Romans 6C
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Choose Wisely
Choose Wisely
Previously we learned that the spirit inside a believer is dead to sin.
Which just means that the basic desires of that spirit are no longer to sin, but to obey God.
These spirits are the atomic, primary representation of who we are.
The spirit within us directs our motivations.
Those motivations direct our actions.
We’re all born with spirits that desire sin, and thus we’re ruled by sin.
We’re ruled in the sense that we’re completely given to its desires.
However, for those who are saved, upon being saved are given a new spirit through a process that reflects Christ’s death and resurrection.
Once saved, the spirits inside of believers don’t desire sin and so believers are no longer ruled by sin.
The believer’s primary self is no longer controlled by the compulsion to sin.
They’re free from the requirement to obey our sinful spirit’s desires because a new spirit has been put inside us.
In past weeks we also talked about the necessity to continually die to sin.
This act of dying to sin is necessitated by the tension all believers feel to follow Christ while continually feeling our bodies(our flesh) pull us towards sin.
That pull towards sin is because our bodies are still sinful. So even though our spirits are free from sin, our bodies are not.
This pull towards sin is called temptation and it doesn’t cease when you become a believer.
In fact it doesn’t stop until you die.
But because our spirits have been redeemed by Christ, we don’t have to obey our body’s temptations.
The text this week is a continuation of that line of thinking.
Paul starts very strong
Romans 6:12 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,”
He’s exhorting believers to take dying to sin seriously.
If a believer no longer has a spirit of sin - why are you letting sin reign in your mortal body?
In other words, “Don’t live in a way that mirrors your old sin-ruled state.”
However, believers have to accept the fact that we live in bodies that aren’t renewed. They’re still sinful!
They still want to sin.
They plead with us to gratify their desires.
They beg us to take the easy path, telling us that satisfaction awaits if only we just do what feels natural.
Paul is exhorting us not to do that. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body.
We’ll see Paul revisit this concept in chapter 13 verse 14, saying there “Make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
He’s saying make no provision, don’t give your sinful flesh an inch.
Because soon it’ll have taken a mile.
The concept here is one of self-denial and discipline.
He’s calling us to bring our bodies into submission.
If sin doesn’t reign over your spirit - do not let sin reign in your flesh either!
Resist that tugging you feel towards sin.
When everything in you is screaming to give in to sin - You must not let sin dictate your actions.
You must not give sin the position of ruler in your body.
If you do, it will gladly oblige and your life will start sliding away from Christ.
It’ll be glad to govern how you use your time, your money, your attention.
And your life may start to look successful by the world’s standards.
But your heart is worshipping another and your love for Christ will grow cold
Scripture is full of warnings against this
And I want us to look at one verse in particular that paints a picture of one who has let sin reign in their mortal bodies.
Please turn to 2 Timothy 3:2-5
For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
We’ve all heard this list before - and it should cause dread to settle on us like a chilling dew.
Know that you are capable of all these things.
The seeds of arrogance, conceit, treachery, brutality, unholiness are all in you right now.
You must realize that your victory over sin depends solely on your willingness to destroy sin in your flesh.
Starve it.
The most frightening part of this passage from 2 Timothy is at the end.
holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power
What does that mean? They have denied its power. Is this person still a believer?
Let me ask you this - if you deny the saving power of Christ’s death on the cross, are you a believer?
If you go to church and put on a happy face, and you try to live a good life, but you obey someone other than the almighty God are you a believer?
If your life at its core is a pursuit of self-fulfilling pleasure, making yourself happy, doing what you want, you need to ask yourself who you are obeying.
You might be thinking to yourself - It sounds like he’s teaching that you can lose your salvation!
I’m not! But if you call yourself a believer and you’re obeying the lusts of sin, letting sin sin reign in your body - you should be wondering whether you were a believer in the first place.
The book of Matthew tells us that the one who’s love does not grow cold, the one who does not fall away
The one who endures to the end - he will saved.
Let’s endure to the end by serving Christ and him alone.
Let’s endure to the end by resisting sin’s attempt to reign in your flesh.
Letting sin reign in your flesh, obeying its lusts subjects you again to be a servant of sin.
Think about the relationship between a ruler and their subjects.
The one who is obeyed has the power.
The ruler gives the commands, and those under rule obey those commands.
Those who obey are like tools in the hand of the one who rules.
And in fact the word “instruments” in verse 13 can be translated as tool.
Even though it’s translated as instrument - it’s more like a surgeon’s scalpel than a flute or guitar.
To be even more specific word used here is hoplon.
