Freedom in Christ

Romans 6:1-14

If you brought your bibles turn with me over to the book of Romans chapter 6. The book of Romans chapter 6 and in a moment we are going to read verses 1-14, of Romans chapter 6.

Today we are celebrating Memorial Day. It’s the day we honor the men and women who fought for our country and paid the ultimate price. They sacrificed their lives so that we could live, work and worship in freedom and liberty.

But today’s memorial day is extra special, because this is the 250th anniversary of this great country we live in. This incredible experiment of our founding fathers has turned out for the glory of God.

And while America may not perfect, this is still the greatest country in the world. And I am so grateful for the freedom we live in, and I pray for the restoration of our country, that we could once again become “One nation under God.”

But it’s important that we don’t forget, Memorial Day is not about three day weekends or backyard bbq’s. It’s about the men and women, who fought and died in the service of our country.

It’s important that we realize, each one of those men and women wanted to live their lives just as badly as we do. They wanted to raise families, live in nice homes, have children.

They had dreams and plans and hopes of a future. So, we remember them and honor them today!!

But let me ask you this, what if we rejected the freedom they so bravely fought and died for? What if instead of celebrating the victories that they achieved on our behalf and for this country, we just surrendered to the enemy?

What if instead of living as a free society, we chose to live as slaves to a foreign power? Say, China or Russia.

  As Christians that’s a choice we make every day, when we choose to live for the sin in our life, rather than the freedom we have in Christ, we are surrendering to the enemy.

Jesus came in to the world and died for our sin, so that we could live in victory and freedom, but many of us chose to be slaves to sin instead.

That’s what I want to talk to you about this morning; As Christians we don’t have to live in sin, we can live in the freedom Christ has provided. 

And every day is memorial day for us, because we remember the sacrifice Christ has made.

Romans 6:1–14 KJV

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Lets pray together,

Heavenly Father I thank You for Your Word. I pray that as Your Word goes out Lord it would speak to us with power. I pray it would have an impact on those who hear it. I pray You would incline our hearts, Open our eyes, and satisfy our soul by Your Word.

In Jesus Name Amen.

 In our passage this morning Paul is teaching us, the secret to having victory over the old sin nature that exists inside of each of us is, to realize we have been crucified with Christ.

That we have been made new. He is teaching us to surrender to the relationship with God that we now have through the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is not only a “how to message” from Paul, on overcoming the sin in our life. But, this is a message from Paul, telling us that if you’re are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, your sin has already been overcome, and now, it’s up to you to begin to live like it.

But how do we do that? Well, the first thing he teaches us is:

I. We Need to Know Who We are in Christ.

Notice four times in this chapter Paul uses this word, “know.” In verse 3 he says, “Know ye not.” In verse 6 he says “knowing this,” in verse 9, “knowing that”  and in verse 16, “ know ye not.”  But, what is it, that Paul want us to know?

Basic Christian doctrine. He wants us to know, we cannot live for Christ and continue to live in sin. That’s basic Christian doctrine. The two do not coexist together.

He begins by giving us this example of Baptism In verses 3 & 4, and it’s a metaphor.

He says, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

In other words, He says, don’t you know what your baptism is symbolic of? Don’t you know that this is your public profession of faith, and is supposed to reflect a commitment that you made to God.

Baptism is a symbol of what is supposed to be taking place inside of you.  The transformation of your heart by the Spirit of God. Don’t you know? Just like Christ was raised from the dead in victory over sin, we are to walk in a newness of life.

The problem is we don’t know. We don’t know who we are in Christ. We don’t know what sin is, and We don’t know what were supposed to be as Christians.

And Satan would like nothing better than to keep God’s people in the dark, so that we just go on sinning. Frankly, we make it an easy job for the enemy.

I have never seen a time like today, when there is so much apathy in the church, for the word of God. We don’t recognize the authority of scripture anymore, and we don’t care.

As Independent Baptist, we are one of only a few denominations that teach and believe in the inerrancy of the word of God. In other words, We believe that everything the bible says is true, and you can base your life on it.

But, so many churches have compromised that position today, and join with the world in redefining sin. We have churches that not only accept homosexuality, but they accept it from their clergy.

