Experience of Grace #1 - Union with Christ
Description
In this message from Romans 6:1–14, Dr. Kurt Bjorklund explores how union with Christ changes us at the deepest level—freeing us from sin's power and reshaping our motivations from the inside out. Discover why the Christian life isn't about keeping a list of rules but about being drawn to the heart of a God whose grace transforms how we live.
Message Summary
Have you ever felt like faith in God comes with an invisible scorecard—like God is standing over your shoulder keeping track of every misstep? If so, you're not alone.
Kurt opened the message with a well-known story about a boy who accidentally killed one of his grandfather's ducks with a BB gun. Terrified, he hid the truth—only to have his sister hold it over him for days, using "Remember the duck" as leverage to get her way. When the boy finally confessed, his grandfather simply said, "I know. I saw it out my window. I was wondering how long you were going to let your sister torment you."
Some of us carry a similar picture of God—as if he's waiting to catch us and hold our failures over our heads. But that's not the message of Romans 6. Instead, the apostle Paul raises a provocative question that gets to the heart of what grace really means—and what it changes in us.
The Question That Proves You Understand Grace
In Romans 6:1–2, Paul asks: "What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" His answer is immediate and emphatic: "May it never be."
As Kurt pointed out, if you've ever wondered, "If my sin is forgiven—past, present, and future—by Jesus Christ, why shouldn't I just go ahead and sin?" then you've actually understood the gospel correctly. Paul isn't correcting a misunderstanding. He's addressing a natural question that arises when grace is properly grasped. The answer, though, isn't a permission slip. It's a transformation.
We Have Been Changed
The first reason sin no longer fits the life of a believer is that something fundamental has shifted. Romans 6:3–4 says: "Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
This isn't just religious language. Kurt described it as a change in identity—being united with Christ so deeply that the New Testament uses the phrase "in Christ" or "in him" 160 to 200 times, while the word "Christian" appears only three times. Union with Christ is a better description of who we are than any label we could give ourselves.
And with that new identity comes a new relationship to sin. As Kurt explained, "In the past, Christ died for the penalty of sin; in the present, he eradicates the power of sin; and in the future, he will eradicate the presence of sin." The power of sin no longer holds the same grip.
But what does sin actually look like? Kurt used the image of an iceberg. Above the waterline are the visible actions—lying, stealing, slandering. Below the surface are attitudes like pride, fear, insecurity, and sloth. And at the very bottom is unbelief—a failure to trust in the goodness of God. When we trace our sinful behavior to its root, we often find that we simply don't believe God is good enough to provide what we need.
We Have Choices
Romans 6 marks a turning point in Paul's letter. For the first time, he issues commands. In verses 11–14, believers are told to count themselves dead to sin, not to let sin reign in their mortal bodies, and to offer every part of themselves to God as instruments of righteousness rather than wickedness.
Kurt illustrated this with the story of Joseph in Genesis 39. When Potiphar's wife pursued him, Joseph didn't calculate how close to the line he could get. His response in Genesis 39:9 was immediate: "How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" His resistance wasn't rooted in fear of punishment—it was rooted in a relationship. God had been good to him, and he didn't want to betray that goodness.
Our Choices Have Consequences
Paul closes this section with a powerful line in Romans 6:14: "For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace." Kurt explained that being "under grace" rather than "under law" means the Christian life isn't about checking boxes or meeting the bare minimum. He compared it to marriage: "If your attitude is 'I emptied the dishwasher, I filled up the car with gas—I've done my part,' your marriage will die. It's not about the rules; it's about the heart of the other person."
In the same way, life with God isn't about identifying the floor of acceptable behavior. It's about being drawn to his heart. And when that happens, our motivation shifts from fear to love—not because we have to change, but because we've already been changed.
As Kurt summarized, the question shifts from "What can I get away with?" to "God, how can I orient my life? How can I present myself to you—every thought, every attitude, even the sins of omission—as an instrument of righteousness?"
Two Questions to Consider
Where is unbelief driving your behavior? Think about a pattern of sin—whether an action, an attitude, or something you've been neglecting. What would it look like to trace it below the surface and ask, "What am I failing to trust God with here?"
Are you living under law or under grace? Is your relationship with God shaped by a list of rules you're trying to keep, or by a growing love for the One who has already changed you? What's one area where you could shift from compliance to genuine pursuit of his heart?
