20250608 Romans 6:15-19 The Declaration of Non Independence
The Book of Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome to Vertical Church
42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
We began our church with the desire to fulfill the mandate of this verse. To devote ourselves to what the early church was devoted to.
Devoted to the teaching of the word of God
Devoted to genuine Christian relationships and the fulfilling of commandment of Christ to love the household of faith
Devoted to the proclamation of the gospel through the ordinances of believers baptism and communion
Devoted to the prayers through singing and public prayer
The 5 Solas - God alone is our source of Salvation
We believe Scripture alone is the Word of God
We believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
WE believe that live and exist for the glory of God alone
We are called Vertical Church - we believe that all true worship and living is Vertical, God directed and God focused
With that in mind, Let us worship God
Call to Worship - Isaiah 55:1-3, 6-7
1 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. 2 “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight your soul in richness. 3 “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that your soul may live; And I will cut an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful lovingkindnesses of David.
6 Seek Yahweh while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to Yahweh, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Scripture Reading - 2 Timothy 2:24-26
24 And the Lord’s slave must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may give them repentance leading to the full knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
Let’s pray
Introduction: The Declaration of Non Independence Romans 6:15-19
Our scripture reading from 2 Timothy is from one of the pastoral epistles, a letter that Paul has written to a 40 year old pastor named Timothy in the city of Ephesus. Giving Timothy leadership and pastoral advice, in chapter 2 he discusses what it means to be a good minister of Jesus Christ. But before we study Romans 6 I want to draw your attention totwo statements in these verses
24 And the Lord’s slave must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may give them repentance leading to the full knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
The Lord’s slave - not servant, not hired hand but doulos
having been held captive by the devil to do his will.
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 37.3 δοῦλος, η, ον
δοῦλος, η, ον: pertaining to a state of being completely controlled by someone or something—‘subservient to, controlled by.’ ὥσπερ γὰρ παρεστήσατε τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν δοῦλα τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ καὶ τῇ ἀνομίᾳ εἰς τὴν ἀνομίαν ‘for as you presented parts of your body to be subservient to impurity and wickedness for wicked purposes’ Ro 6:19. In some languages it may be useful to render δοῦλος in the context of Ro 6:19 as a simile, ‘like slaves,’ for example, ‘for as you surrendered the parts of your body to be like slaves to obey impurity and wickedness’ or ‘… to be ordered about by impurity and wickedness.’
The reason I mention this is because we are victims of our culture. We take personal freedom for granted.
You live in the the Land of the Free. You've studied the Declaration of Independence. You can go to Burger King and have it your way. You can live anywhere you want and do whatever you want. But spiritually, there's something else happening. And it may explain why you feel trapped even though you think you're free.
Every person in the world is a slave. One may live in a free country with freedom of speech and liberty to pursue happiness. But the fact is, every person is a slave. This slavery is not a political or economic slavery. This slavery is a spiritual bondage, either to sin or to Jesus Christ. No one is free to live however they choose to live. All live in slavery to one of two masters, either to sin or to the Savior. Whose slave are you? - Lawson
The word slave is used 5 times in Romans 6:15-19 - 2 in v16, 1 in v17, 1 in 18, 1 in 19
Paul calls himself a slave of Christ in Romans 1:1 -
Romans Under Grace
To fully grasp Paul’s meaning we have to understand something about indentured servitude. When we think of slaves, we tend to think of the slave trade in the West in more recent centuries—man stealing. We think of slavery as kidnapping young people from Africa, bringing them across the ocean to the auction block, and selling them to other men. In the ancient world slavery was primarily voluntary servitude. When someone had a debt he could not pay, he would offer his services to fulfill the debt. That is the context in which Paul asks, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey?” He is saying that if we present ourselves again to sin as slaves to sin, it will lead to death. If we obey sin as a slave, the only outcome is death, but if we present ourselves as slaves of obedience, the end is righteousness.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you go on presenting yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were given over, 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, leading to further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.
The Lordship of Christ is described in Scripture as a Master and Slave relationship
In Mt 11:28-30
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
While described as easy and light it is still a yoke. It is still a yoke of control and direction.
But make no mistake, you are a slave to sin or you are a slave of Jesus
But this word for “slave” (doulos) is totally different. It represented someone who had no personal freedom to do as he pleased. His entire life was to be given in servitude to his master, who had paid a price to purchase him from another owner. A servant is hired, a slave is owned. A slave had no independence, no self-autonomy, and no personal rights. In fact, a slave was a piece of property that was owned by someone else. When a person was owned as a slave, it meant that he was a possession of his master, bound to obey him. There was no negotiation by a slave with his master regarding what he could decide to do or not do. He was bought and owned by his master, and so there could be no hesitation or argument to obey him. To be a slave meant complete submission and total obedience to a master. - Lawson
7 “But which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? 8 “But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and, clothing yourself properly, serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? 9 “Is he grateful to the slave because he did the things which were commanded? 10 “In this way, you also, when you do all the things which are commanded of you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”
Remember the point of the passage - no person is spiritually free. You are either a slave to sin or a slave of Jesus - come to Jesus and experience the lordship of the one who truly loves you.
(1) Grace does not mean you are free to live for your desires
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!
Sin is the satisfying of a legitimate need in an illegitimate way
More than that, “At the moment you sin, you desire the sin more than you desire to please God.”
(2) Freedom in Christ means freedom to flee and freedom to obey
16 Do you not know that when you go on presenting yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were given over,
Obedience leading to righteousness - we want success, we want friends, we want tangible results in our Christianity. We want blessing.
Paul says our salvation leads to righteousness - right standing before God, a righteousness that He alone can give to us, but also right living, a transformed life
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
You obeyed from the heart - who change your heart?
(3) Freedom from sin does not mean freedom from sinning
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, leading to further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.
Slaves of righteousness - those who are slaves of sin will never desire true righteousness
But slaves of Christ are slaves of righteousness - we say no to the wickedness of the world, we protect unborn life, we uphold the sanctity of biblical marriage
As Paul will write to the Corinthians -
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has a sanctuary of God with idols? For we are a sanctuary of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 17 “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean, And I will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty.
Present your members as slaves to righteousness -
Where does the strength come from?
We were in total bondage in the slave market of sin. We were without hope. But then we were redeemed, we were purchased, our lives were paid for with the life of the sinless Son of God.
But in declaring us free from the slave market of sin and the bondage os Satan, we were not free to simply walk away.
We have a new master, a new owner, one who bought us.
And what does he demand - everything. What does he desire - obedience. When does he want it - now.
What does it cost us - everything
But what do we receive - eternal life
Romans Slaves of Righteousness
Freedom from sin means freedom for righteousness, freedom for eternal life.
Now the God whose affection never cools, whose attentions never wavers, whose arm never relaxes, and whose grace never fails, rescue you from every evil attack and bring you safely to His heavenly kingdom. Amen.
