Romans 6_11-23 Freedom

Romans 6:11-23 - Freedom

Secular:

Bethany and Luke
Twin thing… weird little babble language
Cribs opposite
Babble little schemes (Hum the theme to the Great Escape)
Look at a crib like a parent… bars good
Look at a crib as a child… bars = jail
Mission… to get out!!
Up to all kind of mischief
Drawers… Styrofoam…
Freedom?

Biblical: NAU Romans 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Personal:

Tax time
We approach taxes…

How do I get out of this
Liberate my money

Tax accountants, lawyers, tax code
Tax shelters…
Pay as little as possible
Approach to Scripture

Bridge:

Negative
Pessimistic
Restrictive

Liberating
Freedom
Slave to good for you…

Not bound like an animal
Not bound to sinful nature
Bound to the rightouesness of Christ
FREEDOM in Christ!!

Body:

The Fact… Consider

Romans 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Even so … “You must know and fully believe what I have just said, or else what I am about to say will make no sense. The truth that you are spiritually dead to sin, and the reality that you are spiritually alive to Christ are not abstract concepts for your finite minds to attempt to verify. They are divinely-revealed, foundational axioms behind Christian living, apart from which you can never hope to live the holy lives your new Lord demands.”
NAU 1 Peter 1:15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behaviour; 16 because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."
Do you get it… Crucified with Christ

Raised with Christ

Life with Him

Start

Fleshly body… Worldly Heart
Fleshly Container – New Heart
New Body – New Heart
God enables that Spirit…. Dead to sin
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it….
1 John 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
Consider yourselves to be dead to sin
Consider yourselves alive to God in Christ Jesus

Reckon
Claim
The Fact

Know it… live it….
Face the fact…
Consider yourselves to be dead to sin
And alive to God in Christ Jesus

Yielding – the Wrong Kind

Romans 6:12-13a

It is up to you…

God gave you a new heart…

God gives you the power… God gives you the opportunity… to avoid sin… so…

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness;

Something changed…. Heart

Master

Eternal Destiny

Hope

We received a now and not yet gift…
Like a plastic gun… only as real as we let it be…

#1 of 4
Often we only recognize the Forensic holiness… meaning God, because of our relationship to Christ… sees us as holy… but otherwise we are in the same relationship to sin and that we will be stuck in that realty until we meet Christ face-to-face
That view that we wrestle with sin… odd man versus new is the view that salvation is like an add-on…
We are they same… some beat up old house but we have some God-wallpaper applied
This is paper thin salvation… it is not the transformation promised by God.
This addition not transformation

#2 of 4
Cuz Satan keeps lying to you…
#3 of 4
Cuz new birth isn’t experiential
Isn’t physically observable….
It is not fireworks…
It is a spiritual transaction… that may or may not have a physical or emotional response…
It is not humanly verifiable… the moment that one dies to the flesh… and is reborn in Spirit.
#4 of 4
The battle rages…
How are we victors if we have to keep fighting

All part of the lies * Trust in God’s Word / Promise / his Son
Do not give up
Do not give in
Do not yield to the old man
Do not wear grave clothes
Do not yield to sin!!

Yielding – the Right Kind

Romans 6:13b-23

The Challenge

13b but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Right yielding…. Is a challenge…
NAU 1 Peter 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light; and 11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

Living life inside out….
Don’t walk away in grave clothes… garments of sin
I mean sadly… if you were to wear say… a Canuck’s Jersey… people would question your core…
If you wear grave clothes…. The world will question your core…
If you wear grave clothes… you wear sin… Satan’s Jersey
NAU 1 Corinthians 15:53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
Who is on the inside!!
But it is a battle!!
The challenge is to live a life of freedom or bondage…
Not a powered donut existence….

Last one left
Never knowing what is inside
Biting in and finding out its lemon…

The challenge… living for Christ and not the flesh… being true through and through

Yielding to Righteousness
Living the reality of Freedom in Christ…
Yielding to Righteousness… the challenge
Why the confusion?

The Confusion

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?

NAU Romans 7:12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good…
Doctrine and theology…
And we know the law convicts…
That we will struggle
Yet… grace will abound…
Paul said… we will fight this thing…
We talked about this… it isn’t license to do all we want without fear of repercussion!
It is not live hard, die young, leave a good looking corpse and get a free pass to glory!
We wonder if we have the magic key… play hard, all is forgiven…
Serve self… the rest is taken care of…
We some how believe that a child of God should be able to relish licence with no law…
Marriage counselling…

Forgiving spouse
Abuse… mentally or physically
Return..

Is it right…?
Or is it confusion?

The Correction… to Yield Properly

15b May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Just as before… Paul hollers back… May it never be…
There is no confusion… God doesn’t leave us confused… God is our master… we are the bondservant or slave…
The question isn’t what shall we do… sin or not sin… the question who we obey…

either of sin resulting in death
or of obedience resulting in righteousness

You would think from the way we wrestle the question would be harder…
Two roads…

One road, you get to drive, you never have to look for directions, no guard rails, you’ll never be satisfied… and at the end… you perish… hell… eternal suffering…
The other road, God drives, you are constantly looking for his directions, your soul will be satisfied… you will know joy…. At the end of the journey… you will have peace and rest.

One road takes the license to sin… and is wrapped in grave clothes
One road takes the liberty in Christ… and is wrapped in his righteousness.
Lead you to hell… or Lead you in all righteousness…
Worship Satan… or Worship God
Serve Yourself or Serve Christ
DO YOU NEED A MOMENT?

The choice to trust in and serve Christ… allows Paul to give thanks… thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Yielded to Righteousness
It is good… their heart’s became obedient…
“That form of teaching into which you were delivered”
Into God’s Word… not just by God’s word…

Bound to Him and his Word

Became people delivered into God’s promise and revelation
Freed from the bondage of sin…
Given liberty in Christ…

The tree in the Garden… Vast expanse of God’s Word… filled with all that is good…

Majesty
Holiness
Compassion
Peace
Grace
Salvation

And we ask… what’s in it for me…
Like the Word of God… Sin says… walk near the edge…
God message… I have given you so much… so much liberty and freedom…
Like the “I Songs”
The correction…

Get a grip… this fight is over…
Walk the path of Christ
Be conformed to his Word
And live in the liberty of Christ… FREEDOM!

We live like we are looking at the bars… all you see is the bars…

The Challenge II

19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

All that we counted gain is loss…

Serving sin and self

All this world values will be burned up like chaff
Everything of this world… every treasure it offers… is shackled here… every promise it holds shackled here… every servant that loves it… is shackled here
Everything bound to God is eternal
Everything bound to God is free
And you are free in Christ
But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life

The Conclusion

a. 23 For the wages of sin is death,

Grave clothes…
Shackled to Satan

To the world
To eternal suffering

b. but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Freedom…

To love, honour and serve

Freedom…

To glorify God and enjoy Him…
To glorify God and enjoy Him…
Forever