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I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The title for this evening's sermon is Grace to You. And our text is taken from Romans 56, verse 6 to 11. We're looking at three subheadings. The first one is old self crucified with Christ. The second is, we will also live with Christ. The third is, count ourselves dead to sin, but alive to Christ. Let's go to the text, Romans chapter six, verse six to 11. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more, death no longer has dominion over him. For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life that he lives, he lives to God. Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Last week during our evening sermon, we looked at united to Christ. We saw in the text the critical question put to Paul by those who believe that grace is a license to sin. Paul answered the question with a question. He said, can we continue to sin and grace abound? And then he goes on to give several reasons why grace is not a license to sin. One was that we died to sin. Secondly, we were baptized into Christ's death. And thirdly, we share in the resurrected life of Christ. And so today, we're looking at grace to you. We're going to look at more reasons given by Paul why grace is not a license to sin. Which leads us to our first subheading this evening. Old self crucified with Christ. Verse six to seven. Let's go to the text. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him. that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now, let us look at these closely related clauses. The first one is old self crucified with Christ. And the second one is so that the body of sin might be done away with. And the third is that we should no longer be slaves to sin. The body of sin here does not mean that the human body is contaminated or corrupted, which comes from agnostics, agnostics, sorry, believe that spirit is good and matter is inherently evil. And so therefore, whatever you do with your body, it does not really matter. As long as your spirit is okay, you can go on and live any kind of immoral life, any kind of sinful life. As long as your spirit is okay inside, you have no problems with God. Because that is what the Gnostics believe. They believe that the only thing that is good within the human body is your soul. The flesh is not good, so you can go ahead and do whatever it is that you are pleased to do with it. You can commit the grossest sin with it, no problem. Real life exists in the spirit realm only. And that we know is false. God gave us a body. and he gave us a body to express ourselves in the good act that he has prepared for us to walk in, even before the foundation of the world. The body of sin simply means the body as controlled by sin or as dominated by sin, which is a work of our fallen nature and our self-centered nature. The body is used as a synonym for flesh. In verse six, we see that the body of sin might be done away with. That is, the sinful self should be destroyed. The verb that is used here in Greek means our sinful nature has been defeated, deprived of power, and disabled. And so when Christ died on the cross and rose again on the third day, he defeated the power of Satan. The dominion that sin had over his people has been destroyed. When you believe the gospel, God gives you a new heart, a new life that is characterized by love and obedience to him. In 2 Corinthians 5.17, the Bible says, If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, everything has become new. Now, this has happened because the first clause in verse 6 says, Our old man, which is self, was crucified with him, which is Christ. This old man is the man we once were. the person we used to be in our unconverted days, the person we are in Adam, our pre-conversion days. So when we come to the word crucified that is used in this text, we have two crucifixions here. The first crucifixion is our death to sin through identification with Christ. That is the first crucifixion. It is illegal death to sins penalty. You never, or you are never going to die and go to hell again because the penalty of your sin has been paid through the substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that is the first crucifixion referred to here in the text. You are dead to sin's penalty when you repent and believe the gospel. This cannot be repeated. It is once for all. Our guilt has been atoned for when we believe the gospel. The full penalty of our redemption has been paid by Christ and our guilt has been atoned for. That is the first crucifixion. The second crucified is when we die to self daily. Paul said, I die daily. In other words, putting our bodies under the subjection of the Holy Spirit. And now this is repeated and it is continuous throughout our lifetime. It will last throughout our lifetime. It is the battle between the flesh and the spirit. The flesh will want you to do this, and the spirit will lead you to the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. And so we need to die to self daily. To do this, we have to look to Christ daily to die to self. And this is the true death that Romans 6. is chiefly concerned about. Our death as regards our legal status before God and our death as regards our dying daily by putting our bodies under the subjection of the Holy Spirit. We come now to verse 