Killing the Old Man (Romans 6:6)

Introduction

I’d like to welcome our visitors again this morning. And as Mike mentioned, our normal preacher, Tony, is out of town preaching, so that means you’re stuck with abnormal preacher. I guess that’s me. But thanks for coming anyway, and we invite you to come back this afternoon at 5 o’clock to hear some more abnormal preaching from Brother Tom. And also invite you to come back again so you can hear some normal preaching from Tony. If you’d like to go ahead and turn there it is, to Romans chapter 6. I’m going to look this morning to begin with at Romans chapter 6 and look at the first seven verses. This is a familiar passage to many of us, where Paul has just made the argument in the beginning of the book that we’re we’re all guilty of sin.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and that we’re all in need of forgiveness and of God’s grace. And so he begins this chapter by countering a potential wrong conclusion we might come to in verse 1. That so, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so the grace we increase? He says, Absolutely not. We’re not to say, oh, we want more of God’s grace, so let’s just keep sinning. That’s that’s absolutely what we do not want to do. Verse 2, may it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him through baptism into his death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life.

For if we’ve become united in him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is free from sin. We often go to this passage, as I mentioned, to understand some things about baptism because it does tell us some very useful things, how we, in effect, reenact what our Lord went through. When we die, we are we are buried with him in baptism, and we are raised in newness of life. So we understand some things about baptism that is a burial, and that we can’t be raised to new life unless we’re buried first.

But that really isn’t Paul’s main point here. He’s he’s answering the argument we talked about how we are no longer to keep walking in the sins that we came out of. and that’s really what we want to talk about today. Let’s focus on putting the old man to death. we can’t we don’t bury the living, but we bury the dead. We have to bury ourselves in baptism, and to do that, we have to first be crucified, and the body of sin must be done away with. So my dad’s visiting with us this morning. If you haven’t met him yet, he’s sitting over where we normally sit. I told him what the sermon title was last night, and he texted back, I’m not volunteering for anything.

So he said, I hope you’re talking about putting away the old man. They said, Yes, you’re right. So that is what I want to talk to you about this morning. Verse 6, particularly, it’s just interesting how Paul is able to say that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be done away. You know, when you consider all the different ways that Jesus could have been put to death, I mean, consider all the times people tried to kill him. we look when in the beginning of his ministry in Nazareth, he’s handed the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue, and he’s he tells him after he completes his reading, Luke 4 21, today the scripture has been f been fulfilled in your hearing.

And he goes on to enrage them so much by the end there in verses 28 through 330, they take him to the cliff, intending to throw him off of it. but Luke tells us he passed through their midst. what we’ve been studying recently in the adult auditorium class there in John 7, verse 1, we mentioned while he was in Galilee, so after these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee, for he was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Yet we find out later he secretly goes to the feast of Booth. But in verse 30, they were seeking to seize him, and no man laid his hand on him because his hour had not yet come. But yet, just a few chapters later, John chapter 8, we see Jesus enraging them once again, saying, Truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.

And they knew exactly what he meant by that. Verse 59, they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. And in John 10, what we just started getting to this morning, at the feast of dedication, once again the Jews pick up stones to stone them at the portico of Solomon, but it says in Luke, or sorry, in John 39, he eluded their grasp. So he had several opportunities to be killed by stoning or even be thrown off a cliff, but yet he ends up being crucified. Verse 6, our old self was crucified with them. So why do you think God picked that? There might be more than one answer to that, and one being, well, that was what was prophesied, but couldn’t God have prophesied whatever he had chosen to be the manner of Jesus’ death.

But maybe part of the reason that is so we can learn something when Paul’s gonna make this statement. When the Holy Spirit through Paul says the old man must be crucified with him. Maybe there’s some similarities in what Jesus experienced in his death.

