The Sufficiency for Today: "Slaves to Righteousness" (Rom. 6:15-23)

Intro:

How has your week been after Easter? How many would say, yeah, it was a great week? How many would say, I had some challenges this week that I was not anticipating?

Right after great highs, there can be very deep lows. These are times to pray for your pastors, your leadership, and one another.

Recap the Disciples afraid and locked in the upper room, seeing Jesus, douting, returning to fishing. Yet Jesus meets them where they are, on the side of the road, by the sea of Galilee, and he compells them to believe in the sufficiency of what He did on the cross and through the resurrection. Is it much different day?

What are you doing to do with the resurrected Jesus?

How many of us have dedicated our lives to Jesus and sometimes we feel ourselves asking, “now what?”.

Hand cuffs- hand cuffed by our desires, by our circumstances, by our fears and doubts, our emotions, etc.

Outline:

Obedient Slaves: “From the Heart” (vs. 15-19)

Slaves of God: “Sanctification” (vs. 20-23)

Summary: Jesus’s death, burrial, and resurrection are sufficient to make us obedient slaves of God and not sin.

Prayer:

Obedient Slaves: “From the Heart” (vs. 15-19)

The One you Obey (vs. 15-16)

What then?

Are we to sin because we are not under law (The Law of Moses) but under grace?- The idea of “sin” here is more of committing a sin now and then (aorist tense) as opposed to living a life of sin as in verse 1 of chapter 6 (present tense)

Here is how another commentator put this, it is like stating this question is to say, “It is grace that saves, not the way we live. Therefore the odd sin is neither here nor there. Once we have put our trust in Christ it does not matter whether we slip into sin or not.” Paul repudiates this with decision. The Christian can never say, “Sin does not matter. It will all be the same in the end.”

Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), 261.

By no means!

 Do you not know that if

you present ( to make available or accessible) yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves

you are slaves of the one whom you obey (REPEAT),- “Obedient slave” can be a God glorify identity or a life destroying identity. Paul is going to narrow it down to only 2 options:

either of sin, which leads to death, or

of obedience, which leads to righteousness?- “The quality of our living shows whose we are.

Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), 262.

The Standard of Teaching (vs. 17-18)

But thanks be to God,- this is something praise worthy! Not what they had done but what God had done!

that you who were once slaves of sin

have become obedient- did you hear the transition there

from the heart - the only time Paul uses this expression. God wants your heart, not just your obedience

to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, -The teaching commonly accepted among the Christians

and, having been set free from sin,

have become slaves of righteousness.- Knotice it is from one thing to another. It is never being set free from something to do nothing. We are not made for neutrality.

A New Presentation (vs. 19)

I am speaking in human terms, - Paul is not trying to be academic, patronizing, or demeaning. He is trying to share this truth in a way that the people will understand, people without the Holy Spirit or who are very new in their relationship to Jesus.

because of your natural limitations. -Paul is arguing his case as if these people are not believers or are acting outside of the the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Here it is in the simplist of terms.

For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness- “you presented”, not the devil made me do it or I didn’t have control of what I was doing. “You members” it went from the heart to the head, hands, and feet. An internal desire became an outward decision.

leading to more lawlessness,

so now present your members as slaves to righteousness

leading to sanctification.- This presentation is to be done whole-heartedly!

Application/Implications:

Who or what are you an obedient slave of today?

What “standard of teaching” are you committed to today? in regards to your emotions, your thoughts, you relationships:

Kids- are you following the teaching of your parents in the Lord? Are you reading your Bibles more than it is being read to you?

Teens- are you enslved to your emotions or the desires of your peers? Who are you seeking to be an obedient slave of? Which influencer has the most time on your social media plateform?

College: the habits you create now are the habits you will become obedient to for the rest of your life and the standard of teaching you accept about life will either drive you to God or away from Him. Beware, you cannot live life without Jesus even though he is so often left out of your education.

Singles

Married

Empty nesters

Seniors/Grandparents

What you choose to present yourself to will lead you one of two places:

More lawlessness: sin, guilt, shame, brokeness

Sactification- Becoming more like Jesus

Transitional phrase: If the one we present ourselves to is the one that obey and one leads to lawlessness and the other to becoming more like Jesus, how will your presentation be different this week? If you follow your heart you will be disappointed. You might ask, “well, what is the other option?”. Well…It is not just about being an obedient slave to whatever desires come into my life. It is about being a slave to God!

