Freedom Celebration

Communion Sunday • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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Notes

Transcript

Reading:

Romans 5:18-21 “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Introduction:

The text that was read from Romans 5 gives a little direction for the material we will get into today in Chapter 6.

It is good when reading God’s word that we get a grasp for what the context is, so we can understand what is being talked about.

It also wards off twisting scripture out of context.

The subject of chapter 6 is explaining what happens between us and sin after the new live in Christ.

Being the day we celebrate and observe communion I wanted to think about this since it was finalized through Christ’s sacrifice.

Transition:

He payed for our sins, took our punishment to make us:

Dead To Sin

Romans 6:1-4 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

Transition:

Right off the bat we see Paul’s use of teaching by prodding the mind.

We hear about the sin that was dealt with, to not be remembered any more.

Psalm 103:10-13 “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”

Les brought up a phrase that is common knowledge among most believers: “Your sins are as far as the East is from the West”.

When you go east on our globe, you will never be heading west, and likewise when you head West.

But when you head north you will find yourself heading South after passing North Pole.

The Lord only sees Jesus’ blood, not our sin underneath it; He took it as far as the east is from the west and will remember it no more.

Since Jesus dealt with our sin does that mean that we can:

Abuse the Gift

Romans 6:1 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?”

The end of chapter 5 connects for us the point that grace is stronger then the failure to keep the law.

Does this mean that we can live under grace and fail to acknowledge that our fallen nature is still part of us?

Grace is powerful, so is the Lord’s mercy; but does that mean that since grace is more powerful than sin we don’t have to admit those sinful moments?

It may be powerful; but in the lack of removing the desires to follow our fleshly routines it provides an unique position that is only found in Christ!

Paul’s opening is asking the rhetorical question:

The NASB translates it this way:

Romans 6:1 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?”

Can we receive more grace every day to cover how we continually mess up?

The moment we are saved we received grace in full measure; Christ doesn’t have to add more for when we mess up, we already have it all.

2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Point:

His grace is sufficient from the first moment until the end of our lives until He calls us home.

Transition:

That position we once held was that of not having a choice or any desires except those contrary to God.

- At salvation He broke us free from bondage and it is no longer ours to carry, He picked it up.

Sin is no longer part of us

Romans 6:2 “By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

Paul says: “by no means”

That is affirming to us that no way should we continue sinning since we have grace and it is more powerful.

That would be living in a mindset of a “license to sin”.

This concept Paul later explains a little more clear.

Romans 6:14-16 “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 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?”

We aren’t provided through grace a free pass to live any way we desire; but verse :2 brings up the thought:

Romans 6:2 “By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

Transition:

When did we die to sin?

If we were to die, then there would’ve been some type of funeral or memorial noting the death.

Every funeral is for family and the public. It is a ceremony to recognize that a life has ended.

It allows closure for those left behind.

Our spiritual death would need to be public; for people to see.

This is what we consider our first step of obedience, as many call it: Believers Baptism.

It’s:

The public symbol of death

Romans 6:3-4 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

Think about this concept for a minute.

The Roman believers may have been only privy to hearing about John’s baptism.

Acts 19:1-4 “And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.””

The Baptism of John was faith in the one who would come; the public proclamation of their faith in Jesus.

The Baptism following Christ became something different.

The baptism of faith in the one who would come wasn’t necessary since He came, and fulfilled His work.

The baptism here is speaking of the public death of a sinful past; raised in the renewed life in the spirit!

That is why we say to let all know: in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: “buried in the likeness of His death, raised into the newness of life.”

We publicly symbolize to all that our lives are to reflect Christ to everyone.

Transition:

This means that our desires are sacrificed to the Lord and we live to execute His will here on earth as He calls us, and gifts us.

This would be revealed to anyone and everyone, since we no longer have a desire to live according to our sinful nature; which is contrary to our spiritual one.

The new life is to be divided and separate from:

Our Former Selves

Romans 6:5-9 “For if we have been united with Him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.”

Through this dying to sin we are promised:

The final hope

Romans 6:5 “For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.”

We really covered this principal last week with pointing out that Jesus was the first fruits for a resurrection to all those who believe in Christ.

He promised that He would come back for us and give us perfect bodies that are separated from the decay of sin.

We would be with all other souls who believe in Christ and are saved and will see them in their perfect forms.

Transition:

We have been given victory over the grave and sin was left in the grave with our old selves.

Because of Christ’s sacrifice we have:

Freedom

Romans 6:6-7 “We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.”

Paul brings into thought the fact that the crowd he was addressing were all believers, or at least those who proclaimed faith in Christ.

“Know that OUR old self was crucified with Him...”

Hey everybody: our sin was dealt with by Him, through His death.

That sin is no longer who you are, or what you are!

