Slaves of Righteousness

Transcript

GR 1431
05/16/10
Slaves of Righteousness
Romans 6:15-18
Gil Rugh

We're in Romans 6 together today. Paul is unfolding the message of the gospel of God which has been entrusted to Paul in particular, with the unfolding of its details. Give clarity of understanding. And the book of Romans is a detailed explanation of the gospel and how God brings salvation to those who will place their faith in Jesus Christ.

He started out by talking about sin, the sin that characterizes every single human being and demonstrated we were all sinners under condemnation. Then after talking about the provision of God's righteousness in the next section, he comes back in chapter 6 to talk about sin again. But now sin as it relates to those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. The initial discussion of sin was to demonstrate that we are all sinners and under condemnation and in need of the righteousness of God for salvation. But then when we have received and experienced that righteousness through faith in Christ, how do we as God's people deal with the issue of sin that confronts us, that appeals to us, that entices us, that still offers pleasures and enjoyments to all of us. This whole area of sin is absolutely essential for a proper understanding of the gospel. And when we're confused on the area of sin and what it means to be a sinner and God's provision and solution to the problem of sin, everything else gets confused and muddled.

And I fear that churches today have become confused over the area of sin and in a desire to be open and welcoming and accepting of people who are not believers in Jesus Christ we've tried to tone down too clear an emphasis on sin. And we don't even want to call people sinners anymore, we call them seekers. And we welcome them to our church and the new thing is you belong before you believer. So you can belong to our church even before you believe, and we think we are being friendly, we're being welcoming. But we're really blurring what the issues are in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if we're not clear on the issues when the gospel is presented and we profess faith in Christ, that confusion simply gets greater. Then we are wondering what do we do with sin as a believer.

So Paul is building Romans 6 around two questions. The first question is a result of what he said at the end of chapter 5. In chapter 5 verse 20 he said, the law came in so that the transgression would increase. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. So when the Mosaic Law was given sin was revealed in a greater way, the magnitude of sin, the multitude of sins was even more clearly evident. But the grace of God provided in Jesus Christ is greater than all our sin. Even as the hymn says, grace greater than all our sin. So verse 21, so that as sin reigned in death so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Well the question then as you begin chapter 6, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? I mean verse 20 of chapter 5 said the law came in so that the transgression would increase, but where sin increased grace abounded all the more. So maybe I can magnify the grace of God in my life by still continuing in sin. And I can testify to the world even though you see my life characterized by sin I want to tell you that the grace of God is greater than my sin and I'm magnifying God's grace. Paul says such a thought is inconceivable. Verse 2, may it never be. And then he goes on to explain. How shall those who have died to sin continue to live in it? And death was the key emphasis from verse 2 down through verse 14. In fact the word death appears in every verse in verses 2-13. We noted that's the driving emphasis. We died with Christ, the power, authority and domination of sin in our lives was broken. We were raised to new life in Christ. How can you talk about continuing in a life of sin when you've died to sin?

Verse 6, knowing this that our old man was crucified with Him in order that our body is controlled by sin might be done away with, its power and authority. Sin's power and authority over us, the use of our body is broken so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. Remember that. We'll be coming back to that in the last part of the chapter. Beginning in verse 15 the focus is on slavery, eight times he'll use the word to talk about slavery, being enslaved. But we died with Christ so we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. So he's just stating the facts of what happens when you believe in Jesus Christ, you are identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.

In light of that he gave four specific commands, the first commands given to us in the book of Romans, beginning in verse 11. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, reckon yourselves dead. Evaluate these facts, take them into careful consideration. Now you consider yourself as dead. That's a fact. I died with Christ, I'm dead to sin. Why don't you continue to live like you used to? Why don't you continue to do the things you used to do? Because I died to sin, I consider myself as dead to sin. That's a fact.

Second command, verse 12, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts. Don't let sin reign. As we looked through this we noted it's a clear statement of scripture. We like to complicate the matter, we think we have to have some kind of special programs to help people deal with different sins in their lives. We don't have any new sins, you know. The Romans knew them all, the Romans saw them all practices just like we do. We saw a sampling of those sins at the end of Romans 1. This is not a new situation. It's not well, people today are sinners in ways that people in Paul's day weren't sinners. Or sin was something different. No, same issue. Don't let sin reign in your mortal body, this physical body, that you should obey its lusts. How do I deal with sin as a believer? Don't let it reign. You consider yourself as dead to sin and you don't let sin be sovereign, rule, control your life. Here is the answer. That's a command. So it's not just what God expects, it's what God requires of us who have become believers in Jesus Christ.

That means in verse 13, the third command, don't go on presenting the members of your body to be used for sinful purposes, basically. But rather, the fourth command, present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead. And the parts of your body to be used for righteous purposes. Remember, I died with Christ, I'm raised with Christ. So don't continue to give my body over to sinful practices because I've been made alive in Christ. So now I use my body for the carrying out of God's righteous purposes.

