Okay, this is Romans lecture number 14. Romans lecture number 14. We're on Romans 6. Romans 6 deals with the Christian and sin. Paul is talking about sanctification. how the believer is progressively being set apart for God's purposes we dealt with verses 1 to 14 now we need to pick it up at verses 15 to 23 where Paul says we're slaves of righteousness now remember verse 14 Paul says that sin shall no longer be our master for we're no longer under law but under grace in other words under the law If you're trying to save yourself by the law, sin is your master. But once you accept God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ, once you're under grace, your master has been dethroned, sin is no longer your master, and now righteousness is your master. So Paul says in verses 15 to 23, that now we are slaves of righteousness. Paul again asks a question very similar to the way he started off this chapter in verse 1. Verse 1 he said, What shall we say then on we to continue in sin that grace might increase? And he answers, May it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it? So if we're dead to sin, separated from sin, there should be no reason why we should continue in sin. And now Paul They asked a question very similar to that in verse 15. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be. And so Paul says, shall we sin since we're under grace? Since we're no longer under the law, why not do as we please? After all, grace will cover up our sins, according to Romans 5.20, where sin increases grace abounds, Paul said. But Paul is basically saying, look, we don't continue to sin because we no longer desire to sin. You see, two believers desire to please Jesus. Look at John 14. Gospel of John chapter 14 and verse 15. Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. He's not saying you're going to be perfect, but he's saying your life is going to be characterized by obedience if you love Jesus. Now, what does that tell you about people who say that they're Christians, they say that they trust in Jesus for salvation, but they go out there and do whatever they feel like doing, and they're living a sinful life. It's evidence that they do not love Jesus. You know, a guy could say, Phil, I love you. And then I say, well, that's nice. And as soon as I turn around, he gets me in the back of the head with a shovel. People aren't going to say, Look at that, he loved Fernandez so much and then he stopped loving him all of a sudden. No, they wouldn't say that. They would say, hey, it's pretty obvious the guy was lying through his teeth. We got a lot of people who are lying through their teeth. say that they are Christians, say that they love Jesus, but in actuality, their lives prove that they are not really saved. Look at verse 16, Paul brings this point home even more, Romans 6, verse 16. Do you not know that when you present yourself 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? He's coming right out saying, hey, we're slaves of the one that we obey. Okay? James 2.26, James tells us, this is the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. So a true believer, if you really do believe that will produce good works in your life, there will be a transformed life. If a guy's living a totally ungodly life, or a life that's characterized by ungodliness, that's evidence that the guy never really was saved. So in Galatians 5, verses 19 to 21, Paul says this, Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, fashions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now he's not saying that if you do one of these sins just once, that's going to keep you from getting to heaven, but what he's saying is if your life is characterized by these things, if you practice these things, if you are living in these sins, that is evidence that you are not saved, you shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Christians aren't saved by doing good works, but those who are saved, good works will characterize their lives. Look at Ephesians 2.8-10. We all know verses 8 and 9, but verse 10 is the product of verses 8 and 9. Ephesians 2, 8 to 10, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are his workmanship, God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. In other words, Christians don't do good works to get saved, we do good works because we are saved. Good works do not cause salvation, but good works are produced by salvation. Those who are truly saved good works will characterize their lives. We are slaves of whom we obey. If you're living a life that is characterized by ungodliness, that is evidence that you are not saved. Look at Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1 verses 15 and 16. Paul says this, to the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. Now it's real key here, look at verse 15. Paul describes the people that he's talking about in verse 16 as those who are defiled and unbelieving. So he's talking about unbelievers. Certain unbelievers profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, and they're worthless for any good deed. So true believers, Paul says that if Eden is 210, are God's workmanship, New creatures in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5.17, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So believers are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus for good works. But unbelievers, there might be some unbelievers that profess to know God, they claim to be believers, but by their deeds they deny Him, and we see that they're worthless for any good deed. In other words, if a guy's living a godless life, even King David had a bad day and a bad year, he didn't want to repent after he was guilty of murder and adultery when he stole Uriah the Hittite's wife Bathsheba and had Uriah murdered. But the fact of the matter is David's life as a whole was characterized by godliness. As a whole, David's life, he was not perfect, but he was living a life characterized by good works. And so we're slaves of who we obey. We're not saved by outwardly obeying God in our own strength. We're saved by God regenerating us from within, changing our hearts and dwelling us with the Holy Spirit. But then the overflow of the heart will give evidence that we are saved. And so Paul says in verses 17 and 18 that believers are slaves of righteousness. Verses 17 and 18. 