Intro
Today, we are diving into one of the most powerful truths of the Christian faith: our union with Christ in His death and resurrection. In this passage, Paul reminds us that, as believers, we are dead to sin and alive in Christ.

He is addressing a misunderstanding of God’s grace. Some might argue, if grace increases when sin abounds, shouldn’t we sin even more to magnify God’s grace? Paul’s response is emphatic: by no means!

Why? Because for those who are in Christ, we have died to sin. It no longer defines our identity or controls our actions.

This truth challenges us to examine our lives. Do we treat sin lightly because we know God will forgive us? Or do we live in the freedom Christ has purchased for us, rejecting sin as a master?

Paul uses the language of union with Christ to explain this profound truth. When we placed our faith in Christ, we were united with Him in His death. We have been baptized into Christ’s death and raised to walk in newness of life.

This union is the foundation of Christian identity. We are no longer who we once were. We are in Christ. This is why Scripture refers to our joining with Him in ways of marriage, covenant, union, and new life.

When we are lowered into the water, it represents being buried with Christ. Our old self, enslaved to sin, is crucified with Him.

When we are raised out of the water, it symbolizes being raised with Christ into new life. It signifies that our identity has fundamentally changed: we belong to Christ. This new life is characterized by freedom from sin and the power to live for God.

Just as Noah passed through the waters of judgment and emerged into a new world, and as Israel passed through the Red Sea leaving Egypt behind, so too the believer passes through the waters of baptism, symbolizing a break with the old life of sin and a commitment to walk with God in newness.

Baptism is a visible gospel. When a believer goes under the water, it is a burial. When they rise, it is resurrection. It is a picture of transformation. And it is a call to live out the reality it represents.

Our old self refers to who we were in Adam, our identity as sinners by nature – bound in sin, controlled by selfish desires, and alienated from God. That old self has been crucified. That means the chains and death sentence of sin have been broken and rendered powerless so that we are no longer enslaved.

Do you see yourself as free from sin’s power? Or do you live as though sin still has dominion over you? Paul is not saying we are incapable of sinning, but that we are no longer under sin's rule. Sin is no longer our master or identity.

Here is the call: walk in the newness of life. The resurrection life of Christ is now ours to live by.

As believers, we must actively put to death sinful habits and live in the freedom Christ has given us. The Spirit empowers us to live out the new life we have in Christ. We are no longer enslaved to sin because we live in the power of Christ’s resurrection. Baptism is not just a one-time event; it is a lifelong reminder that we are no longer slaves to sin but children of God, called to live, in freedom, for His glory.

The word consider is an accounting term. It means to reckon, to regard something as true. In other words, live according to the truth of your new identity in Christ. Paul points us to the resurrection of Christ. Jesus conquered death and sin once for all. He now lives eternally, and death no longer has any claim over Him.

Paul uses the language of warfare and allegiance. Don’t offer your body—your hands, eyes, mouth, thoughts—as tools of sin. Instead, offer yourself to God. Why? Because you are no longer under the law, but under grace.

This is not legalism, but liberation. Under the law, sin ruled. But under grace, Christ reigns. Grace not only forgives, it empowers.

Grace is a teacher. Grace leads to holiness. Grace is the power to live different.

To be under law means to live under the weight of trying to earn God’s favor through obedience. In contrast, to be under grace means that we are saved by God’s free gift, through faith in Christ. This grace not only forgives us but also empowers us to live in victory over sin.

While our union with Christ sets us free from the power of sin, we must choose daily to live in that freedom.

We must daily remind ourselves that sin has no power over us because we are alive in Christ.

These behaviors are the result of living under the dominion of sin. They are evidence of a life that is controlled by selfish desires rather than the Spirit of God.

When we walk in the Spirit, these qualities of love, joy, peace, and patience become evident in our lives.