Sermon Tone Analysis

*Baptism of Grace*

*Romans 6:1-14             October 12, 2003*

* *

*Introduction:*

 

Romans 5:20-21 tells us that grace is the immeasurable quality at the pinnacle of the gospel.

What is a definition of grace?

It is God's blessing, it is God’s covering of good will, upon those who have received his Son, Jesus Christ by faith.

By that faith we are assured before God, but it is God's grace that keeps us.

Like God's promise to Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you."

When we bless God by having faith in Christ, it is his grace that blesses us by keeping us there in spite of our continuing sin condition.

We could say that the gift of God's grace may be the most difficult thing to understand about the gospel, and yet the fullest understanding of the gospel can only come in the context of grace.

We must come to an understanding of grace against the background of sin, death, and law as opposed to the foreground of God's gift to us of Christ and all that we have in him in light of God's eternal purpose.

God's gift of grace is the gift that keeps on giving.

The gift of grace is God himself.

Grace is secure, but how secure is our response to it?

Romans 6:1-14 deals with sin as a continuing threat to our assurance of grace.

We all continue to be impacted by the events of Sept. 11, 2001 as the full horror of what happened continues to be revealed.

We have come to understand just how vulnerable we are as a nation.

The newspapers continue to report how we must reassess our security if we are to be assured of safety against terrorists (i.e., continued airport security breaches, difficulties establishing the Dept. of Homeland Security, leaks in the military and even the White House).

We are needlessly vulnerable when we already have the means for success.

How about the tiger trainer who was recently mauled by an animal he grew to trust when he was giving a show in Los Vegas?

Sin is like that white tiger.

We need to get our act together.

Not that sin is a threat to our security with God (for we all sin – 1John 1:8), but that sin is a threat to what the gift of God's grace must accomplish in our lives – and that is sanctification.

But without sanctification in place as a continuing process of grace, we may end up feeling insecure.

So Paul argues in Romans 6:1-14 about sin as a threat to the process of grace; not to grace itself, but to what grace is to accomplish, and that is sanctification.

What is sanctification?

It is being made holy; being set apart unto God by grace.

You have heard of Charles Colson's "Freedom Under Fire."

Here now is "grace under fire."

Indeed, how we handle God's gift of grace will affect our freedom.

*Big Question:*

 

 

\\                                                                   

                                                                     (But where sin increased,)

Grace                    Sin              Romans 5:20 (grace increased all the more.)

/How does the power of grace overcome sin?/

 

*I.

Cycle One*

 

*          A.

Narrative *(vv.

1-4)

 

*          B.

Implication*

 

Grace overcomes sin by giving us a new perspective on death.

*          C.

Illustration*

 

Galvanized.

*          D.

Application*

 

*II.

Cycle Two*

 

*          A.

Narrative *(vv.

5-7)

 

*          B.

Implication*

 

Grace overcomes sin by giving us a new perspective on life.

*          C.

Illustration*

 

Victoria’s butterflies.

*          D.

Application*

 

*III.

Cycle Three*

 

*          A.

Narrative *(vv.

8-10)

 

*          B.

Implication*

 

Grace overcomes sin by giving us a new perspective on God.

 

*          C.

Illustration*

 

No double jeopardy; can’t be tried for the same crime twice.

*          D.

Application*

 

*IV.

Cycle Four*

* *

*          A.

Narrative *(vv.

11-14)

 

*          B.

Implication*

 

Grace overcomes sin by giving us a new perspective on ourselves.

*          C.

Illustration*

 

To be given a governor’s pardon from a death sentence or to be found ‘not guilty’ due to new evidence (DNA) and released 10-15 years later.

What sins would you commit for a gift of $10 million?

What sins would you not commit for the gift of your very life?

*          D.

Application*

 

*Conclusion:*

 

*Big Answer:*

/ /

/How does the power of grace overcome sin?/

 

Grace overcomes sin by giving us a new perspective on death.

Grace overcomes sin by giving us a new perspective on life.

Grace overcomes sin by giving us a new perspective on God.

Grace overcomes sin by giving us a new perspective on ourselves.

*Timeless Truth:*

 

Sin is a terrorist attack on God's gift of grace.

The best risk management against the terrorism of sin is to stay under the management of the One who defeated it.

Grace is not freedom to sin, it is freedom in Christ not to sin.

Satan's bullpen vs. Christ's sheepfold – Martin Lloyd-Jones analogy of two typical English fields enclosed by high rock walls (like the English garden at the Botanical Center).

God takes us out of one and puts us in the other.

But we can still hear Satan calling from across the wall.

Out of long habit we sometimes still obey his voice, but we don't have to.

We overcome sin by moving further away from the wall dividing the fields.