Sermon Audio Transcript.
All right, well, we forgot to take the loops... repeat... welcome loops there. So they kept, gets they went through more than once and I apologize about that. Welcome back to church or the Bible. We are continuing our series through the book of Romans in our series titled Romans Road. And the more I preach through Romans, the more I read through Romans and my personal study, the more I fall in love with Romans. I love the book, I love the message that Paul is trying to broadcast for his readers, what the Spirit is laid on his heart. And I hope that everyone here will be changed by what we read that not only will we be changed, but we will be... our eyes will wake up right our minds, our hearts will wake up to what it is that we are doing, who we really are, that we will be changed as a result of that and have a desire to serve God. That we'll have a desire to be saved, to desire to not be the sinful vessels that we really and truly are.
Last week we did Romans chapter five, we talked about it was entitled "one man" right. By one man entered sin and death into the world. By one man did the corruption the thorns, the, the stupid weather cycles that we have that sometimes make very beautiful photos. Nonetheless, by one man did all of this corruption all this pain and sorrow into the world, but by one man, Jesus Christ, entered forgiveness and eternal life and imputed righteousness. We learned that through Adam's disobedience, came, the curse that we are under but we also learned that through Christ's obedience to the word, that is how we receive salvation is through that. Therefore, we know there is no more condemnation in those who are in Christ Jesus. We ended up finishing last week it says, but where sin abounded, the last verse of chapter five, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound where sin was deeper, Grace was stronger.
So Paul will continue here, he's going to ask a question in verses, one through two of this week's chapter. He says, What shall we say then? So we continue in sin that grace may have bound, God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? I know many people personally and many of you may as well, who have this idea of, of cheap grace or easy grace. Grace that allows us to continue to send of grace will allow more if I send more I should continue to sin. Right...? I should continue to be evil and wicked and vile so that God's good graces would would shine brighter to the world, right? We actually read that same line of thinking. It was either chapter three or four. It spent a few weeks now, where Paul addresses that same issue where some would say that if God is glorified, when he remains true, even when we are not that we should sin, but Paul's response here is God forbid. This notion that because we are saved, because we are justified by the works of Christ, and in the eyes of the law are no more sinners, that we should continue to sin is an evil and vile thought. It is a thought that is it's human nature. It's a seed and planted of the enemy. And that type of reasoning really, that thought does not correspond, it does not relate to a redeemed heart. A redeemed heart wants the exact opposite, a redeemed heart, Paul says in, in Romans three, do we abolish the law? Through faith? He says, nay, rather we uphold it, we establish it, because the redeemed heart has a spirit of God residing within him. So how then, shall we which are dead to sin, continue to live any longer they're in? If we have died to sin, why should we continue chasing after if we are dead to it? Why would we want more of it in our life? Why? We're dead to sin.
And Paul, he shows us this in the image of the baptism. I'm going to read verses three through 11. here. He says, that, know, he not that so many of us, as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism and to death. that like as Christ was raised up 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 own man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, but he that is dead is freed from sin. 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 have no dominion over him. For that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he lived with he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
This is a picture of the baptism, every Christian is born again. every true Christian is born in every soul that will enter into the kingdom of God is born again. Every one of us that will enter the kingdom. Jesus talks to Nicodemus and John chapter three, and he tells him that and we'll see that, you must be born again. And we'll see this here to be born again we must first die. We are baptized, Paul says into his death. So first we have to recognize why did Jesus die. He died because of sin. He came in the likeness of sin, to condemn sin in the flesh. He came to abolish it, he came to free us from it, so we recognize that Jesus died because of sin, and that apart from his death, apart from his blood sacrifice for us, that there can be no redemption there can be no salvation apart from the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, because of our depravity because of our sin.