7, he who has died has been freed from sin. What does that mean? It means our sinful nature has been deprived of power and we have been set free. In other words, sin has no power or dominion over us. We can, through the power of the Holy Spirit, put our bodies under the subjection of the Holy Spirit. A thing that is very difficult and almost impossible for us to do during our unconverted days. We struggle very hard to resist the devil. We struggle to overcome temptation and we are willingly bent upon doing the will of the devil. Our bent, our disposition is towards evil continually during our unconverted days. But when we become Christians, we now begin to discern between good and evil. We now begin to wrestle with the passions of the flesh, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and the deceitfulness of riches. The Holy Spirit communicates that in our spirit through the word of God, and we now put that into practice through our daily lives. And so that is why our lives is totally different from an unconverted person. We can now forgive We can now love freely, love our neighbors as ourselves. We can be generous, kind, and compassionate, not looking for rewards because that is our being, that is our bent, that is our character. That is what flows from our hearts because God has given us a new heart and a new spirit will I put within you. I will take away the stony heart of flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh. So that is what conversion does to us. So we can through the power of the Holy Spirit put our bodies. We can resist the devil. He who has died has been freed from sin. That is the meaning of verse 7. Our sinful self has been deprived of power and we have been set free. Sin has no power or dominion over us. We can, through the power of the Holy Spirit, be victorious. We can resist the devil and he will flee. We can say no to sinful passions. And through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit in Christ, our no can stand. Now to our second subheading. We will also live with Christ. Verse 8 to 10. I read, Now if we die with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life that he lives, he lives to God. Now, this verse gives us what it means to share in the resurrected life of Christ. We have died to sin and risen with God. That is marvelous. That is extremely important. And therefore, count ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God. We should never make a pretense of this because if our own nature is dead, we will definitely see the reactions. Consider that you are dead to sin and alive to Christ. Once we settle it in our minds, dead to sin, alive to Christ, we should not want to dwell in our past former life of sin anymore. If we live as if your death and resurrection has never taken place, it is a sign of no spiritual life in you. A married man cannot live as though he is still single. A married woman, the same. You cannot live your life as if you are a single woman having male friends here and there. We have many today living as single men and women when they are married. But if you could only remember your wedding vows and the ceremony that changed your status from single to married, you will create boundaries and respect your marital vows because they are promises made to God and man, and you must keep them. So holy living starts with our minds. Remembering your vows, remembering that your former life was crucified with Christ. It is no longer I that lives, but Christ that lives in me. Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So our crucified life starts with our minds, starts in our minds, when we begin to realize our death and our resurrection with Christ. We die with him, in our baptism, both spiritual and physical, which is a symbol, and we are raised together with him. And that power of the Holy Spirit in us enables us to put our bodies under the subjection of the Holy Spirit. Your own regenerative life has to be replaced with a new way of living. 2 Corinthians 5.17, If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, everything has become new. A man left his girlfriend because of his newfound faith. And the girlfriend was so upset. She said to herself that I'm going to follow you wherever you go. And so this girlfriend followed this man to the church. But the man never bothered. He never considered that he was leaving or having any affair with this woman. And so after the church service, it was just, hello, how are you? It was just the normal greetings that he would greet all the other members of the church. And so the girlfriend became upset and she left the church. because the man was determined to live a life, the life of Christ, the resurrected life of Christ. Now to our final subheading, count ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God. Verse 11, verse 11, I read, Likewise, you also reckon yourself to be dead indeed to sin, but are like to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The text gives us every reason to count ourselves dead to sin, because we died with Christ and we have risen to renew life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Because Christ's death was a death to sin. His resurrection was a resurrection to God. By faith baptism, we have been united to Christ in his death and resurrection. And then we have died to sin and risen to God. Therefore, we must count ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God. Now, once this truth is in use, our new life begins. The life of Christ in us is to be lived out in holiness and the fear of God. It is to be set aside for God. To sanctify a person is to make him holy. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 3 to 5 says that each one of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passions of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. In the same text, Verses 7 to 8, Bible says, For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore, he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us of his Spirit. Now, you are responsible for your sanctification, and this may come as a surprise to some of us. We have a special obligation as Christians to live a holy life. And I want to say that without no apologies. In Romans chapter eight, verse 13, it says, put to death the desires of the sinful nature. And you are the one that should put to death, not the Holy Spirit. It's not the work of the Holy Spirit. You, as a true Christian, is not dead. You are not blind. You are no more unregenerate. The Bible says that we are alive unto God. In other words, the Holy Spirit abides within us. So tell me, what excuse are you going to give for living a reckless, unsanctified life? You are not only, whose fault is it? It is your fault altogether. This may seem like the works gospel, but it is not the works gospel. All the commands and precepts of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, were given to Christians. Now, if God who is almighty, all-powerful, the sovereign king of all the earth, knows that we are not capable of carrying out his commandment, he wouldn't have given them to us. That would have been hypocrisy. But God is just. And so when God tells us to do something, to live a holy life, it does not only stop there. It gives us grace and the Holy Spirit to carry it out. So what excuse do you have? You have no excuse. How can you give excuse when God has given you grace? You know what grace is? Divine enablement, unmarital favor. God has given you new life. He has given you a new heart. He has given you a new nature. With all this, you have no excuse. Why would you have an excuse to live a reckless, ungodly life? And when they ask you, why are you living this way? You say, I can do nothing. The word of God addresses true believers as accountable and responsible. So when it comes to obedience to his word, Because he knows that we can do it. And that's why I said we should go ahead and do it. Just put your body under the subjection of the Holy Spirit. Resist the devil and he will flee. Count yourself dead to sin and alive to God. He would not have asked you to do it if he knows we can't. because he has given us the resources. You have grace. You have Holy Spirit. Use your grace given to you by God. He does not expect you to go to sleep. If you forget this truth, you grieve the Holy Spirit by becoming a useless and uncomfortable Christian. You cannot make much progress in sanctification if you are careless about your Bible reading, your private prayer life, your regular attendance on the public, on the Lord's Day worship, regular hearing of God's Word, and reception to the Lord's Supper. These are channels through which the Holy Spirit gives us fresh supplies of grace and strengthen us inwardly. So you must go through pains to live a holy life. If you plant something and just leave it there without watering, without weeding, and you want to come back after six months to harvest, you're going to find a dead ground, a dead crop. And this is why it is very easy for people who do not come to church to backslide. Because what is meant to strengthen them to overcome the world, they take it very lightly. In fact, apostasy starts with someone not coming to church. We don't have an excuse. You and I don't have an excuse for not being holy. I know of a non-believer who decided to leave smoking and he left it. because he knew that it was damaging to his lungs. With prayer and determination, you can do it. I've seen unbelievers who are faithful with their spouses. But here you have Christians. who are giving excuse that I cannot stay with one woman. I must have a side chick. You are responsible for your holiness. If you are not holy, you are not sanctified. You are the one giving excuses. I know of a lady that is not a Christian. Now I'm just giving you these examples. from unbelievers who do not have the spirit of God, who are just determined to live a decent life. They don't have the Holy Spirit. They don't have grace. They struggle. But because of their health reasons, because of the reputation there in the public that they want to maintain, they are not doing it for God. But they are just determined. I know of a lady who is not a Christian, that was determined that I'm going to marry as a virgin. She was one of the most beautiful ladies in the communities that we grew up in. The rich men will come. Handsome men will come. All types of men have approached this lady. And she had said no to them. until the father gave her hand in marriage. That was when she knew a man. You tell a Christian that today, they will say it is impossible. Someone who has grace, someone who has Holy Spirit, tell them to keep their virginity until their marriage, they say, no pastor, it's impossible. In this day and age of lust, because they are given excuses. How would you give an excuse when you have grace, you have the Holy Spirit? Today in Gambia, it's hard to say, but 90% of Christian ladies have one or two children before they get married. 