Shall We Go On Sinning?

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Good morning. My name is Carrie Moulton and I am a member of the Oakland Women's Little Faith Group.

And our reading today is a reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans, chapter 6, verses 1 through 14.

Romans 6:1–14

What shall we say then?

Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase?

By no means.

We are those who have died to sin.

How can we live in it any longer?

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,

we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with him in death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin may be done away with.

That we should no longer be slaves to sin.

Because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again.

Death no longer has mastery over him.

The death he died, he died to sin once for all.

But the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God and Christ Jesus.

Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness,

but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought to him from death to life.

And offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Thank you, Carrie, for that scripture reading.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Andrew.

I'm one of the pastors here.

Just to let you know if you're new here, this is not a typical Sunday.

You don't normally have to listen to me up here.

And also our lead pastor is gone.

So this is not a typical Sunday, but we're so glad that you're here.

And we will be here every Sunday worshiping and honoring the Lord's day.

I want to give a shout out to everyone who held it together last week when me, Jonathan, and Eric were all gone last week.

But it seemed like, you know, Christ was still worshiped.

And in the words of one of our elders, Bill Barnes, no irreversible harm was done, right?

So praise God for that.

Will you join me in prayer as we open up God's word, continuing our series in Paul's letter to the church in Rome.

Father, we have come to listen to your voice.

Not just to hear it, but to listen to it.

To take heed to what you have to say to us.

Because as the apostles proclaim, you alone, your son alone has the words of life.

And we so want to experience that life.

So would your spirit speak to us that truth of life this morning in the preaching of your word.

And would Christ be exalted here?

In his name we pray.

Amen.

All right, so we're in chapter 6 now of the book of Romans.

And if you've been following Paul's argument in the last five chapters, you know that he's been laboring to explain the good news that we can be justified before God, righteous in God's eyes,

not by dutifully fulfilling the works of God's law, but by dependently trusting and placing our faith in the work of God's Son, Jesus Christ.

So that no matter how obediently and diligently someone has tried to not sin by observing God's law, they cannot be justified by their own self-righteousness.

And yet no matter how wicked and sinful someone else has been, they can be justified by faith in the righteousness of Christ, accepted in the eyes of God if they would just embrace his Son in faith.

That's what justification by faith is.

Forgiveness, honor, acceptance, belonging, and status, all by faith and not by works.

Amen.

If you've done some terrible things in your life like I have, or if you've failed to do the good and important things in your life that you're supposed to do,

also like I have, man, this is super good news.

This is really, really good news that there's still hope for us, that we can still be right with God, not by merit, not by self-effort, but by grace through faith.

But you know, without the fuller picture of who God is and how he works in this world and what he wants for us,

if all we have is this simple principle that we can be justified by faith no matter what evil we do,

well, that can be a dangerous thing like in a vacuum.

And you know, when I was a kid, with a simplistic, immature, and hardly formed faith, I took advantage of this dangerous thing.

I remember, technically, I don't know, my parents believe I became a Christian on December 15, 1991.

I was four years old.

I was by my bed.

My dad asked me if I wanted to invite Jesus into my life.

He said, Jesus would forgive me no matter how bad I'd been, and I was bad, all right, if I just believed in him.

Or, to use my dad's language, if I just accepted him into my heart as my personal savior.

And so I prayed to Jesus.

I asked him into my heart to forgive me, and I trusted him to save me.

And you know, for many years after that, I was in absolute terror, all right, to my parents, to my teachers,

to my brother and sister, a bad influence on my friends, a bully at school.

And you know why?

Because of this wrong theological idea that I had, that because of my faith in Jesus,

I had a get-out-of-hell free card, a free pass, to sin and do whatever I wanted.

Disrespect my parents.

Disrespect my teachers.

Beat up my little brother.

Be a bully.

Steal.

Lie.

When I got older.

Consumed pornography.

All because I thought I had a license to sin.

I was racist.

I was sexist.

And overall, I just lived to put myself first.

Assert my own will.

My own desires.

Because in my understanding of the Christian faith, I could be unrighteous by faith.

Now, to Paul's biggest objectors, this was precisely the problem of the gospel that he preached.

The problem with justification by faith and not by works.

