This morning we return to first Peter chapter two and the verses we've been studying under the title, the sin slaying work of Christ. And today we'll turn our attention to the second part of verse 24. I'd like to say at the outset that today we're going to talk about every Christian's relationship to sin and righteousness. And I will say from the scripture that Christians are to quit sin. and do righteousness. I'll read scriptures that say things like, how can a Christian live in sin? But we need to understand here and now that when we talk about quitting sin, doing righteousness, we are not speaking of, and the Bible knows nothing of, a Christian living on this earth who never commits any sin. a sinless perfection that would be achieved by a Christian. A Christian, the call to quit sin, or to use biblical terms to mortify sin, which means to kill sin in your life, that call from Scripture, is never understood as something that will be completed in this life. It is an ongoing work. How long will you be battling sin, Christian? Until you breathe your last breath. But so many people who claim to be Christians fight no war against sin. They have no battle over evil. They think they can continue to live in sin and still be okay with God. And we're gonna find today that that is not in keeping with the teachings of the scripture. If you've made your way to 1 Peter 2, we'll once again read verses 21 through 25. Again, remember our focus will be on the last part of verse 24. For you have been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you. leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. for our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For by his wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you are returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. Let us bow and ask God's blessing on our time together in his word. God, we do come before you now asking your special blessing on your word and the preaching of it this morning. We ask that you would draw sinners to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. and that you would by your word and spirit sanctify your people. Increase our aversion to sin, our hatred for sin, and increase our love for righteousness. As Jesus died, remind us that we have died with him. And as Jesus has risen from the dead, remind us this morning, we pray that we are raised with him to walk in a new life. Hide the preacher behind Calvary's cross that we might hear the voice of our dear Savior. It's in Christ's precious and mighty name that we pray these things. Amen. Today, many of us are thinking about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead after he died a substitutionary atoning death on behalf of all who would believe on him. What a wonderful thing to occupy our minds in any time. That's a good thing to think about any time. but especially on the Lord's Day, on the Christian Sabbath, to think about the resurrection of our Savior is a wonderful thing to think about. So I'd like for us to begin there with that thought in our mind, the death and resurrection, the dead and then risen Savior. And as we think about our dead and then risen Savior, I would like to call our attention to verse 24, to the second part. In this text that we have read, Peter, after emphasizing the excellence of Jesus' sinlessness in verse 22, and then extolling His atoning death in verse 24, and died, and then Peter makes this connection. He's spoken about the death of Jesus, but in this phrase, he calls us to remember not only the death of Christ, but the resurrection as well. We read, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. So we see here that Peter explicitly is stating in these verses, Jesus died so that, we might die to sin. And then he intimates Jesus' resurrection and Jesus' resurrection to life in saying, so that we might live unto righteousness. Jesus died so that we might die to sin. Jesus is risen that we might live unto righteousness. and in this tiny phrase here we have the motif of death and resurrection, of death and life. So meaning today our focus on the fact of Jesus' death and resurrection, Are the circumstances surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection? I'd like for us to take just a few minutes this morning to think about the results, or at least a result, of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior. What are the benefits to every believer flowing from the death and resurrection of Jesus? Well, when we choose to look into just one little phrase, we're gonna need something to help us. So in order to preach this text, I'd like to go to another text, and I'm gonna ask you to turn there. This text of Scripture, Romans 6. In this text of Scripture, we read almost the exact same statement and we certainly have the same teaching, but we have more detail. What in 2 Peter, no, 1 Peter 2, that's not 2 Peter, that's 1 Peter 2. In 1 Peter 2, what we have in 11 words, in this short phrase, Paul in Romans 6, spends many more words. But I would call your attention first to Romans 6, 11, and we read this, likewise, Reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Jesus Christ. See, it's almost the same wording that we read in 1 Peter chapter 2, so that you might be dead to sin, so that you might die to sin and be alive to righteousness. Here, reckon yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. So now that we've made our way to Romans chapter six, we're gonna spend the bulk of our time here unpacking these 11 verses and we will not exhaust them by any stretch. But we're gonna use