WWW Be Right (31)
First B Jackson
2015-09-23

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Last time I was up here, I was about halfway through and I was like, this feels really serious this week. And I felt like the whole teaching last week was really, really serious. And so I'm really excited to be in Romans six with you this week because it also is gonna be very serious. No. I'm just kidding.

No. This week, I'm so excited because, we are talking about the fact that sin does not have any power over us anymore. Isn't that good news? This is freedom and this is life and this is new life he's given us. Ray and I were talking too and, I was telling him that, I felt like Romans was very serious because it was doctrine.

And he he mentioned that Romans is the least personal letter that Paul wrote because he hadn't met the Romans yet. And most of the other letters he'd written were to people that he knew very well and really personally. And so he was using their names and he was pleading with them and this is just him writing the truth and this is just doctrine. And there is some... I think there is some pastoral sense to it, but it's different because he doesn't know the Romans.

So there's so much here that Paul has given us, and God has given us through Paul. We could study this for years. And actually, I think I might need to. Because there's a lot here. And I remember I think it was weird to me that said, if we understand Romans that we understand the Christian faith.

Do we understand yet what justification is? These are some big terms that we've been learning and I just wanted to make sure that we know. Because Romans one through five has been on justification. And today, we get to switch over and talk about sanctification. So I just wanted to make sure that we have that clear so far that justification.

And I love the way that my mom describes this and she reminded me of this last week. Justification, just to put it very plainly, is freedom from the penalty of sin. So we don't have to go before. We don't have God's wrath against us. Christ stood in our place and he took God's wrath.

So justification is that freedom from the penalty of sin. How are we justified? Do we remember that? It's by faith. It's completely by faith.

It's a free gift and it's not by works. So it's his righteousness. It's a righteousness that's not our own. It doesn't belong to us. It's by faith that we're free from that...

From God's wrath. Sanctification, is the freedom from the power of sin. So we're not slaves to sin anymore. We are free from sin. There's no power that holds over us.

And then glorification is when we're in heaven one day and we're free from the presence of sin. We don't even have to have it around us and affecting us in our lives. I love this slave ship analogy that John Piper gives. And you can imagine a giant slave ship and with all the slaves in the whole of the ship shackled and in chains in bondage. And the guy up there, the slave ship master is sin.

And we are all in bondage to sin in the bottom of the slave ship. And it was Christ that came and commandeered that ship and broke those chains and set us free. So it was by nothing that we did, we were in complete bondage, and it was him who set us free, and all we did was say yes. And that's our faith that we have. So we're not sitting here.

We weren't sitting there between with a choice between sin and God. We were in... We were shackled and we were enslaved and in bondage to sin. Okay. So a little teaser.

We're gonna get into this a little bit more. But justification always leads to sanctification. So when we put our faith in God, he is gonna bring us. He's gonna he's gonna start that process of making us more righteous and it's it's gonna happen. It's the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.

The good part about this is that it's not that we're perfect immediately and we're mechanically just not sinning anymore. It's a process. And God gives us a new direction and we're not perfect. We're still gonna mess up but we're gonna we're gone. We have a completely new path and a completely new life that God has given us.

James. A lot of people say James and Paul are really different, but I kept going back to James in this study. And I love the verse James two fourteen. He says, what use is it my brethren? If a man says he has faith but has no works, can that faith save him?

So we have the faith that makes us right with God and we don't have the penalty of sin. But it always leads to God making us more holy and making us more righteous, which is sanctification. And then we're gonna see good works come out in our life. Okay. So I just want to pray real quick.

Lord, I just pray as we get into your word, Lord, open our eyes, Lord. Speak through me. Guard me from error. And Lord, just I pray that your truth would be spoken this morning. Amen.

Have you ever heard the term the first Adam and the last Adam? In chapter five of Romans, he talks a lot about Adam and Christ at the very end. And in first Corinthians fifteen forty five, he describes them as the first Adam and the last Adam. So Adam being the one that God created, the first man, he's the first Adam and Christ being the last Adam. I love this.

And I feel like if we understand this, it kind of helps us understand as we talk about sanctification. Both of these men were the only ones born without a sin nature. So when God created Adam, he was not condemned. He was not enslaved to sin. He did not have a sin nature.

