Romans 6:15-23

The personal work of Jesus Christ alone.

And in chapter 6, he spends his time talking about how we are set free from the power of sin.

We'll begin reading in verse 15.

Beloved, let me remind you that this is God's word to us, written for his glory and our good.

And so we would do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

Paul writes,

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law, but under grace? By no means.

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey,

either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

and having been set free from sin have become slaves of righteousness.

I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations.

For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness,

so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?

For the end of those things is death.

But now that you have been set free from sin and become slaves of God,

the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death.

The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Now there is a lot to unpack in this language of Paul's.

Some of these sentences are a bit complex,

and so sometimes when preparing sermons through texts like this,

it seems helpful to try to draw just a clean, straight line through it.

If we had more time, I would spend each phrase unpacking each thing,

but we're going to have to kind of get a little bit faster than that

and a little cursory if we're going to make it through the text today.

And so I have a four-point outline for our study,

which just for the fun of it, I've alliterated a bunch.

So here we go.

One of my favorite forms of music is rap music.

It's a little-known fact about me,

and I don't think I could ever pick up that skill,

but this is my little way that I scratch that itch.

Alliteration.

So here we go.

Number one, a question asked and answered.

Number two, a principle presented.

Number three, a principle practiced.

And number four, a glorious future guaranteed.

And I actually want to get us to point four fairly quickly this morning.

Number one, a question asked and answered.

Note there verse 15.

At the beginning of our text, Paul asks another anticipatory question.

He's been doing that all along.

He's anticipating the objections,

likely because he had already heard them many times.

So as he sits down to write this letter to these Roman Christians,

he's anticipating the kinds of objections that will arise.

And so he's answering them as he goes throughout the letter.

You do well when you read the book of Romans to read it in some swaths

because you'll often arrive at those objections

that you may be forming in your own thinking as you read it.

And there he says,

What then are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?

Grace, which is the case that he's been making in the previous verses.

And this question is really a restatement of the question he asked at the beginning of chapter 6.

Notice verse 1 where he says,

What shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

The doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone

and the person and work of Jesus Christ alone

is often met with this objection.

If we are saved by grace,

if it becomes the ruling principle in our life,

then what this bearing does,

how does it have God's law act on our lives?

On the one hand, you will have the legalist arguing

that if you release people from the rule of God's law,

then they will forsake it and live however they want,

and this will never bring them into God's favor.

On the other hand, you have the antinomian,

which means without the law,

argue that the rule of grace does, in fact,

give them license to live however they want

because they are in God's favor.

And chapter 6 is dedicated to getting this relationship

between law and grace right.

So, Paul asks a similar question

with a slightly different perspective.

Are we to sin because we are not under law,

the reign of law,

but under grace,

the reign of grace?

Because those who are in Christ Jesus

have been set free from sin.

Notice verse 14.

Sin will have no dominion over you

since you are not under law,

but under grace.

And so Paul asks,

so then can we just go on sinning?

Can our lives not be transformed

if we are in Christ?

And his answer is, once again,

an emphatic no.

This Greek phrase is a strong no.

By no means is the way it's translated here in the ESV.

By no means.

We ought not go on sinning

because we have been set free from it.

And he seeks,

as he furthers his teaching in the text,

to help us understand this

by presenting to us a principle.

Note it here in verse 16.

So this is the second point.

A principle presented.

There he says,

do you not know

that if you present yourselves

to anyone as obedient slaves,

you are slaves of the one whom you obey,

either of sin,

which leads to death,

or of obedience,

which leads to righteousness?

Paul employs here a principle

in the form of a question.

And the question begins with,

do you not know?

Suggesting that what Paul is saying

is known.

The principle here is axiomatic,

or it's widely understood.

He's saying,

you know this is the way the world works.

If a person, he says,

willingly offers themselves as a slave,

then they are bound to their master.

Perhaps we could think in terms of

being employed someplace.

If we go to work,

and we say to somebody,

you are my boss,

then you do what you're told to do,

until you change the nature

of that relationship.

Notice how Paul seems

to personify sin,

and to personify obedience,

as if they are slave masters.

Sin is a master that promises

the payment of death,

but obedience is a master

that leads to righteousness,

and promises the payment

of life everlasting.