And so, you know, while the church has, from the very beginning, always preached against legalism

and against righteousness by works, it has also had to preach against something else.

And here's a new word for you.

I hope it's helpful.

It's this word, antinomianism.

Can you say that with me?

Antinomianism, all right?

And we take that apart.

Antinomianism.

Antinamas.

Namas is the law.

So antinomians are anti-law.

And the history behind this is basically that when Paul preached against the Pharisees

and against the legalists in the first century, that righteousness and justification were by faith,

some people took that to mean that they could live as unrighteously as they wanted,

since Jesus would save them if they just believed.

So like, if legalism is righteousness by works, antinomianism was unrighteousness by faith.

And if you study church history, you'll know that ever since this gospel of justification was first proclaimed,

the church has always struggled to walk the third way, Jesus' way, apart from legalism and apart from antinomianism.

A third way outside of righteousness by works and unrighteousness by faith.

So in the New Testament, you can find Apostle Paul refuting legalism here in Romans chapter 1 through 5.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

In his letter to the church in Galatia, Galatians chapter 3, he says,

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse.

No one who relies on the law is justified before God because the righteous will live by faith.

But then you also see in the New Testament, the Apostles John and Jude refuting antinomianism in their letters.

John writes in 1 John chapter 3,

1 John 3 · chapter mention

In Jude's letter, he describes some fake Christians who secretly slipped into the church,

and he describes them as ungodly people who pervert the grace of God into a license for immorality

and deny Jesus Christ our sovereign and Lord.

So you see, the gospel is not just contrary to legalism.

It's also contrary to antinomianism.

And if we don't understand how the good news of Jesus is a third way opposing both,

then we probably have a deficient understanding of the good news of Jesus,

just like my four-year-old self.

If the supposedly good news we believe is that because Jesus' righteousness was credited to us by faith,

we can therefore sin as much as we want so that grace might abound,

we can murder, we can steal, we can lie, we can hate, we can hoard,

we can whore ourselves and each other like it's no big deal to God,

like it doesn't offend him, stir up his righteous wrath, or break his heart.

If this is our gospel, then can we really call it good news?

And has Jesus actually saved us from anything?

And see, this is how Paul's opposition understood his teaching of justification by faith.

And of course, they would have some counter-arguments, right,

if this is how they understood justification by faith.

So here in chapter 6, Paul addresses probably the top counter-argument

that people had against his teaching on justification by faith.

After closing chapter 5 by writing,

where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

Paul anticipates his objector's counter-argument here in verse 1,

And that's the question.

This is a legitimate question, right?

It's the same question the older brother probably had for his father

when his father welcomed his younger prodigal son home, right?

If you're unfamiliar with that story that Jesus once told,

basically a father had two sons.

The younger says,

Father, I wish you were dead.

Just give me my inheritance.

He goes and he lives this reckless prodigal life,

spends it all, and then he returns home in shame.

But what does the father do?

The father welcomes him back in,

throws a party to celebrate,

and now it's the father in the story who seems reckless and prodigal,

especially to his older indignant son, right?

To this older brother who'd spent his whole life obeying his dad,

never receiving anything, though, like this party.

His dad now seems like a fool for celebrating his younger brother,

the prodigal son.

And you may remember I shared this story maybe a month or so ago

about how we went over this with our high schoolers,

this past winter retreat,

and the high schoolers, too, were skeptical

about the father's decision to throw a party for his son,

and rightly so.

And one of the main objections was what?

How was the younger son going to learn his lesson?

How was he going to stop doing such harmful things?

If the father insisted on giving his runaway son his robe,

his ring, throwing him a party after everything that he'd done,

what was going to keep him from shaming his father,

dishonoring his family, making more bad choices,

and harming himself and others all over again?

And see, that's the question we're dealing with here today in chapter 6.

If justification and righteousness before God is by faith

and not by good works,

then what's to keep us from our unrighteous bad works?

If abundant sin can lead to abundant grace,

then doesn't that actually give us more reason,

more incentive, more permission to sin?

Why not sin as much as we want

so that grace might abound all the more?

That's the question here in verse 1.

Now, no surprise to us,

Paul immediately answers this question in verse 2,

emphatically,

by no means.

But the question still stands,

well, why not?

Why not?

And that's the question for our consideration today.

