Sermon Tone Analysis

What is the OBJECTIVE of this Sermon?

To help believers understand that even thought we are saved, we still have a daily battle against sin that still dwells in our flesh.

What is the DESIRED RESPONSE for this Sermon?

A renewed purpose to live lives of holiness because we are now slaves of righteousness.

TENSION - Where does the tension lie?

The desire to not sin, but the reality that sin still dwells in us!

Me - I’m getting pretty discouraged.

Do you want to know why?

There are a host of prominent Pastors and Christian leaders that have fallen hard morally.

Men whom I’ve admired.

James MacDonald.

Ravi Zacharias.

Bill Hybels.

Mark Driscoll.

And what I’ve had to grapple with is how these men who profess Christ as their savior, who are steeped in the Word of God, who preached the Word faithfully, could, behind the scenes live in a such wicked and ungodly ways!?

Is this what the Christian life is supposed to be about?

Preach the bible, quote the bible, but because we are sinners, just live any way we want?

Is the Christian life a life of hypocrisy?

We - I think we all struggle with this question - especially when spiritual leaders who are telling us how to live the Christian life all the while they are capitulating and giving in to sinful indulgences of the flesh.

But it even goes beyond this.

I think we struggle as Christians, because we know the struggle in our own hearts against the sin that so easily trips and traps us!

Like it or not, we all run the risk of failing morally.

So, what are we supposed to do about sin?

I mean when the bible says things like...

Are we supposed to be sinlessly perfect in this life?

or

Can we live however we want and just presume upon the grace of God?

God - God answers this question specifically in this passage.

And Christians do well to listen to what God says here through the apostle Paul.

So...

Main Idea - What Am I Supposed To Do With Sin?

The fact is, although we are followers of Christ, we have an issue.

We still have do deal with sin.

Although sin is dead to us, it is still alive - we still have the residual reality of sin to contend with!

I can prove this biblically and experientially.

This reality may frustrate you, but it is true nonetheless.

Sin is a curse that we have until we are with Jesus in Heaven.

So, do we just give in?

No way!

There actually is a way to deal with your personal sin.

Paul gives us three powerful ideas as followers of Christ in verses 15-19!

Let me give them to you quickly and then we will take a closer look at each idea...

You don’t need to sin!

You should not want to sin!

You must offer yourself as a tool to do right!

1.

You Do Not Need To Sin (vs.

15-16)

Explain - Yes, this is a powerful fact for the Christian.

The power of sin is broken.

We no longer have the same relationship with the hideous curse of sin.

You, believer in Christ, do not need to sin!

Even though it is still present, you can actually say no!

Look at what Paul has to say about this in verses 15-16.

Paul, in these verses is addressing his critics who have accused him of ANTINOMIANISM.

Antinomianian-WHAT?

Because Paul teaches salvation by grace, his accusers say that he is teaching followers of Christ that they do not longer need to follow God’s moral law...

In verse 15 Paul makes himself as clear as he possibly can in his response to such an accusation.

“BY NO MEANS!”, “GOD FORBID!”

By the way, Paul uses this phrase 14 times in his letters!

It is the strongest way in the Greek language that he can say, “NO.”

And to make his NO as clear as possible, in verse 16, he presents an either or proposition!

Remember the idea behind “Present?”

It means to offer oneself up as a sacrifice.

He also uses the phrase, “obedient slaves”.

Slavery was a topic the Romans would have understood well because their culture was riddled with such a practice.

So, one either offers themselves up as an obedient slave to sin - doing the bidding of sin, or obedience to God.

The first leads to death or eternal Hell.

The Greek word used here, thanatos, refers not only to spiritual or physical mortality, but to separation from God.

The second leads to righteousness or eternal life.

Death is the normal consequence of sin (which is disobeying God); righteousness is the normal consequence of obeying God and living for Him.

And so Paul uses this to point out a believers relationship with sin.

We are either slaves to sin = unbeliever

Or

We are slaves God.

Slavery to sin leads to death.

Slavery to God (obedience) leads to righteousness.

Paul’s point is we cannot be slaves to both.

Matthew 6:24 (ESV)

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

..”

So, Christian, you have a choice.

You are no longer a slave to sin.

You do not need to say yes to it any longer!

The unbeliever has no choice.

Everything is sin to an unbeliever.

But for the genuine follower of Christ, praise God!

You are free!

Sin kills you and you are free from that threat!

As believers can choose to say no to sin!

Will you be sinlessly perfect as a follower of Christ?

No!

Listen to what Dr. Wayne Grudem has to say regarding sin in the life of the believer.

As we noted above, when Paul talks about the new power over sin that is given to a Christian, he does not say that there will be no sin in the Christian’s life, but he simply tells the believers not to let sin “reign” in their bodies nor to “present” their members to sin (Rom.

6:12–13).

He does not say that they will not sin but says that sin will not dominate or “have … dominion” over them (Rom.

6:14).

The very fact that he issues these directions shows his realization that sin will continue to be present in the lives of believers throughout their time on earth.

Even James the brother of our Lord could say, “We all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2), and if James can say this, then we certainly should be willing to say it as well.

Finally, in the same letter in which John declares so frequently that a child of God will not continue in a pattern of sinful behavior, he also says clearly, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

Here John explicitly excludes the possibility of being completely free from sin in our lives.

In fact, he says that anyone who claims to be free from sin is simply deceiving himself, and the truth is not in him.

And even though we will not live sin-free in this life, we are free to say know to sins power in this life.

How? Understanding biblical grace through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Illustrate - “Any concept of grace that makes us feel more comfortable sinning is not biblical grace.