So Paul is saying,

if you have been united to Christ,

then God is your master.

So you should not have the attitude

of the antinomian,

thinking that you can go on sinning

because you are not under law,

but under grace.

You have been bought

with a price.

You belong to God,

and therefore,

he is your master.

It makes no sense

that you would go on living

how you want to.

It only makes sense

that you would press on

living how he would have you live.

Beloved, we were not created

to be without authority

in our lives.

We are people

meant to be reigned over.

Before the fall,

we were to be reigned over by God.

This was the state

of Adam and Eve

in the garden,

and what was the very temptation

presented to them

before they ate of that fruit?

That they would be like God.

Now we are image bearers of God,

which means we are also rulers ourselves.

We are given authority

over other things.

But we are not meant

to have ultimate authority

over ourselves.

We are meant to be brought back

into relationship with God

by the gospel of Jesus Christ

and submit ourselves

once again to him.

We are, at our very core,

all slaves to something.

You will serve something.

And so you will either be

a slave of sin

or a slave of obedience.

That's the principle

that Paul is presenting to us here.

So, which one will you

submit yourself to?

Jesus presents the very same principle

in Matthew chapter 6

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

and verse 24.

There he says,

No one can serve two masters,

for either he will hate the one

and love the other,

or he will be devoted to the one

and despise the other.

And if you're familiar with that,

verse 24 goes on to say,

You cannot serve God and money.

This could be principle applied

anywhere in our lives.

Devoted to one,

despise the other.

Hate one,

love the other.

We're all slaves to something.

So what controls you?

So there's a principle presented here,

and it's a principle,

Paul tells us,

is an accommodation

to our limited understanding.

Notice verse 19,

he says,

I'm speaking in human terms

because of your natural limitations.

It's as if he's saying

the allegory falls apart

at some point,

but it's meant to help you

understand a bit

of the nature of this relationship

in which you once walk.

This is a simple principle

that is worth wrestling with.

I know that some of you feel

like it is difficult

to understand.

Your experience complicates

the simplicity of it.

You desire to do good,

yet you find yourself doing things

that you do not want to do.

And Paul feels this alongside us,

and we're going to look at it

at length

in his coming writing

in chapter 7.

I must admit,

I often do a lot of helpful planning

in our Lord's Day,

and I get songs sent to me

that are planned to be sung,

and I didn't even look

at the song that we sang

just before coming up here,

but John Newton is with you

if you wrestle with this idea

of no longer being a slave to sin

and rather being a slave to God,

submitting yourself to him.

Why is it still so difficult?

Having been set free,

being under grace

and not under law,

why is our life still hard?

But that does not change this truth.

Experience does not define

the truth for us.

Scripture defines the truth for us.

And the work, then,

the labor is to bring ourselves

into conformity with it.

So Paul, we're going to see

in chapter 7,

helps us to see

and helps us to understand

what is happening

as we battle against our flesh.

But before he does,

he works out this principle

a bit for us

in today's text.

So you see beginning in verse 17,

this principle practice.

This is point number 3.

Let's note this morning

how this principle is practiced

in two ways.

First, let's notice

how it's practiced

as we were.

Now, when I say it that way,

as we were,

I'm speaking of the Christian.

If you have not repented

of your sin

and turned by grace

through faith

to Jesus Christ,

then this is the present state

of your soul.

For those who have repented

of our sin

and turned by grace

through faith

to Jesus Christ,

then this is who we once were.

And that is the way

Paul is addressing us

in his letter.

Verse 17, he says,

But thanks be to God.

Why?

Because we are justified

by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in Christ alone.

If we have been changed

from one nature to another,

we're not the ones

who did the changing.

God changed us.

We were once slaves of sin

and have now become

slaves of obedience.

It was a work that God did

in our hearts.

So notice who we were,

right?

Verse 17,

slaves of sin.

Verse 19,

we once presented

our members

as slaves to impurity

and to lawlessness,

leading to more lawlessness.

Verse 20,

we were slaves of sin.

We were free

in regard to righteousness,

but we were slaves of sin.

And notice verse 21,

the end of those things

is death.

So rebels,

cut off from God,

right?

Presenting ourselves

for things that are

unpleasing to God.

