All Roads Lead to Romans
January 11, 2015 :: Romans 6:15-23
Last week, we resumed our study of Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians about the good news of Jesus Christ–the gospel about which Paul is unashamed.
Paul has laid out the gospel, the bad news of God’s oncoming wrath against our unrighteousness and then the good news about the gracious righteousness that has come to us through Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection. Justification by faith alone in Christ alone.
And Paul has now begun to defend this gospel of grace against objections. The questions that pop up when you explain how good the good news is.
Last week’s question was, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”
What was the answer to that?
Absolutely not! God forbid. No way on earth.
Why? Because we died.
Remember that? Because of our union with Christ, you and I have died. And that means that we are freed from the penalty and the power of sin. And we have been made alive spiritually and one day will be raised from the dead physically like Christ was. And because of that, we have been freed from sin.
Remember that?
Well, in these next few verses, Paul takes it one step further.
Here’s the question he’s going to ask (v.15), “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?”
And the answer to that one is the same as the last one.
Absolutely not! God forbid. No way on earth. Unthinkable. You’ve got to be kidding me. “May genoita.”
And the reason he gives for that answer is all about slavery.
Slavery.
Slaves of what?
That’s the question that Paul reminds us to ask ourselves every time we are tempted to give the wrong answer to the question, “Shall we sin?”
Well, it depends on whose slave we are.
In verse 14, Paul gave his readers a major promise. We just glanced at it last week, but it’s a major promise. V.14 “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”
Now, that “under law” thing is going to be the subject of the next chapter. Paul is going to teach that not only are we freed from sin but that we are freed from the Mosaic Law. Free from its power and condemnation. We’ll learn more about that next week.
But because of that freedom from the law, and because of the power of grace, Paul confidently promises that sin shall not be our master.
But some people only hear the “free from law part,” and say, “Oh, that sounds good. If I don’t have the Law any more then maybe I can do more sinning?” v.15
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!”
I don’t think so. As they say in New York City, “Fuhgeddaboudit.”
Do you see the drift of this question?
If we are not under law, can we do some more sinning?
I think that a lot of people answer that question the wrong way.
Have you ever heard anyone justify sin by saying, “Hey! We’re not under law any more.”
Have you ever heard anyone justify sin by saying, “Well, we’re under grace now.”
I certainly have.
But that’s the exact opposite answer that Paul gives.
Here’s the question, “Shall We Sin?”
No matter the reason that it’s asked, that’s the bottom line question of verse 15.
And how do you answer that in your own life?
How did you answer it this week?
“Shall I sin?”
Shall I gossip about that person who offended me?
Shall I steal office supplies from my employer?
Shall I cuss out my co-worker who drives me crazy?
Shall I access internet pornography?
Shall I get drunk on the weekend?
Shall I watch that movie I know I shouldn’t watch?
Shall I jealously drool over my neighbor’s car?
Shall I yell at my kids in anger?
Shall I give myself to anxious worry about the future?
Shall I take the Lord’s name in vain?
Shall I sin?
How do we answer that question?
Paul says to answer it with another question. “Whose slave am I?” v.16
“Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
Paul believes that they know this. If you constantly give yourself to someone as a salve then you are their slave!
And there are only two options here. Slaves of sin (which leads to death) or to obedience (to God), which leads to righteousness, justness.
And here’s his point #1.
Shall we sin?
1. NO, WE HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN'S MASTERY! V.17
“But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin...”
Paul gives thanks to God that the Roman Christians have experienced freedom from their sins.
He says they used to be slaves of sin, but then they embraced the gospel. V.17 again.
“[Y]ou wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted...”
You heard the good news about Jesus’ death and resurrection, and you believed it. And it changed your fundamental relationship with sin.
“You have been set free from sin...”
We’re going to sing in just a few minutes, “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free, My God my Savior has rescued me.”
Should we sin?
No! We’ve been set free.
We aren’t freed to sin, we’re free from sin. Sin’s mastery.
Sin is no longer our Lord.
Why would we want to keep obeying our old Lord?
What’s the answer to that?
Why would we want to keep obeying our old Lord?
Well, we’re used it, right?
That’s been our habit until we met Christ.
Sin said, “Go here,” and we went there.
Sin said, “Come here,” and we came there.
It’s what we’re used to.
And everyone else is doing it. It’s hard to swim upstream.
And we can still hear the voice of sin, saying, “Follow me.”
And there’s still a part of us that wants whatever sin promises, so we’re prone to wander, Lord I feel it.
But that’s not the deepest truth about who we are.
The deepest truth about who we are (if we are in Christ) is that we are free from sin.
We have been set free from sin, why would we ever want to go back?
Should we sin?
#2. NO, WE HAVE A NEW MASTER NOW!
Catch the end of verse 18.
“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
There’s our word “dikaosunai.”
We have a new master now, and his name is righteousness.
That’s interesting, you know.
Most of us get the first part of that verse to some degree but we don’t get the second part.
It’s not that we no longer have any master, but we have a new master.
Our ownership has been transferred.
“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
Meet the new master.
Check your dog-tags. Check your uniform. Check your identification papers. To whom do you belong?
“Slaves of ... whom?”
There is no neutral in this world. There is no living without a master.