Why, for what reason,

should we not go on sinning?

Like, what is it that will keep us from sinning

if our justification and forgiveness

are so freely received by faith?

Now, before we get to Paul's reason,

I want to acknowledge that this discussion

about why we should stop sinning

might seem like a particularly religious discussion

to some of you.

Maybe like an irrelevant insider conversation

only for Christians.

Maybe you're here today

and you don't even prefer to use the language of sin

because to you, sin is just this, you know,

abstract religious concept

and you don't particularly consider yourself religious

and certainly not of the Christian religion.

But if we could just put aside that religious baggage

with the word sin for a second,

can I just ask,

isn't it true that all of us,

whether Christian or not,

we often do and think things

that we wish we hadn't, right?

Things that fill us with guilt and shame

or maybe we don't do and think the things

that we ought and that fills us with guilt

and shame as well.

I mean, it can't just be me, right?

Have you ever looked upon your life,

your actions, your inactions,

and thought to yourself,

man, this is far from the person I want to be,

this is far from the person I ought to be,

but it seems so hard to change.

Maybe, maybe even impossible.

And have you ever wondered,

what's it gonna take

for me to be the person I'm supposed to be?

Or where might I find the resources

to overcome my seemingly insurmountable flaws?

Have you ever longed like I have

for some kind of power,

some kind of influence

that could get you on the right track,

like guaranteed?

Well, if that's you,

what Paul says here today about sin

and why and how we should stop sinning

might be more relevant to all of us

than we think.

Because see, whether or not we call it sin,

I think we're all familiar,

even those of us with the strongest willpower,

I think we're all familiar

with that sense of helplessness

in the face of our flaws.

Whether it's your temper,

your greed,

your jealousy,

your sloth,

an addiction to this or that substance,

to alcohol,

to porn,

to people's approval,

or whether it's the selfishness

that continues to seep

into your relationships,

only wreaking havoc

in your workplaces

and your marriages

and your homes.

Come on, come on,

is it not true

that we're all looking

for some kind of power,

some kind of influence

outside of ourselves

to deliver us

from our helplessness,

to deliver us

from the bondage of sin

or whatever you want to call it,

that thing that seems

to have such a strong hold

and devastating influence

upon our lives,

that thing we all worry

will take us down the path

of a breaking bad, right,

from Walter White

to Heisenberg, all right?

Now see,

that's really what Paul's

getting at here

in his discussion of sin.

The way Paul talks about sin here

is not simply in terms of behavior

as we typically think about sin.

Now for Paul,

and we'll talk more

about this next week,

but for Paul,

sin is not primarily

about behavior,

about action or inaction.

For Paul,

sin is a powerful force.

It's a realm,

a dark, formidable sphere

of influence and dominion.

Think about it

like a huge, dark domain,

a dark, dingy dungeon

where the only way out

is death.

That's what Paul understands sin

to be,

a powerful realm

that rules us

and dominates us.

He says it right here.

Look with me at verse 6.

Paul talks about

the body being ruled by sin,

enslaved to sin.

Then in verse 7,

there's this concept

of either being bound in sin

or set free from it.

Or look at verse 12.

He says,

do not let sin reign

so that you obey its desires.

Verse 13 talks about

not offering ourselves

and our bodies to sin

as if sin were some kind of God

that we present ourselves

as offerings unto.

And then in verse 14,

Paul very explicitly

calls us away

from bowing down

in submission to sin

as our master

and as our Lord.

So you see,

a discussion of sin

according to Paul

and the rest of the scriptures

really is not first

and foremost

about right versus wrong behavior.

Sin, rightly understood,

is about a power,

a dominion,

an influence

that seeks to lord itself

over us,

dominate us,

and lead us toward death

and demise.

And that's why,

for those of you

who are familiar

with the Bible's origin story,

remember what happens

after the very first sin.

After Adam and Eve's

very first sin,

they have a firstborn son,

Cain, right?

And he's angry with God

and he's so jealous

with his brother Abel,

he's tempted to kill him.

And what does God say to him

in Genesis chapter 4?

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

He says,

sin, Cain,

is crouching at your door

like an enemy,

like a threat,

and its desire is for you

and its seeking

to rule over you.

So this is a word

for all of us.

