And today we look at the last section in Romans chapter 6 beginning in verse 15 and we begin this last section Romans chapter 6 with another question. And as we look at these questions, what I want us to realize is a number of things. First is this, Paul is dealing with legitimate questions. He is answering legitimate questions that are posed as a result of the gospel that he proclaims. As we proclaim the gospel, as it was proclaimed by the apostles, these are questions that we will face inevitably. However, there is a manner in which we learn how to proclaim the gospel, or something that is really not the gospel, that avoids these questions, because they sting a little bit if we don't understand the gospel properly. If we go back, for example, in chapter six, verse one. He asks the question. What shall we say, then, are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? Why does he ask that question? Because as he preaches this gospel of grace, And as he speaks about grace superabounding where sin abounds, there are those who argue, wait a minute, Paul, are you suggesting that since where sin abounds, grace superabounds, that we ought to just sin so that grace may abound all the more? Are we to follow your argument through to its logical conclusion that way? And he says, may it never be. Absolutely not. We've died to sin. And here we have another question. These are not rhetorical questions. These are literal questions that people ask in light of the gospel of grace. Because we do not hold to the gospel of grace. Our flesh does not like the gospel of grace. My flesh wants to participate in its own deliverance. My flesh wants credit for what God does. So much so that even when I grasp the gospel of grace, I then turn sanctification into something that is not of grace, so that if I can't take credit for my justification, at least I'll take credit for my sanctification. If you can't say amen, you ought to say ouch. Okay? Because we don't like it. Not only do we not like it, we don't trust it. And even if I trust it for me, I don't trust it for you. That's the self-righteous one. The self-righteous one says, you know what, I may be able to live out this Christian life just believing that it's all of grace, but other people can't, so we've got to give them something else. The next question, verse 15, what then? Because remember where he ends. Verse 14, for sin will have no dominion over us, since we are not under law, but under grace. So he answers one question, and at the end of the question that he answers, he realizes, I know you also have a question about that. So he says, verse 15, what then? Are we to sin because we are not under law, but under grace? This is the more common question, by the way. The first question that people are asking, that's a theoretical question. Let me push you on this, Paul, theoretically, hypothetically. Let me push you on this, because it sounds like what you're saying is that there's this superabounding grace of God that meets the sin of man, and it's almost as though, if you carried it to its logical conclusion, You're saying that we should send more. So let me push you a little bit on this. This one is a question that we face. So if it's not the law, and we're under grace, are you saying then that we don't have to keep the law? I know you've heard that question. If you're saying that we're saved by grace, are you saying here's the way people ask it? Are you saying I can live any way I want to? Are you saying? Here's the phrase, let's say it all together, once saved, always saved. Is that what you're saying? And by the way, we've said it before, but let me say it again to refresh your memory. That phrase once saved, always saved is not an accurate explanation of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Here's why. The idea of once saved, always saved accompanies a faulty idea of salvation. So when somebody says, are you saying once saved, always saved? Here's what they do. First, they define salvation by you acting upon your will, walking an aisle and Just take your pick. Inviting Jesus into your heart, asking Jesus into your heart, committing your life to Christ. Go ahead and fill in the blank with any of those unbiblical terms that you want to that have to do with man exercising his will. That don't mention repentance and don't mention faith. That's what the gospel requires, by the way. That we repent of our sin, that we turn from our sin. And that we believe what the gospel is communicating to us about Christ. That we believe in Jesus Christ and trust in Him alone for salvation, as the catechism says. Right, boys and girls? That's what the Bible says salvation is. But we turn it into, I asked, I invited, I committed. So the once saved, always saved crowd says, now wait a minute, are you saying that everyone who's prayed that prayer No matter what they do from then on, it's saved. And I meant to bring the worship guide up here, the bulletin up here for today. Can I borrow one quickly? Thank you. And again, providentially, in our catechism today, look at question number 92. Will all who outwardly profess obedience to the gospel escape the wrath due to their sins? In other words, that's what people are really trying to ask. Wait a minute, do you believe in one saved, always saved? Do you believe that everyone who outwardly professes? The answer, not all who outwardly profess obedience to the gospel, but only those who persevere in faith and holiness to the end shall be saved. And by the way, what's the next question immediately? Wait a minute, only those who persevere and holy, wait a minute, so you mean it's by works? 