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Good morning. Welcome. It’s great to be together and to hear a story of how God has worked in our midst. You heard earlier about the new locations in Mars, Gibson, and the Keene Theater in Beaver Valley, and how God has worked. Last weekend, over 9,000 people in person attended one of our different worship gatherings.
Every weekend now, there are six locations around Pittsburgh with 12 different worship gatherings. There is an incredible opportunity to help people find and follow Jesus Christ—whether you’re in a searching space, questioning whether God has good plans for you, or simply feeling overwhelmed by the demands of life. We come together with the hope that through the music, through relationship, and through the teaching of the Bible, we will be pointed to Christ.
Prayer: God, as we are gathered, we ask that you would speak to each of us. I ask that my words would reflect your Word in content, in tone, and in emphasis. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
The Duck Story
There is a story that has been told for a while. It’s about a girl and her brother who went to visit their grandfather at his house. He had a house with some land, a pond, and some animals he cared for, including a couple of ducks. One day, the girl and brother were out back playing, and the boy had a BB gun. Just for fun, he wanted to see if he could hit one of the ducks. He shot, the BB hit the duck, and the duck died.
He was horrified. His sister was perhaps less so. He said, “Don’t tell Grandpa—I know he’ll be really upset.” She agreed, and they decided they wouldn’t say anything. But from that day on, every time he wanted to do something different from her, she would simply say, “Remember the duck.” At the end of dinner when Grandpa said they both needed to clean up, she would say, “Oh, Billy’s got it.” He’d object, and she’d say, “Remember the duck.” When she got in trouble for something, she would make him take the blame—“Remember the duck.”
After a few days of this, he finally said, “I don’t know what Grandpa will do to me for killing the duck, but it can’t be any worse than what I’m enduring.” So he told his grandpa. And his grandpa said, “I know. I saw it out my window. I was wondering how long you were going to let your sister torment you.”
Introduction to the Series
The reason I tell that story is because some of us have a view of Christian faith that’s a little bit like that—like God has done something for us in the past, and now he stands around saying, “Remember the duck. You better do it right.” This is one of the reasons many people stay away from church. They feel that if they go, they’ll be exhorted to live better and try harder, and it just feels like a burden or a weight.
But if you come to understand what we call the gospel—the message that Jesus does it, that we don’t do it, that we can’t earn it, that it’s all because of Jesus—then you start to ask a different question.
We’re beginning a new series today called The Experience of Grace, looking at Romans 6 through 11. Romans 1 through 5 has been largely about the gift of grace—about justification, God’s work in bringing salvation to people who don’t deserve it. The argument has been that everybody is guilty of sin and nobody can earn their way out before God, but Jesus provides a way. It culminates at the end of chapter five with a beautiful contrast between the first Adam and the second Adam, Jesus Christ, saying everybody is under sin, but anybody can experience the grace of God.
The Question of Grace and Sin (Romans 6:1–2)
When we come to Romans 6:1, we see the opposite side of the “Remember the duck” thinking. Paul writes: “What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” And then he answers with the phrase, “May it never be.”
Perhaps you haven’t asked it quite this way—“If I sin more, I get more grace, so let me sin more.” But if you’ve ever asked, “If my sin is forgiven in the past, present, and future by Jesus Christ, why shouldn’t I just go ahead and sin?”—you’ve asked this question. And if you’ve asked it, it actually means you’ve come to understand grace properly, because Paul is not saying you’ve misunderstood it. He’s saying it’s precisely because you understand it that you might be asking this question.
Paul uses the phrase “may it never be”—repeated often throughout Romans. Some translations say, “God forbid.” It was a way of saying, “What a ghastly thought.” His reaction is to say this is a horrible thought—that because of grace, you can do whatever you want and it has no bearing on your life.
So what I’d like to do today is talk about why, if you’ve experienced the grace of Jesus Christ, you still want to avoid sin in your life.
Before we jump in, let me say this: many of us already feel overwhelmed by the demands of life—work, family, just keeping things together—and we feel like we’re not doing things well enough. To come to church and feel like, “Maybe I’m not doing enough for God,” can feel onerous. But what I want you to hear today isn’t about burden. It’s that God has a better way, and that sin is not so much a list of things we shouldn’t do as it is a disposition that takes us away from the life God has designed for us.