these verses in Romans to expand and expound what we read in verse 24, that last section of 1 Peter 2. If it seems odd to anyone, that I'm preaching 1 Peter 2, 24 by preaching Romans 6, 1 through 9. Just remember that Scripture's best interpreter is Scripture. So we want to understand something clearer from Scripture, we go to another place where the same thing is taught, and we learn more about it, and we see that here as well. But Peter simply states in brief. Paul, another apostle, states more fully. If you've made your way to Romans 6, I'd like, before we read Romans 6, to think about what has come just prior. What comes before Romans 6? Romans 5. I just want y'all to know I'm really on ball. I got it. Romans 5 is before. Listen, in 1 Peter, when we get to this statement of so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, it follows what immediately comes before is Peter speaking about the death of Jesus, the atonement of Jesus. He himself bore our sins. So when we come to Romans 6, we have the same thing here. Romans 6, just before it in Romans 5, Paul spends much time speaking about the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. By the sin of Adam, death and judgment passed to all who are in Adam by birth. And by the atoning death of Jesus, forgiveness and salvation pass to all who are in Jesus Christ by new birth. So that's what we find in Romans 5. Romans 5 teaches us that sin has been forgiven through the death of Jesus. Sin is defeated. Sin no longer reigns for the sinner who has placed faith in Jesus Christ. Rather than judgment, the grace of God through Jesus Christ reigns. Rather than sin, grace reigns. So as we come to chapter 6, we have this idea of grace canceling the power and the curse of sin and bringing glory to God that magnifies Jesus Christ. Canceling sin brings glory to God. Maybe, Christians, we should continue to sin. Now you're thinking, no, but that's the question that is in our mind as we come to chapter 6, and I know that that's the right question to ask because the Apostle asks the very same question. Does more sin by believers bring more glory to God? Now, we come and find this in Romans 6, beginning in verse 1. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be? How shall we who have died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized Therefore, we have been buried with him through baptism into death, so that as Jesus was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Verse 5, For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his this, that our old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is free from sin. I want to read verse 6 and 7 again. about what Peter said in 2.24, so that we might die to sin. And Paul is just saying the same thing here in more words. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him in order that, or so that, our body of sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. Verse 8, now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again. Death no longer is master over Him, for the death that He died, He died to sin once for all. But the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Now, if Jesus' death is for forgiveness of sin, and for that reason alone, if all that happens in Jesus' death is forgiveness of sin, maybe some of you would be tempted to agree with the statement that Paul brings up in verse one, Should we go on sinning that grace may abound? If all we have there is forgiveness, maybe we'd be tempted to agree with that and say, yes, sin more so that the death of Jesus becomes more significant to us. More forgiveness is received from it by us. But we read in these verses that there's more than only the forgiveness of sin. In the death of Jesus is there forgiveness Amen. Thanks be to God. There is forgiveness of sin, but there's more than forgiveness from the judgment and curse of sin. Our relationship to sin is fundamentally changed. And in these verses, Paul shows us there's more benefit, more blessing than just forgiveness, just release from judgment. that we are freed from the curse and punishment of sin, but there is more. Paul says in verse 2, after this strong negative statement against the idea of Christians continuing in sin, he says, we have died to sin. How shall we who are dead to sin live any longer therein? How shall we who are dead to sin still live in it? We have died to sin. and dying to sin is more than simply escaping the punishment due for our sins. It also means that the power which sin has over us, the power of sin over man passed down from Adam, the power of sin is removed for the Christian. We can overcome sin. Verses three and four here in Romans six explains that in Christ's death, we who have believed in him share in his death. We share, we are partakers in his death. Christ died so that we might die with him. Christ died to sin once for all who are in him. Jesus died to break the chains of bondage which sin held in our lives. Now in verse 3 we read about being baptized into Christ and we need to be careful not to think that baptism, that water baptism is a work or an act by which we are made to be in Christ. We don't think that that baptism is salvific. We don't think baptism saves a person. Water baptism does not save. This term baptized when used here in Romans 6 should be understood in a better way. It should be understood rightly. First of all, we need to know that the literal meaning of the word baptize or baptize here It's not a translation. It's a transliteration. And the literal meaning is to immerse or to dunk. So as Baptists, we