And the cool thing about Jesus when he was born, Matthew one twenty, an angel appeared to Joseph and said, Joseph son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife for the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. So when Jesus was conceived, he wasn't conceived through the seed of man. He was conceived through the Holy Spirit. So he didn't get that sin nature, Which is pretty cool to understand. So that's where they both stood.

And okay. So in chapter five verse 18 of Romans, it says, as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men. So that first part. So when Adam sinned, he chose to sin. God had given him an instruction and he chose to sin.

And at that point, he stood condemned. I love the Awana's verse, James two ten says, but for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. So as soon as you break one thing, then you're completely guilty and condemned before God. And that's what happened with Adam. And we through, you know, all men are born through the seed of Adam.

So that's where we are. And we have... We're united with Adam when we're born. We're born into that condemnation. But the second part of verse 18 says, even so through one act of righteousness, there resulted justification of life to all men.

So we have that last Adam, Christ. And through his obedience and his righteousness, we are made right with God again. So what's really cool is when we're justified, we're like that again without the sin nature has been made powerless again. So sin does not have power over us anymore. So at that point, we're not slaves to it and we're not condemned because now we're united with Christ.

And we at that at this point have a choice with how we're gonna live if we're gonna live and choose God or choose sin. I think it was really important to note that Jesus was tempted, in the desert. And when he was tempted and the devil came before him, he chose not to sin. Hebrews four fifteen says, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. So I just think that's really neat to think that that's where we stand and as we're being sanctified.

Sin has no power over us. And and just like Christ when he chose not to sin, we can have that choice now not to sin. Okay. So chapter six. So I feel like Paul has gone through a great deal to make grace, to make us understand that this faith is completely by grace, and it's nothing that we've done.

And so he's made it so clear. And so some questions are starting to come up. And there's the question of like, licentiousness, so we can live however we want. And then there's the question of legalism or following the law. And chapter six in Romans, is gonna talk about that licentiousness.

And chapter seven is gonna be more about that legalism side. And I love how pastor Ray always talks about, we wanna stay on the on the road and there's a ditch on either side. And the one ditch is licentiousness just to go off and live because we're under grace, live how we want. And the other side is the law and just trying to be perfect to become pleasing before the Lord. So we want to stay on the road and living down the middle in the power of the Holy Spirit.

So chapter six verse one. He says, what shall we say then? Are we are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? This would be a rhetorical question. So you know a rhetorical question is a question that someone asked that usually either it doesn't have an answer or the answer is so obvious that you don't need an answer.

And that's what this is. He's trying to make a point. Should we continue in sin that grace may increase? That's the objections. That's what people are saying.

So if if it's not my righteousness, do I need to be righteous? His answer is no. May it never be. And the reason, how shall we who died to sin still live in it? How if we've been rescued from the bondage of a slave ship, why would we want to go back in those shackles again?

Why would we want to go back and live like that again? Okay. So I love this because it's talking about verses three on how we're united with Christ. Says in verse three, or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him through baptism into death.

So that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, so too we might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be done away with. So that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is free from sin.

And I love in the book how he said, we're freed from sin we're not free to sin. So now we identify with Christ. We're united with him. He died. Our old self died.

He was raised. We were raised. And we're raised to a new life. We don't want to go back to the old life. I also loved his example of Lazarus in in the book.

In John 11, it talked about the story of Lazarus. And Lazarus was the brother of Martha and Mary and they were all really good friends with Jesus. And Martha and Mary came to Jesus and said, her brother's sick. You need to come. And Jesus waited where he was for two days.

And by the time he got there, Lazarus had died. And I guess by the travel time and all the time that it took, he had been dead for four days. And people were saying, well he had healed the blind. Why couldn't he have just healed this man? But Jesus said, I loved it because it said in verse four, he said that the sickness wasn't unto death, but it was for the glory of God that the son of man may be glorified by it.

So the reason why he even got sick was to glorify God. And Jesus said, he came up to the... I think he was in a cave and they rolled the stone away. And he said, Lazarus, come forth. And he walked out and he was still in his grave clothes.

