Why Christians obey God
Series: MADE NEW
Speaker: James Barnett
Date: 12th June 2022
Passage: Romans 6:1-23
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Good morning, everyone.
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 My name is James.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 Good to see you on this chilly morning this morning.
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 When I was 18, my parents moved out.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:18 We were living in Wollongong, and I was in my second year of university, and my parents
00:00:18 --> 00:00:22 with my younger sister moved to the Hills District of Sydney.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:28 And I lived with my brother for a year in Wollongong, and then lived on my own for a
00:00:28 --> 00:00:29 year.
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 And it forced me to become an adult.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:37 It was really wonderful because I learned how to do things like make pavlova.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:43 And I remember vividly one time getting stiff peaks in the egg whites without a whisk, but
00:00:43 --> 00:00:44 just with a fork.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:50 And so I made that pavlova, and then, like any good 18-year-old, ate the entire pavlova.
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 And it forced me to become an adult.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:54 I cooked my own meals.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 I cleaned my clothes.
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 I worked to pay rent while I was at uni.
00:00:59 --> 00:01:03 But then when I finished university, started looking for a job.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 And so I moved back in with my parents.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 And they were still in the Hills District, so I moved into the Hills.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 And there were positives and negatives.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:18 Living with them meant that I could, you know, find a job, you know, when I was still looking.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:24 But it meant that I was also living with my parents who treated me like a child.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 And it was frustrating.
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 I was 21 at this point, and I'd been used to cleaning my clothes.
00:01:31 --> 00:01:34 And my mum's cleaning my clothes, and I'm like, mum, I'm not a child.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:35 What are you doing?
00:01:35 --> 00:01:40 And there was tension because my status had changed.
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 I had been a child.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:44 I became an adult.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 And then they were treating me like a child again.
00:01:48 --> 00:01:54 There's often a tension when a person doesn't act like who they are.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 The married person who acts like they're single.
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 The parent who lives like they don't have children.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:05 The new worker who is still acting like a uni student and sleeping in all morning.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 The adult who behaves like a child.
00:02:09 --> 00:02:13 There's tension when a person doesn't act like who they are.
00:02:14 --> 00:02:19 For those who follow Jesus, their status in life has changed.
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 They've gone from death to life.
00:02:22 --> 00:02:28 From the power of sin to the power of God being set free by him.
00:02:28 --> 00:02:34 And yet, I wonder if we forget our status as God's children.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 And often run back to following our old ways.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 Do we forget who we are?
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 We are in the book of Romans.
00:02:45 --> 00:02:51 And over the last few weeks, we've seen our desperate need for God to save us.
00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 And he does this through his wonderful grace to us.
00:02:56 --> 00:02:57 He chooses to forgive.
00:02:57 --> 00:03:02 He chooses to justify us because of his great love for us.
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 It's called justification by faith.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 And we saw that last week.
00:03:06 --> 00:03:13 We've gone from having our head, Adam, to our new head, Jesus, as the one who represents us.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 And we have all the benefits through our new head, Jesus.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:21 And today, Paul shows us that we're not just saved.
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 Our entire status has changed.
00:03:23 --> 00:03:30 And so it's not right for us to go back to our old way of doing things, our old status.
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 But instead, to be who we are because of Jesus.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:40 And so today, we're going to be challenged and encouraged to be who we are.
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 Two points this morning.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 The first status change is from dead to alive.
00:03:45 --> 00:03:51 And the second status is of slaves to sin to slaves to God.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 Let me pray for us as we begin.
00:03:54 --> 00:03:58 Heavenly Father, we thank you for Romans chapter 6.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 We thank you for your word to us.
00:04:00 --> 00:04:04 And we ask that we would understand who we are as your children.
00:04:04 --> 00:04:08 And that we would continue to grow like Jesus.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:09 Amen.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:16 Paul has set out this wonderful picture that there is free grace.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:17 There is justification.
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 You no longer need to work.
00:04:20 --> 00:04:24 You no longer need to follow a set of rules to be saved.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 In fact, that doesn't actually work to get saved.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 Instead, there is free grace.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:33 And now Paul answers a question on many people's minds.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 Well, if I'm saved, does it really matter what I do?