Don’t let it have control, you keep reminding yourself that it was put to death; you have the choice to live free from it.

Having been given freedom from sin is like being let out of prison and we don’t have to go back.

It can be a past part of our lives; but doesn’t have to be current.

Illustration:

Here is a way John Philips illustrated this point from Paul.

I am using his illustration or picture because it really nails the point here.

“Nothing can be more unresponsive than a person who is dead. Imagine someone trying to evoke a reaction from a corpse! It can be caressed, commanded, or kicked and no response will come, for the simple reason that it is dead to the promptings of sin.”

Point:

Our spiritual selves are not responsive to the desire of sin.

Our flesh being put to death gives a freedom to live separate from that weight, we can drop it and walk away.

Transition:

Putting away our sin nature is a statement that we are:

Not owned by death

Romans 6:8-9 “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.”

This mindset to believe that our debt is paid, and the new life we are to live:

We aren’t doing it alone, He is in us providing the power through our weakness to abstain from our former choices.

We can find strength in scripture to obey.

Christ when tempted in the dessert by Satan, the only authority He used were the scriptures.

We can find it in those of a like faith who care for us.

The wisdom from others, or the intercession on your behalf.

Thankfully Christ doesn’t leave us alone to stand by our self.

In likeness of His death, we are no longer held captive by death.

The penalties that come with death are not ours to take, Christ took away the dominion of death over us.

We will live after death in eternity.

Transition:

Our eternal position is secure, since Jesus holds it for us.

We could have never done this for ourselves, only Jesus could.

- He paid for us!

1 Corinthians 6:20 “for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

Since we are bought through Christ’s blood payment we have an obligation to live:

Yielded To God

Romans 6:10-13 “For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”

How are we to live yielded to God?

The only way is to follow the example provided for us in Christ.

He set:

The Precedent

Romans 6:11 “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

We are given 2 mental points here and the one reinforces, or is girding up, the other.

All of which should be a resolute mental position.

Your dead to sin, you cannot respond to it or it’s desire!

You are alive to God, your spirit has been quickened (made alive) by Him and is in sync with Him.

How amazing is that:

All throughout history you can read and research of so many who wished they could know thee Almighty.

They desired to do so and made an effort to through pagan worshipping.

They chose the philosophical things to hopefully achieve knowing the one in control, only to realize it isn’t through knowledge; but faith.

Jesus lived His life free from sin, and in a intimate relationship with God.

This was evident through His constant references to doing “My Father’s will”.

Matthew 26:42 “Again, for the second time, He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.””

And again when the disciples asked for Jesus to teach them how to pray.

Luke 11:2 “And He said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.”

Point:

Jesus lived His life according to His fathers will, not His own.

Why do we think that we are the masters of our own lives?

In almost every area of our lives we have masters, why would we believe the lie that we are in control?

Even if we have fallen into that lie, He is still in control.

Live according to His will and you will have joy in troubles, peace during chaos, and hope for the future.

Transition:

The battle isn’t with your body; it is with:

Your Mind

Romans 6:12 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.”

There are a few key words in this passage that provides direction:

“Let not”

“to make you”

Both of these would portray that it is in your control.

Wait you mean there is a portion of my life that I can have control over?

Yes!

What you choose, your choices are under your free will.

Romans 7:15-20 “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”

What is dominant in our mind is what we will choose.

Romans 7:21-23 “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”

- What you think is what you are.

It is a biblical principal from Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.””

The KJV depicts it best:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings”

Transition:

Our mind controls our choices of what we physically do.

The choices go from our brain to a responding benefactor:

Your Body

Romans 6:13 “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”

Illustration:

How many times have I used something that was designed for a specific purpose for something other than it’s original design.

Did you know that brussel sprouts can be used for improving your hand eye coordination with a baseball bat?

I also heard they have nutritional value.

Point:

We are the deciding unit for what our instruments are used for.

What are the instruments at our disposal?

Eyes

Ears

Mouth - vocal chords

Arms

Legs

Every aspect that makes up our physical body is an instrument to be used.

Either to praise the Lord, or praise self.

Each part can be used for worship: of God, or self.

Transition:

We should present (or sacrifice) ourselves: Mind, Body, and Soul, to the Lord as an instrument of righteousness. To testify of the Lord.

Conclusion:

Today we are observing Communion together. Communion is when we celebrate the sacrifice of God in the flesh giving His body and blood to pay for us.

The point of Romans 6 today is to remind us of exactly what He gave us.

He gave us an position:

Dead to sin

That death is pictured in believers baptism.

Our former selves are dead.

We have the opportunity for a life separate from who we used to be.

The new life is Yielded to God.

Our minds; which control our body can be tools to do the Lord’s will.

We don’t have a license to sin; but are free to glorify the Lord.

Pray.

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