1. An Agonizing Decision

Similarities to what we have to experience, what we can go through as we change our lives, as we put away the old man. So that’s what we’re going to look at this morning. One, let’s remember some of the things that our Lord went through on our behalf. But two, see what similarities we can find that we also might experience. The first one I want to talk about is how this can be an agonizing decision. If you want, please turn over to Mark. Mark chapter 14. And we’ll be looking at one of the accounts there when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane. Brother Phil Robertson talked about the beginning of the meeting, about the humanity of Jesus, about what how he experienced life as a man, as a human being, and particular, particularly what he experienced leading up to his death.

Let’s start looking at verse 32. When he goes to Gethsemane, verse 3, he says he takes Peter, James, and John and began to be very distressed and troubled. Matthew says he’s grieved and distressed. Verse 34, he tells them, or verse 35 says he fell on the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, it might pass him by. Matthew also says he fell on his face to give us a better idea. Verse 36, look at his prayer. He was saying, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but you will. Luke’s account reminds us that he says in verse 44 of Luke 22, being in agony, he was praying very fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood, falling to the ground.

Jesus experienced this as a man. He knew what needed to be done, but he didn’t want to go through that. We should not assume, as Phil pointed out so well, that though Jesus was God, he knew this was the plan, that he just calmly went forward and said, I’ve got this. I’ve got this. He suffered through it. I mean, look at all the descriptions just in Mark’s account alone. He agonized over. Look at his prayer. He experienced this as we would, as a human would.

But yet he concludes it, not what I will, but you will. So our decision to ultimately submit to the Lord and obey him might similarly be agonizing for us. You know, we may fully understand, we’ll come to understand that we’re going to have to make a change. That we need to repent, that we need to be baptized into his death for the forgiveness of sins, but we may understand there’s going to be some difficult consequences that go with that. We may have to give up some things that we really like. Brother Ed brought up Colossians 3 a few Wednesday nights ago. Colossians 3, 7 and 8, where Paul says, you know, you used to walk in those things, but now you must lay them aside. You have to consider the members of your earthly body dead to them.

And he reminded us how his dentist referring to his bad tooth said, Ed, it’s bad. It has to come out. And our lives might be like that too. There’s some things that have to be taken out. They have to be removed. So we’re going to have to give up some things. Relationships that we have may never be the same. It can affect relationships. Some may even be severed. Family and friends may not understand our decision. Our livelihood could be impacted. As our priorities change, that might affect the way we make our living. Our standing with those around us, maybe at work or at school, just those in the world in general, it might be affected. But none of those difficulties, none of those challenges change what needs to be done.

Doing the right thing is often not doing the easy thing. So let’s turn over to John chapter 12. John chapter 12, I’m going to begin reading at verse 23. Jesus answered them saying, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. And he who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Now my soul has become troubled. And what shall I say?

Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose I have come. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came out of heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. As we talk about what Jesus went through, here we have leading up to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus already knows, and he already says, My soul has become troubled. And it’s interesting, right before that, he mentions verse 25. He who loves his life has to lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life as to life eternal. Following Jesus requires change. And whether or not we grew up among the Lord’s people, as Tony likes to put it, our hearts have to change. There has to be a change to be a disciple of our Lord.

Verse 27, where he says, My soul’s become troubled. Again, he knows why he’s come. For this purpose, I have come to this hour. So Jesus was troubled by what he had to do, but he knew exactly that’s why he came. And so he glorified God. And that’s what his prayer was. Father, glorify your name. And I love the answer from heaven. I have glorified, and I’ll glorify it again. We’ll come back to that. But when we make that hard choice, that hard decision, we glorify God. And we should take comfort and courage in what our Savior has done, the example of his suffering. And knowing that God wants us to succeed, even though this may be a hard decision, God wants us to do the right thing.

