EPHESIANS 1:3-14].

Already, the one who believes is “holy and blameless” before God.

The righteousness that we now enjoy does not result from our own effort; rather, the righteousness we possess is ours in Christ Jesus.

At this time, we are declared holy in Him; His righteousness is imputed to us through faith.

However, this does not mean that we always act as though we were holy.

Tragically, some of the most unholy people can be professing Christians.

Some professing Christians act unholy because they are unholy—they have never been born from above.

Perhaps they are church members, or even leaders within a congregation.

Perhaps a rite has been performed and these individuals were declared to be Christians; but there is no reflection of the presence of the Spirit of God to indicate the presence of Christ in the life of such individuals.

Frankly, it is possible, perhaps even probable, that many professing Christians are religious, but unsaved.

Again, it is possible that the absence of holiness results from ignorance.

We pastors are responsible to teach the Word of God, instructing listeners how to live righteously; however, those who listen are responsible to apply the truths that are taught.

Each Christian is charged with the responsibility of seeking to understand the will of God and then he is to do that will.

Because we are living in a world that is largely marked by biblical ignorance, many people do not know the will of God.

However, if the Spirit of God lives within the individual, there exists a divine restraint when the believer attempts to live solely for herself.

A colleague used to say that though a sheep may fall into the mud, it will never lay down in the mud.

It was a picturesque description of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

Jesus, speaking of the work of the Spirit, taught us, “When [the Spirit] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” [JOHN 16:8-11].

Alternatively, it is conceivable that the child of God has been taught errant doctrine.

Christian teaching is both didactic and by example.

The Faith of Christ has elevated the sermon to a high position in worship.

It is fair to say that worship is incomplete without exposition of the Word of God.

Though worship can entail singing, observing dramatic presentations, engaging in dance, and assuredly includes prayer, worship the neglects the command to “preach the Word” [see 2 TIMOTHY 4:2] is incomplete.

However, it is also vital to realise that instruction is clarified and animated through observing the life of the one declaring the truths of the Word.

Thus, it is possible that many professing Christians have been mistaught because he sat under errant preaching, or even because he observed the preacher living an egocentric life.

The Word of God cautions against living as though God will ignore sin—He will not!

The conscientious Child of God accepts the warning delivered through the Apostle.

“Whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:9, 10].

Before penning the words found in our text, Paul had made a significant point.

He wrote, “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” [ROMANS 5:18-21].

Anticipating that some would distort the truth that, “as sin reigned in death, grace also [must] reign through righteousness,” Paul moved smoothly into the matter of our text.

Though the instruction he gives is incidental, it is not inconsequential.

For those who are inclined to excuse sinful behaviour or who are prone to justify disobedience, Paul simply challenges them to reflect on what was stated through their baptism.

There were not multiple modes of baptism in the New Testament.

The Apostle could argue, fully anticipating that those reading the encyclical we have received as Ephesians would understand what he asserted, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” [EPHESIANS 4:4-6].

There is one baptism!

Paul is not arguing that there are multiple forms of baptism, or multiple expressions witnessed in baptism—he says, anticipating that there will be no argument, there is one baptism.

If there is one Lord, and if there is one God and Father of all, by the rules of language there is but one baptism.

Baptism among the early churches was very important.