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And we'll take our Bibles and go to Romans chapter 6. It's been a while since we were looking at our theme that we've been on on Sunday mornings, the grace of God. And we're going to continue that today. Appreciate all those who've covered for me while I was gone. I know they've done a wonderful job. I've heard good reports and I do appreciate that so much. Not the reports but the fact that you men were faithful to do what God called you to do and taking your place of volunteering to cover for me and I really really do appreciate that. It's an added blessing when you can be away and not have to worry about who's going to speak and what they're going to say but to have the confidence that they're going to give the word of God clearly and openly and honestly and I appreciate that so much. About a month ago We were looking at the subject of the grace of God. It's been our Sunday morning theme. One of the things that people deal with in looking at this subject matter is how far do you go with God's grace? You know, how loosely do you use it or how liberal can you be with it? And how do you properly apply the grace of God? Many people use God's grace as a license to live any way they want to. to do anything they want to do. And when you talk to them or ask them about their lifestyle, well, I'm under God's grace. I'm free to live the way I want to live because I'm under his grace. And then there's others who are afraid of the grace of God. They're afraid to teach about it. They're afraid to talk about it. They're afraid to live under it. So when they read passages in scripture about God's grace, they just kind of breeze over them and go on. Two other things, especially verses that says, do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that. And so there's got to be a happy medium. God's grace is extremely heavily taught in the Bible. It begins in Genesis chapter number three, and we see it there displayed all in its magnitude and its majesty where God in his grace does not destroy Adam and Eve and start all over. He could have easily done so. but because of His grace and who He is, He demonstrated grace to them and mercy to them. And that goes all through the Scripture. You get over to the book of the Revelation where we're studying on Sunday mornings. The grace of God is just full of emphasis in that book itself. Many places we see where Satan's power is unleashed, but nonetheless it's controlled by God. It's controlled by who he is and what he is doing and his purpose and his almighty plan. So God's grace is something that we cannot get away from. But there's a biblical approach to the grace of God. And we're trying to see that and understand that as we go through these themes on Sunday morning. It's a subject matter that once we get a handle on it, and I don't know that we ever really get a handle on the grace of God. But once we get a better understanding of it, it literally frees us to live for God and enjoy the life we're living in God on this earth and allows us the joy of knowing Him and loving Him and serving Him and being what He'd have us to be. So we pick up with Romans chapter 6. I want to begin reading that. But if you'll notice in your outline, beginning there, as we continue looking at the grace of God, We're in Romans chapter 6, and we've noted that in the first seven verses, Paul began to establish the biblical concept of victory over sin by the grace of God. Look at verse 1. What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know you not that so many of us, as we're baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death. Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. So we see in these verses that Paul establishes the biblical concept of victory over sin by the grace of God, not a license to commit sin. Some want to take and say, well, if you talk about grace based ministry and you teach and preach the grace of God and it's a very strong part of your ministry, you're giving people a license to sin. That's not taught in scripture. That's man's concept, but it's not God's concept. It's just the opposite. We also saw that Paul further developed this concept as we continued our study in Romans chapter six last time, which is about a month ago. And I know you remember exactly what I preached on last month this time. I had to go back and look at my notes myself. Well, he showed us that the believer is dead with Christ. Verse 6, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed. So the old man, the body of sin, one and the same. The old nature, the sinful nature was crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from the time we were placed into Christ at the new birth, we should not serve sin. It does not say we will not, it says we should not. Very important point. We also see that Paul in these verses show that the death with Christ and that we are alive in Christ. Verse 8, now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but then in he liveth, he liveth unto God. Now he says what happens here is that Jesus paid the price for sin and his price was adequate enough that there's no need for him to die again. So he paid the price for sin, he died once, now he lives in the presence of the Father forever. So he's establishing something that's happened. Jesus paid the price for sin, now he has total victory over sin, he's paid that price, he's victorious over sin, now and forever, and he's forever with the Father. Look at the next verse, verse 11. If you don't mind marking your Bible, I would encourage you to underline this verse. This is a very important verse. Likewise, in the same way that this happened with Christ. