ROMANS 6A DEAD MEN WALKING

ROMANS 6:1-14
Introduction:   
I came across the phrase this week in my research that I found interesting, “dead man walking“.
I discovered that it was the title of a 1995 movie about a death row inmate.   The movie was based on a book by the same title.  It is a story about a nun and a death row inmate.  I didn’t see the movie.  I understand in my reading that the heart of the story is anti capital punishment. 
I am not getting into those discussions today. 
I also found that statement, Dead Man Walking, is used in some of the death rows in the USA.   
In some of the Death Rows in the USA – when a prisoner is taken to be executed the guard that leads the procession shouts out, “dead man walking”. It means, get out of the way this man is on his way to his execution. Have some respect and stand or give a last word of encouragement for he is about to leave this life.
I know that sounds a little morbid.
I am going to go a little further.
You and I, children of God, are just that.
We are dead men walking.
Let’s talk about that.

I.    Background
We need to look at the last 2 verses of chapter 5 and the first verse of chapter 6 as a background.

A.    But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
The increase of sin brings the increase of grace. 
The addition of the law added to the list of sin and wrong.
Without a speed limit you can go as fast as you want and not be breaking a law and therefore not need the grace of an officer.
So as sin increased it required more grace to forgive it.
Illustration:    I know I told some this story of grace.  Scratching dad’s car trying to take a trailer load of wood to the end of the yard for a sleep out.   I showed it to dad and apologized.  He said to me did you learn a lesson from that.  I said yes.  He said ok that’s good.  My dad was a gracious forgiving man.  Maybe just to me but I won’t ask my siblings about that.  Now once I was legally allowed to drive on the road and not just in the yard if I would have come home with a much bigger scratch on his car he might or he might not have said the same thing. 
Hold on to that thought a moment.
Paul reminds us in verse 21 that sin and death go together.
On the other side grace through righteousness that is ours in Christ Jesus bring eternal life.

B.    Since grace is a good thing shall we purposely cause more grace to abound, or increase.  Verse 1
Back to my illustration about the car.  
Would that have been smart of me to get in the car and head down the road with the idea that dad is a gracious man so if I put a big scratch on the car he will forgive me.
No!  It would not have been smart o put his grace to the test. 
When dad road with me I knew where every curve was before I got there.  There is a curve up there you better slow down.  Oh but dad you are a gracious person let me see just how fast I can go around that big curve ahead. 
The same is true with sin and the grace of God.

C.    This background sets the stage for the concept of dead men walking.

II.    Dead men

A.    Dying to sin
Vs. 2 “By no means, we died to sin.”
Believers died to the power of sin.
We talked Wednesday night about all of us dying in Adam.  
Sin and death came to all of us through the sin of Adam.
We also talked about all of us being able to come alive through the second Adam Christ who shed His blood in penalty for our sin that we might live.
This passage paints a beautiful picture of water baptism,
Paul says all you who were baptized. 
This passage speaks of baptism as a picture of what happened. 
Jesus Christ
Died
Was buried
And he rose again.
He died carrying our sins.
He buried our sins.
He rose again setting us free to live a new life.
So when we accepted Christ we died to sin.
Our water baptism symbolizes that. 
You do not bury a live person.
So in your baptism or at your conversion you said I am a dead man.  I have died to sin.
Not only did we die to sin but we were buried with Him.
We buried the old man and his sin when we were buried with Christ.
II Corinthians 5:17
We come to life a new man. 

B.    Some things that a dead man doesn’t do.
Dead men don’t sin.
Dead men don’t insist on their own way.
Dead men don’t demand their rights.

C.    Paul says to answer your question we died to sin so we can’t live in it any longer.
He says so that the body of sin must be done away with. 
We should be no longer slaves to sin.
You see a dead man can’t sin.
Count yourself dead to sin.
If you are a child of God you are a dead man.
If you are alive in Christ then you had to have died first in order for that to happen.
You can not serve 2 masters.
You can not be alive in sin and alive in Christ all at the same time.

III.    Walking
Now let’s go to the walking part.

A.    We are now alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Verse 11b
We are united with Christ. 
Verse 5
In His death
In His resurrection
Verse 8 says that we will also live with Him.
I have said that we are alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The life that Christ lives He lives to God.
vs. 10b
The same is true, should be true with us.  The life that we live we should live to God. 

B.    We have been brought from death to life.  vs. 13
We are not a dead man in the grave.
We are a dead man walking.
Dead to sin, its penalty, and it’s power.
Alive to Christ and the righteousness that He gives us through His amazing grace.
When I look at you and you look at me we see the same person that we saw before our relationship Christ.
We see the same person that died when we gave our heart to Christ.
But yet we are up and walking.
We are more alive than ever before.
I might look like the same man that died but I am a new man on the inside.
I am a dead man.
But I am walking a new life. 

C.    Verses 13,14 give us a couple of nuts and bolts as to how that might look like.
The dead man walking a new in Christ does not offer parts of his body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.
The dead man walking a new in Christ offers himself to God and the parts of his body as instruments of righteousness.
For sin shall not be your master.

Conclusion:   
I ask you two questions.
Are you a dead man?
Are you walking as a new man in Christ.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.