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 Can I just do anything I like?
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 Can I just go on sinning and God's going to forgive me?
00:04:44 --> 00:04:44 So have a look.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 Romans chapter 6, verse 1.
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 What shall we say then?
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 If what I do has nothing to do with my salvation,
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 then does it really matter what I do?
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 Actually, if anything, the more I sin,
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 the more God gets to show his grace to me
00:05:05 --> 00:05:08 so I can have more and more grace from God.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:10 Isn't that a good thing?
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 I remember working through this thinking when I was younger
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 and I've spoken to many people who've asked this question.
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 Maybe you're asking this question today.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 Does it really matter what I'm doing
00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 if God is going to forgive me anyway?
00:05:26 --> 00:05:27 Paul responds.
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 And he responds pretty strongly in verse 2.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:32 By no means.
00:05:33 --> 00:05:36 We are those who have died to sin.
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 How can we live in it any longer?
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 It's kind of hard to picture how strongly Paul would have written this.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:45 But, you know, I can imagine if he was writing this in text
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 or writing it on a comment online,
00:05:47 --> 00:05:48 it would all be in caps.
00:05:49 --> 00:05:50 By no means.
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 Don't do this.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 We have died to sin.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 Sin and the Christian do not go together.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 Now, this doesn't mean that Christians do not sin.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 Some will suggest that Christians just no longer sin
00:06:05 --> 00:06:06 and that's not what Paul's saying.
00:06:07 --> 00:06:11 And he's not just saying that sin has no influence over us
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 because sin continues to influence us.
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 And it doesn't even just mean that sin is inappropriate for the Christian.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:23 And it's not even saying that the Christian is slowly moving away from sin.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:27 Paul says that we are dead to sin.
00:06:28 --> 00:06:30 The moment a person becomes a Christian,
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 they have a new master.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 They're under a new power.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:40 The Christian has gone from being ruled by sin to being ruled by God.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 Previously, we were completely under the power of sin.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:46 We could not resist it.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:50 But now, sin cannot dominate the Christian.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:52 The Christian, under God's power,
00:06:52 --> 00:06:56 is able to resist and to rebel against the pull of sin.
00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 Paul says in Colossians chapter 1,
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 that there's a new power at work in our lives.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
00:07:05 --> 00:07:09 and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 Now, one way to understand this would be
00:07:12 --> 00:07:16 if there was a country that was under complete control
00:07:16 --> 00:07:17 by a wicked government.
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 Okay?
00:07:19 --> 00:07:19 Go with me.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 So there's a country under complete control by a wicked government
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 and a good army invades,
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 throwing out the wicked force
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 and giving back control of government
00:07:30 --> 00:07:31 and communication to the people.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:35 But the out-of-power soldiers,
00:07:36 --> 00:07:37 the wicked soldiers,
00:07:37 --> 00:07:38 they're still there,
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 but they've become a guerrilla force.
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 So they're not in control of the military anymore,
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 but they are still hiding in the bushes.
00:07:45 --> 00:07:49 And this guerrilla force can create havoc
00:07:49 --> 00:07:50 for the rightful government.
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 It can never take control again,
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 but it can make things difficult.
00:07:56 --> 00:08:00 Being dead to sin means we don't have to obey it,
00:08:01 --> 00:08:02 even if sin remains.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 And Paul explains this as being dead to sin
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 and alive to Jesus in verse 3.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:13 Don't you know that all of us
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 who were baptized into Christ Jesus
00:08:15 --> 00:08:17 were baptized into his death?
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 We were therefore buried with him
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 through baptism into death
00:08:22 --> 00:08:25 in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead
00:08:25 --> 00:08:26 through the glory of the Father,
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 we too may live a new life.
00:08:30 --> 00:08:32 Paul uses this word baptism.
00:08:32 --> 00:08:33 In the original language,
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 it means being immersed in and you stay there.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 It's this picture of conversion.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:42 When the Christian is made aware of Jesus' lordship
00:08:42 --> 00:08:43 and they follow him,
00:08:43 --> 00:08:44 at that moment,
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 just in like chapter 5,
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 Jesus becomes our head.