dunk, right? That's our mode of Baptism. But the word literally means to dunk. I think about this word when I think about a friend of mine who took a job and that job required two weeks out of the month that he would work in Mexico City. And he did not speak Spanish. Guess what? He does now. And he does now because he was immersed into a Spanish-speaking culture. He was baptized. into that. We use that term, right? We use that term. You start a job, and you immediately are immersed in the hard things in your job, and what do we say? That was baptism by fire. We use that term. And that's what the term means. So if we understand that the word baptized means to immerse, we could read this verse in this way, verse 3, Do you not know that all of us who have been immersed immersed into His death? Because we who believe in Him, we are in Him, we are immersed in Him. We can also understand the use and the reference of baptism here in this place, that baptism is the outward and visible indicator of an inward and invisible truth. Baptism is an outward and visible indicator of an inward and invisible truth. We can't see our faith. You can't see my faith. I can't see your faith. We can't look at one another's soul to say, oh yeah, I see your soul is saved. But I can see your baptism. And your baptism is an outward and public expression of the inward work of God in salvation, in saving you. So baptism is used here to refer to the whole of salvation. Baptism is used to refer to the whole of being saved, and it is seen visibly through baptism. Incidentally, this is why we believe that infants of believers are not proper candidates for baptism because an infant does not express faith in Christ and then seek baptism as a public profession of that faith. Only a person of a reasoning age can receive the Word, exercise repentant faith, and then seek baptism as a sign of salvation. It occurs to me, even now, as we talk about baptism being a sign and a testimony of salvation, that there may be someone here who is believing in Jesus Christ for salvation, and you have not made that public statement through baptism. And I would encourage you by the command of scripture that you ought to be baptized. but I gotta get back to my numbers. So when we are in Christ, when we are baptized into Christ, which is signified, the baptism signifies or testifies to our salvation, we are no longer, no longer do we have to live in sin. from faith is sin." Let that soak in a minute. Whatever is not from faith is sin. Now the person who is not a believer in Jesus Christ, what is sin? Everything. Everything. When we are lost, when we are in our lost estate, everything is sin. We are in bondage. But when we are in Christ, when we are saved, He frees us from that and we no longer have to live in sin. The death and resurrection of Jesus means that in addition to forgiveness from the curse and judgment of sin, we also have freedom from the power of sin. Not only can we live without committing the same old sins, It does not make sense to continue to commit the same old sins. Christians, we share in Christ's death. How can we, who with Christ had died to sin, continue to live in that same old sinful way? That does not make sense. And that's what Paul is saying here in Romans. And this is why in Romans, in this chapter, It speaks of Christians being dead to sin. Crucified to sin. No longer slaves to sin. Freed from sin. And then in Romans 6, Paul says that we should not let sin continue to rule or to reign in our mortal bodies. We have a different relationship to sin. Having died to sin in Christ, Sin no longer has dominion over you, Christian. But if you are in Him, if you are in Christ, then Christ and His righteousness now sits on the throne. You are freed from sin. You are freed from the bondage of sin and you are bound to righteousness. We want to be free. You're a slave to sin or you're a slave to righteousness. And we who are in Christ are free from sin and a slave to righteousness. And this is what Peter said in our text in 1 Peter 2.24. And it's what Paul is teaching here in Romans 6. Reckon yourselves, this is an accounting term. Reckon yourselves to be dead to sin and alive to righteousness. and alive to righteousness and God and the Kingdom of Christ. This is the reality for every Christian because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Christian, it is nonsense. It is beyond imagination. to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ all the while living in sin as though sin reigns in your life. That is nonsense. Christ bore our sin in His body on the cross and He rose from the dead so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For the Christian, repentance of sin is not a one-time event. Repentance, Christian, that's a new way of life. Repentance of sin should be as common in our lives as sin. Obedience to God's law. Obedience to God's law has never been, is not now, and never will be a way to gain eternal life. Obeying God's law is not the way to eternal life. But for those who have eternal life through Jesus Christ, obedience to His law is the way of life. It's the way that we live. Christianity does not ask lost sinners righteousness in order to be saved. That's not Christianity. That may be the misunderstanding that some people have about Christianity. But Christianity does not ask lost sinners to forsake sin and do righteousness in order to be saved. Rather, Christianity means that because a sinner has been saved, because they are partakers in Christ's death and resurrection, We are thereby enabled to forsake sin