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Subject 9 : Romans (Commentaries on the Book of Romans)
[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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