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 And he died his death on his behalf for us.
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 And his resurrection is our resurrection too.
00:08:59 --> 00:09:00 And so in verse 8,
00:09:00 --> 00:09:01 Paul can say,
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 if we died with Christ,
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 we believe we will live with him.
00:09:06 --> 00:09:10 All that is true of Jesus is true of the Christian.
00:09:11 --> 00:09:12 He died to sin.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 He was raised to life.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 And so the Christian right now is dead to sin
00:09:17 --> 00:09:20 and has a new life.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 It's a status change.
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 The Christian's position in life has changed.
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 The wicked government has been kicked out
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 and there is a new power in control.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 If you are following Jesus,
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 your old way of life is dead.
00:09:36 --> 00:09:37 It's dead.
00:09:38 --> 00:09:39 You've had two lives.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 There's your before following Jesus' life
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 and there's the after following Jesus' life.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 And so even when we sin,
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 it doesn't change our status.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 We don't go back to being unforgiven,
00:09:54 --> 00:09:55 sinful before God.
00:09:55 --> 00:09:59 We continue as alive in God.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 But this is a wonderful reality that we can ignore,
00:10:04 --> 00:10:04 we can forget,
00:10:05 --> 00:10:06 we can lose sight of.
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 And so Paul calls us to do what God does in verse 11.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:11 Paul says,
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 count yourselves dead to sin,
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 Earlier we saw in Romans
00:10:21 --> 00:10:26 that God counted us righteous in Jesus.
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 John used the illustration of doing a park run
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 and the fastest runner,
00:10:32 --> 00:10:36 their time was given to the slowest runner.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 There is a swap that is done
00:10:38 --> 00:10:44 where God counts Jesus' perfect life for us.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 And so what Paul is calling us to do is
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 to see ourselves as God sees us.
00:10:50 --> 00:10:53 God counts his righteousness for us
00:10:53 --> 00:10:57 and we're called to see that God does that for us.
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 Count yourselves dead to sin.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:06 Paul is calling us to see ourselves as God sees us.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 That our status has changed.
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 That we are no longer sinful,
00:11:11 --> 00:11:12 fallen,
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 but that we are dead to that
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 and we are alive in Jesus.
00:11:19 --> 00:11:20 We are not under sin.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 It's a legal right.
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 Our legal position before God has changed.
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 But we actually need to take advantage of it.
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 There's no point having $14 million
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 if you don't take advantage of having $14 million.
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 If you're living on the street,
00:11:37 --> 00:11:38 cold at night,
00:11:38 --> 00:11:42 you're not living in the reality of what is in the bank.
00:11:44 --> 00:11:48 We need to live with the reality of how God sees us.
00:11:49 --> 00:11:53 Before we can speak of how this should change our hearts
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 and how it should change our actions,
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 it has to enter our minds.
00:11:57 --> 00:12:01 We have to see us and to see each other as God sees us.
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 I read a story recently
00:12:04 --> 00:12:08 of those who were set free from slavery in the United States
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 after the Civil War.
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 Slavery had been abolished
00:12:12 --> 00:12:16 and all slaves, young and free,
00:12:16 --> 00:12:17 had been given their freedom.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 But there were many people who had endured
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 long years of slavery
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 and they found it very difficult
00:12:26 --> 00:12:28 to understand their new status.
00:12:28 --> 00:12:31 And so they heard that they were free.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 But they struggled to understand it.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:36 They struggled to realize it.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 And when they saw their old master coming to them,
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 they began to quake and fear.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:45 So Martin Lloyd-Jones, the preacher, says,
00:12:45 --> 00:12:49 we can experience being a slave experientially.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 We can experience that in our lives,
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 even when we are no longer a slave.
00:12:55 --> 00:12:56 Whatever you feel,
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 whatever your experience may be,
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 God tells us here, through his word,
00:13:01 --> 00:13:05 that we are no longer under the reign and rule of sin.
00:13:05 --> 00:13:06 And if I fall into sin,
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 as I do,
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 it is simply because I do not realize who I am.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:16 Verse 14,
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 for sin shall no longer be your master
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 because you are not under the law but under grace.
