How to live gracefully obedient

Procrastination

Procrastination. Oh, what a strange beast that is.

It’s the pitfall of all of us. Why do something today when there’s tomorrow?

We tell ourselves that if we just finish the task in front of us now, then I’ll have more free time later. But at that moment, anything and everything seems more interesting then whatever that task is before you.

Now, presumably there are some people out there that somehow manage to avoid this slippery slope. But it seems to me a trait that many of us share in common. I know I certainly feel that I’ve mastered a high level of proficiency in being a great procrastinator.

Am I proud of that? I certainly am not.

But you know, it’s crazy. I sit down, I open up Facebook (my first mistake). I then start watching a video, quite often it’s even a video that I’m not all that interested in. But I just sit and watch.

Why? Well, I don’t really know. I think it’s just that mindlessness… just zoning out everything. When the video ends, I tell myself that I’ll start doing something more productive, but all too often, then next mindless video starts.

Now I do usually get the things I have to do done, and I think this is the trap. Because I convince myself that it’s not really a problem, and so the problem remains. When I actually take the time to think about it, I can see how much more I could do if I eliminated much of the procrastination. I could be much more effective in what I do.

The effect of sin

Now, we can see readily enough this natural pull toward procrastination.

The same thing happens with sin.

We don’t always see it as clearly, but that’s more to the fact that we don’t as quickly identify sin. After all, you’re not murdering or raping anyone.

But let’s see sin for what it is. Turning our back on God. Saying that we can do things our own way.

The reality is, this is our natural inclination. I’m going to do what suits me.

And it breaks the shalom. It breaks that peace, that completeness that God brings when we all come together in unison.

As Christians we can even recognise - I need to stop doing it my way and do it God’s way, because we know it is better. But yet we can’t help ourselves.

The dilemma

Now, we’re coming into the sixth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans, but if you follow the logic, we actually come to somewhat of a dilemma.

Let’s just look at this logic.

Paul starts with a significant discussion on sin - with the clear conclusion that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

But the next step was understanding that though we are all sinners, because Christ died for us, we have been justified. A justification that cannot come through our own work - this is impossible, rather it comes only through faith in Jesus Christ.

Okay, so we’ve got that. We’re sinners, but that’s okay because of God’s grace.

But last week as we opened up chapter 5, I considered the blessing of being in the peace of God. I looked at how we can enter the glory of God… to have the hope in all circumstances.

Now here is where the problem starts to arise. You see, that peace of God is destroyed by your natural sinful tendencies. Your sin diminishes the glory of God.

But we know we can’t stop the sin, so what do we do?

Well, there is a simple solution, and you would be forgiven for thinking this is the most obvious solution.

And that is to say: hang it all! Let’s just keep on sinning, after all, we know that the more we sin, the more grace there is.

And grace is a good thing after all, isn’t it?

But do you see the dilemma? We’re being called to live lives that are impossible to live.

What solution is there other than to throw our hands in the air in defeat and just rest of God’s grace.

Well, that’s what I’m going to explore today. The way in which we can navigate life so that we are actually starting to see our lives conform to the way God wants it to look.

Chapter 6

Well, as we look at this sixth chapter, we see the chapter divided quite neatly in two (almost equal) halves.

The two halves both essentially start with the same question. It may be worded slightly differently, and you could try and find slight variations between exactly what is being asked. But really, verse 1 and verse 15 ask the same question.

It’s the conclusion that seems so obvious to all of this. Shall we keep on sinning because we are under grace?

Now, Paul is asking the question himself, but you can almost imagine that it is Paul repeating a question which he has probably been asked many times before. Because this message of grace is so unusual.

But both times he raises the question, both in verse 1 and verse 15, he gives an emphatic answer: By no means! Absolutely not! Not a chance!

Well, if this conclusion is squashed so emphatically, we’re still left with our dilemma. How do we live the way we should when we are so predisposed to sin?

Died to sin

Well, that’s what Paul’s going to try and explore, so let’s look at it.

He starts with a concept which he’s going to explore in this first half.

He says: “We are those who have died to sin”

Now, what does that mean?