It's not just a word

about how to stop,

you know,

impiously breaking

religious rules.

God's word today

prompts us to consider

what power,

what domain,

what influence

we are under.

What is the primary

ruling force and principle

at work in our lives

and where is it going to lead?

To our best

and freest

and most authentic selves

or to bondage,

demise,

and destruction.

Alright?

That's what sin is.

Alright, so that's

what's at stake here.

But now let's look

at the reason Paul supplies

for why we should not

go on sinning.

Even if justification

is by faith

and even if

where our sin increases,

grace increases

all the more.

And his reason

is actually super unique

and in many ways

unexpected, right?

Because you see

the typical reason

given by most people

whether religious

or not

for why we should not sin

or why we should not

do bad things

the typical reason

always has to do

with what?

The after consequences.

Right?

Or in other words

what will happen

to us

as a bad result

you know,

after or as a result

of our sin

and our wrongdoing.

And that's why

our high schoolers

weren't sure

if the father

in Jesus' story

did the right thing.

He didn't make his son

face all the consequences

and possible after effects

of his rebellious behavior.

Right?

Because according

to conventional wisdom

people need to know

that there are consequences

to their wrongful actions.

And the more

they're aware

of those consequences

the less wrong

they will hypothetically

commit.

Right?

If they know

what's coming to them.

Right?

Secular people

think this way

religious people

think this way

conservatives

and liberals

right?

Conservative Christians

emphasize that

if we sin

then what will come next

are eternal

and spiritual consequences.

Hell, judgment,

wrath,

eternal punishment

right?

And they're not wrong.

And liberal Christians

emphasize that

if we sin

then what will come next

are the temporal

and material consequences

a poor quality of life

and they're also

not wrong.

But the point is

both secular and religious

both conservatives

and liberals

though they might

emphasize different

consequences

what they all share

in common

is that they appeal

to after consequences.

Or another way

we could put it

is that they all

appeal again

to self-interest.

It's like if the father

told his sons

don't disobey

my household rules

or else something bad

is going to happen to you

in this life

or the next.

Now again

this is not untrue.

There are consequences

to sin

that should deter us

but the question

I want to ask

is

what if the after

consequences of sin

aren't the only

or

the most compelling

factors

that ought to

dissuade us

from going on

in sin?

What's interesting

and unique

about the reason

Paul gives

for why we should

not go on sinning

the reason

doesn't have to do

with what would

happen to us

if we sinned

rather the reason

has to do with

what has already

happened to Christ

and for us

when we've already

sinned.

And this is the gospel.

Paul doesn't say

in verse 2

by no means

because if you go

on sinning

something terrible

is going to happen

to you.

No.

He says in verse 2

by no means

we are those

who have died to sin

how can we live

in it

any longer?

He doesn't

point us forward

to what terror

might befall us

as a payment

for our sin

he points us

backwards

to the terror

that befell

Jesus Christ

and if we

have been united

with Christ

by faith

he points us

to what has

already been done

for us

and in us

through Christ

and how inconsistent

it is

with our identity

in Christ.

Look at verse 3

what does it mean

that we have died

to sin?

Well he points us

to our baptism

right?

Verse 3

Now he's not saying

that baptism

in and of itself

apart from faith

unites us

with Christ

but

what baptism

signifies

and what it seals

unto us

if we receive it

by faith

is

our union

with Christ.

The church's

sacraments

of baptism

always made

visible

a person's

union with Christ

and that's another term

I want us to

get familiar with

union with Christ

and that's why

Paul uses the language

of being baptized

into Christ

or Jesus says

baptize them

into the name

of the Father

and the Son

and the Holy Spirit

and what union

with Christ means

is that everything

that is Christ

is ours.

When we are united

with him

by faith

his death

is not just

in the place

of our death

but in a real way

his death

is our death.

Verse 4

We were therefore

buried with him

through baptism

into death

in order that

just as Christ

was raised

from the dead

through the glory

of the Father

we too

may live

a new life.

See in union

with Christ

Christ's death

is our death

Christ's burial

is our burial

and his resurrection

life is ours too.

Verse 5

For if we have been

united with him

in a death like his

we will certainly

be united with him

in a resurrection

like his.

So to sum this up

the reason

Paul gives

for why Christians

should not go

on sinning

is because

they are dead

in sin.

