 Okay, the recording has started. Okay, so we are continuing on this truth of identification which Paul introduced for us in Romans 75 and he's saying that now in Romans 76 he's getting a little more deeper into this truth of identification. Now this truth is so important. It is what enables us to live victorious over sin. This truth and this truth of identification and Paul will mention that little later. We will see. But now he says, you know we saw in verse two, Romans 6 verse two, he says, but you died to sin. So we use this picture of an alcoholic who's dead and when he's dead he doesn't have any more inclination to die to sin. You know we're just using it in an analogy. Don't take that picture or extrapolate that picture too much. Just a picture in your mind. So when did you and I die to sin? Paul begins to explain for us. Okay, so let's read now verses three to five. Romans chapter six verses three to five. Could somebody read that for us please? 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 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 have become united with him in the likeness of his death certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this. Thank you. Verse five is good. So in these three verses verse three four and five suddenly Paul is telling us something new and he is saying hey I want us to know that we have been baptized. He uses the word verse three used but baptized. The word baptized you know nowadays when the user baptize immediately we all think about what water baptism it is fine and is correct but the word baptized simply means to immerse, to submerge, to put something small into something much bigger, baptize. So he's saying we have been baptized into Christ so the water baptism is symbolic so when a person is submerged in a pool of water what has happened the water overwhelms the person so that person is lost it's submerged and of course it is a symbolic it's a physical expression of the spiritual reality but here he's talking about spiritual reality says look verse three do not know as many of us were baptized into Christ so we have been immersed into Christ. He's not talking about water baptism he's talking about being baptized into Christ not being baptized in water right but being baptized in water is an expression of this reality so there's nothing wrong with that but what I'm trying to say is verse three saying you've been baptized into Christ they've been immersed into Christ we are identified into Christ so he uses two phrases which I want which might help us understand identification in verse three he says we are baptized into Christ or in verse five he says we are united together united together so identification means I'm immersed into Christ I'm united together with him so what happens to him happens to me okay so it says don't you know in verses three four and five he says hey we've been baptized into Christ therefore when he died we died we are baptized into his death verse three verse four we were buried with him when he was buried we were buried we were buried with him and then just as he was raised from the dead just as he was raised from the dead that means when he raised from the dead we also raised from the dead we were resurrected with him so it was three four and five he's saying hey identification we died with him that means you were crucified with him we were buried with him and we were raised with him because we are identified we have been baptized so we are united with Christ so what happened to him happens to us so now remember this is an extension of what he's already shared in Romans 5 you know just as we're identified with Adam whatever happened to Adam happened to the whole human race we're also identified with the last Adam the second man but he's going into detail now he's saying they're identified with his death with his burial with his resurrection and we will see in other place in scripture he talks about being identified with his ascension and also being identified with his exaltation the seating at the right hand of the father so when Christ ascended we ascended and he was raised up we were raised up and when he was seated at the right hand of the father Ephesians 2 says we were seated with him in heavenly places so identification means we're united together with Christ so united with him that what happened to him applies to us and each stage means something real for us today and we're gonna look at it so let me repeat when Christ died you and I died and Christ was buried you and I were buried and Christ was raised you and I were resurrected you and I were resurrected and Christ ascended you and I ascended and Christ was seated you and I were seated with him what does this mean to us in in daily life and you know what how does the truth of identification affect our lives so in verse 6 let's read verses 6 to 8 please Romans after 6 verses 6 to 8 please knowing this that our old man was crucified with him that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves or sin for he who has died has been freed from sin now if we died with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him okay so let's look at verse 6 carefully this is knowing this knowing this so it is something believers should know something you and I should know what does Paul want us to know this is knowing this that our old man was crucified with him so now he's talking about dying with him being crucified with him so when Christ died you and I died and Christ was crucified you and I were crucified but what part of us was crucified he says know this I want you to know that our old man was crucified with Christ what is the old man it's the it's talking about the life the nature of sin that be received from the first man Adam so from Adam