93. Who then will persevere in faith and holiness unto the end and be saved? All true believers, by reason of God's eternal decree, not something in them, and unchangeable love, Christ's intercession and the Spirit and Word of God abiding in them are preserved by the power of God and supplied with every spiritual blessing in Christ. There's that phrase we talked about last week. And therefore, because of all of that stuff that God has done, we'll most certainly persevere in faith and holiness unto the end and be saved. That's the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Not this flippant once saved always saved that has at its core the idea that outward profession equals salvation. That is not what Paul is teaching here in Romans. That's not what we've seen anywhere as we've read. And even when we get to Romans 10, what we will see is this idea of salvation is asking Jesus into your heart. It's actually a misuse and misapplication of Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10. We repent and we believe and we're saved, but then there's something else. And here's what Paul's dealing with in this whole section, but specifically in chapter 6. We repent, we believe, and we're saved. And sanctification follows our justification as inexorably as night follows day. You will walk in righteousness if you are saved. You will walk in holiness if you are saved. You will be conformed to the image of Christ if you are saved. You will. You must. It will happen. Why? Because you've died to sin. How can you keep living in sin if you've died to sin? You can't. And here? Because you're a slave to righteousness. Look at verse 16. Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, You are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness." Now, there's the overarching umbrella statement. That's the answer to the question. That's the short answer to the question. Now he's going to expound on the answer and explain what he means, but that's the answer to the question. The first question, 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? That's the short answer to that question. And we unpack that. Now here's the other question. Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? The answer, by no means. You do not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as an obedient slave, you are slaves to the one whom you obey. either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness. You either present yourself as a slave to sin, or you present yourself as a slave to righteousness. And Paul's argument is, this is not what Paul is saying. Paul is not saying, oh Christian, know that you have a choice to either be a slave of sin or to be a slave of righteousness. No! Slaves don't have choices. Come on now. Slaves don't have choice. That's part of being a slave. He's not saying, oh, Christian, you can either be a slave. No, he's saying, Christian, remember, you used to be a slave to sin, but now you're a slave to righteousness. That's his answer to the question. Because on the one hand, we hear all this stuff about being free from the law. And we go, wait a minute, I'm free from the law? I can just live any way I want? By the way, the answer to that question is yes. You're free from the law. You can live any way you want. But remember, your nature has been changed. So like the old preacher used to say, God changed your want to. Amen. He changed your want to. Part of being a Christian means we get a new name. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. New things have come. Can I live any way I want? Absolutely. But the beauty of being in Christ is that He changes what it is that you want. He changes your very appetites. See, we ask that question and we forget the reality of the doctrine. When we ask that question, we're going, now wait a minute, you mean if I'm saved I can live any way I want? Here's what we're asking. We're asking, we're saying, now wait a minute now, are you saying that I can be truly converted and then go and live the same life that I lived before and still get all the benefits of being truly converted? That question demonstrates ignorance. Why? Because you don't ask that question if you know what it means to be converted. And Paul demonstrates that here. He then goes on to explain. And as we look at this and as we listen to it, notice what he does. He goes back and forth and back and forth between these two ideas. This concept, it's the tale of two masters. Now, first, let me tell you what it's not. I've already explained this a bit, but let me say this is not Paul saying, OK, Christian, here's your choices. This is Paul saying, OK, Christian, here was then, here is now. Here was then, here is now. Here's where you were. Here's where you are. It's very important that we understand it this way. This is a truth. It is a reality. And I want to explain why that's so important. The second thing is this. He's speaking to believers, not to unbelievers. This is important. He's speaking to believers, not to unbelievers. Why is this important? If we miss that, we make a mistake again about what the gospel produces versus what the gospel requires. If he's speaking to unbelievers, then he's basically saying to unbelievers, you need to gird up your loins and make a choice to be a slave to righteousness. That's works righteousness. That's not his message to unbelievers. The message to unbelievers is repent, believe, not try to do better. That's not the message to unbelievers. That's why those folks who say, you know, I would go to church, but you know, there's a lot of stuff in my life that I got to get straightened out first. Help you. I would come to God, but I'm not worthy of God yet. When I get worthy of God, then I'll come to God. If you could get worthy of God, you wouldn't need God. You can't get yourself worthy of God. There is nothing in you that would satisfy God. On your best day, it's filthy rags. That's not the answer. So first, know that He's Not talking to non-Christians, he's talking to Christians. Second, know that he's not saying to Christians, you get choice A or you get choice B. He's saying to Christians, here's where