[Chapter 6-1] Introduction to Romans Chapter 6
We must realize the secret of Jesus’ baptism
Do
you know and believe in the secret of the baptism Jesus received from
John? I would like to tell you about this through Romans 6:1-4. “What
shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do
you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through
baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
In
order to understand this Scripture and dig out the truth, we must first
of all comprehend Paul’s faith shown in Galatians 3:27 and have the
same faith as him. He says, “For as many of you as were baptized into
Christ have put on Christ.” What does this Scripture mean? Now we can
understand these words through Matthew 3:13-17.
Paul
asks whether we would continue in sin for we have received the
remission of sins once and for all through believing in God’s
righteousness. Paul’s answer was no, and it is also the answer that
those who truly believe in God’s righteousness should have. This does
not mean that the righteous never sin in the flesh. That is not true.
It
also doesn’t mean that because our sins have been forgiven, we should
plan to sin even more. The righteous have already been baptized into His
death. How shall those who have faith in His righteousness still dwell
in sins? This cannot be true. Paul explains the reason in Galatians 3:27
saying, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on
Christ.”
In
other words, Jesus took over all of our sins with His baptism and died
on the Cross so that those who believed in Him could be “baptized into
Christ” by faith. Therefore, we must possess this kind of faith.
We must possess a faith united with Jesus’ baptism
We
must possess a faith that is united with Jesus’ baptism and His death.
It is said, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on
Christ.” This Scripture means that when Jesus was baptized by John at
the Jordan, He took over all of our sins at once. This also means that
Jesus’ death on the Cross was the atonement of all our sins because He
had taken over all the sins of the world through His baptism.
Understanding and believing in this truth is having the faith united
with our Lord.
We
were separated from God’s righteousness because of our iniquities. Do
you know that Jesus took over all our sins and transgressions when John
baptized Him? Jesus took over all of our sins at once through His
baptism and died on the Cross to pay the wages of the sins. We are the
beings who cannot but commit sins before God all our lives. Therefore,
we must possess faiths united with Christ by laying our foundations of
faith on Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross. We will be united
with Christ only when we believe that Jesus fulfilled God’s
righteousness through His baptism.
Who
obeyed the will of the Father, the fulfillment of His righteousness? It
was Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus fulfilled God’s righteousness all at
once. Jesus could only pay the wages of sin with His death by taking
over all of our sins through the baptism He received from John. If we
want to be united with Christ, we must have faith in His baptism that
took over all our sins once and for all.
We
must unite with our Lord and believe in Him because He became our
eternal Savior through His baptism. The only option left for you now is
whether you accept this truth or not. To be God’s child by believing in
His baptism and bloodshed on the Cross or to be doomed to eternal death
in hell by rejecting the truth is absolutely up to you. Jesus was
baptized so that our sins might be taken away (Matthew 3:13-15).
If
we look at Matthew 3:15, we can find the “for thus” as a means of
fulfilling all of God’s righteousness. The phrase “for thus” is
“hoo’-tos gar” in Greek, which means ‘in this way,’ ‘most fitting,’ or
‘there is no other way besides this,’ stating that His baptism was the
surest way of handing over our sins. This word clarifies that Jesus
irreversibly took the sins of humankind onto Him through the baptism He
received from John.
When
Jesus was baptized, our sins were handed over to Him. We must believe
in the truth in Romans 6:5-11, that Jesus was baptized so that our sins
might be done away with and that He died on the Cross in order to
consequently save mankind.
In
order for you to repay someone, you have to pay back the wages
equivalent to your debt. In the same manner, we must know in what way
and how much our Lord paid the wages in order to do away with our sins.
When
Jesus was baptized He took over all of the sins committed from when we
were born to age 10, and then 10 to 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and
the sins we would commit until our last dying breath. He took over all
our sins through His baptism and paid for the wages. Jesus took over all
of our iniquities at once, committed both consciously and
unconsciously. Jesus was baptized in order to wash away our sins and He
paid for the wages of the sins on the Cross. This is the truth contained
in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and what the Scriptures are
talking about.
We
can see here that most Christians try hard to accept Jesus as their
Savior by establishing and supporting the Doctrine of Sanctification,
because they don’t understand the secret of “the baptism” Paul talked
about. If Jesus had not come to earth and received “the baptism” that
John gave Him, mankind’s sins would have eternally remained. Therefore,
we must not believe in such a false doctrine that teaches that our
hearts and bodies can become sanctified as time goes by.
The
only and eternal truth on this earth is that Jesus was baptized and
took over all of our sins. Belief in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit helps us overcome all the false doctrines and brings victory to
those who believe. Therefore, we have to believe in this truth. Some
Christians go to hell while having not been born again because they have
not united with Jesus’ baptism.
Have
you ever seen an image of a heart pierced with a dagger? It shows the
sacrificial love of God. God loved us so much that He saved us from all
our sins with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. “For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
You
have to accept the love Jesus gave us by being baptized and shedding
all His blood on the Cross. Our hearts have to unite with the
righteousness of God. We must live in union with Jesus. A faithful life
in union with the righteousness of Christ is beautiful. Paul says
decisively in Romans chapter 6 that we have to live by faith in union
with God’s righteousness.