be received the sin nature the the predisposition to sin the sinful nature so this are some people call it the Adamic nature so this nature this old man this Adamic nature this nature that made us sinners made us predisposed to the sin and wanted to evil the old man was crucified with Christ it was the old Adamic sinful nature the old man the nature that came from Adam was nailed to the cross put to death crucified means put to death dead so you don't have an old man anymore because the old man was crucified put to death dead killed put an end to when Christ died so what you and I have now is what the Bible refers to as the new man it's the life and the nature of the last Adam the second man Jesus Christ we don't have what came to us from the first Adam which is the old man we have what God has given to us from the second man then which Bible calls as the new man the life and the nature of God so it says the old man going back to war six the old man was crucified with him and what's the outcome of that says that the body of sin might be done away with or destroyed or disposed of the word body of sin what is that the word body is used in the New Testament in many different ways you know we talk about the body of Christ we talk about the human body but here the body means the sum totality of sin the full measure the body the sum totality of sin the body of sin the power of sin was done away with destroyed gotten rid of and therefore the result is that we should no longer be slaves of sin a man so to be died to die with Christ means it's the end of the old man it's a destroying of the power of sin and it's setting us free from the dominion of sin there are no longer slaves of sin that means there is no sin that can control you and me and Paul will repeat that many times there's no sin it can control you and me because the old man is crucified the power of sin has been broken I mean no longer slaves of sin you're dead that's why he said you're dead the old man is dead the body of sin is done away with the power of sin is done away with so we don't have to be slaves of sin and he repeats in verse 7 he who has died has been freed from sin so you and I are free from sin freed from sin he who is dead is freed from sin is that clear is verse 6 and 7 clear what part of us died when Christ died we died with him and therefore we are free from sin and so he says verse 8 8 and 9 he goes on you know when Christ died if he died with Christ we will also live with him so it's not the end of everything he died but we're also going to be raised up he's going to take us through he also raised up with Christ and verse 9 so when Christ died around the Christ when he's raised from the dead death has no more dominion over him right so when he's raised up from the dead everything of the past has no more dominion over him okay now let's look at the rest of the sequence so we were crucified with Christ but we were also buried with Christ we he mentioned that for us here in verse 4 we were buried with him so what does it mean to be buried with him what does it mean now you just imagine if a man who was living on the earth let's say he got himself into a lot of debt he had huge debt let's say he had a lot of charges against him maybe committed a lot of crimes a lot of charges against him let's say you know all these things are held against him now this imagine this man dies and he's put into the grave he's buried he's dead and buried what does that mean it means nothing of earth life has any more claim on him nothing this man's buried nothing of the earth life has any claim on him he's not gonna wake up on the other side and they say hello you owe us so much money or hey yeah all these charges against you no the old is gone so being buried with Christ symbolizes the end of the old life the end of the claim of the old life on us the old has gone gone no more claim or you and me because we've about it but Jesus and Jesus was was buried you and I were buried with him so in the spiritual spiritually right you're saying nothing of the old which is darkness nothing of the past life has any claim on you because you are a new creation because you are in Christ you've moved from Adam to Christ and when you're in Christ you're buried with him the old life is ended finished no more claim on you spiritually and then he also says we are we were raised with him we were raised with him so we also will be living with him we are raised with him so resurrection we are raised with him resurrected with Christ resurrection means it says that in end of words for we walk in newness of life so resurrection means you're coming up alive but you're coming up alive in a different realm and in a new life we have resurrected we have resurrected not into the old we resurrected into the new so we are resurrected with Christ telling us that we have stepped into the new crucified the power of sin is broken buried the power of the old life ends resurrection a new life begins it's very interesting here in a newness of life where it's for that the word life is Zoe Zoe means the life of God you're walking in the newness of Zoe what is this new life about it's the God life it's a God kind of life it's the Zoe life so we are crucified we are buried we are resurrected each has significance for us I'm repeating crucified the power of sin is broken buried the power of the old ends resurrection he stepped into a new life we are living in the Zoe life of God the God kind of life and the scriptures also tell us you know and and and you can look at it it's in your notes in the Colossians chapter 3 verse 1 and also yeah Colossians 3 verse 1 it says if you then were raised with Christ Colossians chapter 3 verse 1 if you were raised with Christ so talking about us being