ABUNDANT LIVING
Notes
Transcript
REALIZE (v. 1-6)
REALIZE (v. 1-6)
The first key to abundant living is that we must realize that I AM dead to sin.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Paul begins this section with a rhetorical question, “Are we to continue to sin that grace may abound?” His answer is “NO”, and not just no but he actually says, “Let this NEVER happen” in the Greek. Why? Because we died to sin. When we repented of our sins and trusted in Christ we were freed from the bondage of sin. Sin was our master. Sin held us in its dread grip, but thank Christ, we were freed from sin.
The bible says that we have been saved from the penalty of sin
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
God’s word says we are being saved from the power of sin
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
We are freed from the presence of sin
who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
We are freed from sin!
For one who has died has been set free from sin.
We need to realize this. So many Christians live in bondage to sin, not realizing that they have died to sin and are already free.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
And we must realize that this is true!
RECOGNIZE (v. 7-11)
RECOGNIZE (v. 7-11)
Recognize that I CAN live for Christ
For one who has died has been set free from sin.
Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The word for consider comes from the Greek word from which we get the word logic. It means to reckon rightly by the rules of logic. It means to think clearly. In layman’s terms the word means, “Come on Man!”
What Paul is saying is that the logical conclusion of our death to sin is that we must appropriate that fact. It’s one thing for something to be true. It’s another to act upon that fact.
Several years ago, Kristy and I were skiing on the Tenn-Tom waterway with some friends. As we were skiing we came to a rope swing that was about 20 feet in the air off of a cliff face. Our friends wanted to swing from it. So they climbed up the ledge, hung onto the rope and swung out. Then my friend said, “You’re turn Dennis!”
After some back and forth I politely declined. It’s not that I didn’t trust the rope or the swing. I knew it would hold me. The thing is I knew it would, but I wasn’t willing to put my faith in it. Kristy did. And she swung into space and let go and sailed into the water. She trusted it, and she experienced the rush of the wind and the feeling of free-falling. I didn’t. She experienced it. I didn’t.
The same is true in your life. It’s one thing to mentally understand that you are free from sin. It’s another thing to depend on that fact instead of your feelings.
Dr. Danny Lovett says, “You have to reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to Christ. Why? Because you died with him. When? Every day and especially in times of temptation.”
How do I do this, by reminding myself constantly that I am dead to sin. The problem with living the Christian life is that even though we have died to sin like a zombie from a movie that old sinful self is still walking around. Those old memories of past sin, those old temptations, those old urges, but in Christ we are free to overcome them.
That’s the difference between one who is saved and one who is not. Those who are saved are freed from their sin. They are no longer slaves to sin. They are free to choose to lay that old man back into the grave and remind him that he is dead.
Freedom from sin does not mean that sin does not walk around, but it does mean that sin has not control over us. We are free.
RESPOND (v. 12-14)
RESPOND (v. 12-14)
Respond by overcoming sin
Third, we must respond in a way that is in keeping with our new reality. All of us have experienced the changes that different phases of life bring. One of those changes that we’re experiencing right now is the change of one of our sons from adolescence to manhood. Our oldest son Noah is 19 years old, and it’s been an adjustment over the last year and a half as he moves from being a child living in our home to being a man.
No where is this seen more than in some of our discussions with our middle son Ethan. A few weeks ago, Ethan wanted to do something and I said, “No.” Ethan was furious. He said, “Why don’t you ever tell Noah no. He gets to do whatever he wants!”
My response was simply, “Noah’s a man now. Now that he’s graduated high school and has a job I don’t tell him where or when to go here or there. He’s a man who gets to make those decisions for himself. You’re a child. One day you can make those decisions, but for right now you can’t.”
The same is true for us. After we as Christians move from death to live, there is a new reality that must take place in our lives. Before Christ we were enslaved to sin, and as such we were free to do whatever our lusts desired, within the confines of the gracious common grace of the law that we talked about last week! But now there is a new law that rules us, it’s the law of Christ. We are no longer citizens of the city of death. We’ve now become citizens of Christ’s kingdom and as such we are called to live by his reign and rule.
That’s why Paul says, “do not let sin reign in your bodies to obey its passions.” Instead, we are to “present ourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.
As Christians we must master our flesh.
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
We are to dominate ourselves and not let our flesh dominate us.
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
RELEASE (v. 15-18)
RELEASE (v. 15-18)
This is the great difference between the world and the spiritual one. In the worldly way of seeing things, what we feel is reality. It’s all that matters. This life is the only one we have, so we should live it up.
and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
But the Christian life is not about “eat, drink and be merry” but rather about submission to Christ.
We must stop doing what we want to do and start letting him do what He wants to do through and in us. This means our plans are not our own. Each of us have a life that we have planned. We have a way of looking at life, designs and desires that we wish for. But because Christ has purchased us from sin.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.
So our lives are not our own.
and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
We belong to Christ. But that’s ok. We are dead anyway. So let’s live to Christ.