Romans 6:15-23
Notes
Transcript
Church I know it sounds like we have been saying the same thing over and over again
Paul is saying it
Not me
If you take issue with it then talk to Paul about it
Believe you me it has been a bit of a struggle to read through this and go wait a minute we just talked about it
We literally just last week read this and preached this message
It would seem
But Paul wrote it and there is a purpose in Paul writing and explaining in such detail
Church we need to hear just like the Jews in Rome did
It is just as important to them as it is to us
See We live under grace
Because of Christ we no longer live to the law
God is not sitting in heaven to see if you follow some list of rules
God is sitting up in Heaven to see if you will repent of your sin and trust in Jesus
If you will chose to live in Gods grace
And church because we have been saved
Only if you have repented of your sin and trusted Jesus
See I don’t want to stand up here and say because you have been saved and church you may be here today and not be saved
That is between you and Jesus
But if you have been saved and only because you are saved
You are free from the condemnation of sin
Essentially you are free from the eternal consequences
Please hear me I did not say you are free from the consequences of sin but you are free from the eternal consequences of sin
So Paul asks this question knowing full well the answer
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!
Just because as Paul has said you are no longer a slave to sin
You are no longer under the law
You are no longer have the consequences of sin which is death to deal with
You still cannot live how you want
Because as we have seen else where in scripture
It is of no use to you Paul is going to say
Just because you are a believer in Christ and a child of God
You don’t get to continue to sin and live how you want
And church if that wasn’t so obvious like I know it is
Paul wants to reenforce that idea in a way that makes sense to us
If vs 15 was the question then 16 is the answer to that question
16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
Who ever you obey is who you follow
Paul is saying that whoever you obey is who you are a slave to
Not the slave term that you and I are familiar with but the servant
Paul is saying that because of Christ you have a choice on who you obey
So let e ask the question church
What does your actions say about where your heart is
We as christians like to talk a good and big talk
We like to say following after Jesus is our number one priority
We like to say reading our Bible and praying is important
Church we like to say we desire to see lost people come to know Christ
What does your actions in the last week say about that
Paul is saying that who you choose to obey either the world or Christ is who you become a servant to
Either sin or Christ
That before Christ you did not have a choice you were already slaves to sin
And now because of Christ you have been set free
With that in mind church your choices today have an impact
That if you go about living your life after you have come to Christ how you want to live
You are willingly entering into sin and choosing to be a slave to sin
But because of Christ you have a choice this morning
You can be obedient to righteousness and Christ
You can flee sin
You can walk with Christ
You can grow in your Bible Reading
You can grow in your prayer life
You can be set on fire for the lost people and share Jesus with those around
Church it is saying I want to be obedient to Christ and then as Nike has said it
Just Do IT
In doing so God continues to make you and sanctify you as you walk with Him
He continues to make you Holy on this side of Heaven as you walk with Him
Church I believe Paul was urging and pleading with the Jews in Rome to follow Christ
To choose to life for Christ and walk with Christ
This morning I believe that is the message to us
Flee sin and walk with Christ
Choose Jesus over this world
17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
Paul is telling the Jews in Rome that because of Christ and His teaching
That they heard and started to follow
They were freed from being enslaved to sin
Paul goes on to explain why he is using this language
It was something they understood in that time period
When we talk slave and freedom now we immediately think of Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Emancipation Proclamation, Civil Rights Act 1965, Maybe even Brown v Board of Education
For Pauls time they understood slave not to be so much forced labor but I am a paid servant because I have debts
People willing went and enslaved themselves to have a better life in Pauls time
And when they debts were paid they could be freed from their enslavement
Which makes complete sense when you understand that before Christ you had no choice you were a slave to sin
You were addicted and there was no help for that
Christ Came and broke the chains of addiction
Broke the cycle of sin
Paid your debt so you no longer had to be a slave to sin
You are Free
If Christ did all that
If you truly believe the words of Christ and the Bible
And truly believe that God is who He says He is and has done, is doing, and will do what He says
Then church why
Why would you ever choose to go back
I had breakfast with some Pastor Friends of mine and one of them commented on preaching and how all sermons should have a gospel message in them
Church the Gospel Message is in this heaven this morning
There is Freedom in Christ and no one else
You want to be free from the sin you struggle with then lay it at the foot of the Christ and turn and follow Jesus
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
Before Christ there was no choice on wether to flee sin or not
So the freedom we thought we had before Christ was not really freedom
In essence church before Christ came you were slaves forced servants to sin
And we know that sin always leads to death
But now because of Christ we are free from sin
In the Commentary I am using
Has this to say about these verses
Romans Romans 6:15–23
Paul never says sin is dead. Instead, he tells us to consider ourselves dead to sin (6:11). That’s a huge difference. God does not promise that sin will never reign in me; He exhorts me not to allow it to happen (6:12). This brings us back to the issue of choice.
Paul says the benefit in not allowing sin to reign in your Body is sanctification
The process of being made Holy
The benefit of fleeing sin and walking with Jesus is being a child of God and church it is eternity in Heaven with Jesus
The benefit of choosing Jesus is the fact that we because of Christ have access to the God of the universe through Prayer
Church as I have said this morning
Paul is urging us to flee from the sin and go 100% sold out for Jesus
None of this 90/10
or 80/20
It is all or nothing and this morning Paul has presented you and I with the choice
He has explained that before Christ you had no choice but since Christ has come He defeated death and set you and I free from sin if we will repent of our sin and trust in Jesus
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We have read that before we understand that
Sin separates us from God
After you come to know Christ personally you will go through life and struggle with sin
And so that sin separates you and I as believers from having a fully relationship with Christ
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
If the sin separates you from God
Jesus did something about it
He choose to be obedient to God the father and pay your debt of sin
You are justified with God only through a personal relationship with Christ
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
You need to understand this about sin
It will always lead to death
The benefit of a personal relationship with Jesus in eternal life with God the Father in heaven
Can you just imagine what that will be like someday
I like the book a Romans because Paul just puts it out there
He doesn’t try to get to an emotional place for you to respond he simply presents the case for Christ and walking with Christ and allows you to make the decision
CLOSING
So this morning there is the argument for walking with Christ
There is the case for fleeing from the sin in your life
What will you do with in
The band is going to come up
Maybe you are here today and you are lost
You have never repented and turned from your sin and never trusted Jesus
You can make that decision today to choose Jesus over sin
If you want to do that or are making that decision today would you come forward and tell us
Or maybe you have a relationship with Christ but you are struggling with sin
You are battling
would you come and repent at the altar
Or maybe you are all talk and not much on the inside no follow through on scripture says
Would come forward and spend sometime at the altar
Maybe you need to spend sometime in prayer
Church this is your opportunity to respond to God
The altar is open