It kind of sounds good. But it’s one of those Christian phrases we bandy about but only kind of understand.

This phrase “died to sin” is repeated again in verse 10, this time applied to Christ. In this verse it says: “the death he died, he died to sin once for all”.

So again we ask, what does it mean to have died to sin.

Now this concept is going to be the key to unlocking this dilemma of how to live well, so it’s worth exploring.

Now, there is a common way of understanding it which I’m actually going to suggest is problematic.

You see, it sometimes suggested that to die to sin means to become unresponsive to the temptation of sin.

Now it would be great if this were the case. Wouldn’t it be nice if once we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, suddenly sin became a thing of the past. That it had no hold on us at all. That we just lived in perfect harmony with all around us.

Perhaps you see the problem. In fact, if you’ve been a Christian for longer than a day you’ll no doubt see the problem.

That is, that even with Jesus in your life, you are still tempted by sin.

Let me instead suggest a better way of understanding it.

Firstly, let’s understand what it means in verse 10 when the phrase “died to sin” is in reference to Christ. You see, dying is the natural consequence of sin. So when Christ died to sin, he was bearing that price.

In other words the penalty has been paid.

But coming back to verse 2, if we carry the same sense of the meaning of this phrase to us, then how can that work? How can it be said that we bore the penalty of sin?

Well, as Paul will go on to explain, we become united to Christ in his death. And in this, we find something quite mysterious.

You see, it is more than just Christ paying a penalty and then telling us to carry on our way. Through faith, and by the means of the Holy Spirit, we become united with Christ.

Now, if we’ve been united with Christ, then dealing with this sin dilemma takes on a new dimension.

Baptism

Well, to help us get our heads around this, Paul brings the Christian act of baptism into focus, and it is actually really helpful.

You see, sometimes we can reduce baptism to just a public announcement of your faith. And certainly, this is one aspect of baptism. But it is more then that.

Within the act of baptism, we find a pattern… a pattern which starts with what Christ does, and draws us into it… and in the process, we can begin to understand the issue I’ve been discussing, namely, how we can live the life God wants for us when we’re so predisposed to sin.

Now let’s break down baptism a bit.

You enter the water.

Actually, a little side note, I was encouraged when speaking to the pastor at Nelson Bay Baptist (or Lighthouse Baptist as they are now known), and he was telling me that he was baptising two young men this week - and when you’re in the open water in the middle of July, you know that it is a real commitment.

But you enter the water, and symbolically, you’re coming from a place of chaos.

After making a declaration of faith, we then enter the water.

Now just pay attention to what Paul says. Verse 4: “we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death”.

You see, symbolically, being submerged is an identification with Christ’s death.

But we don’t stay under. (Thankfully, otherwise… well, I think you get the idea).

But we come up out of the water - and look at how Paul concludes verse 4: “… just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life”.

You see, as we come up out of the water, we are identifying ourselves with the resurrection of Jesus.

Now, let me just clarify something here. Paul is by no means arguing that you need to be baptised by full immersion to be saved. I can state that very clearly because Paul has gone to great length to argue that it is by faith and faith alone that you are saved.

Rather, through baptism we learn something important. We identify ourselves with Christ and his death and resurrection.

And I’m going to suggest that it is in the cross and resurrection that we see how we can live this new life.

Now let’s just step back a bit, because again, this can sound like good Christian speak, but what does it mean in practice.

Well, it means you can’t do it in your own strength, but in the strength of Jesus you can.

And the best part, is that Jesus has sent his Spirit into the world who enables the resurrected spirit of Christ to dwell in us. In Christ, it is possible.

Now, come down to verse 11 because here Paul gives some practical advice.

Count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. In other words, it starts with that identification we described in baptism.

But then verse 12 says: “… do not let sin reign in your mortal body.... [and in verse 13]… do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness”.

Now, of course we know that because of the extent of sin in our lives, we can’t completely eliminate it this side of Christ’s return, but… we can choose not to celebrate those bad parts. We can make a decision to not let it define us.

Instead, as verse 13 continues: “…offer yourselves to God… and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness”.

You see, with the resurrected Christ in our lives, as we focus on what is good, we actually can start to see a difference.