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. By the way, I think this passage here also refutes the Calvinistic doctrine of regeneration precedes faith. The Calvinistic doctrine is that we were slaves to sin, and we could not freely accept Christ, so God regenerated us, made us slaves to righteousness, and then because we were slaves to righteousness, we had a new nature, then we freely accepted Christ. And so we really didn't freely accept Christ, God had to zap us first. But when you look at this passage and you read it closely, Paul says that though we were slaves of sin, we became obedient and accepted the gospel message. And having been freed from sin, we then became slaves of righteousness. So we freely accepted Christ as our Savior, and then God regenerated us. So whatever being a slave to sin meant, I think it basically means we always fall short, we can never earn God's salvation, we can never please God on our own, but we still have the ability to freely accept Christ as our Savior under divine revelation and divine persuasion, But once we accept Christ, then God sets us free and we're no longer slaves of sin. Then we become slaves of righteousness. Slaves of righteousness and the Holy Spirit indwells us. But Paul says that believers are slaves of righteousness. We're no longer slaves of sin. Our desires are changed. We now can obey God from the heart. Matthew 23. Verses 25-28 talks about this, how we need inward regeneration rather than outward obedience to God's laws. The Pharisees outwardly obeyed the letter of the law but could not inwardly obey the spirit of the law because they were not regenerated. Matthew 23, verses 25 to 28, Jesus says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." And so, the believer, unlike the Pharisees, He obeys God from the heart because he's no longer a slave to sin because even his desires have been changed. We have been regenerated, not just outwardly reformed, but inwardly regenerated, born again through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are set free from sin. We're no longer slaves to sin. We're freed from our old master's sin. An illustration I'd like to give here is the Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln, when he made this proclamation, it set free the slaves. But many of the slaves in the South, though they were set free from their slave masters and their slave masters no longer had power over them, they could not, they did not know any other way of life. And the slave masters were devastated by the Civil War so they couldn't afford to pay their slaves. So they told their slaves, hey, if you want to stay here and still work the land, I can't pay you, but you can keep a little portion of the crops for yourself, and I still get most of it. It's my land. If you want to stick around, go right ahead. And I won't whip you if I think I'll get caught doing it. So you had many slaves whose masters no longer had any power over them, but they continued to live as if their former slave masters were still currently their masters. As if their masters, their former masters, still had power over them. And it's the same way with many believers. Even though they were no longer slaves to sin, and now we're slaves to righteousness, a lot of times we lie to ourselves and a lot of times Christian counselors and Christian preachers lie to us and tell us that we're still slaves to sin, that we still can't say no without the right amount of psychoanalytical Freudian counseling, and that we can't say no to sin, but the fact of the matter is we are slaves of righteousness, we can say no to sin, we are no longer slaves to sin, and if we imitate the old person we used to be, we have no excuse for doing that because we are no longer slaves of sin, now we're slaves of righteousness. Paul brings this up in verse 19, that because we're slaves of righteousness, we should live like slaves of righteousness. Look at verse 19. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, you know, before you were saved, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. So Paul says, hey, you're slaves of righteousness, so now you should live like slaves of righteousness. Illustration I like to talk about here is the black dog versus the white dog illustration, that the black dog was supposed to be the sin nature, and the white dog is the divine nature now that you're saved. And when a Christian gets saved, the black dog, this vicious black dog, the sin nature, is at battle with this vicious white dog And every decision you make, whether it's sin or not, is this big battle between two vicious dogs. That is not scriptural. Scripturally speaking, the black dog is dead. The sin nature is gone. We are no longer slaves to sin. So we need to stop pretending that sin is still our master. When a Christian sins, what we are doing When a Christian sins, it's not that we're underestimating the power of sin because Jesus dethroned sin in our lives. When Christians sin, it's not this big powerful black dog overpowering the white dog. When Christians sin, it's like a Christian going for a walk around the block with a dead black dog on his chain and he's dragging this dead dog. In other words, when we sin, it is totally against our new nature. When we impersonate the old person we used to be. When I imitate the old Phil Fernandez that I used to be, that totally goes against my new nature. I'm a new creation in Christ Jesus and I have no excuse for wallowing in the mud with pigs like I used to do when now I'm a child of the king. And so, when I stoop to that level and do that, I have no excuse and it's as unnatural as taking a dead dog for a walk around the block. It's not a battle between a vicious live dog, two vicious live dogs. The fact of the matter is, we are no longer