Seventh Sunday after Trinity (2023)
Trinity • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Romans 6:19-23
Romans 6:19-23
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we spoke last week of the wonderful gift that we have in baptism that we are no longer slaves to the powers of sin and death, and have been set free by the wonderful gift of Baptism. This week picks up a few verses later and talks about the life of the Christian, that we lived as ones who belong to God, not as ones who belong to the ways of sin and death.
Why Slaves?
As Americans, we find the idea of being slaves repulsive.
The idea that we are owned by someone or in someone’s possession, is something that we fight against. We did not want to abide the restrictions of king who sat across an ocean.
We place great value on free will.
The idea that a person is free to do whatever they want, be whatever they want, and pursue whatever they desire. It used to be there were bounds, but in recent years this philosophy has expanded that you can deny even the restrictions of nature.
The Bible tells us that we are bound.
The Word of God uses the language of slavery. So regardless of how we feel about it, we need to understand what that means. That our will is not free to do whatever it wants its bound and in service to someone else.
You are either in service to God or Sin.
There is no middle ground in which you are absolute free to do whatever you want. If you believe that you are in the service of sin and that means your end is death, not just in this world, but eternally.
Slaves of Sin
Sin was a master that brought us shame.
This one of the things that when we need to understand about sin to see how it affects us. When you do something wrong, that you ought to be ashamed, indeed Adam and Eve knew shame instantly. When you lie to your friends, when you hurt others, commit adultery either in action or through what your eyes see on the internet or TV, when you gossip or slander, there ought to be shame. For instance, how many of you have been hurt by someone’s words, that they insulted you, or perhaps spread lies about you and gossiped about you behind your back. Is that something you want to experience again? So have you ever done that to anyone else? Doesn’t matter if it’s your friend or your president, knowing what it did to you, you had not right.
It attempted to numb our hearts.
Because it knew that if we had to keep on living in that shame, we would become useless, and could no longer be in its service. So it persuades you, and starts you off slowly in order to deaden your heart against your neighbor and persuade you that what you do is not that bad, because look at everyone else who is doing it.
Morality is not by consensus.
There is one who has determined what is right or wrong. That is God, and He has given his 10 holy commandments, not suggestions or recommendations, that tell you what you will do, and who you will be, that’s why there is shame. Because you who are God’s creation are rejecting your creator as you serve sin. and what does sin offer you?
At the end, it offered eternal death.
It secures you in its kingdom by one of two ways, it convinces you that you have been so great in its service, that you must have lived a good life, or it brings to mind all of your shameful deeds and acts so that you fear living its service for how can you make up for a lifetime of shameful deeds before your death?
Purchased and Won
Knowing your sins, would you rescue you, or someone better?
Now if you choose yourself, it shows a heart that is quite hardened by sin. But would you forsake yourself to save those who are worse than you? That’s ridiculous who would do that?
Jesus purchased and won us not with gold or silver, but with His holy blood.
Jesus went to the cross to lift from our shoulders not only our sins, but to also take upon himself our shame. For look at Him, we hate being bound, and want friend and yet he laid aside his crown to have one of thorns thrust upon his head, we don’t like people telling us how to dress, and he stripped naked, and then nailed him to the cross. He was taking upon himself your guilt, your shame, and your sin that it might no longer rest upon you.
On the one hand we are glad, but on the other hand, why?
As the Scriptures say, it makes sense to die for a good or a righteous person, someone who is deserving, but why die for sinners? Why die for something as worthless as a sinner who has committed shameful acts in service of sin?
Our salvation comes from the heart of Jesus.
It’s because in spite of all the things you have done wrong, and of which you are ashamed, Jesus has great love for you, love that desires to give you a gift.
The Gift of God
The translation adds the word free but that’s what all gifts are.
If a gift isn’t free, then its payment for something. Even when we talk about a favor for our neighbor, there is an assumption that our neighbor will return the favor, but it is not something we earned or can ever pay back, and He knew that when God gave to us this gift.
After everything Jesus suffered, why give this to us?
When God created all things, it was good, we belonged to Him, but we were sold into a service that brought mankind to death. We are God’s creation and so He did not abandon His creation, but rather sought our salvation.
God does not desire your death, He wants you to live.
It is easy to think that, when we see God’s wrath against sin, but that’s not how we were created in the beginning, His creation became corrupted by the sin of Adam and so God sought to restore mankind to Himself. that we may be God’s own possession.
Slaves of God
We don’t get to own ourselves.
As Americans this is vexing, but we don’t get to be entirely free. We either belong to sin, or to God. There is no middle ground where you get to do whatever you want. But you have been set free from the master that was bringing you down to death.
We no longer slave for shameful things that lead to death.
Rather we present our members, that is your body, rather as slaves to righteousness, for Christ has brought us out of the kingdom of death that serve Him. Now some might think, well doesn’t this mean we are working for our salvation? No. Christ saved you when He made you His own, that is to say He has already given you the gift of eternal life.
We give thanks to God for this tremendous gift.
That’s why we do good works, and present them in service to God, not because the work we do will save, but rather out of thanks for the fact that we are saved. Now like any gift we can lay it aside, that’s why the Scriptures encourage us, to not offer up our members as slaves to sin once more. Look at everything that Christ has done to make you His own. Why go back and serve sin, which will reward you will death and shame?
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, this is the wonderful hope we have of salvation that is found in Jesus Christ our Lord. You might wonder why does the Scripture warn us about this, if we belong to God. There are some other differences, not just in what you receive, death or life. But also whether or not you can walk away. Like Adam and Eve, God will let you walk away, but Sin won’t let you just walk away. So don’t go back to serving sin, rather remain with Christ for He will bring you into His Father’s house.