1. We Have Been Changed (Romans 6:2–10)
The first reason we shouldn’t embrace sin just because we’ve embraced grace is that we have been changed. Verses 2 through 10 speak of being baptized into Christ’s death, union with Christ, and dying to sin.
Paul says in verses 2–4: “We are those who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Baptism is a picture of a reality—your old life is washed away, and you are raised to new life. You are not the same. You’ve been changed.
In verse 5, he speaks of union with Christ: “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Union with Christ is a significant theme throughout the New Testament. In fact, the New Testament uses the phrase “in Christ” or “in him” or some derivative 160 to 200 times, depending on how you count. By contrast, the word “Christian” appears only three times. It’s a better picture to say, “I am united with Christ.”
Verses 6–7 say: “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, and that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.” If you’ve come to faith in Jesus Christ, you’ve been changed motivationally. Sin does not have the same power over you that it once had.
There is a helpful way to think about this in terms of time: in the past, Christ died for the penalty of sin; in the present, he eradicates the power of sin; and in the future, he will eradicate the presence of sin. So the power of sin no longer has the same sway over us.
Understanding Sin: The Iceberg
Sin isn’t just a list of dos and don’ts. Sometimes people in a more conservative stream of Christianity focus on sins of personal holiness, while people in a more progressive stream focus on social constructs. But neither fully captures what sin is, especially when we think about God’s good intention for us.
A better picture is an iceberg. At the tip—above the waterline—are sinful actions: the obvious things you can see and name. The Ten Commandments give us such a list. To lie, to steal, to take the Lord’s name in vain—these are actions we know. But below the surface is something much larger: the attitudes behind those actions, and sins of omission that are not as obvious.
Take the eighth commandment: “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). The shallow reading is simply: “If I haven’t taken anything that wasn’t mine, I’m good.” But Scripture reveals many other ways to steal:
• Taking something that isn’t yours
• Borrowing and not returning (Psalm 37:21)
• Misrepresenting reality to gain an advantage (Amos 8:5)
• Withholding something due to another (Titus 2:10)
• Squandering another’s possessions (Luke 16:1)
• Taking credit for another’s work
• Consuming an intangible asset such as a reputation or purity (Proverbs 27:1)
• Keeping for yourself what is due to God (Malachi 3:8)
Some of these may feel like sins of omission—less visible, harder to name. But anytime we do one of these things, there is an underlying reason. Taking credit for someone else’s work—plagiarism—may come from pride (I want people to think I did better than I did) or sloth (it’s easier to keep what I borrowed than to return it). Lying often comes from pride or fear.
At the bottom of the iceberg is often unbelief—a lack of trust in the goodness of God or a failure to believe God is worthy of worship. In a sense, it’s breaking the first commandment, having a god before God. We’re saying, in essence, “The way I need to secure my future is by doing these things.” But if we understand that this is not God saying, “I have a list and I’ll get you,” but rather God saying, “I designed the world, and if fear, pride, and sloth drive you, your life will be more miserable”—we begin to see the picture differently.
The Temptation to Prefer the “Old Me”
Sometimes when we think about being changed, we think like the subject of a Toby Keith song. In “I Like the Old Me Better,” the narrator describes being cleaned up by someone he loves—going to church, drinking less, swearing less—but saying he misses who he used to be: more fun, did whatever he wanted, slept all day and partied all night.
Sometimes that’s how we think about change—as compliance with a set of surface behaviors that we don’t really want. But if you can see the attitudes and the sins of omission, and trace them back to the question of belief, you begin to say, “I’ve been changed motivationally.” And then the question “Should I just sin so that grace may increase?” becomes “That’s not what I want, because I know God is good and loving and wants something better for me.”
2. We Have Choices (Romans 6:11–14)
The second point is that we have choices. This is the first time in the book of Romans that we get commands—imperatives in the original language. In verses 11 through 14, we are told to count ourselves dead to sin, not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies, and not to offer any part of ourselves to sin as an instrument of wickedness. Instead, we are to offer ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness.
Up until now, the argument has been entirely about what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Now Paul turns and says—after asking whether we should sin since grace will increase—three back-to-back imperatives: consider yourself dead to sin; don’t let sin reign in your mortal body; don’t offer your members as instruments of sin, but offer them as instruments of righteousness.
Colossians 3:5 reflects the same thinking: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry… you must also rid yourself of all such things: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” You have been changed, and you have choices.
