Intro: This morning, I would like to examine some of what happened at the cross of Christ 2,000 years ago. Paul established that at the cross, Christ died in our place, the death that we deserve as a penalty for our sins. That includes enduring the full wrath of God, which we deserve. So, it is rightly said that Christ died for our sins. Three days later, on a Sunday morning, Christ was resurrected in the power of the Holy Spirit to new life.
In Romans 6, Paul used baptism to illustrate what ought to happen in the life of a believer the moment we repent and trust Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. We identify with Christ in His death and resurrection in that He died for our sins, and we die to our sin. Then, we are raised in the new life of Christ, free to obey Him lovingly.
Paul wants to explain the relationship of a born-again Christian to the law now that they have been born again. Likewise, he intends to describe the relationship of a new believer to Christ.