The great theologian Bob Dylan said it this way, “You Gotta Serve Somebody.”
The question is not are you a slave. The question is whose slave are you?
And the gospel has answered that question. V.18, you “have become slaves to righteousness.”
Now, that’s potentially confusing, isn’t it? Paul knows that. That’s why he says, verse 19, “I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves.”
The slave analogy breaks down at significant points. It’s inadequate. Because slavery to obedience, to righteousness, to (v.22) God is not confining and it’s not coercive like so much other slavery is. Slaves to God are not like unthinking zombies acting against their own will.
But Paul feels the need to use the human analogy of slavery to explain our relationship to God because we’re weak in our flesh.
We need to be reminded that obedience is not optional. That grace does demand things. And that we are owned.
Americans don’t like to be owned.
"Don’t tread on me.
Live free or die.
Give me liberty or give me death."
Well, that’s one thing when it comes to our freedom from human slavery and human tyranny.
But it’s another thing when it comes to God.
We have a new master now. We have become slaves of righteousness.
Not that we unthinkingly or coercively obey righteousness now. It’s not automatic.
But that on my identification papers, it says, “Matt Mitchell belongs to righteousness.”
Who’s your master?
I am a registered slave of righteousness because of the grace of Jesus Christ.
Does that make sense?
So then verse 19 says to live like it. V.19
“Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.”
Live out the truth of who you really are.
Have you heard of football players who recover a fumble and then run towards the wrong endzone?
They get turned around and forget which was is towards the goal.
I’ve heard of basketball players who get traded from one team to another, and then they end up passing the ball to the other team by mistake. The face and the uniform was so familiar.
Paul is saying you have a new master now, don’t play for the old team.
“Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now [play for the new team] offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.”
Now, I want focus on this verse because it’s the application of the passage.
Not only should we not sin, but we should offer the parts (members) of our body in slavery to righteousness.
The application of today’s passage is to give our bodies over to right living.
I think it’s interesting that he emphasizes the body.
Offer your body parts to righteousness.
What does that look like?
Well, what are you body parts?
Your eyes. Offer your eyes to righteousness. Why do you look at? What you do gaze upon?
Your tongue. Offer your tongue to righteousness. What do you say? What comes out of your mouth?
Your ears. Offer your ears to righteousness. Righteousness is your master. You belong to righteousness. What does righteousness want you to listen to?
Your sexual organs. Offer your genitals to righteousness. Righteousness is your master. You belong to righteousness. What does righteousness require from your sexuality?
Your feet. Offer your feet to righteousness. Where does your master require you to go?
Your hands. Offer your hands to righteousness. What does your master require you to do with your hands?
“Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.”
"Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord to thee."
Your brain. Offer your brain to righteousness. Righteousness is your new master. What does righteousness require from your brain? What will you think about?
Do you see how comprehensive this slavery is? It’s not confining. You will find true freedom in living out the Lord’s will for you.
But grace brings obligation.
Grace does not lead us into more sin but into holiness.
“...so now offer [the parts of your body] in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.”
And you’ll love the result. V.20
“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness [righteousness held no sway over you]. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Should we sin?
#3. NO, WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN ETERNAL LIFE!
Paul wants to make this clear.
No misunderstanding.
This slavery to righteousness (to God) is not a contract where we obey Him and then we earn eternal life as a paycheck.
No, sin pays a wage. If you want a wage, you can turn to sin. Sin pays. But it pays in death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And because we’ve been given that eternal life by God’s grace, we say no to sin in the here and now.
Does that make sense? Are you following me?
Paul is asking the Roman Christians to weight in the balance the two masters.
“Slaves of .... whom?”
What did you get when you were a slave of sin?
Uhm, shame and freedom from righteousness and death.
How’s that working for you?
What do you get when you are a slave to God? V.22
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”
Life that goes on and on forever in blessedness.
Weigh those two masters in your hands.
Which one do you think is better?
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?”
That’s crazy talk. We have been given eternal life. Why would we want to live like we used to?
Some of you may not have yet received this free gift from God.
I urge you now to receive it.
Jesus Christ paid for our sins when He died on the cross.
He did what we could not do.
And He offers eternal life as a gift to all who repent of their sins and put their faith in Him and Him alone.
“The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
It is not something you earn, it is something He has earned and offers freely to you.
I invite you to receive Him and His gift right now.
And when you do, you become a child of God. We’ll talk more about that in a few weeks. What a glorious thing to be adopted into God’s family!
But you also become God’s slave. You belong to Him. And You belong to His righteousness. It gets stamped on your ownership papers. His name goes on the title of your life.
And He is calling all of us to offer up the parts of our body (the whole of our bodies) in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness for His own glory.
Is there an area of your life where you have been answering the question wrong.
“Shall we sin ... because we’re under grace?”
Is there a body part that you have been offering in slavery to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness? Like you’re playing for the wrong team?
Remember that you have been set free, yo uhave a new master now, and you have been given eternal life.
Live like it.
***
Messages in this Series
01. All Roads Lead to Romans
02. I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel
03. The Bad News
04. Hope for Holy Sexuality
05. The Even Worse News
06. The Worst News
07. Justified
08. Father Abraham
09. The Blessings of Justification
10. How Much More
11. New You
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