you were, here's where you are. This is incredibly important. It's like we talked about before. Remember your training. Remember your freedom. So here we go. Verse 17. you might want to circle that one. Because first he presents the two alternatives. And then he says, but, thanks be to God that you who were once slaves to sin, slaves to sin we're going to call A, okay, there's A, Thanks be to God that you who were once slaves to sin, you were slaves to sin, you are no longer slaves to sin. This is not Christian, there's A or there's B. No, it's Christian, there's what was and there's what is. Here's what was. You were slaves to sin. You were slaves to sin. You have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed and having been set free from sin have become slaves to righteousness. There's B. OK, so A is the slave to sin side. B is the slave to righteousness side. Let's follow here. We learn a couple of things here. First, we learn that Paul is absolutely not talking about works righteousness, because look carefully at his phrasing when he talks about where you used to be versus where you are. He does not say you used to be over here, but then you girded up your loins and you made the right decision. He does not say you used to be over here, but then you, unlike the other people around you, As Spurgeon says in his famous prayer, you know Spurgeon offers his facetious prayer, saying, here's how an Armenian ought to pray. You don't sit there and go, oh, thank you, that I am not like the rest of them. But I, unlike they, have exercised my will. I, unlike they, have added to. No, that's not what Paul says here. He says, But, first of all, thanks be to God. So this is not, choose B, not A. This is, you are B, no longer A. This is also not, good job for choosing B, not A. This is, thanks be to God that you are B and not A. So thanks be to God, you who were A, slaves to sin, Have become obedient, there's the B, from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed and have been set free. By whom? The one he just thanked. God. You didn't free yourself, you have been set free. That's who you are. You have been set free. Notice this, our obedience from the heart comes right between thanks be to God and having been set free. He says you have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed. In other words, it is not some outward force, the law, which cannot make you righteous. It is something internal to you. It is this alien righteousness It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Here's the beauty, not only are you in Him, He's in you. And so from the heart you're obedient. In other words, you're not working up or mustering up your obedience. Your obedience is something that God has granted to you by His grace. By the way, here's where we dispel the myth. So the idea is, well first there was this law, and the law was bad, the law was no good. Now we've got something else, we've got something better. Something better than the law? Here's the irony, and you hear it everywhere today in modern American Christianity. This idea that, you know what, we just love God and love people. That's all. We're not about all those rules and regulations. We just love God and love people. Here's what's ironic. Love God and love people is the summary of the whole law. First table of the law. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength. Second table of the law, love your neighbor as yourself. So ironically, these people who hate the law of God and want to run away from the law of God have replaced it with the summary of the law of God. In the name of not being held accountable to the law of God. Which one love God? Really? What does it look like when you love God? You mean maybe you don't want to have another God beside him? You mean maybe you don't want to worship idols or graven images? You mean maybe you don't want to blaspheme his name? You mean maybe you want to honor and reverence his day? Is that what you kind of mean? Because those would be the first four commandments that you think you're so far above. And the whole love people part. You just love people, really? Forget all those rules and regulations, just love people, really? Like what people? Maybe your mother and your father? How would you love them? Maybe by honoring them? And what about other people? Would you maybe not kill them? Would you maybe not commit adultery? Would you maybe not steal from them? Does any of that sound familiar? These are the commandments of God. Love God, love people. It's a summary of the law, but it's sleight of hand. You can't get away from it. And somehow what we want to do is we want to say, no, we just want to love God and love people. And what we mean is we want to have warm, fuzzy feelings toward God and warm, fuzzy feelings toward people, regardless of whether or not we are violating those commandments that God has laid down. But that's not what Paul is teaching here. Paul says, from your heart, you keep these things. Not because you've got a list in your pocket that you go and refer to, but you've been set free from sin. But not autonomous, because you're still a slave, but now you're a slave to righteousness. And as a slave, you're an obedient slave to righteousness, inwardly obedient to righteousness. From your heart, you're obedient to righteousness. Not in order to gain favor with God, but as a result of the favor that God has lavished upon you in Christ. He goes on, I'm speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. Thank you so much, Paul. I'm using this illustration for you. In other words, Paul is saying, I am not saying that I'm capturing the full essence of this theological reality. But I'm giving you something that you can grasp. Four. Here's A again. Just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, Just as you once. Paul is not saying. This is one choice is another choice. No, this is where you were. So now here's be again present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. Here's a again for when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness, but. What fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death." There's A, but here we go with B again. Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. Four. One more time, summing up, A, the wages of sin is death, but B, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B. And it's not this or that, this or that, this or that. It's used to be, are. Used to be, are. But let's look at what we used to be for a moment, shall we? When we were slaves to sin, when sin was our master and we look back on this and by the grace of God, we see this. We did not see it then, but by the grace of God, we see it now. That's the other thing. Remember, I said Paul is not talking here to unbelievers, but to believers, because unbelievers, much of this they can't even comprehend. First. Impurity or uncleanness. impurity or uncleanness. He says, for just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity, to impurity or uncleanness. He then goes on to talk about lawlessness. I'm going to talk about that lawlessness in a minute, but for now, I want to merely cause your eye to look down to lawlessness so that you can see this point. The uncleanness is the internal reality that leads to the external manifestation of lawlessness. He said again, your uncleanness when you were a slave to sin, who you were on the inside is what led to the external manifestation of lawlessness. That's incredibly important. Listen to the way the Bible talks about sin. Psalm 51, verse 2. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. I'm dirty. I'm unclean. Listen to Isaiah, chapter 1, verse 18. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." There is a stain upon us. There is an uncleanness in us. There is no good in us. This goes back to Romans chapter 3. It is who we are on the inside, and that is why we walk in lawlessness. So before you came to Christ, you were filthy on the inside, dirty on the inside, and because of who you were on the inside, You manifested lawlessness on the outside. So you violated the law of God, not because of where you were raised, by whom you were raised, or the circumstances surrounding your life, be they socioeconomic or otherwise, but because on the inside of you, you were a sinner. That's why. And so the problem with the sinner is not that they need to change their environment, because no matter where they go, there they are. Your problem travels with you. It is intrinsic to you. It is you. I have seen the enemy, and he is me. That's where you were as a slave to sin. From the inside out, you were a slave to sin. And the things that you did outwardly were mere manifestations. And limited manifestations at that, because it was the grace of God that restrained you from manifesting fully what you were on the inside. No matter how bad you think you were. You were worse. You were worse. On your best day, it was filthy rags. So when we were slaves to sin internally, in our very souls, we were stained, unclean. And what came out of us was lawlessness leading to more lawlessness. Did we need to be restrained? Yes, absolutely we needed to be restrained. Praise God for those things that restrained us. But that wasn't the answer. Think about this, mom, dad, and relate to your unsaved children. Why do they do what they do? Because there's not enough restraint? No. Because they are filthy on the inside. At their core, at their core they are absolutely rotten on the inside. At their core, they are completely and utterly disgusting. to a holy and righteous God. And the only reason you don't see it that way is because you are blinded by these outward physical manifestations that hide from us what is truly on the inside. Do my children need their sins restrained? Yes, they need their sins restrained. But if all I do is outwardly restrain the sins of my children and never, ever deal with them according to their greatest need, what I am doing is I am washing the outside of the cup alone. And if you give the law to an unbeliever, and say to an unbeliever, do this, don't do that, Live like this, don't live like that. All we're doing is we're washing the outside of the cup. What they desperately need is to be changed as we start this new session of Congress. It always amazes me, you know. By the way, the last session of Congress, it was the worst thing. It was Armageddon. It was the end of the world. Now, this session of Congress, it's the second coming. Why? to Christians. And hear me, let me just go ahead and lay this foundation, and I do this every time, because no matter how many times I say it, I still need to say it, because there are people who take what you say and just run all kinds of different directions. This is a church where we pray every week, every week, for a local, state, and national leader, every week. We're involved in that. We understand our responsibilities there, but we do not put our hope in that. So with that said, let me explain something to you. There are those who put all their eggs in the basket of changing laws. Put all their eggs in the basket of godly leaders and godly laws and so on and so forth. Here is what that amounts to for most people, not all, but for most people, here's what it amounts to. I don't like the way my neighbor lives his life, but I don't have the guts or the compassion or the faith to share the gospel with my neighbor, so I will merely send enough people to Congress to force my neighbor to live outwardly the way I want to see him live. That's the political solution. I won't waste the energy to walk across the street and preach the gospel, but I will give my time, my talent, and my treasure in hopes that we can get enough people who think like us so that they can wash the