And they are dead

in sin because

they've been united

to Christ

who already died

to sin

upon the cross.

You see

when Christ

became sin

and bore our curse

and died on the cross

he did so

to break

sin's dominion

and rule over us

because see

sin as a dominion

it had rightful claim

over all of us

because of

how complicit

we have been

with sin

we were not just

born in sin

we've all lived

and walked in sin

sin has ruled

each and every one

of us

for a very long time

it owned us

like rightfully

it owned us

we walked

right into its domain

we threw away the key

and the only way out

was death

a formidable

dominion

that's what sin is

with a mighty

mighty hold

on each of us

in its grip

but the good news

of Jesus

is that though

death was the only way

out of this dungeon

in Christ

verse 6

our old self

was crucified

with him

so that the body

ruled by sin

might be done away with

that we should

no longer be slaves

to sin

because anyone

who has died

has been set free

from sin

and you know

what this means

for our relationship

to sin

and its former

bondage

if we've been

united with Christ

by faith

it says so right here

in verses 9 and 10

for we know

that since Christ

was raised from the dead

he cannot die again

death no longer

has mastery over him

the death he died

he died once for all

but the life he lives

he lives

to God

the good news

of Jesus

is that he not only

died to sin

and freed us

from its bondage

paid the debt we owed

but he rose

and he lives

forever unto God

and this is true freedom

not the ability

to do whatever sin

we want

but resurrection life

in the direction

of God

the direction we were

always intended

to run in

in the first place

and so what Paul

preaches in order

that all who read

this letter

including us

might not go on

sinning

is this

verse 11

in the same way

count yourselves

reckon yourselves

he says

think of yourselves

understand your true

identity in Christ

as dead to sin

but alive

to God

in Christ Jesus

verse 12

therefore

do not let sin

reign in your mortal body

so that you obey

its evil desires

he doesn't say

if you sin

you'll go to hell

therefore

do not let sin

reign

he points us

to the cross

and our identity

with him

and says

therefore

do not let sin

reign

or obey

its evil desires

you see

if we are united

with Christ

if we are no longer

slaves to sin

no longer in the dungeon

the way out

was death

but we've been

crucified with Christ

so sin

and death

no longer

have their hold

sin can no longer

reign

with those

who are united

with Christ

by faith

if we're united

with Christ

we have a choice

now

agency

freedom

to not let

sin reign

as those united

to Christ

by faith

and freed from sin

and alive to God

we now belong

to a different dominion

a different kingdom

a different master

and not a slave master

like sin

but a master

who laid down

his life

for us

to save us

and to deliver us

a master

we should gladly

offer ourselves

and our lives

unto

a gracious

loving

sacrificial king

who makes it easy

for us

to heed his command

here in verse 13

do not offer

any part of yourself

to sin

as an instrument

of wickedness

but rather

offer yourselves

to God

as those

who have been brought

from death

to life

and offer

every part

of yourself

to him

as an instrument

of righteousness

this morning church

I want to ask

each of us

each of you

do you hear

God's voice

calling you

to offer

every part

of yourself

to him

because if you're

not offering

every part

of yourself

to God

as instruments

of righteousness

you're offering

yourselves

as instruments

of wickedness

to another God

a lesser God

who does not love you

who cannot save you

has not died for you

will not raise you up

when you die

in its dungeon

what part

of you

might God

be calling you

to offer up

to him today

as an instrument

of righteousness

as one who has been

brought from death

to life

and if you haven't

entered into

this resurrection life

by placing your faith

in Jesus

and offering yourself

to him

what might be

holding you back

I want to ask

what is holding you back

do you really have

a better master

because we all

have a master

it's just a matter

of who

and which one

is better

and I'm here

to say that

if it's a master

other than Christ

I highly doubt

that it's a better

master

I mean look at

what Paul says here

in verse 14

for sin

shall no longer

be your master

because you are

not under the law

but under grace

he says that

to the church

in Rome

see there are

only two ways

there are only two ways

to live

with sin

as your master

or Christ

under the burden

of the law

or under the fountain

of grace

every other master

than Christ

gives us

law after law

after law

to follow

with the false promise

that if we try

hard enough

work hard enough