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 And yet how often are we fearful of it?
00:13:26 --> 00:13:27 Stuck in it.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 Not looking to our master who has set us free.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:33 And so brothers and sisters,
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 there is a wonderful assurance for us here.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 We are called to think of ourselves
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 as God sees us,
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 dead to sin and alive in Jesus.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:48 We can be fearful of our sin,
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 not realizing who we are.
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 Or we can see ourselves and see each other
00:13:53 --> 00:13:57 as God's children with a new status.
00:13:58 --> 00:13:59 I will sin.
00:14:00 --> 00:14:01 You will sin.
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 You will rebel against God today, tomorrow.
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 But that is not who we are.
00:14:08 --> 00:14:09 We are saved.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:10 If you follow Jesus,
00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 you are one of his children,
00:14:12 --> 00:14:13 part of his family.
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 The slave to sin is who I was.
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 But now we have a new master,
00:14:20 --> 00:14:21 a new status.
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 And so this means our life should look different.
00:14:26 --> 00:14:27 Second point today
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 is that our status has changed.
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 We've gone from being a slave to sin
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 to a slave to God.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:37 And so because of this,
00:14:37 --> 00:14:38 life should look different.
00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 Paul in verse 14 asks the same question
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 as verse 1 in a slightly different way.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:46 He says,
00:14:46 --> 00:14:47 What then?
00:14:47 --> 00:14:50 Shall we sin because we are not under the law,
00:14:50 --> 00:14:51 but under grace?
00:14:52 --> 00:14:53 And he repeats that,
00:14:53 --> 00:14:54 by no means.
00:14:54 --> 00:14:55 I love that.
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 I appreciate it when Gary read it before.
00:14:58 --> 00:14:59 By no means.
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 And so Paul is again
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 coming back to this question.
00:15:03 --> 00:15:04 What does it actually look like
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 to live for the Christian?
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 What is our life to look like?
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 It is not to continue to go off sinning
00:15:12 --> 00:15:13 how we used to live.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 Our life is to look different.
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 Are we under any obligations?
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 Do I need to follow the Ten Commandments?
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 Do I have to love my neighbor?
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 I was really encouraged
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 with what Leland was saying before
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 about seeking to read his Bible regularly.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 But do I have to do that?
00:15:30 --> 00:15:31 It's encouraging hearing him
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 seek to be reading his Bible regularly
00:15:33 --> 00:15:34 four or more times.
00:15:34 --> 00:15:35 But do I have to do that?
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 Paul answers this again
00:15:39 --> 00:15:40 by talking about our status.
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 This time about slavery.
00:15:43 --> 00:15:45 And the old singer Bob Dylan
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 wrote a song that Paul is talking about here
00:15:47 --> 00:15:48 when he sang,
00:15:49 --> 00:15:50 you're going to have to serve somebody.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 And so verse 17 and 18.
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 Though you used to be slaves to sin,
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 you have come to obey from your heart
00:15:58 --> 00:15:59 the pattern of teaching
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 that has now claimed your allegiance.
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 You have been set free from sin
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 and have become slaves to righteousness.
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 No one is free.
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 Every single person is a slave.
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 They're either a slave to sin
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 or a slave to God.
00:16:18 --> 00:16:19 We all have a master.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 And when our master is sin,
00:16:22 --> 00:16:26 verse 23 tells us that what we earn,
00:16:27 --> 00:16:29 we earn death.
00:16:29 --> 00:16:30 Our wage is death.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:32 But when our master is God,
00:16:32 --> 00:16:33 we don't earn anything.
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 Because we can't earn anything.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 Instead, verse 23 tells us,
00:16:38 --> 00:16:39 do I have it there?
00:16:39 --> 00:16:40 I don't have it there.
00:16:40 --> 00:16:41 What verse 23 tells us
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 is that instead we are given a gift.
00:16:44 --> 00:16:45 A gift of eternal life.
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 The point of Romans 6 is that
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 we're all serving somebody.
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 We're all a slave to something.
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 Some bottom line,
00:16:55 --> 00:16:57 something is driving us.