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. This word reckon, we all down here in the South know what that word means. I reckon so. I think it to be thus. That's what he's saying. We are to think it to be thus that we are indeed dead unto sin. The influence, the power, the impact of sin. And we are indeed alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. In other words, when I think about my life now, and when temptation comes my way, since the body of sin has been destroyed, when temptation comes my way, I'm to think in my mind, wait a minute, I am a new creature in Christ, therefore I don't have to commit that sin, I don't want to commit that sin, therefore I will not commit that sin. And we have that power and that ability through the enabling power of the grace of God that we can say in our own mind, I don't have to do that. I'm not going to do that. I don't desire to do that. Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. In other words, if some believer says, you know, I'm just having such a struggle with sin. I can't seem to have victory over it. They what they need to be doing is saying by the power of God and through the power of God, I will have victory over that sin and I will not allow it to reign any longer in my body. You see, it's a matter of choice. People that are struggling with sin and want to have a leniency and a way to get away with it, when you look at them and say, it's a matter of choice, you're making a decision, they hate that answer. Because what that does, it puts the responsibility back in their court. And they're sitting there saying, I don't know how to have victory over sin. Sure you do. You just reckon yourself to be dead to it. You just make the decision. My wife is still at the beach, and she's down there entertaining family, and she'll be there through next week. And yeah, I'm envious, but I won't be going back. But I'm glad she's able to do that, and that the Lord opened the door for us to have this place. And while she's gone, man, I could be living it up. I could. I could do anything I wanted to. I could participate in anything I wanted to. She's not here. But I don't have any desire to do that. Why? Number one, because I'm married. I committed my life to her. Secondly, and most important, I'm a believer. And God doesn't want me doing that. And God doesn't want me living that way. And therefore, I make the daily decision not to go down that I reckon myself to be dead to sin and alive unto God. I reckon not to let sin reign in my mortal body, that I will obey its lusts. I will not, but through the power of God, let that be a part of my life. I will maintain my integrity. I will maintain my testimony. I will not bring reproach to the cause of Christ. Through the power of God. That's my goal. That's my desire. That's my wishes. And God's going to make it happen. Why? Because He's God. And because He's allowed that to be. You see, it's that simple, folks. You can have victory over sin simply by letting God be in charge and be in control. And just making up your mind, I'm not going to go down that path. I'm not going to do that. Verse 13, neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not have dominion over you. God says, by my grace I've established so that sin will not have dominion over you. So if sin has dominion over you, it's because you've chosen to let it have dominion. You've chosen not to reckon yourself dead to it. You've chosen to give your body as instruments of unrighteousness. It's a choice. So he says, neither yield, verse 13, neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead. and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you. For notes, you are not under the law, but you are under grace. You are under the umbrella of the grace of God. And the grace of God is not a license to commit sin. It is an empowering ability to not commit sin. God's grace. Which brings us today to verses 15 to 23. Hold on to your seat. We're going to move quickly. Point one. The question. Verse 15. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? The question. What then, shall we sin? A. Because we are alive in Christ and not under the penalty of the law. B. Because of the freedom we have and enjoy in Christ as believers. Because we're not under the penalty of sin. Because we have freedom in Christ. C. Does that give us a license to sin? Since we will not suffer the penalty of our sin. Now this is what bothers a lot of people who are afraid of God's grace. That a believer can live a carnal life and still go to heaven and get rewards. I just don't think that can be possible. You know why we don't think that? Because we're not God. We don't think like God. Anytime you question that, go over and read, was it 1st or 2nd Peter that talks about Lot who vexed his righteous soul. Lot was a man according to the New Testament, was a believer, but he constantly was living in a sinful environment and even had much of the thinking of the sinful ways of the world in that day. I mean, you go back and read some of the things that, decisions he made, and you think, this guy, there's no way he could be saved and be that kind of man and make those kind of choices. That's not what God says. God clears that one up for us. Now, that's the exception. That's not the rule. So the question Paul says is, okay, you think I'm saying to you because you're not under the penalty of the law and you have liberty in Christ that you can go out and do what you want? The answer, point two, the answer to the question, God forbid. Or A, don't even allow such a ridiculous idea to enter your mind. And B, don't even draw such an absurd conclusion. The only way a person would believe that type of answer is because they're looking for an excuse to live in sin. Say, well, he asks a question, he gives us the answer, what about it now? Let's look at point three, the logic. The logical thinking behind Paul's position. Verse 16, know you not Or don't you understand that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, His servants you are, whether to sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness? Point A, there's a principle that cannot be overlooked here. A principle is something that is there