Romans 6:15–23
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Last week we introduced the idea of 2 kingdoms
Throughout Romans, Paul anticipates and addresses questions. They are probably the type of objections he encountered in synagogues and street corners wherever he went on his missionary journeys.
Todays passage, like last weeks begins with one of those questions
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
This question is similar to the one we looked at last week but a little different.
If we are not under the law then what are we supposed to do then? What is right? Are we supposed to sin? Thats the alternative right? Obey God’s Law or sin.
The human mindset is “we do our best to obey the parts of God’s law that we like and hope that that is enough to make us right with God.
So by saying that, it’s all of Grace, you’re saying that how we live doesn’t matter, we might as well just sin.
That isn’t what Paul is saying at all.
The real truth is that no matter how hard you try, you can’t perfectly obey God’s law Rom 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Trying to be good enough is a hopeless endeavor no matter how good of a life you live.
In fact, by striving to be good, you are revealing sinful pride.
To be right with God, you have humble yourself, admit you can not be good enough and put your trust in Jesus work for you instead of your own good works.
The test to know if you are under law or under grace:
What is your answer to this question? - What makes me righteous? or What do I think it makes me righteous?
If the answer is my being a good person is what makes me righteous. Then you are living under the law in the dominion of darkness and ultimately you cant be perfect and will fall short of the glory of God.
If your answer is that Jesus was righteous and paid the price for my sin so that I could be right before God, Then you are living in the Kingdom of Jesus and under Grace.
BUT WHY BE “GOOD” THEN?
Paul answers that question with a question
16 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?
You are a slave. You will obey your master. The only question is: Who is your master?
You are a slave. You will obey your master. The only question is: Who is your master?
Slave to sin, death, the law, Satan, and our own sin twisted self.
2. Slave to grace, righteousness, life obedience and God the creator and the King Jesus the Savior
there is no 3rd free agent option.
Even if you say, you’re only master is you yourself, You are still a slave to a sinful imperfect master, your own heart.
“Mark 7:20–23 (ESV)
20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
17 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, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
In salvation, a sinner comes to the point where they say I can’t do this on my own. I need help. I need to do it Your way God.
Having been saved and made a part of the kingdom of Jesus by grace we must remain humbly obedient to him.
If you have been saved you are now slaves in the kingdom of Jesus
Ew. If you, like me and most Americans (maybe most humans) are not fully comfortable with the idea of being a slave Paul gives this interjection
19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations.
This is an analogy, not a perfect analogy
Slave is an apt description of our relationship with sin. Sin doesn’t care about you. The devil Doesn’t want what’s best for you. Your sinful selfish desires and worldly achievements do not lead to lasting peace and true hope. They are a TERRIBLE slave master.
Paul is acknowledging that this analogy of slavery does not do justice to the loving relationship to the father. We are more than slaves to him, the bible says that we are joint-heirs with Jesus. We are sons and daughters of God.
I am NOT pro-slavery. I am Anti-slavery. When it comes to a sinful human being owning exploiting, terrorizing and abusing another human being, The gospel is anti-slavery, The Bible is actually anti-slavery God is anti-slavery
All those things are true AND this is also true if there was such a thing as a perfect, loving, gracious, generous, and holy master, slavery would be a whole different situation.
In that situation obedience would be the natural, right, and and beneficial way to live
We have that type of master in God.
We obey because he loved us and we love him
We do not obey to keep him loving us or to get him to do good for us. We love him because he first loved us!
A story:
You have been an outlaw, living for yourself, hurting people around you, breaking the laws of the king, selfish, arrogant, a full mess.
The kings guards are hot on your heels and You realize that your consequences are coming and that you can’t do anything about it. You are going to to be put in prison forever for what you have done.
You come to the end of yourself and stand at the gates of the kings palace and say that you have been wrong and that you are throwing yourself at his feet, need his mercy and you need his help.
Boom. You wake up in the kings palace. You are given a letter from the king saying you are forgiven. You are adopted. you are part of a family. You have been given a clean record. You have a real job. You have instructions on how to live a blessed, meaningful and significant life. The King understands that you will mess up and fail but he promises to love you no matter what and help you to do better.
You are not going to automatically know how to live and your old habits will still be there but you are going to want to be better.
The more you know and love the king, the more you are going to want to change and grow to be the kind of man or woman that he wants you to be.
I think it is pretty obvious that this story illustrates what happens to us in salvation
The Bible has a term for this: Sanctification, we sometimes call it progressive sanctification.
Sanctification: Becoming more holy
In salvation we are forgiven and made right with God “Positionally sanctified”
As we grow in our knowledge and love for God we are “Progressively sanctified.”
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,…
Not perfection, but progressive and measurable progress in submission to God and holy living
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.
This does not mean that you always want to sin as a slave to sin
It does not mean you always WANT to do righteousness as a slave to righteousness
Where are you showing up for work?
Who are you choosing to submit your life to on a daily and moment by moment basis?
Maybe you’re still thinking. I don’t want to be a slave!! I wanna be free.
How did that go for you?
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 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 of sin Can seem attractive and fulfilling, but ultimately it is rotten and poisonous And leads to guilt, shame, disappointment, death, And separation from God
22 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.
Faith without works is dead
There is no such thing as a unchanged christ follower
146 I call to you; save me, that I may observe your testimonies.
If you would like to know more about this subject, I encourage you to read the book of 1 John
Paul concludes this section with a powerful statement, one of the most well known in the whole Bible.
Remember we started this section with a question
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?
Pauls answer was NO! We obey the one who is our master
We are either working for our master sin or our perfect master, the creator God
23 For the wages of sin is death
What do you get as a result of your hard work as a slave to sin? Death.
But that’s not the end of the story
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So What?
So What?
Who is your master?
Who is your master?
Slave of Sin in the Dominion of Darkness
Son or Daughter in the Kingdom of Jesus
Are you being sanctified?
Are you being sanctified?
The evidence of a changed heart is that you make war on sin not that you always win
The evidence of a changed heart is that you make war on sin not that you always win
Where do you show up for work?
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