Seventh Sunday after Trinity (2025)

Romans 6:19-23

Last week we heard that Christ had set us free, and then we find ourselves in a surprising turn of events. Suddenly we hear that we are not absolutely free, but instead the Scriptures talk about us as being slaves to God? What does this mean? We have been freed from the chains of Satan, and doesn’t that mean I can do what I want? This is the libertine attitude is not supported in the Scriptures, and is a dangerous path.

What Freedom Do We Have?

We are not absolutely free.

This would be the belief that I am free to do whatever I want, there is no one who can set any restrictions on me. People have longed for this over the years, to have absolute freedom. We see it pursued even today by movements that tell you to live your fullest life, which ends up meaning living just for yourself. This could be the child who rebukes their parents, or the spouse that is sick of being tied down. They will live free, and in that freedom they forget that

We are God’s creation.

That our creator still has a claim on us, for we are not our own, we belong to God, and are beholden to God. This is why His commandments are so important and valuable for they remind us of who we are, and set the boundaries where we wander into danger. So what did Jesus do?

Christ freed us from sin.

and from its most dire consequence, eternal death and damnation. For as God’s creation we belonged to our Creator and to be in His Kingdom, but what happened is that we were led into sin and taken captive for our own destruction. We were never meant to be absolutely free, we were to live lives of service, the issue is

In Service to Whom?

This is the paradox of the faith.

That there are only two kingdoms that exist. There is no 3rd middle ground that allows us to exist in between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan, you are either in one or the other. So either you are held captive in the Kingdom of Sin, and death, or the Kingdom of God which grants everlasting life. So why do people fall into the the Kingdom of Satan? Well

Sin promises freedom.

You don’t have to listen to God’s rule, you can do what you want, you can live a full life, and have whatever you want. All of these are just different ways that sin ensnares the soul. But once you are there, Sin will not let you leave, you will be forced to stay.

Whereas, God call us to listen.

While He would have us listen, and obey what He says, we have the freedom to leave and to walk away from Him. We are warned, and told what the consequences would be, but He will not force us to stay. So like a dead body, we cannot choose to live, God’s Word does bring us to life, and if we so desire we can go back into sin and death.

How Does This Work With Grace?

Jesus redeemed, that is paid, for you.

He rescued us from our slavery, and Jesus paid the price that was required in full for you. That’s why we have used GRACE as an Acronym to remember this. God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Jesus paid it all for you, that you might be freed from the Kingdom of Satan.

You didn’t do anything to be saved.

There was nothing for you to do Christ paid it all in full, and bought you not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood, his innocent suffering and death that you might be his own. For how could you serve Christ, or serve God if you were enslaved in the kingdom of darkness and death, what choice or decision could you make, if you are dead in your trespasses and sins, and that which does not proceed from faith is sin, then you contributed nothing to your salvation. Since you have received grace and being brought to life by the blood of Christ, that means

You are already righteous in God’s sight.

Your works don’t save you, the only reason you can do good works, is because God has declared you righteous for the sake of Christ that you might be in God’s kingdom. That is why it is referred to as a gift.

The Gift of Salvation

Jesus solved the greatest problem.

We hear about the problems that mankind faces, and quite often they are limited to the physical and the temporal world. We talk about war, we talk about famine, disease, hatred, division, poverty, and even death. Imagine that you go to a doctor and find out that the doctor you had was so obsessed with addressing your symptoms that he never took time to deal with your actual illness. But just prolonged it and kept you hobbling along always treating your symptoms, but never offering a cure.

The greatest challenge we face is sin.

That is the source of all of these evils we see in this world. Why does the world focus on the symptoms? Because no matter how hard we have tried we have been incapable of curing sin, so all we can do is hope to mitigate its effects, but no matter how hard you work, who you vote for, or how much money you throw at it, you can’t remove sin and its consequences. Why is it that after fighting the war on drugs or cancer it’s still here. With how much money, and how much effort has been invested in fixing the symptoms of sin, it is astonishing that the cost that we had to pay

The Scriptures call it a free gift.

Now this sounds a bit foolish in english, free gift, if the gift isn’t free, then it isn’t a gift! It is your wage something you earned, something you deserved, and if that were the case then grace is thrown entirely out the window. Which is exactly why the Scriptures double down on this point, it is truly a gift, it is free, there is nothing you do, Christ gives salvation to you, He saved you, you did nothing, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have done this all out of love for you. It isn’t about making a decision for Jesus, it isn’t about living a perfect christian life. For everything has been paid for your salvation by Jesus there on the Cross, and He gives it to you freely.

What do we then do?

God doesn’t need your works, so help your neighbor.

That’s who your good works are meant to serve. For that is why God placed you here, for as God provided for you through the hands of others, you too are called to provide for others through your labor, and this gives life meaning. There is some way for us to serve our neighbor with what God has given us. You might say there is nothing, but

Consider how zealous we were for sin.

If there was something sinful that we wanted, while we were in the kingdom of Satan, what would we do? How much time would we dedicate to achieving it? Even though it led to our own death and destruction! So we would rush eagerly to our own destruction but now that we have eternal life, what happened to that zeal? Why is it sucked away from us, that we no longer experience the pleasure our sins, which harmed us, and our neighbors, we lack motivation? Come now.

So let us serve with willing hearts.

For now you now belong to God, who saved you, redeemed you and claimed you as His own. While you were in the Kingdom of Satan, you were own accomplishing your own damnation, but now that you belong to Christ’s kingdom eternity is yours, and the love of God that surpasses all understanding has been poured into your heart. Let that love which has filled you flow forth.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Christ has redeemed us and brought us into the Kingdom of God that we might be free of the miserable slavery that was leading to our own destruction. We did nothing to be worthy or merit this, but it has been given to us freely as a gift. So let us return thanks to God, and let us heed the Words of Holy Scripture, that we may no longer fall headlong chasing after our sins, but instead direct these passions towards our Neighbor who is in need. Be that our family, our friends, and even the strangers that we meet, for we are God’s workmanship created to do good works, and Christ has restored us to God’s grace that we might live forever in His kingdom. In Jesus name. Amen.