and it's not going to change. There's a principle that we live under. It's not a good principle, but we live under it nonetheless. And that principle is, if there's more body mass, there's more gravity pulling me down. So if I have more body mass and I get on the scale, I'm gonna be heavier than when I had less body mass. Now you may like that principle, I don't. But it's a principle that's not gonna change just because we don't like it. We could all come up with a resolution and have millions of people sign it, that that's no longer gonna be a principle, but every time those millions get on the scale, the principle is still gonna be there. It's not gonna change. That's what a principle is. And there's a principle here that cannot be overlooked. And Paul establishes that point one, no, you not or do you not realize or understand to whom point to you yield yourself servants to obey his servants you are to whom you obey, meaning a whatever or whomever you allow. He's writing to believers, whoever or whatever you allow to rule over your thinking and behavior. be to that or that thing or being is your master. And you are the servant. Now let me explain this to you. Every person that's here this morning is under a master. Every one of us. And you're living the life you're living today because you have chosen your master. So you can look at your life You can look at where you are, you can look at how you're living your life, and you can decide who your master is. Let me illustrate it quickly. Let's say you're having financial struggles. You look at your income. Your income's good, but your outgo far exceeds your income. So you have great amounts of debt. It's not debt that came because of emergency, it's buying and spending debt. choosing to get things that your income wasn't allowing, but you had a plastic card in your wallet or in your purse, and you said, I can use that and pay it off. Well, that principle worked till you got the first credit card bill, and you couldn't pay it all off. So you said, I'll pay off what I can, and I'll finish it up next month. But next month, you put more on the card. So now you're in a cycle. Your master is your want. not your need. You're choosing to let what you want rule what you need and what you ought to be doing. There are many other illustrations that I could use and I'm not picking on if you're here and that your category is one. I don't know anything about your finances. I know what mine are. I've been in that path. I've been there and excused it. and paid for it and suffered because of it. And thank God I've gotten out of that and I see and I knew all along what I was doing was wrong, but I chose to live that way because that was my master. Until one day I reckoned in my mind, this is wrong. This is not pleasing to the Lord. I'm not a vessel that God can use. And God enabled me to break the cycle. When I made up my mind to change the way I was living, God enabled me to do so. He broke the cycle. And to God be the glory. He gets all the glory for that, not me. My point is, whatever you're doing with your life, it's because you have submitted to a master. And that's a principle. Point C, whether, and he explains whether it's a sin unto death, point three, excuse me, or obedience unto righteousness. Sin always brings death. It's either relational death, physical death, It brings spiritual death to the unsaved. It kills us spiritually in our relationship with God and our ability to serve God and have an impact in people's lives. Sin always brings death. B. Obedience to God always is the right thing to do and there's no exceptions. Obedience to God is always the right thing to do and there's no exceptions. So that's a simple rule. That's a simple rule for this principle. Does God want me to do that? Would God be pleased if I did that? Has God led me to do that? Have I prayed about it? Do I want His will in this matter? Am I seeking His face concerning this thing? Is God in this or is it just Ron making this choice? And so under grace, God allows me to have the strength and the ability to live for Him. So the logic here, first there's a principle, B, there is a past that must be dealt with daily after our conversion. Just because we're under grace doesn't eliminate our past. We all have a history, all of us. And I'm gonna say this probably conclusively, and I think if you're different, then you come see me after church, I'd like to know how you didn't fall into this. In all of us, there's some history that we wish we could change. There's some choices, decisions, relationships that maybe we had or did that we aren't happy with. And we wish we could go back and undo them, but we can't. But even though that is our history, it doesn't need to be our future. And the principle here is that there's a past that we have to deal with daily. Verse 17, but God be thanked you were the servants of sin. In other words, before our conversion, our master was sin, and the result of our life was death. So there's a principle that cannot be overlooked. There's a past that must be dealt with. There is a change that has taken place that makes a world of difference. Verse 17. But God be thanked, you were the servants of sin. But you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you. There is a change that has taken place. You have obeyed. Or you have heard and conformed to what you heard. You've obeyed from the heart. Or the control room of our emotion, the mind. The mind, the heart, they're used interchangeably in scripture. My heart does not feel. My heart pumps blood. My heart may have a sudden pain if I'm having a heart attack. I haven't experienced one and I pray that I don't. But that's when my heart's gonna feel. My head does my thinking. My head feels my pain, my suffering, my sorrow, my temptation. In Scripture, they're interchangeable terms. It's the seat of the emotion. And we talk about, from my heart, I love you with all my heart. We know what we mean