slaves to sin, we are now slaves to righteousness. Sin no longer has power over us. Though we often lie to ourselves. The problem The problem in our lives is not this powerful desire to sin. If you believe in Jesus, the problem in all of our lives is we continue... The problem is a wrong belief. We've got this wrong belief where despite what God's Word says, we continually tell ourselves that what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary was not enough to give me victory over this particular sin. And so we continually, so the problem is more theological than it is practical. The problem isn't that temptation is too strong. The problem is our theological understanding is too weak. We need to stop underestimating what Christ did on the cross at Calvary and recognize that He defeated sin for us so that sin no longer has dominion over us. We can say no to sin. So we need to stop. We should live like slaves of righteousness, which is what we actually are now that we're saved. We need to stop pretending sin is still our master. We need to recognize that sin has been dethroned on Calvary, that Jesus not only freed us from the penalty of sin, but he also freed us from the power of sin. So the problem is not sin's power, Jesus defeated that. The problem is that we underestimate the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. Now Paul talks in this passage, verse 19, that when we present the members of our bodies as slaves to righteousness, this will result in sanctification. Sanctification, agiosmon in the Greek, means separation to God. Being separated from sin and separated to God and His holy purposes for our lives. Verse 20, for when we were slaves of sin you were free in regard to righteousness. What Paul is saying there is that as unbelievers we could not please God. As Paul said in Romans 8.8, for those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Before we were saved we could not please God. Jesus said that Only He can bear good food through us. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. John 15, 5. And so it's real clear that Paul says, as unbelievers, we could not please God. We were free in regard to righteousness. In other words, we were not slaves of righteousness. We were totally slaves of sin. Now verse 21, Paul talks about the old way of life. Therefore, what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. Paul says the old way of life, there were no benefits to be found there. True believers are ashamed of their former life. That life was empty. There were no answers. No answer found in a full bottle, a bottle of alcohol or whatever your God was before you were saved. The answer is found in the empty tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in a bottle filled with alcohol. The result of that former meaningless, absurd, sinful life, the result of that old way of life was death, spiritual death, separation from God. the God who alone could quench our thirst for Him. The result was death. Believers that should therefore have no desire to oppose God any longer. Believers should have no desire to return to the old way of life which was actually resulting in death. There's no benefits to be found there. We should never look back. We should only press on forward in obedience to the Lord. Verse 22, Paul says, But now, having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit. resulting in sanctification and the outcome, eternal life. So we are now as believers, those who trust in Jesus for salvation, we are freed from sin. We've been set free from our old master, sin. Sin no longer has dominion over us. And being set free from sin, we are enslaved to God. Yet it was our choice to become slaves to God. We trusted in Jesus for salvation. And we wanted to be set free from sin and enslaved to God. Paul said that there is much benefit in being a slave to God and to His righteousness. Life no longer is empty. We find true fulfillment in trusting in Jesus Christ. We find true freedom in trusting in Christ. Jesus, we taught this passage earlier. I want to bring it up again. John 8, verses 34 to 36. Jesus speaks about the same true freedom that Paul was talking about. John 8, 34-36, Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever, the son does remain forever. If therefore the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. You see, true freedom in both Jesus' thinking and Paul's thinking. True freedom is not the freedom to sin. That's what most people think freedom is, but it's not. True freedom is not the freedom to sin, but the freedom to not sin. True freedom is the freedom to say no to sin. True freedom is to be a slave to righteousness. When we're enslaved to sin, That's truly being a slave. But to be a slave to God, to be a slave to righteousness, is to be truly free, and to be free to say no to sin. Paul says that this results in sanctification, hagiosmon, once again in the Greek, This results in sanctification. It means separation from sin, from our sinful lives, to God. Separation from sin to God for His holy purposes. In other words, sanctification means being a weapon that God can use. It means that our bodies can be a weapon that God can use. God wants to use us in our strength, in our efforts, whatever. But God wants to, through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling us, use That which He's given us, He wants to use us for His glory rather than we use ourselves either for Satan's purposes or for our own selfish purposes. And then Paul says that this sanctification results in eternal life. There's two aspects to eternal life. There's the eternal aspect and the life aspect. Eternal is Ionian in the Greek. Eternal is Ionian in the Greek. It basically means never-ending. Like in John 10.28, Jesus says about his sheep, I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand. So those who have eternal life will never perish. It's never ending life. That's the eternal aspect. And the life aspect, the quality, eternal is the duration, life is the quality of that life is Zoe in the Greek and that is fellowship with God. Look at John 17 verse 3, Jesus is praying and he says, And this is eternal life, that they may know thee, it's God the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. And so the life or quality aspect, Zoe, is fellowship with God and so eternal life is never-ending fellowship with God as far as you could break fellowship temporarily but you enter into a relationship that cannot be broken and will result in never-ending fellowship with God through salvation in Jesus Christ. Then Paul closes Romans chapter 6 with verse 23. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The wages of sin is death. Wages are what you earn. When you work at a job, you get paid your wages. That's what you earn. It's not a gift. So the wages of sin is death. Through sin, we earn spiritual death. In Matthew 19, 25, and 26, the apostles ask Jesus, how can man be saved? Jesus said, with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. So Jesus is saying that a man cannot earn his own salvation. Romans 3.10 tells us there is none righteous, no not one. Romans 3.23 tells us that for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We're all sinners. And because we're sinners, we earn spiritual death. separation from God, we cannot earn our own salvation. So if you want what you deserve, you get the flames of hell. But if you're willing to beg God for mercy, if you're willing to admit you're a sinner who cannot save yourself, if you're willing to trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, then you can receive the free gift of salvation through Christ. But we cannot earn our salvation. Ephesians 2.8.9 tells us, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, that no one should boast. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10.17, But he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord. We are saved by God's grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone. And so Paul tells us that we earn death because of our sinfulness. But God is willing to give us salvation, eternal life, as a free gift through Jesus Christ our Lord. So salvation is a free gift. The Greek word for free gift there is charisma. Sometimes the word they use is doron. But in this passage it's charisma. We get our word in the charismatic gifts from that as well. But salvation is a free gift of God. The free gift is eternal life. and it is only found in Jesus Christ. Paul refers to Christ Jesus, Christ there talks about the fact that He is the Messiah, Christos in the Greek, He is the Messiah, the Jewish Messiah, but He is also our Lord, Korios in the Greek. And the Lord means Master. And so Jesus Christ is our Lord and our Master. Sin is no longer our Master. If you are living as if sin is your Master, then the question comes up, are you really saved? Look at 2 Corinthians 13. 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5. Paul tells the Corinthians test yourselves to see if you are in the faith examine yourselves or do you not recognize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you fail the test Paul says test yourselves and examine yourselves to make sure you're really saved and if your life is not characterized by good works that the Holy Spirit is producing through you you need to ask yourself Is Jesus my Lord? Is Jesus my master? Or is sin my master? And if sin is your master, then as far as the Apostle Paul is concerned, you're not a slave of righteousness, you're a slave to sin. And if you're a slave to sin, you're not saved. James would say the same thing, faith without works is dead. Jesus says, if you love me, obey my commands. So we have the witness of Jesus, Paul, and James, and when you look at 1 John, it's plastered over and over again throughout there. Godly living, good works, a life characterized by good works, not sinless perfection, is evidence that a person is saved. And so either Jesus is your master and you're saved, or sin is your master and you're not saved. But again, Christians are not saved by good works. They are saved by God's grace, but through God's grace, good works will be produced in the life of a true believer. Conclusion of Romans chapter 6. The Christian walk is not living by a list of rules and regulations. Instead, the Christian walk is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. A personal love relationship with Him, and a relationship in which you trust Him for guidance throughout your life. In other words, we obey God's commands because we love Jesus with everything we've got, we love our neighbor as ourselves, and we trust Jesus for guidance. Even when our own sinful opinions disagree with Jesus' word, we obey Christ's truths because we trust His word more than our own opinion does. Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, this is what it means to live a life of faith in Christ. Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. And he says in verse 7, do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. And so it is very, very clear that the Christian walk is not living by a list of rules and regulations. It's a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, a trusting and loving relationship with him, and that will guide us in the paths of righteousness and away from evil. Paul's formula for godly living is threefold. Know that Christ has set us free from the power of sin through His death on Calvary's cross. Number two, consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God and His righteousness. And number three, present our bodies to God as weapons or instruments for His purposes. The problem of sin in the lives of Christians is not because sin is too powerful. The problem is that we underestimate what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross of Calvary. He set us free from the power of sin. For the first time in our lives, now that we're believers, we can say no to sin through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are no longer slaves to sin. Now we are slaves to righteousness, to the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.