Slaves of God: “Sanctification” (vs. 20-23)

Fruit of Sin- Death (vs. 20-21)

For when you were slaves of sin, -There is the idea of this being in the past

you were free in regard to righteousness.

But what fruit were you getting- (PIC) in Biblical Counselling I will often draw a tree similar to this one and we will talk about the fruit of our lives, the words actions and emotions that are getting us into trouble or have created difficult circumstances in my life.

at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?

For the end of those things is death.- Who wants death in their life right now?

Fruit of God- Eternal Life (vs. 22-23)

But now

that you have been set free from sin- This is so vital, this is why the sufficiency of the sacrifice and the resurrection are so crutial! There is no “But now” if you are still living as a slave to sin, continually presenting yourself as a slave to impurity.

and have become slaves of God, - There is hope for today in being a slave to God because He is a good master.

the fruit you get leads to sanctification- or “the fruit you have!”

and its end, eternal life.

 For the wages of sin is death,- “This is the wages they have earned and deserve because of their sin”. Another commentator said it this ways, “Death here is the negation or absence of a life that is truly life. Sin robs life of its meaning, purpose, fulfillment” (Smart, p. 91).”

Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), 267.

This is the third time in this section that he mentions the result of sin is death.

John A. Witmer, “Romans,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 465.

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

Gift- “Eternal life is not a reward for services rendered.”

In Christ Jesus our Lord- You only have it if you are in Christ.

One of the greatest verses we have used to explain slavation is actually one of the greatest verses to explain sanctification also.

Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), 267.

Application/Implications:

What kind of fruit are eating this week? There is a difference between the fruit of fast food, desserts, and alcohol and the fruit of a well balanced diet. We would all agree on that. So why is the fruit of sin and the fruit of God any different? If I continually present donuts for snack before myself every day of the week there is going to be a different outcome than if I continually present apples before myself for snack every day of the week.

So, how do you deal with undesireable fruit in your? Do you just try to think more possitively through cognative behavioural therapy? Do you seek to change your behaviours for more socially acceptable actions and words through behavioural modification? Do you think that this is a problem with my physical body and so therefore need medication to deal with the issue? Do you become the victim and pass the blame on your upbringing, your parents, your socio economical status, your heritage, gender, sexual orientation? How you choose, to present your members, to live today will have an effect on tomorrow. You know who is responsible for that? You!

What you present your members to will become the pattern of your life.

When we lived in Eagle place I remember having to pass by this house with a motorcycle every day. Most days it wasn’t a problem, but some days it became a huge source of discontentment, which turned into hours of searching the internet for a motorcycle. I had to made a deliberate choice about what I was going to think about when I went by that house. Then we moved and you know what I pass on my way here, Jeeps.

Sometimes we just want to say, “Well, stop it, just stop”. Well, talk with someone that has continually given themselves to pornography, hurting themselves, drugs, drunkeness, or the control of food on their life. Often the reason they cannot stop is because they are still an obedient slave of themself. Their desires are what got them into this, it is not going to be their desires that get them out. The only way we ever change is when we are no longer enslaved to ourselves but we are enslaved to God. It is not until we cherish His standard of teaching by faith more than our pattern of desires that we will become more like Jesus.

Transitional phrase: If we are honest, we don’t like the idea of being a slave to God because He is going to rob me of all the fun, I won’t be able to do the things I want, It is going to be boring, He is going to make my life more miserable than it is right now. We think of him as the trainer or the doctor that tells us that if we want to live we are going to have to cut out the things that we think we cannot live without.

1. Who/what are you an obedient slave of today?

2. What will it look/sound like to present your members as slaves to righteousness?

3. What is the fruit of your life revealing about the obedience of your heart?

Summary: Jesus’s death, burrial, and resurrection are sufficient to make us obedient slaves of God and not sin.

Song: Tis so sweet

PRAY FOR THE PIZZA!!!

Discussion questions

Worship- Renew the Mind (Scripture)

1. What passage of Scripture did we look at? Summarize it in your own words.

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Grow- Engage the Heart (Conversation)

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2. ?

3. ?

Serve- Enlist the Body (Action)

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