by that. I love you with all my emotion, all my feelings. And there's nothing wrong with that phrase. But we've got to understand what he's talking about here, about the heart. We've obeyed from the heart. My heart didn't decide to obey. My mind decided to obey. So I've obeyed from the heart, the control room. It's important that we understand, my mind is my control room. My brain controls everything my body does. Everything. It's the control center. So with my control center, I have decided to obey. What? Three, that form of doctrine. Or the preaching of the gospel. Form is the idea of a pre-constructed shape into which you pour molten metal and when it cools it takes on the likeness of the mold. I have obeyed from my heart that form. It's the idea of a pre-constructed shape in which molten liquid metal is poured, and when that metal cools, it bears the likeness of the mold. So everything about that mold, when that metal is cooled and taken out of it, that metal's gonna look just like the mold in every aspect. So, with my heart, I have decided to obey that form of doctrine. Doctrine is teaching. God's Word is filled with doctrine. So I have agreed with my heart to conform to every part and parcel of the Word of God. I've made that decision. Have you made that? Have you made that kind of a decision that you've said, in my heart, my mind, I want to obey God in all areas. I want to be obedient to the Word of God. And when God speaks to me out of His Word about some part of my life that's not what it ought to be. I want God to change me so that I fit and shape myself into the form of the Word of God. That's what Paul says happens under grace. I have made up my mind to conform to the mold of the doctrine of the Word of God. There's a principle. There's a past that has to be addressed. It's not a stumbling stone. It's a stepping stone, the past. There's a change that has taken place that makes a world of difference. And point D, there's a continual victory to be enjoyed over the past sinful habits. God says, alright, here's where you used to live in sin. It was filled with the death penalty. Now you've been saved. Now you're under my grace. Now you're under my hope. Now you're under my truth. And because of the change that I've made in you, I've taken you from a life of death and I've entered you into a life of victory. We like to sing victory in Jesus around here. I think one of the big reasons is because a good Southern song and it's got some move to it. But the truth of that song is the most important part. Victory in Jesus. There are victories to be enjoyed over our past. Verse 18, being then made free from sin, you have become the servants of righteousness. Being made free, point one, That's a supernatural action. It's not something you and I can reckon to do. It's something that only can happen supernaturally. We have been made free from sin. Our slavery to sin is broken. That's why, now listen, I don't know where you are this morning, but if you're sitting here and you're saying to yourself in your mind, I just can't seem to have victory over sin. That's not what the Bible teaches. That's the place where you have chosen to be. Because the Bible says you have been made free from sin. Now, I'm not saying you're going to live in perfection. We don't teach sinless perfection around here, where you live long enough and you do right long enough, you'll live above sin. No, that's not what the Scripture teaches. But the Scripture teaches that you can live there. You can choose that as your goal. You want to live there and pursue it with all your heart, and you will find that every day you pursue that, you will have less temptation to sin, and you'll have more desire to live for God. Why? Because you're enjoying the victory. You're enjoying the victory. When you go to bed at night and you've had a pretty decent day and no real struggles, no real empowering of sin upon you and attacking you and you yielding to it, have you laid your head on your pillow at night and remembered to say, thank you, Lord, for giving me victory today? You ought to, because that's the only way you had it. It wasn't because you're such a good person. We're not good people. We're sinners. We're sinners saved by the grace of God. And so we find here that Paul says, listen, this is where you are. This is what's going on. This is the change that has been made in your life. You've been made free from sin. And because of that, too, you become the servants of righteousness. Now notice, ye became the servants. You can become something and not be very good at it. You can go to school and study to become a surgeon and get your degree and you can still mess up your surgery. You have to decide you're going to be a good surgeon. You're going to have to do what is right when it comes to surgery. You can become anything but be lousy at it. Here he says, You have become the servants of righteousness. What we have here is you have moved from slavery to sin, and now point two, voluntary slavery to do right in God's sight. Now we don't like this word slavery in Christianity, but I'm gonna tell you that's exactly what it is. You read in the Greek where Paul says the servant of God, he's saying I'm the slave of God. And that's what we've become. Listen, we all have a master. There's not one of us here today that doesn't have a master. I just talked a moment ago about the master, maybe credit, maybe not being a wise steward of the money you have, maybe not taking care of yourself. Maybe not getting the rest you need. Maybe not showing up on time. We are all servants of some master. And so we decide, by the grace of God, to be the servant of Jesus Christ and a slave to Almighty God. So we move from being freed from sin, we become the servant of righteousness. And when 1.3 is freed from their sin, they are at liberty to be like Christ through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit that lives in them. So the question, the