Ok, I know that some of you came to read this post because you believed you'd be reading about doughnuts, didn't you? I admit to some literary subterfuge ... I hope you'll forgive me. In reality, we are studying Romans 6. Not a doughnut. But, Psalm 19:10 says that God's words are "sweeter than honey from the honeycomb". Better than a doughnut!
There are 3 themes in this chapter:
1. Should we practice sin with abandon, because the grace of Jesus Christ covers them all?
2. Should we practice baptism ("dunkin' " in the Baptist church)?
3. Should we enslave ourselves to righteous living? Do we have that choice?
I remember my own baptism, at nine years of age. It was an early August day, hot! My little church had had a revival a few days before, and I had made my profession of faith in Jesus Christ at the end of one of the services. I had decided to follow Jesus. We were baptized in a large, deep creek called Moss's Mill. At one time, in the late 1800s, a grist mill was powered by the waters swiftly flowing there.
Baptists "dunk" their new believers, after they have chosen Jesus Christ. In other words, if you've never witnessed it, they literally submerge them briefly in water. Admittedly, this is intimidating for some new believers. However, it is critically important.
3Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life.
Romans 6:3-4 NET
It is these verses which speak to Baptists about submerging the new believer. Often, and I love this part, the minister speaks words like these as he baptizes: "Buried in the likeness of Christ's death, raised to walk in newness of life!" The first phrase is spoken as the person is dunked, and the second as he or she is brought back up out of the water. In this way, baptism only follows the life-altering decision to choose to follow Jesus Christ, and it serves as a witness to others about Christ's finished work applied to a believer's life.
Oh, but I didn't finish telling you about my own baptism. Things went great until I was walking out of the water to encounter my younger brother. He smarted off with some asinine remark and I responded with a biting, cutting retaliation of my own. Ahhhh, my "flesh" raised its ugly head!
No, after my baptism I did not magically get transformed into a sinless being. Oh, positionally, God sees me as sinless, because He looks at me through the scrim of Jesus's blood. But, in my life walk here on earth, I still battle with sin, daily. All believers do! We are tempted to just give in to temptation and live as our old, fleshly nature dictates. Wouldn't that be easy to do? Paul makes it plain, however, that this is not God's plan for the believer.
15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! 16Do you not know that if you present yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to, 18and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.
Romans 6:15-18 NET
So, it is obvious from this passage that we have a choice as to what we are going to "present ourselves as slaves". Will we fight (and it IS a battle) to present ourselves as slaves to righteous living that glorifies our God? Or, will we present ourselves as slaves to immoral, ungodly living, which leads to a quicker physical death?
If we choose the latter, we are either not truly redeemed, or we will reap the consequences of walking habitually in unrighteousness. For the unbeliever, sin leads to both physical and spiritual death. For the Christian, spiritual death has been taken out of the equation; however, our sins are certainly "death choices" here in the natural world. This is the message of Romans 6:21-23 (NET):
21So what benefit did you then reap from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. 22But now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life. 23For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I'll give you an example. One of my areas of continual temptation is in what I choose to eat. From the moment I awake to the moment I lie down to sleep at night, I fight a sugar addiction. (Full disclosure, I am about 15 pounds overweight for my height.) Now, most of the time I do really well, making good choices. My "witching hour", however, comes after dinner, in the hours before I go to bed. When I am fresh and rested, in the mornings for example, I easily make great food choices. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and occasionally eat some meat. I avoid dairy usually, because I have a dairy allergy.
Oh, but sugar....sugar calls my name. And, after dinner, "it's on like donkey kong", as Si Robertson likes to say. The battle reaches a fever pitch.
Now, this may not sound like a "big thing" to you. But, every believer's "sin pothole" is different. We are all tempted by many things. Whatever our area of strong temptation, we must fight it with all that is in us. Basically, when I choose that sugary treat (or treats), I am not only being disobedient; I am hastening my own physical death. That equates to fewer days here to serve Him. And, for me, it is sin.
Maybe this post was about doughnuts after all.... :)
Father, thank you for the beautiful symbolism you gave us in Christ's baptism, and also for what our own baptism signifies in our lives. When Satan grips us, it is so hard to "walk in newness of life"! Help us, Holy Spirit! Mold us to be slaves to righteousness, to walking ... resplendent! In Jesus' name, amen.
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