United With Him - Romans 6:1-11 - Sunday, January 11, 2026

What Does Gratitude Look Like? Living Out the Gift of Grace

There's a shocking video that circulated online showing a man pulling a woman back from oncoming traffic, saving her life in a split-second decision. Instead of receiving thanks, he was accused of inappropriate touching and sued. The judge eventually dismissed the case and ordered the woman to compensate him for his trouble. The question posed was simple yet profound: What does gratitude look like?

This jarring story serves as a stark illustration of ingratitude—someone's life was literally saved, yet the response was accusation and bitterness rather than appreciation. It forces us to examine our own hearts: When we've been given an incredible gift, how do we respond?

The Question of Cheap Grace

The Apostle Paul anticipated a troubling question that would echo through the centuries: "Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?" It's a logical question on the surface. If grace is God's free gift that covers our sins, why not sin more to receive more grace? It's like seeing a "free—take one" sign and grabbing the entire box.

Martin Luther faced this same challenge during the Reformation. When he proclaimed that we are saved by grace through faith alone, critics argued this made grace "cheap"—that people needed to earn it, to appreciate its value. But what is grace by its very nature? A gift. Free from God. Free by His love. Free to cover sin.

Paul's response is emphatic: "By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?"

Have You Died?

This brings us to a crucial question: Have you died?

For those baptized into Christ Jesus, the answer is yes. Baptism isn't merely a symbolic ritual or a nice ceremony for babies. It's a death. In Romans 6, Paul makes this crystal clear: "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death."

Martin Luther spoke of the old Adam being drowned and dying with all sins and evil desires. This isn't gentle imagery. It's the picture of that old sinful nature being taken under the water and held there until it stops kicking—drowned and dead.

When we think about baptism, we often use minimal amounts of water. But the symbolism of immersion captures something profound: that old self, with all its rebellion and sin, is being put to death. Completely. Finally.

Throughout Romans 6, Paul hammers this point home repeatedly:

• "We are buried with him by baptism into death"
• "Our old self was crucified with him"
• "The one who has died has been set free from sin"
• "If we have died with Christ..."

Every Good Friday, we should connect to our baptism. On that dark day at Golgotha, through baptism, we are united with Christ in His death. All our sin dies with Him there. We are delivered from all of it because of Him.

The White Covering

At Christian funerals, a large white pall sometimes covers the casket—white cloth adorned with a cross. This connects to the small white cloth given to families at infant baptisms. Both represent the same truth: we are covered with Christ's righteousness.

That white cloth symbolizes Christ's perfect, sinless purity laid upon us through His death. When Jesus was baptized, He told John the Baptist, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Jesus connected His baptism to ours, and everything He did afterward—right up to His last breath—was for us. All our sin died with Him.

But He Didn't Stay Dead

Here's where the story transforms from tragedy to triumph. Christ didn't remain in the tomb.
Think about swimming in deep water—going down six, eight, ten feet. What happens when you surface? You don't calmly emerge. You gasp for air. You breathe deeply.

Or consider someone being resuscitated from drowning. After compressions and rescue breathing, they suddenly spit up water and take that desperate, life-giving breath.
This is the picture of our resurrection life. We spit out the death of our sins. We breathe in the life of Christ.

Romans 6 continues: "We were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."

We are united with Him not only in His death but in His resurrection. We are no longer enslaved to sin. We have been set free. If we have died with Christ, we will also live with Him.

What Does This Mean for Daily Life?

Two questions demand answers: Did you die? And did you rise?

If the answer is yes—if you've been baptized into Christ—then a new person has emerged. But here's the follow-up: Is that new person still rising? Still living?

This is what gratitude looks like: living it. Not just on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights, but day in and day out. Remembering who you are. Remembering what's been done for you. Remembering the enormity of God's gift of grace.

Grace isn't cheap—it cost Jesus everything. The righteousness that covers you, the grace given to you, the faith worked in your heart—all of it is gift.

So how do we say thank you? How do we express gratitude? By living our faith out loud. Week in and week out. Month in and month out.

Romans 6:10-11 puts it perfectly: "For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God."

The Final Question

Do you live your life for yourself, or do you live your life for Christ?

If you're unsure of the difference, ask yourself again: What does gratitude look like?
It's not demanding your own way. It's not treating God's grace as permission to live however you please. It's not being the person who sues their rescuer.

Gratitude looks like a transformed life. It looks like recognizing that death no longer has dominion over you. It looks like walking in newness of life—not perfectly, but genuinely. It looks like living each day remembering that the death Christ died, He died to sin once for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God.

And because we are united with Him in both death and resurrection, we are called to do the same: to live our lives to God, in gratitude for the immeasurable gift we've been given.

(Content generated by PulpitAI from sermon transcript)