Romans part VI
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
In the first three chapters of Romans we talked about how we were dead in our sin. Those under the law those who were not, all were accountable for their actions. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Yet, God offers us mercy and forgiveness by grace alone. don’t earn it. It isn’t about working harder. Grace is offered to us freely as a gift and we receive that gift by faith alone. That is what we talked about in chapter 4 with Abraham. He believed in the Promise of God and it was credited to him as righteousness. It is by believing in Jesus Christ alone that we can be born again into God’s family. And in that moment when we first believed, by grace through faith in Christ alone we are made new. Jesus has become to us like a new Adam in that through Him, all have been born again into a new way of living. If I were to use a churchy word to describe those first five chapters of Romans, I would call them “justification”. This term “Justification” is the legal term we use to describe our salvation. According to the ledger our sin debt has been paid. The punishment we deserved has been poured out on Christ and justice has been payed. The wrath of God satisfied by the sacrifice of Jesus our Passover Lamb. Legally, when we stand before God He sees us as innocent. Our sin was taken upon Jesus and His righteousness was placed on us. We are free.
For the next while we are going to be talking about how we use that freedom. If I were to use a churchy word to describe it I would use “Sanctification”. This term “Sanctification” is the process of being made more and more into the image of Christ. As we follow Him, He our teacher, we His disciples, we will learn more about Him and more about how we should live our lives. As we become more and more obedient to the call He has on our lives we begin to look more and more like Jesus. It is a process that doesn’t happen over night but is a product of lifelong faithfulness to God. I had a guy I follow on Instagram say that Justification is Israel being delivered out of Egypt and Sanctification is Israel spending 40 years in the wilderness unlearning all the idolatry and rebellion they had learned while in Egypt.
A third churchy word that I’m sure we will talk about at some point is “Glorification” This is when we step out of this world and stand before God in heaven. When we will no longer sin, no longer be tempted, and we will live with God forever in perfection. To continue the analogy of Israel, that is when we step over the Jordan and into our promised land. No more wandering, just being at home with our God.
So, we have justification (The moment of being born again), Sanctification (The process of following Christ) and Glorification (Eternity of rest and perfection with God).
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 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, 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.
Paul begins this chapter with a rhetorical question. If our sin has been paid for by grace does that mean we can continue to sin? Paul’s answer is a very logical no.
Freedom come’s through death
Paul is quick to point out that in the process of salvation Jesus is not the only one who died. When we put our faith in Him we are dying to our old selves. The Phillip I was before Jesus is dead and the Phillip I am today is alive because the Holy Spirit lives inside me. I was buried with Christ in death so that as Jesus rose again I too might rise with Him. That old self that was in slavery to sin, that was born in darkness, that loved rebellion, that person is dead. We are new creations.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Again, Paul is emphasizing that our old selves have been buried. They are gone. Paul says we have been buried with Christ so that our old selves would be brought to nothing.
When you build a house it is important that you lay a really strong foundation. You need something solid that you can build the house on. To ensure that it doesn’t settle or slide or crumble under the elements. It needs to be built out of durable materials to ensure longevity. But what happens when the foundation is made out of poor materials or was done incorrectly? You have to start completely over and lay a new foundation. Paul is teaching us that in our old lives the foundation we had was broken and needed to be done away with. In bringing us down to nothing Christ is laying for us a firm foundation. Something that we can build a new life on and something we can put our trust in. In doing away with the old self we are being brought into a new life of freedom. And just as Christ rose from the dead we are being raised with Him never to die again. We have been brought into a new identity as new creations by grace through faith in Christ alone.
Freedom gives us a New Identity
How now do we see ourselves?
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
What does it look like to be dead to sin and alive to God? Well Paul tells us
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Being alive to God and dead to sin means that sin is no longer our master, Jesus is. Our hands, our thoughts, habits, hobbies, interests, all of our being should be presented to God for righteousness as opposed to presented to sin for unrighteousness. If you are struggling with an addiction or a habit this should be an encouragement to you rather than a point of guilt and shame. If you feel trapped you can have freedom. Sin is not master over you. Grace has done away with our sin and we are now free to present ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness.
I think that when it comes to temptation it is easy for us to get in this space of telling ourselves, “I have to say no, I have to say no, I have to say no” but grace isn’t about only saying no, but instead we say yes to what God is calling us to.
Freedom is a tool used for God’s Glory not our Comfort
I like to play instruments and something that I have learned about instruments is that some are better for certain situations than others. My primary instrument is guitar and I can play any of the strings I want at any time. As new creations we are like that beautiful guitar. We have freedom to make beautiful music. To play chords that inspire us. I have never once used my guitar to drive in a nail or wash dishes. That’s because my guitar wasn’t created to do that. I could do that if I wanted to but it would damage my guitar. In the same way we are called to live according the purpose of our new selves. We aren’t slaves to sin nor should we present ourselves as instruments for sin to use. We were created to be instruments of righteousness. We have freedom to live for a new purpose, free from condemnation and shame sin causes within us. We are free from sin but we are not free to sin. I am free to say yes to God’s plan for my life and His plan for me is my sanctification and not my self gratification.