Take greed, for example. Greed is hard to totally identify—it’s an attitude below the line. When do you cross into envy? You can drive through a nicer neighborhood and think, “That’s a nice house,” without sinning. But when you continually want more, you breed dissatisfaction, a lack of thankfulness, and a lack of contentment. The above-the-line sin is materialism. Matthew 6 tells us not to store up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, but to store up treasure in heaven. When do you cross into materialism? Honestly, I’m not sure. But what I know is: if you reduce this only to not committing the acts, you will miss motivational change. Why do we end up greedy or envious? Because we don’t trust God to provide enough.
Or take slander—speaking against someone who isn’t present, in a way that tears them down. The difference between slander and a prayer request can be surprisingly small. But below slander is insecurity, pride, self-righteousness, and judgment. Why do we do those things? Because instead of believing that God has seen us, justified us, and that we celebrate each person’s journey, we want to compare ourselves and feel better by knocking others down. And it just ultimately hurts us.
Think of it this way: if you were training to be a trapeze artist, there’s a net below. The net is there so when you miss, you fall safely, get back up, and go again. That’s grace. But if you just let go all the time and never try to grab anything—you’ve ceased to be a trapeze artist. You’re not letting grace change you. At its core, that’s saying: “I don’t ultimately believe God is good.”
The Example of Joseph
There is a story in the Old Testament about this. Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery, and while in Egypt he rose to prominence in the household of a man named Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife found Joseph handsome and pursued him daily. One day, she sent everyone away and said, “Now’s the time.” We don’t know every detail of what happened, but in Genesis 39:9 Joseph says: “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”
He left his cloak behind and fled with ruthless resolve. He ended up in jail because of his choice. But notice what was at the heart of his resistance. It wasn’t a careful analysis of where the line was drawn. It was: “How can I do this great evil and sin against God? God has been good to me. Why would I short-circuit the goodness of God in my life?”
3. Our Choices Have Consequences (Romans 6:13–14)
Romans 6:13 says: “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”
The instrument argument is this: when you start down the path of sin, you will end up with more sin and farther from God. But if you offer yourself as an instrument of righteousness, you will see the goodness of God in your life.
The phrase in verse 14—“You are not under the law, but under grace”—can have many interpretations. But here Paul is saying: the more you focus on rules and the less you focus on love and grace, the less you will actually live in a way that pleases God. In chapter 7, Paul will use the analogy of marriage. In marriage, if you only focus on hitting the base rules and not on the heart of the other person, your marriage will die for lack of love. If your attitude is “I emptied the dishwasher, I filled up the car with gas—I’ve done my part,” your marriage will die. It’s not about the rules; it’s about the heart of the other person.
Being under grace rather than law means it’s not about identifying the base actions and checking boxes. It’s about getting to the heart of God. And when you do, your motivation will be love rather than fear. This comes from seeing the beauty of what Jesus Christ has done in bringing about justification.
Application
Richard Lovelace wrote about this years ago. What we need is not simply a focus on sanctification—being set apart to God, the topic of Romans 6, 7, and 8—but rather to let the settledness of our justification, what God has done through Jesus Christ, move us to love. The idea is not: “How do I keep some list?” It’s: “I understand how much God loves me and wants what is good for me, and I want to align my life with him.”
When that happens, the question shifts from “What can I get away with?” to “God, how can I orient my life? How can I present myself to you—every thought, every attitude, even the sins of omission—as an instrument of righteousness? How can I practice love?” First Corinthians 13 makes clear that the call to love is radical: it believes all things. Can I choose to believe the best about someone instead of the worst?
And corporately, our hope is not to reduce God to a set of rules, but to be people in a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ that is winsome to the community—because they see what life lived in grace looks like.
Closing Prayer: God, as we are here today, I ask that you would help each of us—when we ask that simple question, “Why not just go ahead and do what I want since grace exists?”—to be drawn to your heart and be changed motivationally. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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AI Usage Disclaimer: This transcript was generated and edited with the assistance of artificial intelligence. While every effort has been made to accurately represent the spoken message, minor edits have been made for readability, including the removal of filler words and grammatical corrections. The content reflects the message delivered by Dr. Kurt Bjorklund on April 11–12, 2026. For the definitive record of this message, please refer to the official audio or video recording.
