Sanctification

Illustration

Sheep jumping back into canal videos

The sheep escapes, is rescued, and has finally been given a new opportunity to live

Yet we laugh at how dumb it is that this very sheep keeps going back to what will kill it

Christ Gives Us New life

V 1-4

Paul here is answering the age old question that many of us have

“So if Jesus forgives all our sins, can’t I just do what I want? Why should I try to become more like Christ?”

We have been baptized with him in his death

before we had Christ, we were dead in our sins. We had no hope and no way out

When Christ is part of our innermost being, we are freed from that canal that we were in

If we have power over sin and we have power over the darkness that sin brings, why would we want to go back to it?

When we grow in sanctification, we grow towards Christ and away from sin

Addicts breaking from their addiction

Most addicts will tell you their addiction is bad and but they feel helpless to overcome it

Yet when empowered and when they reach sobriety, they aren’t attempting to figure out how to return to said addiction

Rather they are rejoicing at the freedom that can now be experienced through Christ

Sin Has No Power Over Us

V 5-7

When we are baptized, it is a symbolism of how we are no longer under the authority of sin

We died and were buried with Christ

We are raised to life with him

There was a.point in which we were enslaved to sin and its desires

Sin did used to have the final word over our lives. We were headed towards death

But when Christ was resurrected we are given a new heart that no longer desires the things of the world

Ezekiel 36:26

Our heart of stone that was set on the ways of this world, is now been removed for a heart of flesh

we are no sensitive to the things God wants from us and what he doesn’t

Certain sin no longer has the same appeal that it once did

We are not completely free from sin until we are wholly made new, but we are slowly turning from sin and turning towards Christ

The Cross Has The Final Word

V 8-11

As we grow to look like Christ, grace gives us the confidence that our performance does not determine our salvation

When Christ rises from the dead and defeats death, the great exchange takes place

We get his righteousness, he gets our sin

The life that we are living, we live for God now that death has been defeated

Freedom from vs. Freedom to

We are freed from sin. We are no longer bound by it.

Why do we pursue a life that chases after God’s heart? Why do we seek to become more like him?

Because we have been raised to life in Christ. We have a new heart that seeks the things of his kingdom and we are no longer enslaved to sin