00:16:57 --> 00:16:58 Something has mastered us
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 and we are all slaves.
00:17:02 --> 00:17:04 What are you offering yourself to?
00:17:04 --> 00:17:07 If you're following Jesus,
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 don't go back and become a slave to sin.
00:17:10 --> 00:17:12 Are you a slave of people's opinions
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 or God's opinion?
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 Are you a slave to the bottom line
00:17:17 --> 00:17:18 of your bank balance
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 instead of seeing the riches
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 freely offered through God's grace?
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 Are you a slave to obeying your family
00:17:24 --> 00:17:27 in the hope that they might be proud of you
00:17:27 --> 00:17:28 when you have a God
00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 who longs to be close with you?
00:17:30 --> 00:17:33 Are you mastered by a desire
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 to be with someone
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 so that your behaviors shape
00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 your desire to get affection
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 instead of seeing the affection
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 and love you already have in Jesus?
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 We're all controlled by something
00:17:46 --> 00:17:49 and when it's anything other than God,
00:17:50 --> 00:17:51 it leads to death.
00:17:52 --> 00:17:55 But there is a kind and generous master
00:17:55 --> 00:18:00 and we've become slaves to righteousness
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 that Christian doesn't have to obey God
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 to be saved.
00:18:05 --> 00:18:08 But we do obey to have a life filled
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 with the fullness of God,
00:18:10 --> 00:18:13 to have a joyful, flourishing life.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 Tim Keller has an illustration
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 about birds and fish.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 It's not birds and bees,
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 it's birds and fish.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 The fish in the water
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 is stuck in his situation of the water
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 and he sees the bird
00:18:28 --> 00:18:31 and longs to be free like the bird.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 He sees the bird and thinks,
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 I want to be like that.
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 And so the fish flops out of the water
00:18:37 --> 00:18:41 and goes on the ground and dies.
00:18:43 --> 00:18:45 Because the fish is made for water.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:49 That's where the fish finds its freedom.
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 In our current world,
00:18:52 --> 00:18:55 we hear being a slave to anything
00:18:55 --> 00:18:55 and we can think,
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 I don't want to be a slave to anyone.
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 But we're all slaves to something.
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03 We want to search for freedom,
00:19:03 --> 00:19:04 but we find freedom
00:19:04 --> 00:19:07 when we live in the way God has made us to be.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 The fish finds its freedom
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 when it lives in the water.
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 And whilst it looks like it's bound to slavery,
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 that is the best place for it.
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 I wonder if we are swimming
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 and we are seeing people leap out of the water,
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 chasing sin,
00:19:24 --> 00:19:24 and we say,
00:19:24 --> 00:19:25 oh, look at them.
00:19:25 --> 00:19:27 They're leaping out of the water.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 That looks so great.
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 I want to be just like them.
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 And then we don't notice
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 that they're just chasing after
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 something that is going to be the end of them.
00:19:38 --> 00:19:39 Instead of seeing that,
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 obeying God,
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 both shows that we love God.
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 But also it's the best way to life.
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 It's the way to human flourishing.
00:19:50 --> 00:19:51 So what do we do?
00:19:52 --> 00:19:54 We saw in the first point
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 that we need to change our minds.
00:19:56 --> 00:19:59 We need to see ourselves as God sees us,
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 as having a new status.
00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 And then in verse 13 and 19,
00:20:05 --> 00:20:06 Paul calls us to action.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 He says,
00:20:08 --> 00:20:11 do not offer any part of yourself to sin
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13 as an instrument of wickedness,
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 but rather offer yourselves to God.
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17 Verse 19,
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 just as you used to offer yourselves
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 as slaves to impurity,
00:20:21 --> 00:20:24 so now offer yourselves
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 as slaves to righteousness,
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 leading to holiness.
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 Paul is saying,
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 be who you are.
00:20:31 --> 00:20:34 Be controlled in your behavior.
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 Offer your whole body,
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 your whole members,
00:20:38 --> 00:20:38 your heart,
00:20:39 --> 00:20:39 your actions,
00:20:40 --> 00:20:40 your soul.