outside of the cup of my neighbors who I don't care enough about to preach the gospel to so that I can feel better while I watch them go to hell. Now did I just say that our laws don't matter? Shame on you. Shame on you if you believe that. You know better than that. You know me better than that. But that's not where our hope is. Why? Because of this truth. What the sinner does on the outside is a mere manifestation of what is on the inside. Do they need to be restrained outwardly? Yes, praise God, but that's not the answer. Next, shame. Shame. He goes on to say, For when you were slaves to sin, you were free in regards to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? By the way, notice that he says the things of which you are now ashamed. Shame is a mercy from God. Zephaniah 3.5 The unjust knows no shame. The unjust knows no shame. His heart is hardened. He is calloused toward his sin. In fact, he flaunts his sin before God. He shakes his fist at God. And he has absolutely no shame whatsoever. By the way, let me explain to go back to the political analogy. There are a lot of people who look back, for example, and they say, oh, back in whatever year, back in the 50s, back in the 20s, back in the 1800s, back in the 1700s, there was a completely different morality in our culture. You're absolutely right. There was a completely different morality in our culture because of those outward restraints. But what it was, for the most part, is people felt shame because of roles, norms, and mores And in many instances, they happen to come from Scripture because the influence of Scripture and culture. But that is not the same as a person who feels shame and remorse over their sin because the scales have been removed from their eyes. Job 822. Those who hate you will be clothed with shame and the tent of the wicked will be no more. Psalm 4-2, we heard it today. O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Proverbs 13-5, the righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace. Jeremiah 3.25, Let us lie down in our shame and let our dishonor cover us, for we have sinned against the Lord our God. We, our fathers from our youth, have even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God. And then Hosea 4.7, The more they increase, the more they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame. It is the grace of God that brings true evangelical shame. It is the grace of God that allows us to look back and be ashamed. It is the grace of God that allows the sinner's heart to be softened and be ashamed. I'm not talking about I'm ashamed because, you know, I got drunk in front of everybody and I made a fool out of myself. I'm ashamed. I got pregnant and people can see that I'm pregnant out of wedlock. Therefore, no, see that shame based upon other people's impression of me, that shame based upon my sin of pride. That is not the kind of shame that Paul talks about here. The kind of shame he talks about here is when we realize that we have offended a holy and righteous God and that we enjoyed every minute of it. Mercy of God comes upon your life, and we realize it was shameful. And death impurity, lawlessness, shame, and death. Ephesians 2, 1-3, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the Spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passion of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. This death was both a temporal spiritual reality and an eschatological reality. The day you eat of it, surely you shall die. He ate and it became a temporal spiritual reality, but ultimately it became a physical reality and an eschatological reality for man. Colossians 2.13, and you who were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses. You were dead. Death. That's the end of being a slave to sin. That's what you get for being a slave to sin. So there is impurity inwardly, lawlessness that manifests itself outwardly. shame over the things that we've done, and ultimately death is the only thing the sinner has to hope for. That is who you were, and you could only see it this side of the cross before you were blinded by it. Otherwise, how could you have woken up in the morning and gotten out of bed and begun your day if you knew that your lot in life was impurity, lawlessness, shame, and ultimately death. How could you face another day if you knew that that was the reality of your life? But thanks be to God, that's who you were. That's who you were. On the other side, here's what we get. Liberation. You've been freed. Twice he says, we've been set free. We've been made free. There is liberation. Liberation from what? Again, not liberation to autonomy, because we're still a slave, but we're liberated from the old slave master. We're liberated from the old slave master. That's the first thing. You're free from that. Your whole lot in life was uncleanness, lawlessness, shame, and death. But now, Christ has liberated you from that. That is not who you are. That is not what defines you. That is not what lay ahead for you. Not only liberation, but justification. You have been declared righteous by God. You've been declared righteous by God. And it's not based on yourself. It can't be. Because all you brought was uncleanness, lawlessness, shame, and death. You've been declared righteous by God. When the adversary reminds you of all of those things that brought you shame, you know what you need to do? You need to be like Christian. When Apollyon came and met him, before they fought, Apollyon and all his threatenings and Pilgrim's Progress, he reminded Christian. How is this God going to receive you? You've been unfaithful to Him even up to this point. And He pointed out, in the slough of despond, you got discouraged. No sooner you get on the other side of the wicked gate, you're ready to go up to law. Then you fell asleep and you lost your scroll. Then you faced those lions and you were