And then they wonder, what’s wrong with the church today? why doesn’t it have any power?  Why is there no change in people’s lives? Well, we have done away with the authority of the scripture.

  I want you to know something, that is true today, it will be true tomorrow, and it will be true forever; the amount of time you spend in God’s word, is a direct reflection of the amount of faith and power you will have in your Christian life. You can not expect to grow without it.

Romans 10:17 says, “ faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

 Think about this,  In our cars today we have all of these indicator lights on our dash, they let us know when we have a problem with the car. There are check engine lights, and low fuel lights, low oil pressure lights, low tire pressure lights.

There are lights for anything that is going on with the car, our dashboards have the ability to light up like a Christmas tree whenever there is a problem. Why? so that we can fix it, so that we can take care of it, and we don’t run into bigger problems later.

 In the same way, the Bible is full of indicator lights for your life. The scriptures are there to teach us when there is a problem with our life so we can fix it. So that we don’t run in to bigger problems later.  Paul says, we need to know who we are in Christ, and we do that by the Word of God. By living and recognizing it’s authority.

Two things from this passage

   Notice  Paul gives us these two -conditional “if’s” in this passage. In verse 5 he says, “if we have become united with Christ, and again in vs. 8 he says, if we have died with Christ.”

Paul does that, because it’s not only  important to know who you are in Christ, but you better know “If you are in Christ.”

You better know if you have a relationship with God. We need to be sure we are saved. Why, because our future depends on it.

Look at what he says, Vs. 5, “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:”

Listen this is not talking about a symbolic resurrection here, but a literal one. So, We need to be sure of who we are in Christ, because our eternity depends on it.

 Now it is important we understand, Paul is not calling us to perfection, he is calling us to a change in direction. He is calling us to a greater commitment to God.

Because, there’s something here that Paul doesn’t say. Paul doesn’t say, A believer will never sin, but that we are not to live in sin. He is not telling us we have to be perfect. (Vs. 2 says, “Don’t live any longer there in.” Vs. 6 says, “Henceforth we should not serve sin.” And Vs.14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you.”).

So,  Paul is not calling us to a life of perfection, but a change in the direction of our life. As believers, we are going to fail. But we shouldn’t surrender to the enemy, there shouldn’t be ongoing sin, and slavery to it in our life.

    The problem is there are some sins in our life that we ignore, some sins we just don’t take seriously. For example; As Christians we think It’s Ok to use foul language when we are with people who use foul language, and it’s not ok!!

We are not supposed to stoop down to their level. As Christians, we think it is okay, to talk about people behind their back, that’s gossip and it’s not ok. It’s not ok to lie, cheat or steal to get ahead.

 As Christians It’s never ok for a man to look at a woman to lust after her. It’s not ok for a Christian to abuse alcohol, or drugs, or to allow anything to have control over you.  it’s an addiction and the Bible says, don’t you know your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  

The question is how much will power do you need to resist the temptation to sin in your life? I heard a story about a man who went to the doctor and said, “Doc I have been behaving terribly, I’m cheating on my wife, I’m stealing from the company. My conscience is killing me, I need help!!”

And the doctor said, “You want me to give you something that will strengthen your will power so you can stop? And the man said, “no I want you to give me something that will weaken my conscience so I don’t care!!”

You see the problem is we love our sin more than we love our God. And God has provided everything we need in Christ Jesus to have the victory, but you got to want the victory.

If you are united with Christ, you know what sin is. James 4:17 tells us, to know what the right thing is to do and not to do it, is sin to you. We don’t have any excuses.

So, how do we overcome the sin in our life? Paul says 1st, we need to know who we are in Christ.

Now, not only are we to know who we are in Christ but,

II. We need to Believe what God says about us is true.

Look at Vs.11 says, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

    I like this word “Reckon.” (parents from the south) and they would use that word a lot. They would say I Reckon so, and they meant I think so, or I hope so, but that’s not what this word means in the bible.

In the Bible, It’s a banking term.  It means you can credit it to your account. It doesn’t mean I hope so, or I think so. It means it is so. You can take it to the bank.

So what Paul is saying is; you can believe that you are dead to sin and alive in Christ and you can take it to the bank.

     Our faith in Jesus was never meant to be passive, it’s supposed to be alive and active.

