Life and Death

Romans · Romans 6 · August 9, 2026

Just trying to survive? Jesus came to give you abundant life.

Some days it feels like we’re just surviving: if I can get through today, this paycheck, this season. But Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Not life barely, but life abundantly.

Leviticus 26 lays out two paths: blessing, peace and God’s presence for those who obey, and terror, defeat and loss for those who reject Him. In a word, life and death. Paul sums it all up in one sentence: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Romans 5 ended with “where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (5:20). So Paul asks, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1–2).

It really is a matter of life and death

1. You’re already dead. All have sinned, and the wages of sin is death. Like the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37, we can feel dried up and disconnected. “You were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins… but God is so rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:1, 4).

2. You’re going to stay dead, on your own. Dead people can’t bring themselves back to life. When God asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” he answered, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know” (Ezekiel 37:3).

3. You can’t earn life. There’s always more money to be made, but you can’t earn more life. “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:9). “He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:5).

4. You can only receive life. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying” (John 11:25). A gift has to be accepted. “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16).

5. He died so you might live in Him. “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). You don’t have to get your life right first. The church is a hospital for the broken, not a country club for the perfect.

6. You have to die so He can live in you. “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). Baptism pictures this: buried with Christ and raised to new life (Romans 6:3–4; Colossians 2:12). And it’s a daily choice. Paul said, “I die every day” (1 Corinthians 15:31). You either die in sin and miss abundant life, or die to sin and receive it.

Scripture references

Romans 6 · John 10:9–10 · Leviticus 26:3–25 · Romans 5:20–21 · Romans 3:23 · Ezekiel 37:1–14 · Ephesians 2:1–10 · Ecclesiastes 9:5–6 · Matthew 8:21–22 · Titus 3:4–5 · Galatians 2:16 · John 10:28 · John 11:25 · John 3:16 · Romans 5:8 · Colossians 2:12–14 · 1 Corinthians 15:31

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• Strong Like Jesus
• Whose Are You?
• When the Wrong Person is in Charge
• Three Commands for Christians
• Does God reject me?
• Important Conversations
• The Heart of a Jesus Follower
• God's Kids
• Rescue Me
• Peace to Change Your World
• Applying What You Need
• Three Words to Change Your Life
• No Excuses
• The Man, The Motive, The Message

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