A New Day... A New Way
Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Change… can sometimes be a hard thing to navigate through. Especially when the change involves the closing of one chapter… and the opening of something new.
These types of changes impact your life. They move you from once was… into something new. I’m not talking about moving the furniture around… I’m not talking about reorganizing the cabinets. I am talking about “life will never be the same again” kind of change.
These come in various forms:
When your first child is born.
When you lose a friend or loved one.
When you make a complete career change.
When you say “I do” in the altars.
When you give your life to Jesus Christ.
These are the kind of changes that truly close out the way life used to be… and open doors for a different reality.
I made that list in a purposeful order for our discussion tonight. The reason I did this is because there is no greater change than giving your life to Jesus and… Paul uses the illustration of marriage to speak of the new life we have in Christ.
First off… let’s talk about what happens when a person gets married. What are some of the changes we take on?
We commit ourselves to spending the rest of our lives with our spouse. In the presence of God and in front of witnesses, vows are exchanged and accepted. This is much more than a promise… it is a covenant.
What is the difference between a promise and a covenant?
Promise Defined: a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified
Covenant Defined: a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement.
These two definitions have many similarities… but we need to understand something regarding covenants in the Bible.
A covenant, in the biblical sense, implies much more than a contract or a simple agreement. A contract always has an end date, while a covenant is a permanent agreement. Another difference is that a contract generally involves only one part of a person, such as a skill, while a covenant covers a person’s total being.
Marriage requires an all in mentality. It is a life-long commitment between the bride and groom. The two… become one… spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
Secondly, it is a legally binding agreement.
The state recognizes the formation of a new family unit. The two no longer operate as individuals but as a household. They are legally bound to one another.
This impacts finances, insurance, medical needs, etc.
Third, marriage is not something that people just walk away from. It is intended to be as vowed.
If divorce is something that is sought after, it requires legal work to complete and often carries a very high emotional, social, and mental price. It is not easy to separate what God had joined together.
God created marriage and it is a good thing. Getting married will certainly change the trajectory of your life… or at least it should! And… it is something that God designed to last forever… a covenant.
As we begin chapter 7 of Romans, Paul looks at marriage as an illustration regarding the kind of change that comes with knowing Jesus. And there are several things we need to pull from this text as we talk about the radical reality change that comes when we give our lives to the Lord.
This Change Comes From Death.
This Change Comes From Death.
Uh… what? That doesn’t sound very positive! That’s one of those very negative life changes we do not like to walk through.
And yet… it is the ONLY way for our salvation to come. Look at how Paul talks about it in Romans 7:1-4
1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
What Paul is talking about here… is a changing of covenants.
The ONLY way for the old covenant made between God and His people to be done away with… was through death. As Paul made clear… the authority of the law was binding as long as the person was alive.
So… the law was the law for the entirety of a person’s life.
But then Paul starts talking about marriage. He shifts to a different covenant.
Wedding vows are binding “until death do us part.” If a spouse passes away, the survivor is then released from that covenant. If the survivor gets remarried, there is no adultery taking place because the previous chapter has closed… and a new one has opened.
The point is… the audience Paul was writing to was struggling with… change. A new chapter had opened through Jesus Christ, but they were still holding on to a few pages from the previous chapter. The problem is… you cannot fully immerse yourself in the new… without letting go of the old. In this case… we must fully die to what was, and come alive in what Christ offers.
Verse 4 makes it very clear that a believer in Jesus has died to the law… through Jesus. His death becomes our death.
This means the covenant is not broken… but released. Jesus also made it clear that He came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Jesus became the answer the law demanded for our sins. His life became the payment for the price we owed. We know this. When He died, that was it… it WAS finished. He made it possible for that chapter to close and for a new one to be opened. That happens when a person gives their life to Jesus. We move from the old covenant to the new.
I want you to hear me clearly on this next statement and stay with me until I finish it. In Christ, the law has no authority over you - its demand has been fulfilled. That chapter has closed. BUT… as verse 4 again makes clear, we now belong to another… to the One who was raised from the dead. In other words, a chapter has closed and a new one has opened. Christ Jesus IS our authority. This applies to our personal walk with the Lord and with the Church. Jesus is the head of the church body.
Our belonging to Jesus will be evident in our new walk with Him.
One, we will go as the Lord leads us. AND… the Lord will NEVER lead us to sin. Jesus will never lead believers to disobedient or rebellious action against the Father. Jesus came to turn us back to God, not away from Him.
Two, we will bear fruit for God. Not only will we live for Jesus, we will encourage and lead others to live for Jesus. Not because we have to… but because Jesus is the answer we were looking for… and He is the answer the world so desperately needs.
So why doesn’t this happen more often and more naturally?
Because instead of trying to introduce the world to Jesus, We try to introduce them to what used to be.
Consider this: I’ve never lost a spouse. And I cannot imagine the pain and sorrow that comes with such loss. I pray I never do. But If I did, and I remarried… I wouldn’t start conversations by introducing my wife that passed on before introducing my new spouse. That would be beyond awkward and completely disrespectful to my new wife.
It seems unimaginable and yet it happens far too often. This is what happens when believers try to introduce the world to God through law and not grace. We’re holding on to the old covenant… the covenant Christ FULFILLED.
In Christ Jesus, the old chapter or covenant has been closed… not erased or abolished… but closed. Sin still remains as sin… but our redemption is not found in the law… but in the One who overcame and fulfilled it.
In Christ, we now belong to another. Jesus leads us bear fruit for the Father. What does that kind of leading and living look like?
Serve in the Way of the Spirit
Serve in the Way of the Spirit
5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Verse 6 points out a contrast… old and new… law and Spirit. One chapter… is unlike the next. It is a continued story for sure… but a completely new narrative. And I’ll show you why.
Before Jesus:
The law was… the law. A system of worship and sacrifice was established. Payments for sin had to be made… blood had to be spilled.
The Spirit of God was housed within a specific room… a place separated from the people of God. Why?
A righteous God cannot fellowship with unrighteous people. So the priest would enter the room and offer sacrifices for the atonement of the people.
The people were lead by the law… not the Spirit.
After Jesus’s Death and Resurrection:
The FULL payment for our sin had been made. The requirement of the law had been satisfied. No more blood would be required for our sins.
The veil that separated the room where the Spirit of God was housed… was torn in two by the hand of God. The Spirit of God… was no longer separated from the people of God.
The temple of the Spirit was no longer a physical building, but was now the hearts of those who are covered by the blood of the Lamb.
Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the grave moved us into a new covenant with God that meant being lead of His Spirit and not the law.
Church… When we serve law over Spirit, we try to place the Spirit of God back in a room… behind a veil… separated from the people Jesus came to save… as if Jesus’ blood wasn’t enough!
We cheapen the work Christ did on the cross.
Serving in the new way of the Spirit places our focus on the power of the blood of the Lamb… not the law. The law was overcome by the Lamb! The law was never intended to be God’s final answer to sin… Jesus was and is that answer.
So the question tonight is… do we find ourselves serving the written code as Paul calls it… or serving in the new way of the Spirit?
God opened the door for this change through the giving of Jesus. Jesus paid for this change with His life. God doesn’t want us living in the past… because there is no hope in things past. He wants us living in the new covenant… a new era of redemption and freedom from sin.
When serving in the new way of the Spirit, we do not have to worry about God’s Spirit leading us into sin or destruction. He will ALWAYS lead us to the life Christ promised and delivered to us - life more abundantly.
And… He will encourage us to lead others into this new life as well.
Let’s not put the Spirit back in a box… let’s live in and operate in the new chapter that Christ Jesus has made open to us!