Please Stand Turn to Romans 6:16-18 Slaves to Doing Right

Please Use a Pew Bible if you didn’t bring a Bible with you. Pg. 833

R OMANS 6:16-18 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

R OMANS 6:16-18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants [slaves] of righteousness. Today, I am going to show you a dichotomy between the truth that Christians have been freed from bondage to the law and the truth that those under grace are in bondage to practicing righteousness.

L AST W EEK Romans 6:14-15 – Under the Law – Under Grace

Under the Law Religious people under the Law obey the Law in hopes of being found righteous before God because of their personal obedience to God’s moral and ethical expectations. Religious people under the Law seek to obey the law from a legalistic perspective.

Under the LawUnder Grace Religious people under the law obey the Law in hopes of being found righteous before God because of their personal obedience to God’s moral and ethical expectations. Religious people under the Law seek to obey the law from a legalistic perspective. Regenerate people under grace recognize their inability to keep the law and are completely dependent upon God’s mercy and grace through His Son Jesus Christ’s perfect obedience even unto death. Regenerate people under grace study the law to learn more about God.

P AUL S HOWS U S People “under the law” are slaves to sin But the reverse is TRUE for people under grace – They are slaves to the opposite of SIN – Look at verse 14

A P ROMISE FROM G OD "Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." Commentary This is a promise: "Sin shall not be master over you." – It is not a command like "Thou shalt not kill." Righteousness (personified) is now our master.

R OMANS 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

The one you obey….is the one you are truly a slave to. You can say anything you want, but the one you obey is the one you are a slave to. You can say anything you want, but the one you obey is the one you are a slave to.

M ATTHEW 15:7-8 Jesus Said – Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias [Isaiah] prophesy of you, saying, – This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. – Isaiah 29:13

Under the Law vs. Under Grace Under the Law we yield ourselves as servants to sin proving our master is Satan which results in spiritual death. Under grace we yield ourselves as servants to righteous living proving our master is the Lord God resulting in eternal life.

M ATTHEW 6:24 Jesus said: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Biblical Fact The habitually unrighteous life cannot be a Christian life. Why

G OD ’ S P ROMISE TO Y OU Romans 6:14 – For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. The evidence that one is under grace is victory over SIN.

V ICTORY I MPLIES A B ATTLE ! The Christian does not always win the battle but he CANNOT: » Give Up » Move in with the Enemy » Declare Peace » Stop Fighting » Fight in his own Power

H EAR FROM M ATTHEW H ENRY “If we would know to which of these two families we belong, we must inquire to which of these two masters we yield ourselves.” Commentary on the Whole Bible The same can be said about law and grace.

R OMANS 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Getting saved is an act of obedience to the gospel—why is that?

O BEY THE G OSPEL A failure to believe that Jesus is God’s Son— the Messiah is SIN—it is disobedience. Mark 1 – Jesus instructs everyone He encounters to believe the gospel in the imperative sense.

A CTS 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 3 REFs: to those who obey NOT the gospel – Romans 10:16, 2 Thess. 1:8, 1 Pet 4:17

O BEY D OCTRINE Paul says: These obey the doctrine delivered unto them.How? They obey by changing (repenting) the way they think about God, man, sin, the law, grace and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

R OMANS 6:17 But God be thanked But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. W HY ARE WE THANKING G OD ?

Because He is the one who made this obedience possible. Why are we thanking God?

R OMANS 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. What does Paul mean by the heart?

H EART This is the innermost part of a man or woman It is the part that God and God alone sees It is distinguished from intellectual assent The heart is the center of emotions, feelings, moods, and passions The process of salvation begins in the heart with conviction

R OMANS 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Commentary This is a passive verb; the author communicates that I am the recipient of the action done by an unnamed source.

F REE FROM S IN ’ S D OMINION When God moved me from “under the law” to “under grace” He also acted upon me in a way that freed me from sin’s dominion over my life, such that I am no longer a slave to sin but now a slave to righteous living. I am in bondage to doing right. – Doing right is now my God-ordained duty.

S LAVES TO R IGHTEOUSNESS Romans 6:18 – Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. SERVANTS It means to make a slave of, to reduce to bondage

God Has Removed the Choice After salvation, the choice has been set; we are obligated to chose to obey God.

Someone says, “Pastor I don’t like the way you are talking!” I don’t want to be a robot; I don’t want to lose my will. I want choices.

Response Why would you want to be free to SIN? What benefit is there in that?

Let me follow up with: “Do you want to be free to go to Hell as well?”

G ETTING M Y T HINKING R IGHT As long as I think: – I have a choice, I will never get the victory over sin. – It is MY CHOICE, whether I obey or NOT I will not be victorious. I need to think like this—I can’t keep sinning; I am a slave to righteousness.

F OR E XAMPLE What about when we hear about someone forgiving someone for a heinous crime or sin done against them. The response will often be: “I knew I didn’t have a choice but to forgive because MY LORD forgave me and commands me to forgive.”

C OVENANT OF M ARRIAGE Think about how this thinking BINDs marriages together: – I don’t have a choice to love or not love my wife – I don’t have a choice to be faithful or NOT – I don’t have a choice to stay faithful or NOT – I don’t have a choice to remain married or NOT – I don’t have a choice to be pure or NOT

Someone says, “I still don’t like the way you are talking about being a slave; it just doesn’t sit right with me.”

P AUL A GREES W / YOU ! Romans 6:19 – I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

C ONCLUDING C OMMENTARY The balance of God’s Sovereignty in what He accomplished in my salvation and my human responsibility in obeying the gospel and fulfilling my duty to yield my members as servants of righteousness is so difficult to understand that all human illustrations have limitations.

C OMMENTARY ( CONT ) For while I am a slave, I am also an adopted child of the King who sits on my daddy’s lap.

C OMMENTARY ( CONT ) And His Son—Jesus—acts as my advocate and His Spirit lives in my heart as an indwelling presence and proof His ownership of that which he bought with the very blood of God.

C OMMENTARY ( CONT ) So while I do have a new heart and am a slaved to righteous, I still have a sin nature— and thus the battle.