But what is death is death an ending? Is death. It is that when everything is over, no. Death is merely a cessation of prior things. Right? In physical death, it's not the end of life, in and of itself, but the works of the flesh cease to exist, cease to work, right, our body is dead, but our spirit lives on. So we see then, in physical death, that death is not the end of things, just the cessation of prior things, so to is it... Do we see that in depth in Christ, death to sin, it's the cessation of our former life, the sinners life, we are dead to sin, we die in Christ. We are no longer under the bondage of sin. We no longer carry that burden. We no longer carry that guilt. The redeemed person has no guilt because it has been removed from us. It has been taken. We might still feel sad, we might still feel agony over what we have done but we... that is replaced with peace as we give that to God. When our longer under the bondage of that right we no longer have that chain around us with that gigantic iron ball. Now we cannot break from it's been broken. We are free from condemnation if we are dead in Christ. Whosoever shall be foundeth in the Lord will not be condemned. Instead, will be justified. But most important, one of the most important things I don't want to say the most important, but right up there in the top three of these most important things is an attitude change.
If we die to sin, our attitude of sin has got to change. We cannot die to sin but hold the same perspective of it, we cannot die to it and still love it. We cannot die to it and still seek after it. For if we are to die to sin, our attitude has to change. The lust for sin needs to become a lust for righteousness. Right? The love for sin needs to become a hate. We need to hate it. Our attitude, our mentality everything about sin in the person who is dead to it changes. were dead to it. It no longer has anything to do with us or it shouldn't. Okay, we are buried with Christ. In burial. We leave behind the former things. while we have died to it, we are bury we leave that behind. No more is that our nature in dying in Christ and burying ourselves in him. We fully let go of who we are. So who are we? well, we are sinners. We are totally depraved. Right? There is no good thing found in me. There is nothing worthy, nothing righteous, nothing. Nothing that is glorifying to God to be found within my flesh. Not even my works. Jeremiah tells us that my works are like filthy rags in the sight of God. So not even my work. So who am I? I am totally depraved. Under the law, under, under my flesh. And I leave that behind I give it up I die to myself. And who do I become? I become a son of God. I become as Paul word right at the in the very beginning of Romans two all who would be called saints. Right? Because I am being sanctified. And we Rise with Christ. And I love this right? What we just read here and these 11 verses tell us that Jesus died but he died no more for even though he died even though he went to the grave could not keep him. And that's what we will celebrate next... [month] in April, so not quite next month yet. But that's what we're celebrating in April, right is that the grave could not hold him. But he is risen. Indeed. See, he is risen. Our Lord is not dead no more. When they went to seek him in the in the tomb they couldn't find him in the angel says he's not here. It cannot keep him so it has no dominion over him at the grave cannot keep him in it at the dead cannot hold him in the pits of Hades, then it has no dominion and he has power over sin and death. And so we shall rise with him. For if we should yet be dead in Christ and we should trust that He will raise us. And in the meantime that tells us here that we're aware if Christ died wants to sin but Liberty God tells us to die to sin, right? We die to the sin we give that up. We ask God to overtake our lifestyle. We live to God we mimic Christ we have unity with him in this we live unto God tells us to do that. What verses that in. Its first 11 It says likewise reckoning yourself also says to be dead and indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Christ Jesus our Lord. So we raised with Him even now there is a symbolic raising from where we have died to our sin but symbolically are raised again. And we shall physically be raised again as well. I can't wait for that. Get rid of all these little imperfections in my body that I've got. But we trust Christ completely. We give our life to Him. We die to ourselves. We die to sin we leave behind the corrupt world and we live in Christ. Paul writes in Galatians 2:20 Let me see if I can pull that up for you. Galatians 2:20 He says I am crucified with Christ this says 3:20 there, sorry, guys, I'm just going to read it. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh of it by the faith of the Son of God who loveth me and gave himself for me.
So though I live, it's not I, but Christ, I have died to myself, I have died to the sin, I've picked up my cross, right? I pick up my cross and follow after Him. And that is He who lives through me. But does the world see that? What does the world see? Do we want to know if we've really been worth if we really died to self if we're asking God, to live through us? If we're asking Him to fill us with a spirit? What is the world seen? Does the world see that we're chasing after the the lust of the world, the promises of this, of this wicked nation that we live in? Or do they see that we're pursuing righteousness and that God is working through us to His glory? This is the the new birth that he talks about. Remember Nicodemes, and John three, verses five, and six here. Christ answered him, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, not except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. For that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, we need that new birth and when we receive it, here is what Paul tells us. He says, Therefore, in Second Corinthians 5:17, If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. Who are we? Well, if we are in Christ Jesus, we are new. We have a new heart. We have a new purpose. Our mind... the Bible tells us that our heart and our mind are being renewed by the washing and the renewing of the mind. So we are become we are new and we are becoming new, we are being sanctified. We are being made, molded, into the likeness of Christ. And that's what this baptism represents.
