Who, or What, Owns You?
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A matter of Identity
ILLUST: “part-time” Christian (Mike Goodwin)
Taking a day off
Ever take a day off from being a Christian?
I used to help in LL - several “Christians” there taking the day off, apparently
Stressful day at work, etc.
READ Romans 6
Paul repeats a great deal
“Truth once stated is not readily absorbed”
How Do You Identify?
How Do You Identify?
Paul opens with - You say you are “Christian”
How do you live in sin and call yourself a “little Christ?”
Paul could not comprehend
Label of Christian, living like the world…
The believer does not get to live anyway he/she wants
Sin is not dead to the Christian, but the Christian is dead to sin
(yes, we still sin, while we struggle against doing so…)
1) Identifying with Christ
1) Identifying with Christ
His death and resurrection
Depicted in relation to Baptism
The importance of Jesus’ burial - demonstration of death
The power of His death - sin defeated
…the cross, then tomb, is where Jesus dealt with sin
The importance of Jesus’ resurrection - demonstration of life
…The empty tomb is where we see He dealt with death
The power of His life - never to die again, death, the enemy, defeated
His life points to the offer of new life in Him, for the believer
The MODE of baptism - explained briefly- immersion
V. 5 - “United with Him”
? Likeness of death
Likeness of resurrection
“United with” = “Grown together” - Again, Paul leans on people knowing some teaching of Jesus
See: John 15 - Vine and branches, See John 15:5
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
VV 3 and following
One vine - Jesus
Many branches, all individual, all joined to the vine
Jesus offers freedom - freedom from the slavery of sin, connected to Him
IDENTITY:
We were not on the cross, yet we were
We were not crucified, yet we were, our old self, put to death
Baptism doesn’t accomplish union with Christ
Baptism demonstrates that union
The walk of the believer, the newness of life, that is the evidence of being born again!
2) Dead and Alive
2) Dead and Alive
Dead to sin; Alive and responsive to Christ
Dead to death, Alive to life eternal
Both at the same time- the believer is both dead and alive
Sin has its demands - ONE demand actually - DEATH
So, death fulfills that demand, physically
Whether or not sin takes you down spiritually, as in spiritual death, that’s your decision to make
For the believer - you ARE dead to sin, that “transaction” has already occurred
It has already taken place, for the believer
Christ crucified - has already taken place
Crucial, but not the only gospel component
(RCC, please take Jesus off the cross, His death was followed by His resurrection)
Jesus dealt with sin on the cross
We are buried with him in that death, our old self, buried
And…Jesus’ resurrection was a true physical resurrection
(just as His death was a true physical death)
His resurrection showed the certainty of His life, never again to die
His resurrection opened the possibility of our own literal resurrection, new life
And that new life begins at salvation
AGAIN - REM - “United with” Him = literally “grown together
John 15:5 ““I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
One vine - many branches (all unique, individual, but all connected) - to bear fruit
Connected to Him and His crucifixion
Connected to Him and His resurrection
THE VINE IS ALIVE - SO, TOO, ARE THE CONNECTED BRANCHES
3) You are Owned
3) You are Owned
Step back a moment - you are owned, by someone, or some thing
A slave - Pauls wants to get your attention!
(Describe doulos - willing bondservant or simply owned - context) - show slide
Here - not bondservant, but simply slave
Slaves did not have a choice regarding being owned - they just WERE
Now, Paul presents a “shock value” proposition
All are slaves - not a choice to be one
BUT….you get to choose your ownership
Sin, or Righteousness
A slave has a master - one master
Cannot serve two masters… CANNOT
The commands in 11-14
Consider yourself dead to sin
Consider yourself alive in Christ
Do not let sin reign
Do not present members of your body to sin, waling into temptation, putting yourself in positions to give in to sin
Present yourself to God - put yourself before Him, allowing those same members of your body to practice righteousness!
Elements of the commands here:
1 - If God commands something, then it is efficacious, that is, it will produce the desired outcome
2 - This is to be taken seriously, not frivolously
Also, it is not mechanical, “going through the motions”
3 - Think psychologically - thoughts turn to actions
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
James 1 starts with the same word, “consider” - make the decision
But, on the thoughts-to-action aspect…
But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
Thoughts turn to action
Temptation is not sin, but thoughts that follow temptation determine what occurs next
(See, Paul, in Romans, is continually leaning on other teachings of Jesus and his own - Scripture fits together so well)
POINT - One must truly desire to have freedom from sin, and be considered a slave to righteousness
Willing cooperation with what Jesus did and does, and the Holy Spirit does
REM - Dead and alive
Must put off, AND put on - BOTH
Colossians 3: 5ff and following (GO and READ)
FOR US: So what??
Salvation is essentially a “change in bondage”
Believers, you now have new ownership, Jesus Christ and His righteousness
So why live as though sin is still your master?
OPTIONS - Regarding the matter of obedience
Jesus said that lost sinners are slaves to sin - John 8:34
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
So option 1 is to be obedient to sin
As we saw in Rom 5:12 - righteousness was imputed, applied
So option 2 is to be obedient to Christ
OPTIONS - Regarding the matter of commitment
Q - What are you committed to?
We will commit to things that are important to us
Diet, exercise, marriage, sports, job…
“Say” you are committed to Christ - really?
Slave to Sin or Righteousness - See 6:23 - Romans Road verse
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
THE PAYOFF - the “What’s in it for me?”
Slave to sin? - You will be paid, the wages paid is death, spiritual death, never made alive, never born again
Slave to righteousness? - the payment is the free gift of eternal life
No middle ground - no happy medium, no “fire insurance”
You are free to serve who you want - sin, or Christ?
And you ARE a slave to one of these - that’s between you and the LORD
Jesus offers freedom
Not whether or not you would LIKE to serve
But who, or what you will serve
Slaves to sin don’t take days off
Slaves to righteousness - 24/7/365 - Christian, Believer
Josh 24:15 - as for me and my house…