There are two  words Paul uses to describe our faith. He says in Vs. 8, we believe we shall live with Him. And Vs. 9 says, knowing that Christ. Paul is talking about Believing and knowing, these are two action words that describe our faith.

What Paul is saying is, believing in Jesus Christ is knowing that what God says about you is true. That’s a principle we find throughout the Bible.

For example, Noah believed what God said about him was true and built an ark for the salvation of his family. Abraham believed what God said about him was true, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he became the father of many nations. Moses believed what God said about him was true and returned to Egypt and delivered God’s people from slavery.

Joshua believed what God said about him was true and he marched around Jericho until the walls fell down. Our faith is not meant to be passive but active and alive.

     But what does the Bible say about us? It says, all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. We can do all things through Christ Jesus, who gives us strength. We are more than conquerors and greater is He who is with in me than he who is with in the world.

If you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you need to act like it. Your faith is meant to be alive and active.

(Colossians 3:1–3 “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

In other words, If you have a relationship with God. Stop seeking the things of this world, there beneath you. You are worth more than that, because you are valuable to God.

Years ago, there was this great cry out for a female image to be put on our money. So, they created the Susan B. Anthony coin. It was a silver dollar.

But it didn’t stay in circulation for long, because it looked so much like a quarter, people were afraid to use it. They kept getting ripped off, people kept cheating them out of 75 cants, so they just stopped using it, and it fell out of circulation.

But that’s the way a lot of us as Christians live our life. Were worth a dollar, but they just keep selling ourselves away for a quarter. We keep selling ourselves short.

     We are valuable to God and we need to believe what He says about us is true, and God says we are dead to sin and alive in Christ.

     To be alive in Christ means God has filled my life with meaning and purpose. God removes all of the guilt and the shame and, there’s no room for the old self anymore.

Being alive in Christ is believing that God’s plan for my life is better than my own and He is going to make more of my life than I ever could. It’s believing, knowing and considering myself dead to sin and alive in Him.

 So, 1st, we need to know who we are in Christ. 2nd, we need to believe what God says about us is true, but there is a 3rd thing: Paul says,

III. We Need to Take Control of our Sin.

Look at Vs. 12-13 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”

 In other words, What Paul is saying is, sin is a choice we make. We don’t have to sin. We don’t have to let sin reign. We don’t have to go on presenting our members as instruments of unrighteousness.

It’s a choice we make. If you’re here and you’re a born -again believer in Jesus Christ and you struggle with sin, it’s because you want to. You don’t want to overcome the sin in your life.

(1 Cor. 10:30) Says, “no temptation has over taken you that is not common to man and with every temptation God provides a way of escape.” If you are here and you struggle with sin it’s because you are not looking for a way of escape.

 When we are sick, and we go to the doctor to find out what’s wrong. The doctor examines us and diagnosis the problem, and then writes a prescription for the medicine that will make us better.

Then it’s up to us to go to the pharmacy and get the prescription filled, and it’s up to us to take the medicine so that we get better. God’s prescription for you is to turn from your sin and turn toward Christ. It’s up to you to act on it and do it.

 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, We have this treasure inside of us that we carry around in these earthen vessels, and when we chose our sin over our God were making the vessel more important than the treasure. Were making what we want for ourselves more important than what God wants for our life.

Conclusion

     We have a choice to make. Are we going to live in freedom, or are we going to live as slaves? Are we going to live for God? Or are we going to live for sin?

God is not going to force us to do the right thing, It’s up to us. We have a responsibility to Jesus to overcome the sin in our life.

We have a responsibility to live in freedom He has provided, and not to allow anything to master us. God wants so much more for our lives.  You are valuable to God.

But, When we live in sin, we destroy that relationship, and we rob ourselves of His blessing.

     As we celebrate Memorial day, think about this, just like you wouldn’t think about surrendering yourself to a foreign power and living as a slave on American soil, As Christians we shouldn’t even consider living as slaves to the sin in our life.

Lets pray together,

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your Word because Your Word has power. It convicts and it conforms. It challenges and it overcomes. I pray my God we could surrender to the truth, own up to our responsibility and live in freedom. It is a freedom you have provided my God in Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s in His precious name I pray, Amen!!