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Imagine you are walking a narrow path between two pitfalls.
One the one side is steep ravine with a raging river at the bottom, and on the other side a steep drop filled with jagged rocks.
Your task is to safely navigate between the two dangers.
There are two dangerous paths that God wants believers to avoid.
Paul helps us carefully steer a safe course between the errors of legalism on the one side and licentiousness on the other.
Legalism- earn or maintain God’s favor by means of my ability to keep his law (vv.
14-15).
These kinds of people like to use the necessity of God’s law as a means of force, as a club.
To their eyes the law is mandatory in order to restrain sin in the life of a Christian.
License- presuming on the grace of God in order to live in sin.
Paul’s message is that we have received “freedom from sin, is not freedom to sin.” —Moo (vv.
16-23).
These kinds of people pervert our new freedom in Christ into an excuse for sinning.
How do we steer clear of these two potential dangers?
Several weeks ago we looked at how to avoid the danger of legalism from vv. 14-15.
This morning I want to look at how we avoid the danger of license from vv. 16-23.
In this passage Paul wanted his opponents in Rome to understand that it is impossible for those who are under grace to continue in habitual sin.
Friend, if you are positionally under grace it will be impossible for you continue in habitual sin.
Why is it impossible for those who are under grace to continue in habitual sin?
Paul gives us several reasons why believers, who are now under grace, cannot continue in habitual sin.
Reason #1: Whatever power you habitually offer yourself to reveals your true master
Paul’s opponents throw this charge against him.
OK Paul, if like you say, that the Christian is no longer under the law, is free from all aspects of the law, but now instead the believer is under grace, doesn’t that throw the door wide open for people to live in sin?
This accusation goes all the way back to the great statement that the apostle made in chapter 5.
Romans 5:20 (ESV)
20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Romans 5:21 (ESV)
21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through our union with Christ we have entered into an entirely new position.
Because we are united to Christ we have been taken out of the realm or the rule of sin and out from under the dominion of death.
And instead we have been place into a new realm.
As Christians we have entered into the realm of grace and we are under the dominion of righteousness.
And do you know what your position means?
Wherever sin increased, grace super abounds more and more!
You are now in a position, united with Christ, whereby God can super abound His grace into your life.
The first argument that Paul’s opponents through at him was in first verse of Romans 6.
And we spend quite a bit of time working out Paul’s argument for why believers ought not to continue in sin.
And it mainly dealt with our identification with Jesus Christ.
The fact that we share in all of the benefits of His death, burial, and resurrection make it utterly ridiculous and monstrous to suggest that a Christian should live a life of sin.
Now the opponents arguments shift slightly.
Now the argument is not, “well if were sin abounds grace super abounds, and if grace is a good thing, then shouldn’t we sin to cause grace to abound?”
That was the accusation Paul addressed in vv.
1-14.
Now the opponents shift the argument based off of what the apostle said in v. 14
Well, if we are not under law, but under grace what then is left to restrain the Christian from living in sin?
Because we are no longer under law is there anything left to hold a person back from a life of sin? Wouldn’t that person be free to sin and sin?
And Paul’s answer?
By NO MEANS!
Now in v. 16 Paul begins to dismantle this foolish question.
Don’t you know!
Same way he started his argument back in v. 3
Look at v. 6
and v. 9
Paul is using logic and reason to argue his point.
Don’t you know?
You ought to know this!
What is it that we ought to know?
That if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the on whom you obey.
Present- Place beside, put at someone’s disposal.
To make something available to someone without necessarily involving actual change of ownership.
E.g. of horses
As in the believer’s bodies as an act of spiritual worship
I like the way Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones translated this term best, “to hand yourself over.”
Don’t you know that if you hand yourself over (if you put yourself at someone’s disposal) as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey.
Notice two categories of masters that Paul presents us with.
We have two choices available to us.
Romans 6:16 (ESV)
16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Paul divides ever man, woman, and child into one of two categories.
Notice whatever category you are in you are a slave!
You are either a slave of sin or you are a slave of obedience.
Those are your two options.
No middle ground, no grey area.
Every single person falls into one of these two categories.
Some of you might have a translation that uses “servants” instead of “slaves.”
But the Greek term here, doulos, is the term for slave.
Now NT slaves were different from the slaves we typically think about in the early history of our country.
NT slaves were more like bond-servants.
Most of the time people would willingly enter into slavery in order to pay off a debt.
They could work their way out of slavery and better their position.
It was not the act of body snatching and forced unpaid servitude that we normally think of.
None the less, you didn’t want to be someone’s slave.
Once you entered into the relationship you had to obey the will of your master.
The bigger point Paul is making here is that you are either a slave of sin, or you are under grace, you are a slave in the realm of grace, you are a slave of obedience.
Ironically many people say that they would never trust Jesus Christ as their Lord.
They don’t want anyone or anything to be their lord.
They want to remain free.
Do you see the irony?
Do you see the lie of Satan in that idea?
People who are not under grace, who are still under sin are NOT FREE!
They are slaves!
But instead of being slaves of obedience that leads to righteousness they are slaves of sin that leads to death.
They believe the lie of Satan that they can be free, all the while, they are slaves of sin.
And in the end they end up with death.
Not merely physical death, but eternal death- eternal separation for God in the lake of fire judgement.
They are already enslaved by the most dreaded taskmaster imaginable!
True freedom is from from sin.
But, when a person trusts Christ, when they call upon Him as Lord, they enter into a new position.
They are now under grace and grace makes demands upon them.
They have a new master- obedience!
Being under grace means we are enslaved to not sin that leads to death, but obedience that leads to righteousness.
It is utterly ridiculous and monstrous to suggest even for a moment that there is anything about he Christian faith and the Christian message which should ever lead a man to live a life of sin!
It is true, as Christians we are no longer under law.
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