lifted up or when Christ ascended be ascended right and and the same thing is repeated for in Ephesians 2 Ephesians 2 6 right it says here he raised us up together Ephesians 2 verse 6 he raised us up together and made us together in the heavenly places in Christ so when Christ ascended you and I ascended when Christ was seated you and I were seated so what does that mean ascend we were taken out of this present evil age that means this evil age can no longer dominate you the influences of this evil age can no longer control you why because you ascended with Christ you were taken out so physically you and I here but spiritually we're taken out we ascended with Christ so this evil age the influences of this evil age them the sin and the degradation the corruption of this evil age cannot dominate us this evil age this world around us is driven by the spirit of disobedience and that cannot control you and me why because we have been taken out we have ascended and then it will be made to sit together that means we're in a place of authority and dominion God could not have could not have put us in a higher place he said sit with me so you and I are in a place of great authority and dominion in the spiritual realm because we're seated together with Christ so to be crucified means the power of sin is broken to be buried means the power of the old ends to be resurrected means we have stepped into a new life a new way of life which is the God kind of life to be ascended means this system of evil has no more influence domination on you because you and I have been taken out to be seated together means we're in a place of great spiritual authority from which we live now this is spiritual reality the spiritual truth just as what happened to Adam affected the whole human race in Christ all of this is true for you and me as believers are you have you followed me till now is everyone together with me on this so far all good Collins okay all right Elisha you with me okay okay all right I trust a lot of your following with me okay I see your comments okay good all right so okay but Isaac belated happy birthday I think yesterday was your birthday was it thank you thank you come thank you yeah all right so uh so this truth of identification is real now how do we live out of this now what do we do with this truth how do we apply this truth our lives okay so Paul is going to help us understand that right so uh let's read um verse 10 to the yeah let's read i'm trying to break it down to smaller pieces um 10 and 11 let's read verses 10 and 11 Romans 6 10 and 11 somebody can read that please Romans chapter 6 verses 10 and 11 the death he died he died to sin once for all but the life he lives he lives to god in the same way count yourselves dead to sin but alive to god in Christ Jesus thank you so so he says today Christ you know Christ has died he's finished the work and he's alive to God so verse 11 likewise in other words just as Christ is alive he lives i mean it's a reality it's truth in the same way likewise just as we acknowledge the resurrection of Christ he's alive likewise you also verse 11 reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin but alive to god in Christ Jesus our lord so he says i want you to i want you to reckon the word reckon means to count as a fact so just as we reckon Christ indeed to be alive there is no ambiguity there is no doubt just as he is alive likewise you reckon yourself to be dead to sin so count it like a fact i am dead to sin so the first step is to reckon or you know some modern versions will say consider consider think about as a fact in the greek that word of reckon is actually an accounting word to reckon is an accounting word which is you know you can imagine if a man or somebody was counting money right they count all the notes and they say okay you know 10 times 10 equals 100 he's reckoned it they were 10 you know whatever 10 notes of each value is 10 and so 10 times 10 hundred and you can count it from top to bottom you can count it from bottom to top it's going to be 100 it's not going to change you've got 10 notes each note value is 10 so it's going to be 100 in other words you don't doubt it it's reckoned to be so it's counted it's established it's settled and Paul says likewise you consider now consider means not just you know casually think about it it means you you take this as a fact just like how an accountant when he has reckoned the amount nobody questions it why he's reckoned it he's counted it once or twice thrice whatever but he said it's 100 it's 100 it's 100 there is no dispute no question so this is likewise reckon no doubt no question no argument you reckon yourself to be dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ so first step what must I do with this truth reckon it accept it as fact this is fact I've counted it as a fact I count it as a fact in my life I am identified with Christ I am crucified buried resurrected ascended seated with him I've reckoned it as a fact no doubts no questions I accept it it's true I'm dead to sin I'm I'm separate from the old I'm walking in the new life I'm separate from the ways of this world I'm seated in a place of authority I reckon it then because I have reckoned or 11 I will do something versus 12 and 13 versus 12 and 13 somebody could read that please Romans 6 12 and 13 therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in its lust 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 the sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace thank you so 12 notice what he says because you reckon it because you counted as fact and say this is truth I mean there's no question about this I accept this as truth I am identified with Christ and I reckon it to be so what will I do he says therefore