And they said, unbind him or loose him. And they took off the grave clothes. So I just love this example because this was us. We were dead. And and we came out and we still had our grave clothes on and and our old nature has been loosed and it's been unbound.

And so now we have new life. And Lazarus Lazarus didn't wanna go back into the grave and sit around in his grave clothes again. He wanted that new life, a brand new life that God had given him. And again, it's not that we're immediately made perfect, but we just get that new direction and this new hope and a new purpose. Sin no longer has power.

In fact, I love the fact that we now have the power of God. Ephesians one verses nineteen and twenty says, and what is this surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe, which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. So that same power that rose Jesus from the dead, that's a song. It lives in us. We have the same power in us.

We don't have that power of sin. And that's that's pretty amazing. So he not only set us free, but he gave us the power to live that new life and to live a righteous life. Ephesians two one, it talks about how we were dead in our transgressions. And down in verse four, it says, but God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you were saved. And he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And again, for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not as a result of works that no one should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

So that's God's plan for our new life. He has good works for us to do. And again, it's it's not us. It's through his power that we're doing these good works. And the more that we do them, the more righteous we become.

So... And it's all for his glory and for his kingdom. So why would we want to go back and live like we used to? In the book, Weirsby talks about, it's on page 74. And I think in our church and a lot of us, I really...

This really struck home with me. The betweeners. I don't know if you read, but the betweeners that really spoke to me. And so I was just gonna read what he wrote. He said, too many Christians are betweeners.

They live between Egypt and Canaan. Saved but never satisfied. Or they live between Good Friday and Easter. So believing in the cross but never entering into the power and the glory of the resurrection. Romans six five indicates that our union with Christ assures our future resurrection when we die.

But Roman six four teaches us that we share his resurrection power today. Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians three one through three. So that just really hit home with me.

Like, am I am I truly living in his power now, in that power that raised him from the dead? And it says that we're united with Christ. Our old self died, and now we're seated with Christ in the heavenly places above all of this stuff on earth. And we have the power to not fall into traps of sin anymore. And that...

So that just really struck home. Okay. So down... Let's continue down starting in verse eight. So Romans six eight.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again. Death no longer is master 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.

Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lust. And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. But present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness of God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace.

This is... It's a struggle. But he's saying we're not to consider ourself... We're to consider ourselves to be dead to sin. Or, I mean, are we are we doing that?

I mean, sometimes I think we just think, oh, I'm just always gonna struggle with sin. But it doesn't have power over us anymore. And I love how he says, don't present your bodies as instruments of unrighteousness. And in the Greek that word instruments can also mean weapons. And I liked that because sin always hurts.

And sometimes we think, if I do this I'm not really hurting anybody. But it does. It hurts. And it hurts others. And it and it hurts you.

And and it eventually leads to death. So when we... We're standing and we have a choice to sin, don't present your bodies... Don't let your bodies be used for unrighteousness or weapons to hurt yourself or to hurt others. I love that, so Paul in Philippians three twelve, he says, not that I'm already perfect, but I press on that I may lay hold of that which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

So it is. It's a struggle and it is a fight. So what does it look like? I think, again, it's through his power, and it's a yielding to God each day. And I think, for me and part of the reason why I felt like last time I was up here was so serious is because I I do get nervous being up here.

And for me, this is saying... This has been saying yes to God. I... Okay. I will get up and teach even though it's it's hard and it's stretching.

But I feel like that's part of my sanctification process. And it's stretching me and it's growing me. And I think we all need to think about what is God doing in your own life and where can you be yielding to him. When you wake up in the morning, are you giving your day to the Lord and saying, I'm holding my plans loosely. God, I'm open to what you wanna do.

If if you want me to help a neighbor or watch a friend's kid or what is it that you have for me today, I'm available. And just that yielding to him. And also just knowing his word and what his word has called us to do and and and doing those things. Or are we living as the betweeners and believing in the cross, but not really living it out yet? And that's our challenge today.

I think just knowing that that power that we have and knowing that that sin doesn't have that power over us. I know I keep saying that but that's just... That's huge and I want us all to understand that. Okay. So back to verse 15.