Do
we, like Paul says in Romans 7:25, serve the law of God with our minds,
but the law of sin with our flesh? Do we? Yes, we do. That is why we,
like Paul, always have to have hearts that are united with God’s
righteousness. What happens if we do not unite our hearts with our
Lord’s righteousness? Complete destruction.
Those
who unite with God’s righteousness live lives united with His church.
If you believe in God’s righteousness, you must unite with His church
and His servants. The flesh always tries to serve the law of sin, so we
must live by faith, repeatedly pondering on God’s law of life. If we
keep in mind and ruminate about God’s righteousness everyday, we will be
united with Him. That is why the Bible says that the beasts that chew
the cud are pure (Leviticus 11:2-3).
Unite
with God’s righteousness. Do you feel a new strength soaring or not?
Try uniting with God’s righteousness now! Let’s say you have had united
your heart with Jesus’ baptism. Then, do you still have sin in your
hearts or not? ─We do not.─ Now Jesus Christ has died on the Cross.
Believe this in your heart. Have you also united your heart to this
fact? Then, have we died or not? ─We are dead.─ And has Christ risen
from the dead? ─Yes.─ Then, we have risen from the dead too. When we
unite our hearts with Christ, our sins are washed away; we are dead on
the Cross together with Him and are raised from the dead with Christ.
However,
what happens when we do not unite with Christ? “What are you talking
about? Oh yeah, you are talking about Jesus’ baptism. You mean, in the
Old Testament it was the laying of the hands on the offering, and in the
New Testament it is the baptism Jesus received from John. Maybe that’s
right! But what is so great about this that everyone makes a fuss of
it?”
Those
who only believe in His baptism in theory do not have true faiths, so
they leave Christ in the end. The theoretical faith, like the mere
information students learn in school from teachers, is not enough to
earn God’s righteousness. But there are students who truly respect their
teachers and try to learn the character and leadership of their
teachers. We must not accept God’s words as mere knowledge but embed it
in our hearts, along with His character, love, mercy and righteous
words. We must throw away our desires to learn only the knowledge when
we are taught the word of God.
The
minds of those who are already deeply united with God’s word are
determined to serve the Lord and have good fellowship with Him, and are
not easily moved by situations. They only move with circumspection in
order to achieve the Great Commission. But small things easily affect
those who have not yet united their hearts with Him.
We
must have our faiths united with our Lord’s righteousness. We must not
let our hearts be shaken by the small things of the world. Those who
united their hearts with Christ were baptized into Jesus, died on the
Cross with Him and rose again with Him in order to be saved from all
their sins. We are not people of this secular world therefore we must
believe. We have to unite with His righteousness to please Him, who
called us the servants of His righteousness.
If
you unite with God’s righteousness, your hearts will always be in peace
and filled with joy because the Lord’s power will be ours. We can live
greatly blessed lives because God abundantly endows on us His blessings
and divine power.
Let
your heart unite with God’s righteousness. Then you will be able to
unite with God’s servants, like me, have a strong faith in His word
through mutual fellowship and serve His work vigorously. The Lord has
washed away your sins even though your faith might be as small as a
mustard seed. Stay united with Him, especially with His baptism, even
though you are insufficient.
We
thank God for giving us the faith united with the Lord through the
baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross. We have to unite our hearts
with the Lord from now on until the day we meet our Lord. We are weak
by ourselves so we have to unite. Have you learned the faith to unite
your heart with the righteousness Jesus had fulfilled? Did you acquire
the faith united with Jesus’ baptism? You must now possess the faith
that is united with Jesus’ baptism and bloodshed. Those who do not
possess such faiths will fail in being saved and live unfaithful lives.
Therefore, God’s righteousness is essential to your life.
Uniting
with the Lord brings the blessings of the remission of sins and living
as God’s children through the faith in God’s righteousness. It is my
earnest wish that God’s righteousness becomes your righteousness. Jesus
Christ is the Lord of your faith and God’s righteousness. Believe! And
obtain God’s righteousness. Then, God’s blessings will be with you.
We must not offer God only our devotion
Some
Christians do not believe in God’s righteousness and only praise the
Lord, “♫O, God take what’s mine and make it Thine, ♪My small devotion,
my life, my sacrifice, ♫Although it small, I give my all to You, my
King. ♪I will only live for you my Lord! ♫Oh, the Holy Spirit comes like
fire.” We must not become like such Christians. They come to praise
everyday and continue to lay down their devotions before God, so God
does not have any chance to do anything for them.
Humans
are bothering God by being too devoted. God is tired of our blind
devotions. They urge God to receive their “human” righteousness. They
incessantly cry out to the Lord, “O, God! Accept our devotions!” while
they are cleaning the floor, sweeping the doorway, praying, praising and
even eating. It is tantalizing that most Christians today just tell
Jesus to accept their devotions of the flesh while they do not know
God’s righteousness or believe in it. We must lay aside our devotions
for a while and accept God’s righteousness, which consists of the
baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross.