00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 Offer them to righteousness.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 Offer your whole self to purity,
00:20:46 --> 00:20:47 to love,
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 to generosity,
00:20:48 --> 00:20:49 to kindness,
00:20:49 --> 00:20:49 to patience,
00:20:50 --> 00:20:50 to gentleness,
00:20:50 --> 00:20:51 to self-control.
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 Obey God,
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 but not based on your feelings
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 or your situation,
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 but on the reality of the gospel.
00:20:58 --> 00:21:01 Because God has considered you righteousness,
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 considered you righteous.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:07 And so be the status change.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:11 We are no longer under the power of sin,
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 but we are God's.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 Sin doesn't reign even when we struggle with it.
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 Viewing ourself as righteous in Jesus
00:21:21 --> 00:21:23 is a great assurance,
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 and it motivates us to obey God,
00:21:26 --> 00:21:27 to live the new status,
00:21:27 --> 00:21:28 not to earn it,
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 because it is who we already are.
00:21:32 --> 00:21:34 If you are still thinking about
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 what it means to follow Jesus,
00:21:35 --> 00:21:38 to offer yourselves to righteousness,
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 to what this status would look like.
00:21:43 --> 00:21:46 Everything we are yearning for
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 and searching for in life
00:21:47 --> 00:21:50 is found in this status as a child of God.
00:21:51 --> 00:21:54 Are we searching for meaning and for purpose?
00:21:54 --> 00:21:57 Are we looking for recognition and joy
00:21:57 --> 00:21:59 for a person who will love us?
00:21:59 --> 00:22:01 That is only found in God.
00:22:02 --> 00:22:04 And the status as a child of God
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 is higher than any other status.
00:22:07 --> 00:22:10 For the brother or sister who is a Christian,
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 who is struggling with being who they are,
00:22:13 --> 00:22:16 let me get really practical with what it means
00:22:16 --> 00:22:21 to offer ourselves to righteousness
00:22:21 --> 00:22:25 and to think of ourselves as a new status.
00:22:25 --> 00:22:29 When we come to a daily situation to sin,
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 we have an option.
00:22:32 --> 00:22:35 Am I going to offer myself to God
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 as a slave to righteousness,
00:22:36 --> 00:22:39 or am I going to offer myself to sin?
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 My old way of life,
00:22:41 --> 00:22:44 who I was before I was saved.
00:22:44 --> 00:22:46 And so there's a cycle that happens.
00:22:47 --> 00:22:49 There's stages you can go through,
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 which you can see on the screen.
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 There's a cycle that happens.
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 There's an event.
00:22:53 --> 00:22:54 There's a situation.
00:22:54 --> 00:22:55 There's a problem.
00:22:55 --> 00:22:56 There's a desire to sin.
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 There's a thought.
00:22:59 --> 00:23:02 There's a feeling that wells up inside,
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 and then there is a response.
00:23:04 --> 00:23:07 And so if someone says something
00:23:07 --> 00:23:09 that I think will make me feel,
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 make me look bad,
00:23:10 --> 00:23:13 if someone puts me down in a social setting,
00:23:13 --> 00:23:14 that's the event.
00:23:14 --> 00:23:17 And I have this opportunity.
00:23:17 --> 00:23:20 Am I going to offer myself as a slave to sin
00:23:20 --> 00:23:22 or a slave to God?
00:23:22 --> 00:23:25 Am I going to revert back to who I was,
00:23:25 --> 00:23:28 or am I going to be who I am?
00:23:29 --> 00:23:32 If I let my desire to look good
00:23:32 --> 00:23:35 and defend myself, be my master,
00:23:35 --> 00:23:36 I'm going to,
00:23:37 --> 00:23:37 my thought,
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 the second thing that happened,
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 is going to be quick.
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43 You need to put this person down.
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 They've said something bad about you.
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47 They've rebuked you,
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 and you need to get back at them.
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 You need to defend yourself.
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 Maybe you need to put this person down
00:23:52 --> 00:23:54 and joke about them
00:23:54 --> 00:23:56 so everybody turns on them instead.
00:23:57 --> 00:23:59 I must pay them back for hurting me.