Before Christ,

we were slaves of sin.

Our old self

was obedient to sin,

and we loved it.

Notice that we presented

our members as slaves

to impurity

and to lawlessness,

leading to more lawlessness.

That is,

we willingly gave ourselves

to this activity.

The phrase impurity

and lawlessness

refers both to an inward

and an outward sinfulness.

Every ounce of our being,

Paul doesn't leave

any of it unattended to.

Every bit of us,

our being

and our doing,

was given

to sin.

Paul tells us

this lawlessness

leads to more

lawlessness.

It just compounds itself.

John MacArthur,

in his commentary

on this phrase,

wrote,

like a cancer

that reproduces itself

until the whole body

is destroyed.

Sin reproduces itself

until the whole person

is destroyed.

Now,

your experience

may not feel this way.

You perhaps

were converted early

in your life.

I believe that I was.

But it's

but for the grace of God

that I didn't become

worse and worse

and worse and worse

in my sin.

Some of you have felt

the weight

and the depth

of your sinfulness.

Thanks be to God,

right,

that we are now

set free

from that power.

Oscar Wilde,

the 19th century writer

and deviant.

You can look up

why he was a deviant.

When his rebellious

lifestyle was made,

Public wrote this,

I forgot

that when a man

is in secret,

he will someday

shout aloud

from the housetop.

Become proud

of our rebellion.

And let's be careful

not to forget

who we once

were.

I think it's problematic

if we read

verse 17

and don't find

some pause

in our souls

at the phrase

but thanks be

to God.

Let's go back

to Romans chapter 1

Romans 1:28

verse 28

and following.

Paul includes

us

in this text.

He is not

excluding us

from it.

And since they

did not

see fit

to acknowledge God,

God gave them up

to a debased mind

to do

what ought not

be done.

They were filled

with all manner

of unrighteousness,

evil,

covetousness,

malice.

They are full

of envy,

murder,

strife,

deceit,

maliciousness.

They are gossips,

slanderers,

haters of God,

insolent,

haughty,

boastful,

inventors of evil,

disobedient to parents,

foolish,

faithless,

heartless,

ruthless.

Though they know

God's righteous decree

that those who practice

such things

deserve to die,

they not only do them

but give approval

to those

who practice them.

If we're in Christ,

that's who we once were,

presenting ourselves,

presenting our members

as slaves

to impurity

and to lawlessness,

leading to more

lawlessness.

But,

thanks be

to God.

By God's grace

and only by grace

through faith

are we no longer

slaves to sin.

Praise God

that in Christ Jesus

we have been set free

from its tyranny.

So that's how you see

in this text

that principle

practiced

as we

were,

but you also see it

and more importantly

you see it

as we now

are.

So again,

look through

these verses

with me,

verses 17 through 22.

Again,

thanks be to God

that you who

were once

slaves

of sin,

no longer

slaves of sin

but we were

once slaves

of sin,

have become

obedient from

the heart

to the standard

of teaching

to which you

were committed.

We have been

changed in our

very nature.

This language

from the heart

means at the very

core of

who we are,

we have been

changed.

And out of us

therefore comes

good and proper

things.

And,

verse 18 says,

we've been set free

from sin

and rather have

become slaves

of righteousness,

committing ourselves

to it.

And so the

encouragement becomes

in verse 19

that we are to

present our members

as slaves

to righteousness

which leads

to sanctification,

the setting apart,

the ever-growing

holiness that exists

in those

who belong

to Christ.

When we are

converted,

we are changed

in nature,

we are set free

from sin,

we become slaves

of righteousness,

but we do not

become perfect.

I wish that we did.

I think that God

in His sovereignty

means to work out

in us

our great need

for Him.

He means to help

us recognize

the sinfulness

of our sin.

One day we'll be

delivered from it

and we'll praise

Him for eternity

because we'll

understand some

measure of its

depth.

I think that He

means for us

to relate to

others,

not to present

ourselves as

perfect because

we're not,

but to say,

yes,

yes,

this is who I

once was,

and now being

set free from

sin,

I still go back

to that sin

and I need

Christ as much

as you do.

We are to

present ourselves,

we are to

submit ourselves

to God

as a slave,

Him giving to

us good

and proper

direction.