And it means weapon in greek.
The picture that’s being painted for us is not soft.
Paul is calling believers to become instruments of war.
The saint that has died to sin and come alive to God is a weapon of war in the hand of their maker.
We’re instruments of righteousness to God.
His purposes for us are not to sit quietly waiting for a moment when He will choose to pick us up for a bit of music.
No. Our lives are weapons in his hands. Slashing, severing, beating down sin and the plans of the enemy.
Establishing righteousness in our families, workplaces, communities.
That’s our purpose. To destroy sin and uphold righteousness.
Weapons can’t serve their purpose if they’re dull, or not well balanced or sighted in properly.
So make sure your sights are accurate, and your edges are sharp.
Make sure you’re where you need to be, ready to be used by God to establish His kingdom.
Paul sums up the previous few verses succinctly in verse 14.
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
He’s also laying a foundation for the next question he’ll bring up. NEED A BETTER PHRASE FOR THE QUESTION
He’s again calling into question the necessity of abstaining from sin, but this the question has a slightly different angle.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!
Another way to say it could be “Based on the truth that our spirits are renewed, and sin no longer has power over us - what’s the harm in indulging a little here and there?“
“After all Paul, you yourself just said that sin is not master over us. Sin doesn’t have power over us, and we’re not slaves to it - so what’s the big deal? Sin doesn’t affect us anymore, right?”
If you paid attention in the first portion of this sermon you already know the answer to this question.
The one who is obeyed has the power.
Paul says it this way
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?
Every action you take is obedience to something.
You’re always presenting yourself to something as a slave for obedience.
Everything you do is obedience to something.
You are slaves of the one whom you obey
And obedience could really be broken down into 2 categories.
You’re either obeying sin, resulting in death
Or obeying God resulting in righteousness.
The choice is yours, but don’t be deceived - when your actions produce sin and unrighteousness, you are obeying sin.
And there is no category for sinning while obeying God.
Take a look at 1 John 2:4.
The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
What a sobering truth.
You cannot be a double agent for the kingdom. Claiming to serve God while serving sin.
Now this heavy truth can crush the believer if grace is never mentioned.
The grace of God that’s offered to us by the cross is more powerful than our weakness.
And the sins that we commit as believers are covered by the blood of Christ on the cross.
So if you’re feeling the weight and the burden of your sin, that’s good.
You’re feeling a shadow of the true weight of your sin.
But the strength of the cross is here to lift that burden from you.
So how can this paradox exist?
“I believe in Christ and he’s saved me, and now you’re telling me that if I sin, I don’t serve him.
If I’m sinning then I’m presenting myself as a slave to sin.
How can one be both?
Paul answers this question for us in verse 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,
and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
“though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart”
How can someone struggle with sin, and still be a believer?
Because it’s the heart that matters.
The Lord looks at the heart.
If your obedience flows out of your heart - the Lord knows.
And if your heart desires to obey the Lord and you act on those desires, presenting your members as slaves to righteousness, over time that will result sanctification.
And you can be assured that despite your struggle with sin - you are a child of God.
The proof of your identity is your heart’s desires
Paul proves this point by turning the situation upside down in verse 20
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
When you were an unbeliever, you didn’t care about righteousness, at least not in a God honoring way
You may have felt like it was important to live a virtuous life - but it wasn’t unto God. It was unto yourself.
So now, as a believer the proof of your salvation is in your desires.
You’re no longer free in regard to righteousness
Your spirit desires it and through consistent intentional effort, you will make your body obey the desires of the spirit.
Paul circles back to the life left behind when a person becomes a believer in order to contrast it with the life given to us freely by God.
Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.
What benefit comes from a life led as a slave to sin?
There can be no benefit from presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.
The outcome of those things is death.
And immediately we’re struck with the contrast
But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
So now what are the benefits?
Sanctification
Eternal life
Peace in knowing that your soul is eternally safe.
And the joy that comes from that we’ll spend eternity with our Father.
This chapter ends with a very famous verse, it’s included in an evangelism tool call the Romans Road.
It’s designed to walk people through the gospel using scriptures from the book of Romans.
And I would argue that there isn’t a more gospel filled verse in Romans than verse 23.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul places this beautiful, capstone here perfectly capturing the essence of the gospel.
When you serve sin, you earn death.
But God gives the free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Who will you serve?
Sin? Yourself? The desires you have for fulfillment?
Or will you serve God, presenting yourself as an instrument of righteousness, resulting in sanctification and the eventual outcome of eternal life?
The choice is yours.
Choose wisely.