Our
devotions of the flesh do not have any effect before God. But humans
still ask God to accept their devotions and forgive their sins in
return. It is as foolish as a foul and poor beggar giving all of his
belongings to a billionaire and asking to live in the lordly mansion in
compensation for the worthless and dirty offerings. God does not want us
to boast of our own righteousness. God wants us to have faith by
believing in Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross.
Christianity
is not the kind of religion men created in this world. Christianity is
not like other worldly religions such as Buddhism, which requires one to
continuously pray, bow and purify oneself. We should not have such
faiths; bowing and praying for blessings to the founder of a worldly
religion. We must not give our devotion and request His blessing in
return, but instead, know and accept God’s righteousness because He
wants to give it to us.
We
will receive the remission of sins when we believe in Jesus’ baptism
from John and His bloodshed on the Cross. Jesus was baptized to take
over the sins of the world and died to blot out the sins once and for
all. Therefore, He does not need to repeat his baptism and death.
Hebrews
10:18 states, “Now where there is remission of these, there is no
longer an offering for sin.” Jesus took all of our sins by being
baptized and died once, fulfilling all of God’s righteousness. Now our
faiths in the baptism and blood of Christ have restored our relationship
with God.
Paul
speaks on, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that
you should obey it in its lusts” (Romans 6:12). We will reign with Jesus
Christ, who is our Lord and eternal King of kings. Sin shall not have
dominion over you. The times when sin reigned over us are over. We must
not follow the wicked greed or ambitions of our flesh. We can overcome
all these things competently because God gave us His perfect
righteousness.
Present your heart and body as instruments of God’s righteousness
“And
do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin,
but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Romans 6:13).
Paul
tells of three important axioms for resisting sin. First of all, we
shall not obey our mortal bodies in its lust. We must refuse what our
old selves try to do in lust. Secondly, we must not present our members
as instruments of sin. We must stop our members, which are our
abilities, from being used as instruments of unrighteousness. Thirdly,
we must present our members as instruments of God’s righteousness.
Before
we believed in Jesus, we presented our hands, feet, mouth, and eyes to
sin. We became instruments of sin and followed wherever it led us. But
now, we must decide to restrain from using our members as instruments of
unrighteousness to sin. We must not let sin have dominion over us
without any resistance. When the temptation of sin approaches, we must
declare, “Sin, you have died in Christ.” And we must confess that God is
the Lord of all our existences.
In
a life of faith, we should keep in mind both the things that should be
done and should not be done. We must not present our members to sin, but
present them to God. What we have to do is as important as what we
should not do. If we do not present anything to God, it consequently
means that we are presenting it to sin. For example, if we present our
time to God, we will not have time to present it to sin. We must become
enemies to sin and belong to one family with God.
We
could say by chance, “I do not have the courage to win over sin.”
However Paul tells us in Romans 6:14 that we should not think that way:
“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but
under grace.” If we are still under the dominion of sin, we will
certainly sin again. But if we are under God’s grace, it will hold us
and give us victory. So the Psalms writer prays, “Direct my steps by
Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me” (Psalms 119:133).
As
long as we live on this earth, sin will find its way to us. Even after
we have confessed that we have already died in Christ, sin will try to
topple us down and rule us. If we try to be righteous for ourselves
under the law, we cannot be freed from the dominion of sin. But we have
to bear in mind that we have faith believing in God’s righteousness. So
sin cannot dominate over us. We have to know this, and shout this out.
All
of you must believe in God’s righteousness and confess it with your
mouths. “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). It is truly
important for you to believe in God’s righteousness with your heart and
confess it with your mouth.
Therefore,
whenever sin tries to reign over us─every time anger tries to rule our
minds, every time adulteries and lewdness try to deprave us, greed
enters tempting us to deceive others in order to improve our lives,
hatred and suspicion grows, or envy grips our heart,─we have to shout:
“Jesus has taken all these sins!” We must shout with faith, “Sin! You
cannot rule me. God, with His righteousness, saved me absolutely from
all my sins, destruction, curses and from Satan.”
The
phrase, ‘we live to God’ means we live righteously because of our
faiths in His righteousness. God’s righteousness made those who believed
in Jesus’ baptism and blood, perfect. That is why we died unto sin and
lived to God by the faith in His righteousness. There is nothing as
important as knowing and confessing that we were spiritually resurrected
by believing in God’s righteousness.
Paul
said that where sin abounded, grace abounded much more (Romans 5:20).
Then people misunderstood him and said that one must continue to sin to
win more grace. But Paul refuted them. Things are still pending after
believing in His baptism and blood. The worldly sins will encircle us
and try to take over our hearts.
However,
whenever that happens, we can rely on God’s righteousness and win over
our weaknesses or distrust with faith. We can live as God’s children,
with whom He is well pleased. With such faiths, we were able to die to
sin and live to God. We can live the rest of our lives believing in and
pursuing God’s righteousness, and will live forever in His Kingdom once
we get there.
Romans
6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen. Those who have confessed
Christ as their Savior believe in the power of His baptism and the
effect of the judgment of the Cross. Amen.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
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