terrified. You didn't even want to walk past them. How does Christian respond? All you say is true and more. You could go on. That's just the stuff you know. Anybody ever felt like that? And yet God is forgiven. and declared me righteous." That is your current reality. Not only that, but sanctification. He says, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. Your justification leads to sanctification. I want you to grasp something. It's difficult for believers to grasp this idea of their sanctification and ultimately their glorification, because that next one is eternal life. That's where we go to is eternal life. And believers always feel like they're in peril, like their eternal life is not secure. What's this? You ask a Christian, when you were a slave to sin, what would have happened Had you not been saved? And they connect all the dots and they go, oh, inevitably. Uncleanness. Lawlessness. Shame. Death. And it was absolutely secure. There was nothing that was going to change that apart from the grace of God. But you get them on the other side. And you go, okay, now you're saved. What's that? Liberation. I've been set free from that all life. Justification. He's declared me righteous. Most of us are terrified to claim that next step. Sanctification is inevitable for you just like death was inevitable for you over there Yeah, but you know only only if really cuz over there you never paused and said only if but over here There's a hitch and you get along By the way that last step eternal life I Even most Christians will say, yeah, eternal life, that's where I'm going. But the idea of sanctification and righteousness, we don't hold on to that as a present reality. And let me explain to you why. It is pride. Let me unpack that for you. over here we say God is just and had I stayed on that path the just God would have seen it through and followed through with his wrath in my death and eternal damnation over here we say the just God is in control of most of this path but there's another player who is equally as important as him so when it comes to sanctification I get the deciding vote, not God. That's why I cannot say that that is an absolute guarantee for me. Because it depends on how I feel and how I perform. That's pride. That's self-reliance. It's also faithlessness. Because here's the other thing. I just don't believe that God's going to sanctify me. It's also false piety. Because somehow for me to say God's going to sanctify me means that I think more of myself than I ought. No, I didn't say I'm going to sanctify me. I said God's going to sanctify me. Amen? It's inevitable. Now, we'll get to that when we get to Romans chapter 8. But again, in Romans chapter 8, that chain, you know, in fact, we'll read it anyway. By the time we get to Romans chapter 8, we will have preached it 19 times, but that's all right. Romans chapter 8, let's begin at verse 28. And we hope that, well, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. Now again, you have to understand that all things work together for good, you rip that kicking and screaming out of context, you know, and all of a sudden it's guaranteeing something that it never meant to guarantee. There's horrible things that come to you in your life. But all things work together for good. What's that good? For those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined, for what? To be conformed to the image of His Son. He predestined your sanctification. How dare you not claim it? In order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers, By the way, your sanctification is to the glory of Christ, not to the glory of you. It is you and your sanctified self that the Father grants to the Son, and the Son gives back to the Father as they exchange these gifts between one another. And those whom He predestined, He also called. Those whom He called, He also justified. Those whom He justified, He also glorified. How many? All of them. So how is it that I can hold on to my future glorification, but I'm terrified to acknowledge the reality of my sanctification? It's pride. It's faithlessness. And it's false piety. He is sanctifying you. Yeah, but I don't feel like it. No, that's chapter 7. But for now, just allow this statement to fall over you. He is sanctifying you. When He justified you, this declaration is not just an outward statement. Here's what we do. We take this courtroom scene. And we're all familiar with that illustration. And the judge is there. And here's all the charges. And the judge says, not guilty. Not only not guilty, but you're righteous. And in a way, that helps us to understand justification. OK? In a way, it helps us to understand justification. But in a way, it doesn't. Because like every illustration, this illustration breaks down. Here's what you need to realize. The one who says over you, you are righteous. Is the one who said, let there be light. When he said, let there be light, there was not the potential for light. There was light. The One who declared you righteous has as much spoken that into reality as He spoke this world into existence. And He will bring it to pass. He will conform you to the image of His Son. Because He loves His Son. He will present you faultless before His throne. Why? Because you're His people. That's why. He will see to it that you are victorious and more than a conqueror. Why? Because you impressed Him? No, because He chose you. That's why. That's why. He liberated you, and you're no longer a slave to sin. You've been set free. Not autonomous, because now you're a slave to righteousness. And just like over there, your slavery meant certain things were inevitable realities, so too over here. Your slavery means certain things are inevitable realities. Your justification, your sanctification, and your glorification. You used to be A. Now you're B. Believe that and live like you believe it. And to God be the glory.