and to do righteousness. Because of who we are in Christ, it is what we can do. It is our way of life. Remember, as I said at the beginning, as long as we walk this globe, we will not see the complete eradication of sin in our lives. But boy, doesn't that give us something to look forward to in heaven? We come to church, we worship, we lift our voices, we pray, we're earnest, and all the while, we are encumbered with sin. Now, I don't know where you've been this morning, but I've been having to work over in my heart and mind the repentance of sin. Can you imagine what it's like? I don't think we can imagine what it's going to be like to be in heaven, to worship God without the presence of sin. What a day. And there will be no not. What a day that will be. When our salvation is fully and finally consummated in heaven, we will no longer have presence of sin. But here on earth, the Christian is freed from the curse and the judgment of sin, and the Christian is freed from the power of sin. So how, Christians, can we go on sinning in the same old ways when in Christ we are dead to sin? The call for the Christian is to recognize the fact that you have died with Christ. So now reckon yourself dead to sin. We no longer are to live in service to sin. No longer go on sinning. Because Christ is risen victorious over death, hell, and the grave. Victorious over sin. Christian, you live a new resurrected life unto righteousness. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead has freed every Christian. We're not talking about super Christians. We're not just talking about preachers or seminary professors. We're talking about everyone who is in Christ. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead has for every Christian freed us from sin and enabled every believer to forsake sin and to live in righteousness. Now, maybe you've heard of a different kind of religion. Maybe you've heard of a religion which seeks to have eternal life, maybe even eternal life through Jesus Christ, but does not embrace sharing in his death and dying to sin. Friend, that religion is empty and powerless, and it is not the Christian religion of scripture. We live with Christ because we die with Christ. This truth of dying with Christ and being raised with Him is pictured in water baptism of a believer. Just as we are immersed and buried as we are immersed in water. Then just as we have been raised spiritually in Christ, baptism pictures us coming up from the grave to walk in newness of life. And we say that when we baptize believers. And that comes straight here from Romans 6. Christian, your baptism is a reminder for you that you are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. Beloved, you who are here this morning without Christ, it's not enough to know some facts about Jesus that will save you. It's not enough to come to church on Easter Sunday morning. That won't save you. Many people throughout history have known facts about Jesus and have attended church, but have died lost in their sin. You must believe that the facts about Jesus are true, but even that is not enough to save believing that Jesus is God, that He died and rose again from the dead. Those are the things that the scripture tells us the demons believe. They not only believe, the Bible says the demons believe and tremble. They believe, they know the facts and believe them to be true, and they have an emotional response to them. They believe and tremble. But the demons are not saved. To be saved, Hear now the call of Jesus. Hear Him command you to turn from your sin and to come to Him by faith. Obey the gospel call, forsaking everything else. Run to Jesus as your only hope. as the Lord and Master and Savior. Sinner, confess to Jesus Christ now that you are tired of living in service to sin. Isn't it wearisome? Give up fighting and striving against Jesus and come to Him for forgiveness, come to Him to find rest, come to Him to find salvation. As God's dear Son, the Lamb of God has borne the sins of everyone who would believe on Him. He was offered as a perfect, sinless sacrifice for our sin. He Himself bore in His body, He bore our sin on the cross. and there is new life in him. Christians, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. As we do every Lord's Day, the death and resurrection of Christ is the focus, it's the main thing for us. But we dare not pretend that if we are in him, we can still live any longer in sin. May it never be. How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer in it? God, we call on you, standing in need for the grace of repentance. God, we cannot even repent without your help. So God, we call on you, asking earnestly that you increase our faith. Increase our faith. increase our love for you and your righteousness. Help us. Help us as we are reminded of the scriptures to know the truth, that if we seek first your kingdom and your righteousness, that all the other things that we pursue will be added. And our solitary pursuit thing is to be after you and your righteousness. Help us, help us. God, where we are harboring sin, some of us for, some of us for too long, longer than we'd like to admit. Harboring sin, snuggled up with it to become comfortable. God, forgive us. Remind us of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. God, we pray that you would save souls. God, that work of the Spirit that our Savior described as being like the wind, We don't know where it comes from or where it goes, but we see the effects of it. God, we pray for that work for lost souls. And we ask all these things for your glory.