And it is by this means that we begin to see the peace of God that has been promised through our justification.

Slaves to righteousness

Now in verse 15, Paul then asks that same question as he did in verse 1. Now as I mentioned a moment ago, it is worded slightly different, and people have argued that his raising some different, but essentially its the same thing: “shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?”

And we get the same answer: “By no means!”

Well, this time, Paul gives us a different picture. One of slavery. Although the picture painted is perhaps a bit different to what you might expect.

You see, in verse 16, it describes the act of offering yourself as a slave.

Now back in this time, there is evidence that this is actually a practice that happened. Generally speaking, someone would find themselves in a situation where they find themselves in hard times and see an opportunity to offer themselves as a slave, at which they could then have a bed and food. But once you’ve done that, you then have an obligation to obey your new master.

Now here’s the thing. We like to think that we are free. The reality is, we’re not.

This is probably true on multiple levels. The world will pull and push you and force you into a mould of this age. Advertising is just one mechanism by which this will happen.

And a key message in much, perhaps even most of the advertising is that you are the most important person. And the reason that is so powerful is because it feeds directly into that sinful heart.

And so while our freedom might be curtailed by everything that is pushing us, the truth is that our slavery boils down to one simple fact, sin is our controller.

The reason that Paul is giving us this picture, is because, through the power of Christ, this is actually not our only option.

Because of what Christ has done, you now have a new option for your master.

You can become slaves of righteousness.

We can allow Christ to be our master.

Now some people really don’t like this image. And the reason they don’t like it, is because their image of power has become polluted by the fact that they know too many people of power who have abused their position.

We can’t trust someone else. The only person we can trust is ourselves.

The reality however is that that is a lie of the devil. It’s quite obviously a lie because think about it, do you really think you can trust yourself?

Of all the people who have ever walked this earth, Jesus is the only, and I mean only person you can completely trust in every aspect of their character.

Now to obey your master, you need to listen to your master. And you need to cultivate an attitude towards doing what he wants for us.

It requires focus. But what Paul is describing shows, is that if we do take the time to cultivate an attitude that focuses on the master, change can occur.

And it’s true. You can notice a change in the way you act towards others.

Now don’t let this fool you. I’m not suggesting that the change will be in your own ability. You can’t change on your own. That’s because on our own, we remain slaves to sin. But through Christ who strengthens us, all things are possible.

Bentley

Now, as many of you know, this year, our family has a puppy which I’ve taken the lead to train.

To help with the training, I’ve recently started going down to the Mallabula Dog Obedience which they hold at the local Anglican church. Now Bentley, my dog, is still in the beginner class. He does okay, but he still belongs in that first class.

Yesterday morning, however, something interesting happened. As it turned out, no other beginner dogs were there, and I was running a bit late.

Thinking there were no beginner dogs, they started class three at the time and place Bentley would do his class one lessons.

When I turned up, they decided to allow Bentley to be with the class three dogs.

Now the class three dogs were amazing. The owners would take them off their leash, they would give a command, and the dog would obey. They could walk away and the dog would stay. On command the dog would drop, or sit and come.

Now this is where I would love to say that when Bentley entered this class, suddenly he became just like the other class three dogs.

But the reality is, Bentley belongs in class one, and while he did alright, he was not like the other class three dogs.

You see, the instructor, as good as he is, had no special power.

But this is where it is different with Jesus. When he calls us in to that yard, he equips us with what we need. He gives us what we need to obey his voice, and so when he speaks, we can obey.

Conclusion

It is a wonderful thing to know that through our justification we can have the peace with God that he offers, that we can have the hope of the glory of God. But to have this, we need to master the problem of sin, something that causes somewhat of a dilemma as sin is so powerful.

But Jesus has provided a way for us. He has given us what we need to be the people that we create the shalom that he has destined for us.

Our task is to remember to whom we belong. To remember that we don’t belong to the way of the world. We belong to Christ.

The way of the world will lead to death. As the last verse reminds us: “For the wages of sin is death...”, but the way of Christ is life, as that verse continues: “…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

In Jesus, all things are possible. Keep him as your master, and you will see amazing things happen.

Let me pray...