that means because you have reckoned it therefore what bring your whole body your whole being aligned to this truth says do not let sin reign in your body because this is the truth the truth says sin's been broken sin's power sin's been broken therefore because this is true give sin no place now sin is all around us right there are people around us who are still having the old man who are still yielding to the old man there are still there are still temptations around us and all of us sin is still around us but you as a person something's happened to you you're identified with Christ and you recognize that you were crucified you were buried you resurrected you were ascended and you're seated with Christ you reckon the truth I accepted therefore the sin that's around me I'm giving you no place in me so that's the next step therefore do not let sin reign in your body don't let sin come in and take over because you know the truth and you reckon it to be so you accept it this is truth so don't let sin come in and reign will sin try to of course it'll try to this temptations all around we're living in this physically we're living in this world and sins all around us but do not let sin come in and take control and thirdly he says verse 13 but instead present your members that means your body your life from this earth present your members as instruments and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness but present yourselves to God present yourselves to God that means a whole being is presented to God reckon this truth counter that's true do not let sin come in do not let any of these things that you and I have been separated from come in and establish itself or reign in our body or and third I will not submit myself to the old what I have been separated from but present yourself to God so God all of me is not yours because I know you already separated me from all of this so present yourselves to God and he says here verse 13 as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God that word instrument literally means a weapon weapons so now my being on earth becomes a means of weapon of righteousness that means through me God God's influence is going to be extended I mean weapon of righteousness I'm a weapon against those very things that once controlled you're a weapon of righteousness present to God I'm here for you you've done this for me I counted as a truth I'm not going to let any of this sin the past life have any control on me but Lord I am yours and now I'm your weapon on this earth I'm here to carry out your purposes I'm here to extend your influence on this earth that's how we live because he goes on verse 14 he says because sin will not have dominion over you because you're not under law but you're under grace what does that mean because under law the law told you what to do what not to do but didn't give you any strength but under grace which we have received through the last atom the second man under grace not only do we know what's right and wrong but we're empowered to do it to live in it the law did not give us any strength to live in it grace gives us the strength everything we need to live in it so he says you're under grace and under grace you've got everything you need so sin will not have dominion over you so you know and I just want to point out one more verse which is verse 17 verse 17 we'll just read verse 17 verse somebody could read verse 17 but thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you entrusted and verse 18 too please you have been set free from sin and have become slave to righteousness now look at verses 17 and 18 which we just read he says you were slaves of sin verse 17 verse 18 you have been set free from sin so two contrasting opposite states you were slaves of sin verse 18 you have been set free from sin what made the difference verse 17 you obeyed from the heart the form of teaching that was given to you so think about that Paul is saying you were you were slaves of sin but then you heard this truth this teaching this form of doctrine the king james says and then what happened you became free from sin that word form of doctrine the word form is very interesting word in the greek it means a mold so you know when when we want to make different things whether in plastic or metal just say a metal and you want to shape a metal in a certain way what he does you make a mold then you pour the molten metal or you pour the plastic into the mold and then you let it solidify there and then you get the shape you get the metal that takes the shape of the mold you know it comes out in that particular shape so what Paul is he's using that word the form the mold of doctrine that means the teaching we receive is like the mold it shapes us and in this particular case he's saying you were slaves of sin now you are free from sin what happened you received this form of teaching this truth so this truth that Paul is sharing it's like a mold that takes a person who was once a slave to sin and makes them free from sin so says this teaching and you receive it from with your heart he says you obeyed from the heart this teaching which was a mold which shaped you into people who are free from sin so this truth in Romans chapter six is the truth that every believer needs to know so that we can live free from sin to know that i was crucified with Christ which means the power of sin is broken i was buried with Jesus so that the power of the whole life over me is gone i was resurrected with Jesus now i've been given the god kind of life to live i was raised with Jesus which means i'm taken out of the influences of this world the world cannot dominate the influences of the world cannot dominate me because i've been raised up with Christ and i'm seated with him that