That's why when I baptize people, I always talk about right there do you wish to identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, because we are dying, being buried, and being raised again, in that baptism. And we picture here that we are dead to sin. So for dead to sin, we see here that we should be servants of righteousness, and if were dead to sin, we are delivered from sin right were delivered. Next week, we'll see that were delivered from the law. But before were delivered from the law, we see that were delivered from a sin. So who is it that we serve? Romans 6:12, through 16, we read, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey and the lust thereof. Neither yeild ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but your 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 ye are not under the law, but under grace, what then? Shall we sin? Because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid? No, he not that whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. That last verse, we just read verse 16, is one of my favorite verses in Romans. I have it marked as a memory verse for me. And that's a verse that I recommend we all read, "know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death, or obedience unto righteousness. This is my go to verse recently, when I want to sin, when I am tempted, who am I yeilding myself to obey. We're taught to Yoda our members, as servants of sin, we yeilded our bodies to it. We can't even escape it. It reigns in our life as servants of sin as as the unredeemed person especially, they cannot get away from it. But they serve sin. They are a slave to it, they yield, it they freely do what it wants, what it requires, they're obligated to do it.
Because the lust of their heart, it draws them to it, the heart will even, will even lie to them and deceive them, that what they are doing is okay because there is always someone doing worse than them or it's, it's only wrong if it hurts someone, and they are slaves to sin, they yield their members, they yield their eyes, to look upon another person with lust, and then commit adultery in their heart, they use their minds to think on things of sin, to think on things to the world, they yield their hands into immoral acts, they yield their mouths into vile language, they yield their bodies to sin, their members to sin. Instead, we are told here to yield our members to God and to righteousness. And you cannot do that unredeemed, you can only do that if the Spirit worketh to your members to do righteousness. So we need that redemption, we need him in us but yet we have that flesh aspect of us that allows, that allows us to choose if we want to continue to yield to sin. And we need to not do that we need to, we need to say okay, God, I am yours I'm dead to sin. And I yield my members to you to work in me Your righteousness.
So instead of casting, yielding our minds to, to festering sinful thoughts, that eventually as James, the book of James will tell us, we can see that in our mind, but it manifest into our arm. So you're in our minds to things that are godly, things that are good, that are righteous, that are pure, that are on the things above. We yield our mind to that and to the Spirit of God and it will manifest in our members. Moses wrote in Genesis four seven, when when talking about the fall account of Cain, you know God, God had put in the Bible, this first for us. "If that will doeth well shall thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well sin lieth out the door. And unto thee shall be his desire and thou, thou shall rule over him."
We're told here, we see here that sin lieth at the door. Sin as always right there, we open the door, and it's there, we open a window and sin is there, we we turn around and sin is waiting for us. It is waiting to devour us, it is waiting to rule us. And we see that it ruled Cain, we see that a rule us well, we were under it. But we shall rule over it, it tells us here we need to bring that sin into the subjection of the Word of God. Because if we do not, it waits for us, and it will ensnare us. It will make us a slave. Again, we can unwillingly yield ourselves to sin and become ensnared in all over again. And that that is horrible that makes us ineffective for God. It makes it so that we are mocking God, it makes it so that we are not living a life dedicated to God, or that God wants for us. That's not beneficial to us. But it says therefore sin hath no dominion over you.
The law worketh transgression. Why? Because it's the knowledge of sin. That's why we have the law. We don't have the law so that we can live perfectly. We have the law because without the law, there's no transgression to be imputed upon us. So the law shows us that we are sinners. But what happens when you try and follow the law? Jesus talked about this in the Sermon on the Mount. If we just try and follow the law is not a heart issue. Those who just try and follow the law say okay, well if I don't sleep with her, but only look at her, it's okay. I didn't commit the act. But Christ tells us it's a heart issue. Because if we want to do, if we're thinking about if we, set... if we have that intention to do it, we are guilty of it. So the law worketh transgression. It's the knowledge of the sin. It worketh condemnation, but we are not under the law. We're under grace and therefore free from its effects. We don't seek after the law we seek after God and His righteousness, and he establishes the law in us.