Even under a new identity and new purpose, in order to live up to our full potential there is a structure we must conform to. I have to press down certain strings on certain frets to make the chord that I want, and on top of that I have to have all my strings in tune or it won’t sound nice. I have to learn musical theory and practice scales. Those things don’t change the guitar from what it is but it certainly makes the music I play sound better. I am free to make music but I operate within that design. As a Christian I don’t have to serve anyone, I don’t have to go to church, I don’t have to pray, I don’t have to fast, I don’t have to read my Bible. My salvation was a free gift and there is nothing I can do to lose it. However, the mark of true repentance and the mark of God’s grace in our life, the proof of the Holy Spirit working in us is the fruit that we produce. If I refuse to do those things I will be a Spiritually immature, weak and an unstable Christian. Those are important tools that God uses to sanctify us. Walking in step with the Spirit means being obedient to what God is calling you to. It is the natural progression of faith.
Freedom is a tool to develop maturity not immaturity
I do those good things now because it is who I am in Jesus. It is out of a grateful heart because of what Christ has done on my behalf. I do those things because as I experienced freedom I had spiritual mentors in my life that helped me develop wisdom and a sense of responsibility. I learned the importance of counting my days and making the most of my time in glorifying God. I learned how essential my walk with Christ was in my life. I learned first hand just how much damage my sin could cause myself and others. I had people who took me aside when I was acting like an idiot, when I was quick to be offended or felt entitled, when I was being selfish or using my freedom to hurt people. I had people that wanted me to be a grown man and not a grown baby. There are a lot of grown babies out there. People who don’t take accountability for the actions they make in freedom, people that shift blame and refuse to grow. It is so easy to get to that place and I don’t always act the way I should. Sometimes I act like a grown baby, but I want the practice of my life to be one of faithfulness and wisdom. I want to be Spiritually mature so I can better care for those around me. I don’t want my freedom to be a point of spiritual arrogance or superiority but something that I lay down freely if it means reaching people who need Jesus.
in 1 Corinthians Paul talks about how he uses his liberty. There was a concern about whether or not the church should eat food sacrificed to idols. To some it wasn’t a big deal because they knew that the idols aren’t real. They didn’t have a guilty conscience because they loved the Lord and new that He is God over all things and He was the true provider of the food. To them it wasn’t a big deal. To others it was a stumbling block. They saw it as idolatry and an act of pagan worship. They saw it as a sin. The problem came when in their freedom the first group ate causing the second group to stumble and fall into sin. We can’t keep other people from sinning or control what other people think and do. They are accountable for their own actions. Sometimes being a leader, being a mature believer, means laying down your freedoms for the sake of helping others grow. Sometimes our freedom is less about us and more about other people.
Freedom is a tool to be used in the service of others
But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.
He continues in the next chapter talking about how he and Barnabas have funded their own missionary journeys in order to make the Gospel free to the churches despite having the right to get paid for their work.
But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
Everything Paul did was done with intentionality. He was a slave to doing what was right. Everything he did was done for the purpose of loving God and loving others. This took time. I wasn’t good at guitar when I first started. I had to develop that skill. It took hours of practice and hard work. I was not a strong Christian when I first gave my life to Christ. I had to develop that relationship. It has taken years of hard work and discipline to be where I am now and I will continue to put in that work because this is who I am. I am free from my slavery to sin but I have become a slave to what is good. I have been made into a new creation and my purpose is to glorify God in everything I do and minister to the people God has put in my life.
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
As Christians we will never be perfect, not until we stand before God in eternity. We will stumble and fall short. I don’t play every chord right. I miss notes and get off beat. Sometimes my strings are out of tune. When I mess up I don’t just give up on doing it right. I am committed to the process and will continue to practice even if I never get it right. If we have been set free from our slavery to sin then let us pursue a life of sanctification.
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 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? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What kind of fruit are you producing?
I think this is a good question for us to ask ourselves. I think that it is a good gauge of our Spiritual health. Paul tells us that we either serve sin or we serve righteousness. The fruit we produce in sin leads to death. There is no benefit from our sin.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
The fruit we produce by grace makes us unashamed because of the Gospel. The fruit we produce in righteousness leads to life.
But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
What kind of fruit are you producing?
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. These are the fruits sanctification produces in us.
What are the areas of your life that you still give sin a hold over?
How can you use your freedom in Christ to honor God and serve others?
In a sense, Paul is telling us this chapter to stop sinning. We have been set free from sin and we are called to use our freedom to honor God in everything we do. Next week Paul will tell us that it isn’t that simple. That there is something deeper happening beneath the surface. But hold on because Paul is building to something truly beautiful.