Remember in Luke’s account, when Jesus prayed so fervently in the garden, what does Luke say? Then the angel came to minister him, to strengthen him. Again, Jesus experienced that as a man. Do we do we think that we don’t have access to the same comfort from heaven? We know Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3 9 that the Lord is patient towards you. He’s not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. He wants us to make the right decision, even when it’s the hard decision. And then the Hebrew writer encourages even more, encourages us even more. In Hebrews 2 18, speaking of Jesus, for since he himself was tempted in that which he suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

2. Opposition From Kin

We have the help of heaven. God wants us to succeed. God wants us to repent. And Jesus Himself knows what it’s like to have an agonizing decision. And he’s there to aid us and comfort us. So we glorify God when we make the hard choice. Another thing we may experience, and some of you here very merrily have, is opposition from Kim. You know, one sad aspect of what our Lord went through was the opposition that he faced along the way. But by the very people who supposedly knew the law and the prophets, you know, if you had picture what how you would expect, how you have hoped this would have would have played out, is that everyone would have been elated, like, oh, this is this is the Messiah.

This is what’s been we’ve been waiting for. And that’s not exactly what happened. Instead, his own kinsmen, his countrymen opposed him every step of the way, trying to kill him and ultimately putting him to death. So when you consider the night he was betrayed, when he fell, was taken captive by the Jewish leaders there, consider what they put him through. Just, I’m not talking about the Romans, just the Jews themselves. They held a trial at night, a legal trial, a mockery of a trial. They to try to find grounds to accuse him, they brought forth false witnesses that were telling lies. They struck him when he didn’t answer their questions. They mocked him, they spat on him, they beat him. Even Pilate recognized the Jews had delivered him because of envy, which is part of the reason why he was looking for reasons to let him go.

But Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that if they had understood who he was, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. What Jared read for us, the sermon in Acts 13, it says the very same thing in verse 27 that they fulfilled the very prophecies that they read every Sabbath day, they fulfilled them by condemning Jesus. That’s how you would have hoped that would have played out, but that’s not what happened. Well, Jesus knew that he would be dividing families when he came to this earth. Let’s turn over to Matthew. Matthew chapter 10.

But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my father who is in heaven. Do not think I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake will find it.

Again, verse 38, some similar link, similar language to what we’ve already read. He does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me, even though that means putting us at enmity with the rest of our family. By making a stand, even in the face of the opposition of our loved ones, of our kin, we serve God’s purpose and we teach and we glorify him. But the ironic thing is we gain a family like no other. it’s interesting to me, I didn’t realize that until I was getting ready for this, but both Matthew, Mark, and Luke talk about the incident where his brothers, who initially did not believe him, came looking for him. He said, Your mother and your brothers are outside, Jesus, and what does Jesus say?

3. The Shedding of Blood

So, behold, my mother and my brothers. Luke 8 21, he answered and said to them, My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. When we do the right thing, we gain a spiritual family larger than you’ll ever meet in this lifetime on earth. so you’ll get that. And no matter where you go, you’ll you’ll be able to find them. Well, another thing that we might experience that our Lord went through is the shedding of blood. You know, the gospels point out very matter of fact that Jesus was scourged without much explanation, because certainly the first readers of those gospels knew exactly what that was. But sometimes that’s lost on us a little bit. we’re not used to that much violence.

But we forget how terribly brutal that was. So when someone was scourged, usually they would have been stripped down, and their back would have been exposed, or arms raised and secured, maybe tied around a post, and the whip would be taken against them. They had some braided leather thongs, sometimes it would have a metal ball woven into them. And if it did, those balls as they struck the skin would cause deep bruises, contusions, and as they repeatedly hit the skin, they would break it open, split the skin open. Or sometimes those whips would have sharp pieces of metal or bone or rock woven in them. So as the soldiers slapped the metal thongs across the back and drugged them, they would rip the flesh.

And there would be soldiers on either side of many times, alternating blows, one side and the other. And the lacerations would just tear all the way until the skeletal muscles and sometimes the back would be so shredded the spine would even be exposed. The whipping would cover the shoulders, down the back, the buttocks, the back of thighs. Eusebius writes that sometimes the victims’ insides were laid bare and exposed, and that many would die from the flogging alone. Gospels don’t mention those details, but that was what would happen with scourging. So when we understand what scourging was like, and try to picture in your mind’s eye when Jesus was led away from that event, just what he left behind. How much blood would have been there on the pavement where he was scourged.