means i'm put in a place of the highest authority and dominion and as a believer i reckon this to be so i counted as a truth and i refuse to let any of the old control me even though it's around me sin and the whole life everything's around me i'm gonna let it control me but instead i give myself completely to god to be a weapon of god a weapon of righteousness and when i receive from my heart i obey from my heart this teaching i go from being a slave of sin to being free from sin and becoming becoming a slave verse 18 he says you become a slave of righteousness meaning it's like hey i have no other way to live but righteousness are you all with me so far any questions any questions we are purposely taking it slow i just wanted to soak into our hearts and minds yeah yes master i just had a question uh so is this what uh jesus meant when he said uh that you will know the truth and the truth will set you free is it this freedom from sin that jesus is mentioning um this is one one of you know the many the many things that the word of god sets us free from right so when jesus made those statements in john 8 31 and 32 he was speaking of the truth that if we continue in his word we will know the truth and the truth will set us free right but what jesus was giving us in romans in john 8 31 32 was like okay this was the key to freedom from anything and everything you continue in my word you will know the truth and knowing the truth sets you free here roman 6 is a is one of the specific applications where knowing this truth sets us free from sin and the old life and everything that adam brought us under sets us free from that right but like this you know there could be other other other scenarios where people may need to be set free from fear people may need to be set free from uh other kinds of challenges and then the the same truth same key applies that as you know the truth and the truth will set you free okay thank you thank you buster okay any other questions so far shani go ahead please hi i wanted to make sure when you said that we were seated i'm with christ that means did you say that we have authority is that what you said yes yes so in the spiritual realm we have been placed at the highest possible level of authority god could not have placed us any higher he made us sit together with christ so we are seated on the same throne where christ is sitting that's the level of our dominion and authority now when we minister that is how we must minister we must minister from our place of authority we must minister with that sense of dominion and authority now unfortunately i know our time is running out but let me just say this yes unfortunately many of us feel like you know i'm saying i'm just speaking generally but sometimes believers feel like we are striving for authority that means i need to you know i need to strive for authority no no you're not striving for authority you are in a place of authority and you have to operate from that place of authority to exert that authority over situations or demon powers or things that are happening so remember you're not striving for authority you are exerting authority it's different if you're striving for authority that means you're you're you're you're still trying to get to a place of more authority maybe the authority we have is not enough but that's not the case the case the truth is you are in the place of highest authority then god could ever give you and me because he made us sit together with christ that what we are doing is we're exerting that authority over things here on earth spiritually speaking over things here so we're exerting that and so you're bringing that to bear on situations when you mention to people in your own personal life so it was okay i'm speaking with authority in this situation i'm expecting what i say based on the word of god to come to pass so i'm exerting that authority so that's how we operate okay now let's take a preview we're going to go with this so paul has explained this to us here and and and he you know he continues developing this a little bit further in in chapter seven and eight so i want to just complete that in in next week in chapter seven he he shows the struggle of a man who tries to live with you know tries to live a holy life or live victorious over sin and all of that in his own strength he says that's not possible so then he says he comes to chapter eight which we will jump into next week that says look the key to walking in this truth is the help of the holy spirit so he's given us the truth gives us some practical instructions and then he says depend on the holy spirit and you will walk in this truth so we're going to look at that in chapter eight next week and then we will you know wrap this lesson up on identification okay all right thank you for listening let's close in prayer we've got about two more minutes and we will close i think somebody asked a question is it who asked a question uh or colons does salvation have stages if yes what are they so colin can be can be answered on friday i know we have a class on friday on faith but i will just take a few minutes to answer this question before we get is it okay we'll just answer it on friday and then we will go forward okay can somebody close in prayer we will dismiss please let's close this knowledge with us every moment of our lives that this truth is set as free from every active meant all the power of sin that seeks to dominate our lives in jesus mighty name for that we pray that lord you continue writing us on this word so that we can go to our identity in jesus mighty name we pray amen amen amen thank you thank you everyone i have a quick break and please get ready for your next class i'll see you again everyone on friday god bless enjoy the