Romans

Overview

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Jews /Israelites brought out of slavery in Egypt

Jewish Christians in Rome

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Chapter 6

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

‘consider’ = logizomai, reckon (Romans 6:11)

We are to count (reckon) ourselves as already dead to sin, and when we do, God infuses the power of new life into us.

When we put faith in Christ as the substitute for our sin, God reckons our faith as righteousness.

As we reckon ourselves dead to sin, God infuses into us the power of new life.

Just as we believe our way into justification, so we believe our way into the power of sanctification.

As you continue to believe it, God uses that faith to transform you.

God gives you actual power when you believe that what he says is true.

Faith, Paul says in , is believing God as he “calls things into existence that do not yet exist.”

As you believe them, God gives you the power for them.

In the Christian life, power comes through believing: Believing in the righteous identity God has declared over you releases the power to live up to that identity in you.

Satan tried to get Jesus to question His identity when he was tempted in the desert

Satan tries to get us to question our identity in Christ

Sin cannot rule over you, because when you received Christ, JESUS took the place of power at the center of your heart. Thus, sin can no longer hold you captive.

(before you received Christ, sin did hold you captive—Paul says in that we were literally “given over” to sin, which means we couldn’t stop sinning. But that’s not true anymore, Paul says, because Jesus rules at our center with the powers of resurrection.

sin works to enslave.

Sin is a captor. A natural predator. It’s always working for dominance.

Some of you think you can harmlessly play around with sin--go along with sin and compromise in your life and it won’t affect you.

No, sin is a predator and it is working for mastery.

You entertain sin and you are courting disaster.

Nobody wakes up and says, 'Today's the day I ruin my life. I'm going to throw away my marriage, start an addiction, and begin lying to everyone I know.' Or, “Today is the day I get pregnant before marriage.”

No, sin starts slowly, incrementally, subtly. Small areas of compromise. But it's always on the move.

It’s why John Owen said, “You must be killing sin, or it will be killing you.”

You become a “slave” to it, because, you’ll do whatever it takes to get that thing and hold onto it.

David Powlison, the Christian counselor, groups our idols (things we worship) into 4 basic categories.

1. (Idols of) Power: Some people love influence and recognition. They seek that through things like money and status, because those are how you get it.

2. Control: Some people want everything to go according to their plan, and want to know that in the future that everything will continue to go on their plan.

a. They don’t like uncertainty and they have to have things happen on THEIR terms and according to their timetable.

b. If that timetable is thrown off (even by a few minutes), they become irritable, impatient, even angry.

3. Approval: Some crave to be accepted. They can’t be happy unless certain other people are happy with them, admire them, or desire them.

a. So, criticism is devastating to them.

b. Not being affirmed is devastating.

c. Feeling like they are not attractive enough is devastating.

d. Being picked last is devastating.

e. Many times they are cowards--they don’t do the right thing not because they don’t know what it is, but because they don’t want to deal with the disapproval of friends for doing it. So they cave.

4. Pleasure: Some long for physical delights--the good life is sensual delights, be that sexual pleasure, a nice house, best vacations, a nice car, good food, or creature comforts

4. Pleasure: Some long for physical delights--the good life is sensual delights, be that sexual pleasure, a nice house, best vacations, a nice car, good food, or creature comforts

Slaves to Righteousness