Yield to Righteousness for Your Sanctification

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray opened in Romans 6, finishing the chapter he had started two weeks before. The message centered on one word he kept returning to: yieldedness. What does it look like, in ordinary life, to yield to God rather than to sin? The first fourteen verses of Romans 6 had already been covered in prior weeks, but Pastor Ray walked back through them so the second half of the chapter would make...

Read together

1. Romans 6:1-23 main passage read and exposited throughout the sermon
2. 2 Thessalonians cited as the source for a chart showing God's plan of salvation through belief in Christ
3. John mentioned as repeatedly teaching that belief in Christ is the basis for salvation
4. Acts mentioned as repeatedly teaching that belief in Christ is the basis for salvation
5. Galatians 5:16 quoted at the close: walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh
6. Galatians described as a quick sketch of Romans covering flesh and spirit, including the phrase oh foolish Galatians

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray talked about sanctification as a process that is not a straight upward line, with real downturns along the way. What does it look like in your own experience when that line dips, and what has helped you recognize it?
2. Paul uses the word 'indicative' to describe what is already true of a believer in Christ, and then gives one command: yield. How do you personally feel the tension between what is already true of you spiritually and what your daily choices actually look like?
3. Pastor Ray was honest about his own struggle with food as a concrete example of the flesh and spirit conflict. What is an area in your own life where you can clearly feel those two wolves fighting, and which one have you been feeding lately?
4. The reportedly Cherokee parable says the wolf that wins is the one you feed. What are some practical ways you have found, or seen others find, to feed the spirit rather than the flesh in ordinary daily life?
5. Pastor Ray closed by pointing to Jesus in the garden saying 'not my will but yours be done' as the clearest picture of yieldedness. What would it look like for you to pray that prayer over something specific you are facing right now?