And there's a difference he gives us a new heart. He gives us a heart that when you look on that person, you say this is wrong, this is evil, I shouldn't be doing it. He convicts you. He gives you that heart that yearns after him that heart not yearns to be pure. He writes within your heart the law. But without that law written on your heart, you are only under the law. You were cursed by it. You receive all the judgments by it. So the law does not work in us, but Christ, that we establish it. We are being sanctified. We are redeemed, but we're being sanctified. He has taken that from us. But we need to yield ourselves to that. For know ye not that to whom you yield yourselves to obey His servants ye are whom you obey. If we yield ourselves not to God every day to work with in us his righteousness, not ours, we're not righteous, He has to work in us his righteousness. If we don't yield ourselves to Him, we yeild ourselves slaves to sin and there's no middle ground.
Notice that it says here, whether of sin unto death or obedience and to righteousness. There is no third party, no gray area, you are either a slave to sin or a slave to God. So we have to yield ourselves and whoever it is we are obeying, if we are not following God, then we are following sin. But sin has been destroyed. I took a lot of this next portion from Spurgeon because I love what Spurgeon says here. And he heavily influenced my thoughts on this. So I'm letting you guys know that. Verse 16, it says, But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, that you have obeyed from the heart, the form of doctrine, which was delivered you.
We see here are a few things. He says, God be thanked that you were the servants of sin. That's our former state. When he says you were the servants. He is no longer saying that you are the servants of sin. That doesn't mean we don't fall it doesn't mean we don't sin. But are we ensnared in it? Do we serve it? Or do we fall upon Christ and get up and follow after Him and repent and ask him to take that from us every day that is our former state we were slaves to unwilling slaves, or willing in many cases, especially pre-redeemed. But we did our hearts desires or lustful desires we ran after it. We lived in fear and darkness our former state we were, we feared death. We feared judgment and condemnation.
Shawnee someone's knocking at our door,
We were bound to death in hell. That's our former state. We're all sinners are vessels of wrath unto condemnation. But look at our, our current state, while we were that, he says, but, there's a but there, we are now servants of God. We yield ourselves to God, we experience freedom, freedom from the bondage of sin, for no more is it wrapped around us at the padlock. But we have the ability in the power of Christ to tell it No. We have the ability to cry out unto God and cry Abba, take this from me. Remove this from me, change me Give me a new heart because I am powerless, but you are not. And he lives in us. We experience joy and peace, true joy and peace not as the world gives us but as Christ gives us and look at the means.
It says here. You have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you. This is a heart issue. This is not a knowledge issue. This is not this is not academic, this is an issue of the heart. The means is the Atonement of Jesus Christ, that He came was perfect when when he died on the cross. He rose again that if you would believe in Him, it says in Romans tonight in your heart. So what does this mean? This means a faith that changes us.
A true Christian belief a true faith in Christ will change you because it's inevitable. It will change you because your mentality on sin changes. It'll change you because God's spirit is within you. And so you have obeyed from the heart because in your heart you have been changed. You are a new creation we read that earlier a new creation so it's obedience from the heart.
Therefore if we are justified by the grace of God. If we were workers of iniquity, but now we are dead to sin, if we have been set free and Paul writes thanks to God, then we shall be servants of righteousness. The last few verses here 18 through 22. Paul writes here, being there made free from sin, he became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh, that as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanliness and to iniquity... and unto iniquity..., even so now your your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness, what fruit had ye then in those things which [were], you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end, everlasting life.
We've been made free. He says, under sin you are free from righteousness, because you have no power to overcome sin. Under the law, under sin, you are not righteous, you are a vessel of wrath. You are unclean, you are a wicked, you are condemned and you cannot overcome. The unredeemed or try and work towards salvation, many will just not care at all. But many unredeemed religious people are working toward salvation they are, they're justifying themselves, in their own minds through their works. But their heart has not been changed. They're not a new person, they're not born again. And so they are free from the righteousness of God. The unredeemed cannot please God. We see this in, in Hebrews chapter 11. He says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. So under sin, it says you were free from righteousness, but being free from sin, we are told to serve righteousness, we are free from sin and death. We are free from the bonds, we are free from the guilt. We have been given the strength in God, and let me stress... in God. We have not been given the strength in our own flesh and our own power in our own mind, but in God, to resist sin, and temptation. And we should serve righteousness. God working through us.