Verse 21,

notice one of

the marks of a

converted person

is that the

things we once

did,

we are now

ashamed of.

We don't

desire to do

those things,

although we do

still do them,

but we are

ashamed of those

things that we

once did,

willingly presenting

ourselves to

sin in this

way.

But now,

verse 22 says,

we've been set

free from it

and we have

become slaves

of God.

The fruit you

get leads to

sanctification

and its end,

eternal life.

Having changed

hearts,

God brings

forth from

who we are

good fruit.

and this

evidences the

faith that He

is working

in us.

It's important

that we get

this balance

right.

Law and

grace.

We're saved

by grace

alone,

through faith

alone,

in Christ

alone.

And that

is a faith

that works

out in

our lives.

And it

happens and

ebbs and

it happens

and flows.

That's why

if you're here

this morning

and you're not

a member of

a local

church,

you need to

be a member

of a local

church because

this is one

of the

authorities that

God has

given to you

to help

you discern

whether or

not you

are in

fact in

the faith.

To help

you examine

your life.

When you

join a

church,

the church

is saying

to you,

with the

kind of

judgment

we can

pass as

people,

we believe

that you're

in Christ.

We see

faithfulness

coming out

of you.

We are

bearing

witness to

the good

fruit that

exists.

We want

you to be

called

gods.

In the

same way,

we practice

discipline.

To say

to people

who we

once had

a confidence

they were

in the

faith,

we're not

as sure

as we

once were.

We no

longer think

we can

call you

brother.

For your

sake,

we're not

going to

let you

go on

thinking

that you're

in Christ

because all

of the

fruit that

you're

bearing

runs in

contradiction

to that

profession.

John Calvin

in his

commentary on

Romans wrote

the following

quote,

as soon

as the

godly

begin to

be

enlightened

by the

spirit of

Christ

and the

preaching

of the

gospel,

they freely

acknowledge

that the

whole of

their past

life,

which they

lived without

Christ,

is worthy

of condemnation.

So far

from trying

to excuse

it,

they are

in fact

ashamed

of

themselves.

Indeed,

they go

farther and

continually

bear their

disgrace in

mind so

that the

shame of

it may

make them

more truly

and willingly

humble

before God.

To give you

my simple

summary of

what he's

saying,

he's going

to this

little phrase

in our

text,

verse 21,

the things

of which

you are

now

ashamed.

And he's

saying that

this becomes

a fuel

for us

to not

do those

things any

longer,

to not

return

to those

things,

to make

us humble,

but by

the grace

of God.

Paul says

of himself,

a sure

and confident

thing,

that he is

the chief

of sinners

and we

all ought

to feel

the same.

If it

weren't

for the

grace

of God,

I would

be the

worst.

So back

to the

beginning

of verse

17,

but thanks

be to

God.

He's

given us

such reason

to present

ourselves

to him

and to

pursue

holiness.

And on

top of

all of

that,

right,

this changing

in our

nature,

this has

promised

for us

something

to come,

which is

our last

and final

point,

a glorious

future

guaranteed.

Verse 23,

for the

wages of

sin is

death,

but the

free gift

of God

is eternal

life in

Jesus Christ,

our Lord.

Before we

can address

the glorious

future guaranteed

in this text,

we must

first address

the absolute

truth that

those who

continue in

their sin,

those who

do not,

by grace

through faith,

turn from

their sin

and flee

to Christ,

deserve the

penalty

of death.

It is the

wage that

they have

earned.

That is not

how I want

to spend

the last

moments of

our time

together.

Rather,

I want to

remind you

a future

reward.

Those of

us who are

in Christ,

I want

us to

drink

deeply

at the

well of

God's

grace as

we remember

what he

has granted

to us

in Christ.

I think

that we

understand

that a

gift is

free,

but lest

Paul leave

us with

any doubt

of God's

gracious

kindness

toward us,

he says

the free

gift

of God.

It wants

to be so

clear that

we are

saved

by

grace,

right?

Undeserving.

And that

free gift

is eternal

life.

In Christ

Jesus,

our Lord.

The scope

of eternity

future is

incomprehensible

for our

feeble minds.

What will

that look

like?

Life

forever

more.