obey hard enough

we can deliver

ourselves

out of bondage

and out of the dungeon

of sin

but for those of us

who are united

with Christ

by faith

with him

as our king

we know the truth

the truth is

the only way

out of the dungeon

of sin

is death

and it's either

going to be

our death

or our death

in union

with Christ

the free gift

of grace

to be received

by faith

and see this

is the ultimate

grounds

for why we should

not go on

sinning

verse 14

not because the law

tells us

not to sin

or else

right

no the ultimate

grounds

for why we should

not go on sinning

it's because we

are under grace

see the true

nature of grace

and don't mistake

this the true

nature of grace

is that it doesn't

like make sin okay

or permissible

or not that bad

no grace never

makes sin okay

grace recognizes

sin for as evil

as it is

but what grace

does do

is it pays

the penalty

for our sin

the highest cost

the life

of the son of God

and to the extent

that we understand

what this grace

cost

that is the extent

to which we will

be transformed

and live

transformed lives

and not go on

sinning any longer

listen to what the

apostle Paul wrote

to Titus

for the grace of God

has appeared

bringing salvation

for all people

training us

to renounce

ungodliness

and worldly passions

and to live

self-controlled

upright

and godly lives

in the present age

waiting for our

blessed hope

the appearing of

the glory

of our great God

and Savior

Jesus Christ

who gave himself

for us

to redeem us

from all lawlessness

and to purify

for himself

a people

for his own

possession

who are zealous

for good works

that is what grace

does

that is what the gospel

does

that is what Jesus

does in us

when he saves us

when he justifies us

by faith

and if I could share

from my own life

to close

you know earlier

in this sermon

I mentioned

the way I'd let

pornography

into my life

as a teenager

and you know

for many years

I felt like a slave

to my lustful desires

and you know

for years

I told myself

you know what's wrong

don't do it

it's impure

the Bible says not to

it's sinful

it's unholy

you're committing adultery

with your eyes

right

you're objectifying women

but I'd still fall

again

and again

and again

and then I remember

one time in college

I was about to lead worship

at my church

and it was like a big deal

at this church

it was a big honor

to lead worship

you had to be respected

you had to be

you know

seen as mature

and godly

but then

the Friday evening before

I fell

once again

I viewed pornography

and I emailed

my college pastor

just

just

absolutely devastated

confessing to him

guilt ridden

ashamed

disappointed in myself

feeling unfit

and unworthy

letting him know

that I understood

if he wanted to find

someone else

to lead worship

the following Sunday

but do you know

what his response

to me was

he said

Andrew tomorrow

I want you to lead

as someone who is not

under the law

but under grace

as someone who's been

forgiven

who is now

dead to sin

and alive to God

already

crucified

with Christ

and risen now

with him

as well

my pastor

pointed me

to Christ

not to the consequences

of my actions

but to who I was

and to whose

I was

in Christ

and how do you think

that affected the way

I led worship

that Sunday

and waged war

against every sin

in my life

for the years

to follow

Christ

church

this is the power

of grace

shall we go on

sinning

that grace

may abound

by no means

for grace

has already

abounded

to infinity

through the work

of Christ

and there is nothing

there is nothing

more powerful

than the grace

of God

toward us

in Christ

crucified

and risen

for us

will you pray

with me

father

we want to

acknowledge

your holiness

the depths

of our sin

father

make us a people

make us a people

who mourn

over our sin

of many tears

because of the filth

that is in our lives

we thank you

that you're a God

who can transform

those tears

into tears of joy

and gratitude

because in Christ

you've already

paid it all

if we'll just

trust him by faith

you've made his death

our death

and you've promised us

resurrection life too

what a promise

God I pray

that we would be

a people

who hate sin

and love grace

who hate sin

and love Christ

who believe

that the gospel

truly is

good news

and the only kind

of news

that can change

the world

and give hope

to this world

God show us

how inferior

every other master

is

to Christ

the one who

loved us

and gave himself

for us

thank you

for the cross

thank you

for the resurrection

thank you

for allowing us

to call

you our father

making us your own

because of what

he's done

your son

in our place

help us to remember

him at this table

we pray

in Jesus' name

amen

in Jesus ac transparency

fear

and

God

is

never

terrible

I move

into

I be

king