And if that’s not enough, we’ll talk about his mockery in just a moment, but afterwards, a crown of thorns was woven together and placed on his head. Matthew 27’s account, starting in verse 29, Matthew 27, 29, and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand, and they knelt down before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, king of the Jews. And they spat on him and took their eed and began to beat him on the head. Did you ever catch that? They beat him on the head. What did they just put on his head? This crown of thorns. So as they struck him on the head, they drive the thorns further into his scalp while he’s still wearing it.

We ever have a scalp wound before. They bleed a little bit, don’t they? It’s amazing to think that before Jesus was even led to the cross, the amount of blood he’d probably already shed at that point. In fact, it’s no wonder that he wasn’t even able to bear the weight of his own cross the whole way, that they had to press Simon into service to carry his cross for him. Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12, 3 and 4, the Hebrew writer tells us, for consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted the point of shedding blood and you’re striving against sin. There is a lot that is said there about the how the Lord disciplines those whom he loves.

But this is an interesting statement from the Hebrew writer in verse 4 that if you have not yet, or his audience had not yet resisted the point of shedding blood, and you’re striving against sin, kind of implies that sometimes striving against sin will require the shedding of blood, maybe even literally.

And it needs to be drastic. It’s going to be a drastic change from what we once were. The new man that raises a newness of life cannot be like the old man who has been crucified. It may require us to violently break away from sin. There might be some serious changes. And again, sometimes maybe it’s it’s tempting to think, oh, I’ve grown up among the Lord’s people, so I, you know, I haven’t anything that bad. Well, if we haven’t changed, we haven’t repented. We have to crucify the old man before we can be buried. We don’t bury live people. So there has to be a change of heart, a change in our ways. And Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6, after he listed off all these sins that the Corinthians used to practice verse 11, he says, Such were some of you, but you were washed and you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ in the Spirit of our God.

So when we’re able to break away from those things, change our lives so drastically, we glorify God. Just as Jesus did in submitting to claim.

4. Mockery That Will Bring Up Old Sins

Remember when this occurred, though. This is after the scourging, right? So what happens to all the wounds we just talked about from the scourging. You have the blood soaking up into those robes. You have those wounds adhering to the to the robes. And then what did they do after they were done mocking him? They pulled it back off. So what would that cause? That would rip open partially closed wounds. Raw flesh that had stuck to the garment would be laid bare once again, and he bleed some more.

Mockery that oftentimes will bring up the sins that we used to walk in. it’s going to pick out some old scabs, revisit some old wounds. You used to go out drinking with us. Why don’t you do that now? So now you think this isn’t okay? Are you a hypocrite? You’re no different from us. And no words or hurt. Finished reading a book, and I like the line from it. It says, Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a man who is in the process of changing. So if that’s their definition of hypocrisy, then we’ve all been hypocrites if we’ve changed.

If we’re trying to change that, if we are violently breaking away from what we described, that’s not real hypocrisy. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less. So your willingness to put away those things attacks the conscience of those who were still walking in it. And they’re not going to let that go without comment. Turn over to 1 Timothy 15. Consider the drastic change. I’m sorry, 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. Consider the drastic change that Paul went through. As he calls himself a blasphemer and a violent aggressor, verse 15, he says, It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am the foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate his perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in him for eternal life.

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible to only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Do you ever think Paul had regressed about the things that he did? Ever think he imagined Stephen gazing up into heaven as he held the cloaks of those who were putting him to death? Do you ever think he ran into some of the family members of the families he affected as he was dragging people away?

And he could have let that stop him from doing what God wanted him to do. But consider how the change that he went through testifies that Christ was risen from the dead. What changes someone that much? Seeing Jesus on the road to Damascus, that’s what changed that much. So he glorified God in the change that he made. And your decision to change your life will glorify God. And people are going to notice. And whether they approve or not, God is glorified either way.