But the

glory that

is found

in it is

not diminished

by our

weakness to

comprehend it.

It is an

incredible,

vast thing

for us

to think

about.

This is

the promise

that pulls

us through

the trouble

of this

life,

the pain,

the persecution,

the problem

of our

flesh,

the sickness

and the

sorrow,

the weariness

and the

wars,

the destruction

and the

death.

The future

reward is

what spurs

us on.

This life

is but a

vapor.

we can

bear up

and we

can press

on.

We can be

ashamed of

those things

we once

did and

present

ourselves

as slaves

of righteousness

that we

might press

on to

the end,

kept

by our

God.

So we

are to do

this,

present our

members as

slaves to

righteousness,

which leads

sanctification.

I want to

read from

you just a

little bit

from,

this is

John MacArthur's

commentary,

this is a

quotation

inception,

because I'm

going to

read from

John MacArthur's

commentary,

him citing

Dietrich

Bonhoeffer from

his book,

The Cost of

Discipleship,

in which he

quotes Martin

Luther.

Bonhoeffer,

I commend

the book

to you,

Bonhoeffer

wrote a

book called

The Cost

of Discipleship,

and it was

just easier to

find this

quotation in

MacArthur

than in the

book,

but in

there he

juxtaposes

cheap grace

and costly

grace,

and he

does this

at great

length,

and you've

heard me

present this

idea to

you before,

the difference

between cheap

grace,

people who

think that

they are

saved,

therefore they

can live

however they

want to,

the antinomian

he would

have called

cheap grace

Christians.

So he

says this,

Cheap grace

amounts to

the justification

of sin

without the

justification

of the

repentant

sinner who

departs from

sin and

from whom

sin departs.

Cheap grace

is not the

kind of

forgiveness of

sin which

frees us

from the

toils of

sin.

Cheap grace

is grace

without

discipleship,

grace

without the

cross,

grace

without

Jesus

Christ.

Costly

grace,

on the

other hand,

is the

call of

Jesus

Christ at

which the

disciple

leaves his

nets and

follows him.

When Martin

Luther spoke

of grace,

he always

implied as a

corollary that

it cost him

his own

life,

the life

which was

now subjected

to the

absolute

obedience

of Christ.

Happier

they who,

knowing that

grace,

can live in

the world

without being

of it,

who by

following

Jesus

Christ are

so assured

of their

heavenly

citizenship

that they

are truly

free to

live their

lives in

this world.

Costly

grace that

grants us

a sure,

a guaranteed

reward.

Revelation

Revelation 21:1–4

chapter 21

verse 1

through 4,

John gives

us a

glimpse of

what will

come.

There he

says,

Then I

saw a

new heaven

and a

new earth,

for the

first heaven

and the

first earth

had passed

away and

the sea

was no

more.

And I

saw the

holy city,

new Jerusalem,

coming down

out of heaven

from God,

prepared as a

bride adorned

for her

husband.

And I

heard a

loud voice

from the

throne saying,

Behold,

the dwelling

place of

God is

with man.

He will

dwell with

them and

they will

be his

people and

God himself

will be

with them

as their

God.

He will

wipe away

every tear

from their

eyes and

death shall

be no

more.

Neither

shall there

be mourning

nor crying

nor pain

anymore,

for the

former things

have passed

away.

And so we

have in this

text a

question asked

and answered.

Should we

go on

sinning?

Absolutely

not.

A principle

presented,

like we're

all slaves

to something.

To what

do you

present

yourself

and a

glorious

future

guaranteed?

So,

some brief

application.

Firstly,

if you have

not repented

of your

sin and

fled to

Christ for

the salvation

of your

soul,

do so

today,

for the

wages of

sin is

death.

Secondly,

if you

are in

Christ,

and I

do hope

that you

are,

remember

who you

once

were,

be ashamed

of your

former sins

and do

not return

to them.

Hold in

your mind

that you

have been

set free

from your

past

sinfulness.

And third,

if you are

in Christ,

and I hope

that you

are,

remember

who you

are.

you

have a

glorious

forever

future

awaiting

you.

Let this

wonderful

future

truth

drive

your

pursuit

of

holiness

now.

Let's pray

together.

Let's pray

together.

Let's pray

together.