True Freedom: Slaves to Righteousness (Rom. 6:15-23)

Romans 6:15–18

What everyone thinks freedom is

We’re Americans so naturally we think we know everything about freedom.

We think that freedom is independence.

16 years old - Driver’s License - “I’m finally free”

18 years old - An adult not under your parent’s custody - “Freedom”

Piano analogy

What is Biblical Freedom?

Freedom isn’t independence, its dependence on God

Freedom to act according to your purpose and God’s will.

What is Man’s Purpose?

Glorify God through obedience

Don’t think that obedience is what saves you, but obedience is the sign of a life that has been transformed by Jesus

1 Samuel 15:22 “And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

John 14:15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

1 John 2:3–4 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

Hebrews 5:9 “And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,”

1 Peter 1:22 “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,”

Romans 6:16 “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?”

Why is this so hard?

We were all slaves to sin (Eph 2:3) and sin still dwells in you (Rom 7:20)

We don’t sin because we are ignorant to God’s law, we sin because our flesh loves sin; My own flesh loves how good it feels to get drunk/high, to have sex, etc. But my spirit HATES IT.

There is a war taking place between your mind and your members - Rom 7

Romans 7:18–25 ESV

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Exodus story (Israelites miraculously delivered from slavery and then desire to go back to Egypt.. WE ARE THE ISRAELITES).

Ex 14 - They see the armies of pharoah coming Exodus 14:11–13 What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Numbers 14:2–4 “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.””

How could they be so stupid? They didn’t know the whole story… We do, and we still run back to Egypt.

It is better to be a child of God on the way to the promised land, than a slave to Pharoah and sin in Egypt.

I didn’t just come up here today to tell you to stop sinning, because the truth is, we can’t. That’s why we need the Gospel!

Romans 7:18–25 ESV

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Romans 8:1–4 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Purchased by Christ

Christ hasn’t just bought us and let us go wild. We are not our own.

He bought us into his family. We are under his roof and He makes the rules.

If you want to embrace your freedom, you need to embrace the one that paid for it.

Obedience isn’t lack of freedom.. It is freedom. We obey because we want to be free. We don’t want to run back to slavery like the Israelites.

Like the piano player who submits to the laws of music, we can only truly be free when we submit to the laws of God. Do you want to be free? Or do you want to be the little boy banging on random keys?

We’re going to go into a time of prayer. I’d encourage you guys to take a walk, come back whenever you feel led. We are going to start worshipping in 20 minutes. Take time and ask God to reveal to you what areas of your life you’re living in disobedience to Him. And Repent. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

This is the gospel, this is true freedom.

Colossians 3

In which of these are you still living in slavery? You can’t be free unless you know what you are enslaved to. We’re never gonna be able to stop sinning, but that doesn’t mean that we’re off the hook. Figure out what it is and repent and take heart because His grace is sufficient for you!.