I love what Paul says here. This was not in my notes. But I want to touch it real quick. He says, I speak after the manner of man because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as he had yeilded your member servants of uncleanliness into iniquity unto iniquity even so now you're yourselves that I'm reading the wrong verse. I apologize. Verse 21, what fruit had he then in those things, whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. What fruit? we were free from righteousness. But what fruit had we in the in those prior things? None. We may have made a small profit. But as a Scripture say, What good is it to gain the world and lose your soul? We may have had temporary joy but it always turns into mourning. And you may have joy your entire life but it ends here it says the things of death. We had no fruit in the life that was previous. So become servants of God it tells us. It tells us to yield ourselves to Him.
In closing, we are dead to sin. We have been buried in Christ. And we have risen and newness of life. And we ought to live in that newness of life because you can still be ensnared into sin, you can still become a slave to it. You are in newness of life, but you must each day with each temptation with each hour that you are awake, you need to yield yourself servants of righteousness. You need to yield yourself to Him for you are the servant of whom you will obey. But it's not us that lives, it's Christ in us. If we would allow him to live in us if we would walk in His Spirit. And we will follow our master, it says of sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness. Look at the last verse of the chapter.
He says, For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The wages of sin is death that he talks about earlier in verse 21, that the fruits we have before the end of those things is death, death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus, our Lord. I say amen to that. I say, Thanks be to God. As Paul wrote, several verses ago in verse 17, says, Thanks, be to God, praise be to God. Why? Because all I can do for myself is bring death. All I can do for myself is, is condemn myself, move from iniquity to iniquity, but God will pour out grace upon grace, He will give eternal life and He does it through the righteousness imputed from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Are you currently I want to ask the Christian I want to ask the professing believer in Christ, whose servant Are you? Are you serving sin? Or are you serving God? Who do you yeild your members to hour by hour and day by day? Because you may say, Well, I am saved. But are you yielded to the Spirit? And to the unbeliever? Are you recognizing yet that you are a worker of iniquity? Do you feel God calling to you and saying, to repent? Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. If you feel him calling to if you feel him drawing to you, you need to answer that you need to tell God ok. I will repent. You need to tell him, call out to Him save me. If he is calling to you, that is, that's your sign right now. That salvation is out the door that begins with admittingm and that you are a sinner and cannot save yourself. Okay, with, with believing that you are totally depraved, there is nothing in you, that is good and nothing in you that is righteous. But you are wholly dependent upon the grace of God, to call you to him to give you that faith and give you that salvation and righteousness. With knowing that you are not worthy with believing that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, that he came down in the likeness of men, that he would condemn sin in the flesh. Now he did that on the cross, and He gave us victory in the resurrection. But if you would confess Him, if you would believe in your heart, that He is God that He is raised, that he is your only hope. And you will confess Him as Lord over your life, and ask him to change you that you will be saved. And if you are ready to do that, I invite you tonight, right here, right now to do those things. And live no more as a servant of sin, but a servant of righteousness for we and you can be delivered from sin. Let's pray/
Father, we come broken. We come sinners, Lord, for we know we cannot save ourselves. For we are depraved Lord, we can know and that there is no good in us. We can know and Lord, that we are dependent upon your grace, and your love and mercy to save us from where we are. And so we believe we know in the deepest and hidden corners of our heart, Lord, that You are God, that you came in the likeness of flesh, that you condemned sin on the cross And that you gave us victory and we confess you, Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Master, as our Savior. And we ask you into our heart, we ask you to redeem us, we ask you to change us, that we are free from sin, and that we can be servants of righteousness through you living in us.
Father, we just love you and we thank you and we praise You for this, Lord, the gifts that you have given us. We don't have the words to thank you. We don't have the words to praise you. But we yearn to follow you. And we are so grateful that in your sovereignty and in your grace and mercy, you have called us, unto you to be a people. And we thank you in Jesus Holy and beautiful name we pray. Amen.