answer, the logical thinking, and it brings us to point four, the logical conclusion. Verse 19, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as ye have yielded your member servants to uncleanness and to iniquity and to iniquity, Even so now yield your members servants to righteousness and unto holiness." Point A, since the believer has become a servant of righteousness through the supernatural work of God, Paul says, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. Paul's analogy or his conclusion was in keeping with human thinking and understanding. He says, I'm going to make this so you can understand it because you're a human. Two. For as you have yielded your members, servants, to uncleanness and unto iniquity, even so now yield your members, servants, to righteousness unto holiness." Point A under 2, before salvation, we were the slaves to and mastered by sin. B, after salvation, we were freed from the penalty and the power of sin Therefore, we should yield ourselves unto God and the righteousness He wishes to bring into our life. Verse 20. For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. What fruit had you then in those things wherein you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. Before we were saved, righteous living was of no interest or significance to us. Somebody comes and said before we got saved, you know, you need to be living for the Lord. I don't want to live for the Lord. I'm having too much fun in the world. You need to be a Christian. I don't want to be a Christian. If I become a Christian, look at what I've got to give up. And all those excuses. We were not the servant of righteousness. We were the servant of sin. Before we were saved, Righteous living had no interest or significance to us. See, after conversion, the past way of unrighteous living is no longer controlling us. Now, as believers, our desire is to live a holy life with an eternal perspective. Look at verse 20 through 22. For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. What fruit had you then in those things were of, ye are now ashamed. For the end of those things is death, but now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life." Now that you've become a child of God, now that you've experienced the grace of God in your life, your goal is to produce fruit of righteousness. Your goal is to please God and live for God and with God forever. Change of goals. Humanly, for I was saved, I wanted to live in sin. Now I've been saved, I want to live for God. Before I was saved, I gave my life to live for the devil. Now I've been saved, I need to give my life to live for God. Period. There's no in between. There's no, okay, well, I'm gonna still have part of my life over here living for the devil while I'm living for God. 50-50. No, I'll tell you what, I'll be real spiritual about it. I'll give God 60% and the world 40%. No, that's not what grace teaches. Grace teaches it's either one or the other. one or the other. There's a principle. There's a principle that cannot be violated. You're a master to something. You say, well, but most of my life, it looks pretty good. There's just a few things in it. Well, you're not a master to God. You're a master to the devil, because he's a master deceiver. So what we find here, that after conversion, the past way of unrighteous living is no longer controlling us. Now, as believers, our desire is to live a holy life with an eternal perspective. Thank God for the songs we sang this morning. Jessica, they were a blessing to my heart. If nobody else, I want to jump up and run down the aisle. I bet I contained myself. But I thank God for the songs. I praise the Lord for the music and the offertory. Why? Because it made me focus on heaven and what's to come and the victory that I have awaiting me and the victory that I can look forward to and the victory that I can be having now because of what's coming. living now in righteousness with an eternal perspective. Then verse 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. D, the difference between the saved and the unsaved is the eternal destination. Are you living for the here and now or are you living for what is yet to come in eternity? Only you can answer that question. You can't live for both. You use the here and now to get you to eternity. You use the here and now to serve the Lord because you know you're going home to be with God. What's the conclusion? The grace of God is the power by which we can live a victorious life over sin. The grace of God is not a license to sin. Instead, it is the strength God has given to us, enabling us to live like Christ. Thank you, Lord, for your grace, for your mercy, for your goodness, for your love, for your compassion, for your long suffering, for your willingness to continue to work in our hearts and lives because you know you have changed us. You have given us a new heart. Sometimes we let that new heart get rusty. Sometimes we let that new heart get tarnished. Sometimes we let that new heart get drawn away by other things. But nonetheless, it is still a new heart. We are in Christ Jesus. May we learn that principle that old things are passing away. All things are becoming new. May we live for Jesus. May whatever we do in word or deed or whatever, may we do it all to the glory of God. And I pray your blessings on your people. Keep them. Use them, empower them. I thank you, Lord, that I was preaching to the choir this morning, but every choir member here knows there's something in their own life that they need to address, and they know someone that they need to share the truth with. Help us to be faithful servants this week, and we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
The Grace of God (10)
Série The Grace of God
Identifiant du sermon | 102317167352 |
Durée | 37:56 |
Date | |
Catégorie | Dimanche - matin |
Texte biblique | Romains 6:15-23 |
Langue | anglais |
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