He says, what then? Shall we sin because we're not under the law but under grace? So it's kind of that same rhetorical question again. And he says, may it never be. 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. 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. 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, resulting in further lawlessness.

So now, present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore, what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you were now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now, having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So there's a lot there. I love that. You are slaves to the one you obey. In Matthew six twenty four, Jesus said, no one can serve two masters.

And pastor Ray, a couple months ago, in one of his sermons gave an analogy and this just... I think about it all the time. It would just really hit me. He gave analogy of a wheel and he said, a wheel can only turn one direction at a time. So it can either go forward or it can go backwards, but it can't do both at the same time.

So you can you can't serve two masters. The wheel can only go... So I'm always thinking, what... Which direction is my wheel going now? Which direction is my wheel going?

And that's part of, presenting your members as slaves to righteousness is moving forward in Christ and yielding to God in that sanctification, that process of being be... More righteous. Or like we've talked about before, sin is choosing my own way, what I wanna do, and that's leading to toward death. But yielding toward God and his way leads to eternal life. And, I've been trying to exercise a little bit more now that my kids are in school and, things like that.

And my husband and I were talking, I was just... I'm like, I've exercised so much this week, but I just want more. And he was telling me, well, exercise breeds exercise. The more you exercise, the more you want to, and it just kind of gets the momentum going. And I feel like that's true with God too.

The more that we walk with him and the more that we yield to him and we choose to get our wheel going in his direction, the more momentum it gets and the more you want to keep going that way. And and we think, I don't I don't want I don't wanna go back that way. I loved the verse. Let's see. Verse 21 says, what benefit were you deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed?

What were we getting out of that sin? Where was that leading? Well, the Bible says it leads to death. And it definitely hurts like we talked about. So what does yielding look like?

In Romans eight, again, little teaser will be there in a couple weeks. But Romans eight thirty six. For his sake, we are being put to death all day long. And I love this verse and it's taken from the Psalms. But it's just talking about that dying to self and making that choice, not to live in our flesh, but to choose Christ, all day long.

And there's choices that we have all day long. To... It's... I remember someone saying it's like little deaths throughout the day. And that that sounds kind of harsh, but it is.

It's it's choosing to die to self and choosing to live for Christ. In verse 22, he talks about the outcome being eternal life. And that eternal life is... It depends... It's on freedom from sin.

It doesn't depend on perfection. But that freedom that we have from the power of sin, is what leads us to eternal life. And God is making us more and more righteous as we trust him. It is a struggle and I love that Paul in Romans seven, so next week he talks about, for the good that I wish I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I don't wish. I know it is a struggle and I know it's a struggle for me.

But that doesn't mean we're not supposed to fight and that we're just supposed to give in. It is a fight and it's a war on sin. And we don't want those things in our life and we should be running from them. Second Timothy four seven through eight. So Paul at the end of his life, he says, I have fought the good fight.

I've finished the course. I have kept the faith. In the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Isn't that what we want to say that we've fought the good fight, that we've really worked to try to surrender and yield ourselves to God and see his power in our lives?

And don't we want the judge, the righteous judge to award us on that day for allowing us, ourselves, our bodies to be a vessel of righteousness to be used for him? Because what... Really, what benefit are we getting out of living the old way? Why would Lazarus wanna go wrap himself back up in the grave clothes? Why would we wanna go back in the ship and shackle ourselves back up?

He's given us a a brand new direction. And I just think that's a... It's a beautiful picture of, you know, he didn't immediately make us perfect the day we are justified, but it's a process of trusting him, and walking with him, and yielding to him. So consider your old self dead, and consider yourselves alive to God. And just because I love songs and some of the lyrics and songs, I was gonna end with...

What's it called? Oh, it's called Touch the Sky. It's another Hillsong song. So I just love the lyrics because it talked a lot about what we've been talking about. And it says, what treasure waits within your scars?

It's this gift of freedom that gold can't buy. I bought the world and I sold my heart. You traded heaven to have me again. And then my favorite part, it says, I found my life when I laid it down. I touched the sky when my knees hit the ground.

And I think that's... That really catches it. It's... You know, our life is found in him when we die to ourselves, the more made alive with God. That's it.