99.9% of Muslims would never be pregnant out of wedlock. If you see a Muslim girl getting pregnant, know that that girl has a husband and she is married. If you see a drunkard in the street, 99.9% is a Christian. So how can we preach the gospel to the unbelievers? We are busy giving excuses. Because we are going to churches that this truth is not preached. Why would you give an excuse? If you have the grace of God and the Holy Spirit, you should be better than the unbeliever out there. And I want to encourage all the girls in this church, the men in this church, keep your virginity until you get married. Let it be your pride. Don't follow the world in their immoral and careless way of living. and you will have a good person come up to you. Men like women who are virgins. Because they know to keep your virginity, you must be a God-fearing person. It does not come easy that you have the grace of God, you have the Holy Spirit. Why are we giving excuses not to be holy? We're giving excuses. You are the one giving excuses. All you need is prayer and determination. And by the Holy Spirit's help, you'll put to death, you are the one going to put to death the desires of the sinful nature. The other day I wanted to shake the hand of a married woman. She said to me, I don't shake hands with another man because I'm married. When you come to modest dressing, you see unbelievers dressing modestly. And you see people who claim to be Christians just wearing half clothes, almost going naked in the streets. Because they go to churches where probably the pastor is just, they are telling them stories so that they can laugh and jump. While all the young ladies there are getting pregnant and having children. And this is disheartening. It breaks my heart. Because I know the church has grace. They have the power of the Holy Spirit. We should be the ones that should be the trailblazers when it comes to holiness and sanctification. We are the light of the world, the salt of the earth. A city that is set on an eel cannot be hidden. We have no excuse. We have no excuse. It is a commonplace here, almost all those I have met, especially ladies, have one or two children. And so what is our excuse? We have no excuse for that. We need to be in churches where the word of God is preached soundly. Our death, died with Christ, we rise with him. So we should live in the power of the resurrected life. What is our take home today? The vast majority of Christians here on the Broadway, they just call themselves Christians. nominal Christians, they have nothing to show for it. It's a pity that we should keep praying and evangelizing to them. You have people who call themselves Christians, and they don't go to church at all. So imagine, what sort of a Christian is that, that does not go to church? And secondly, this evening, we must ask ourselves, what is the condition of our own hearts? What is our tastes, our likings, our inclinations? Are they towards sin continually? Are we holy or not? If we are Christians, it is our fault that we are not holy. If we are not, we need to repent and believe the gospel so that we can be reconciled to God now before it is too late. so that God in Christ will give us a new heart that will desire and live after holiness. Come to Christ today if you must be sanctified for peace and reconciliation to God through his blood atoning sacrifice. If you are not holy, you know If you are living a reckless Christian life, you know, and it is your fault. Never blame it on the Holy Spirit. Never say, that I'm unable. You are able. That's why God said you must do it. God will not ask you to do something that you are not able to do. So you don't have any excuse. to get pregnant for the first man, and then you get pregnant for another man, different from the first one, and you get pregnant for a third man, different from the first one, that is despicable. Someone that is close to us, I know, just repeated the mistake, just repeated it for the third time. All the three children, three different men. But you have people there who are not Christians. Like our Nigerian friends who say, Italian culture, I met a lady who is not a Christian. She said, I will never be pregnant for a man who I'm not married to. And she determined to do it, and she did it. But the Christians here are giving excuses. That is to tell you that first of all, they are not true believers in Christ. They are on the broad way. The true believer in Christ, through prayer and determination, will be sanctified and holy. Let us pray. Our most gracious and everlasting Father, we thank you for your word this evening. We ask for grace to take care of all your commandments, warnings, promises, and good examples to follow. Give us today our daily spiritual bread and give us grace to forgive at all times. These and many other masses we ask through your son's name and for his sake. Amen.
Grace to You
Sermon ID | 6825215404891 |
Duration | 36:37 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday - PM |
Bible Text | Romans 6:6-11 |
Language | English |
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