5. It's a Slow Death

Which might be one of the very reasons why this illustration is made in Romans 6. It’s a slow death.

The hands were nailed to a cross beam. The cross beam typically would be lifted up and dropped into place on a post, which would usually rip the victim’s arm out of their sockets. Their feet would be nailed to that main support post. And the pain of that, the pain of those nails and their feet taking their weight would be too much. So to take to relieve that pain, the victim would droop down and try to take the weight off of their feet. But that would put him in a position that would be difficult, if not impossible, to breathe. They couldn’t stay there for very long. So what did they do was ride back up, take their weight, shift their weight back up? In Jesus’ case, his raw and bloody back would have been rubbing against the rough wood of the cross as he arrived back up to get a breath.

And when the pain in his feet became unbearable and it needed a break, he’d slide back down on the rough cross. And rub his raw back again. That would continue for hours. And hours until typically the victim was just too exhausted to lift themselves up anymore and they would suffocate. That’s why we read about when the Jews wanted to hasten the death of those crucified with Jesus, let’s break their legs. Tomorrow’s a holy day. We don’t want them on the cross. Because once the legs are broken, they couldn’t continue that process anymore. So it was designed to be a slow and agonizing death. Well, when we put the way the old man, it’s not an overnight process. It’s not an overnight process. It can be a slow and a painful and agonizing death sometimes.

The old man’s not going to go away quietly. Satan’s not going to give us up without a fight. Now, I’m not saying that as an excuse to not changing. That’s that’s the whole argument Paul’s trying to make in Romans 6, right? We put the old man away. We can’t continue in that. verse 10, 11, for the death that he died, Jesus, he died to sin once for all, but the life that he lives, he lives to God. So even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. So when we persevere in that, in putting the old man to death and die with Christ, we glorify God. Paul writes to Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 2, verses 10 through 12.

For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, and with it eternal glory. Verse 11 is a trustworthy statement, for if we die with him, we will also live with them, and if we endure, we will also reign with them. If we deny him, we will also deny us.

Conclusion

So let’s, our final passage this morning. Thank you for your patience for the abnormal preaching, but our final passage in Philippians chapter 3. Let’s read again Paul’s words starting in verse 7. Philippians 3, verse 7. For whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as lost for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I might gain Christ. It may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, in order that I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Whatever we have to give up, whatever violent changes we might have to make in our life, whatever relationships are severed, and however painful that flow process may be, it’s worth it. It’s rubbish. What we have to give up is what Paul says, so that we may attain the resurrection from the dead, as Jesus did before us. If you still have your Bibles open, turn back to John 12 as we wrap up this morning. Whatever it does cost us ultimately, it’s worth it. John 12, let’s look back at verse 27 and 28.

Now my soul’s become troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. That for this purpose I’ve come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. And the voice came out from heaven and said, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Perhaps even thinking the same thing, knowing that you need to make changes in your life, whether you’ve never put on Christ in baptism, or whether you have, and you know that you have not fully put away the old man. You’ve not crucified him completely. Maybe you’re thinking the same thing, save me from this hour. I know what this is really going to take. Well, perhaps it’s for this purpose that you came to this hour, this very hour today. We can glorify God today by choosing to kill the old man, the former self, by choosing to repent, making that choice today.

We can be buried with Christ in baptism. If you haven’t done that, we’re we’re willing to help you or able to help you. You know, God has glorified his name. You keep noticing that word in the passages we looked at glory, glorify. God has done that when he raised Jesus from the dead. And he will glorify also in the way he changes your life, raising you from spiritual death. So our invitation this morning is to help you begin that journey. If you haven’t done that or to help you continue that journey, and we look forward to you helping us as we help each other try to complete the journey together. So if we can be of any assistance to you this morning, please come forward while we stand and sing together.