00:23:59 --> 00:24:02 That's the thought that will run through my mind.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 And the feeling that comes up
00:24:04 --> 00:24:08 is anger and bitterness and rage.
00:24:08 --> 00:24:12 And then the response can be
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 that I lash out with words.
00:24:17 --> 00:24:20 I'm not sure if you can see yourself in that,
00:24:20 --> 00:24:22 but this is a cycle we all go through.
00:24:24 --> 00:24:26 But what would it look like to remember who I am?
00:24:27 --> 00:24:29 What would it look like to remember who I am,
00:24:30 --> 00:24:31 that my status has changed?
00:24:31 --> 00:24:34 To remember,
00:24:35 --> 00:24:37 to see myself as God sees me,
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 as his child.
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 Set free from sin.
00:24:40 --> 00:24:41 Set free from that situation.
00:24:42 --> 00:24:44 And so in that same situation,
00:24:44 --> 00:24:44 the event could be
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 somebody says something critical of me,
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 they put me down,
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 and my thought,
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 instead of immediately leaping to defense,
00:24:52 --> 00:24:52 could be,
00:24:54 --> 00:24:54 do you know what?
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55 That person has pointed out
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 some difficult truths about me.
00:24:57 --> 00:24:59 I really don't like that,
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 but I need to be aware of it.
00:25:01 --> 00:25:03 Maybe they've done that to hurt me,
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 and that's okay,
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 but God is my judge.
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 This person is not my judge.
00:25:09 --> 00:25:11 And he has already accepted me.
00:25:13 --> 00:25:13 And do you know what?
00:25:14 --> 00:25:17 I can now have a feeling of thanks to God,
00:25:18 --> 00:25:20 because my God has forgiven me
00:25:20 --> 00:25:22 far more than this person will ever know.
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 And instead,
00:25:23 --> 00:25:25 I can respond with acceptance
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 and love to this person,
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 instead of abuse.
00:25:29 --> 00:25:32 this cycle happens
00:25:32 --> 00:25:34 every day,
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 with every situation
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 that we're placed into.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:39 And we have that option,
00:25:39 --> 00:25:41 who is going to be my master?
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 Am I going to revert back to my old status,
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 to who I was before?
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48 Or am I going to be who I am,
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 following Jesus?
00:25:50 --> 00:25:52 Will I count myself as God's slave
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 to righteousness,
00:25:53 --> 00:25:56 and respond by offering my thoughts,
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 my feelings,
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 and my actions
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 to God?
00:26:00 --> 00:26:02 Or will I respond
00:26:02 --> 00:26:04 seeking to protect myself,
00:26:05 --> 00:26:05 being a slave?
00:26:06 --> 00:26:07 Brothers and sisters,
00:26:08 --> 00:26:10 let me encourage you to take a step
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 in faith,
00:26:11 --> 00:26:13 seeing yourself as God sees you,
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 and ask God to help
00:26:15 --> 00:26:17 your whole self serve him.
00:26:18 --> 00:26:20 Our status has changed.
00:26:20 --> 00:26:22 Let's not go back to how we were,
00:26:22 --> 00:26:26 but let us live how God has called us to live.
00:26:26 --> 00:26:27 Let me pray for us.
00:26:29 --> 00:26:30 Dear Heavenly Father,
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 we thank you
00:26:32 --> 00:26:37 for the truth and the challenge of chapter 6.
00:26:38 --> 00:26:40 God, help us to be
00:26:40 --> 00:26:42 who you have made us to be,
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 your children.
00:26:43 --> 00:26:47 help us to see our old status
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 as slaves to sin,
00:26:49 --> 00:26:52 as not something that we would desire.
00:26:54 --> 00:26:56 Lord, we ask for much wisdom,
00:26:56 --> 00:26:59 that when we are confronted by sin,
00:26:59 --> 00:27:02 either external or in our own hearts,
00:27:02 --> 00:27:05 that you would help us to choose
00:27:05 --> 00:27:07 to offer ourselves to you, Lord,
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 because we love you
00:27:08 --> 00:27:10 and we want to be like you, Lord.
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 We pray this in Jesus' name.
00:27:13 --> 00:27:13 Amen.