And verse 14 summarizes it with a statement. Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. That's going to give rise to our second question. Verse 15, what then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be. There were those and people of Jewish background in the church at Rome were trying to push the Mosaic Law on the church. And it's necessary to keep the law, and even when we become believers we must keep the law. There are people like that today, they're not even Jews, they don't know that the Mosaic Law wasn't given to Gentiles. They're trying to tell people to keep the Ten Commandments and things like that to be pleasing to God. And how do we deal with sin? Well the point is sin will not be master over you. See we're moving in now, we're going to develop this concept of a master, a slave relationship. He has mentioned it but we'll come to a fuller explanation of that beginning with verse 15.

If we are not under law but under grace, does that mean no one can tell me what I have to do. I mean, don't tell me what I have to do, I live under grace. Wait a minute, if that's your attitude you don't even know what biblical grace is. You'll note here when he says in verse 14, sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? In other words, does this mean the question, what? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? And then if I'm not under the law, the Ten Commandments or the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law are not binding on me, am I free to sin? Now I may not live there, but am I free to sin on occasion? In verse 1 the question was with a present tense, are we to continue in sin—present tense. He's talking about can you do the lifestyle and the practice of sin. In verse 15, shall we sin, he uses an aorist tense. He may be drawing a distinction here between practice of sin and committing acts of sin. And again people don't understand grace and they think grace means there are no commandments. We are not under the Mosaic Law, that does not mean there are no commandments. I mean, what did we just look at in verse 11? Consider yourselves dead. That is an imperative, it's given as a command, something we as believers have to do. Verse 12, do not let sin reign. That's a command, an imperative. Verse 13, do not go on presenting. That's an imperative, a command. But present yourselves, that's a command.

So to say we're not under the Mosaic Law does not mean we are without commands from God. We are not free to sin but we don't live on the basis of commands. We live in the realm of grace and even our obedience to the commands of God given to us after the Mosaic Law, not part of the Mosaic Law, the enablement for obedience comes in the grace of God in the provision He made for us in our salvation. You'll note Paul keeps taking us back. Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? The first question. No, you died with Christ. When? When you believed in Him. You were raised with Him to new life. When? When you believed in Him.

Now the second question, could I sin? Now that I am not under law do I have freedom? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Grace means you are free to do as you please now. May it never be. Same response as we have in verse 2 to the first question. May it never be. Magnoito. Such a thought is inconceivable. I may be totally irrational to do such a thing.

And now he is going to go on to explain that question through the rest of the chapter, why we can't sin. You know it's not a matter well, now I'm a Christian but there are certain pleasures and I understand, but I thank God for His grace. And I know I shouldn't do that but ......... You know what that's doing? That's saying we are free to sin because we are not under the Mosaic Law. If I were under the Mosaic Law I wouldn't do it because then I might be stoned or something. But now I am not under law. So even though I agree it's better not to sin, it's not so serious if I do sin. And we tend to look at our lives and say, overall I'm doing well. Nobody is perfect. Therefore it's okay. And besides I don't sin indiscriminately. There is one thing you would probably call sin that I find special pleasure in, but I try to keep that contained and controlled. And we have all kinds of ways to look at our sin and think it's okay.

Here's why it's not okay. Do you not know? That's the same thing Paul asked in verse 3 in the connection with the first question. Do you not know? What are you thinking? Do you not understand the basic truths of the gospel? Are you confused on what salvation is and what it does in a life and what it means for a life? I mean, you see we're back to the very basics here. I mean, the first question he took us back to what happened when you believe in Christ. You die with Him, you are buried with Him, you are raised to new life. They don't even understand the basic things. Do you not know?

Now verse 16, do you not know? I mean, there is no excuse for you not knowing. Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death or of obedience resulting in righteousness. The concept of slavery well known in biblical times. One commentator commented that it has been estimated that about one-third of the city would have been slaves, some would say one-half. A large number of slaves in those days. So everybody is familiar with the concept of slavery. So Paul says, do you not know when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience you are slaves of the one whom you obey. If you are a slave of this person then you obey that person. You are slaves of the one you obey. I mean, they would understand. If that day I was a slave of this master and he gave me certain things to do and he came back and he said, did you do it? And I said, well, no. Why? Well I was doing things for the man down the street. It would be inexcusable. You are not the slave of the man down the street. You are my slave, you obey me, you always do my will.

So the concept is not difficult to grasp. It's a clear picture. Do you not know when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death or of obedience resulting in righteousness. You are slaves of the one whom you obey. He's made a turn there. You're talking about presenting yourself to sin, sinning. Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? You are slaves of the one you obey. You understand the very fact that a question comes up in your mind ought to cause you to back up and say, whose slave are you because you know you demonstrate whom you serve by what you do. You are slaves of the one you obey. Now if you're going out to obey sin you know whose slave you are—you are sin's slave. You know the result of sin—death. Now how can you talk about going and serving that master? That would manifest that you are a slave of sin and the ultimate as it is going to be put, the wages of sin is death. That leads to death.

Or of obedience resulting in righteousness. So what he does here is talk about slavery but he steps down to the slave. You demonstrate whose slave you are by your obedience. And he picks up here, it looks like he lost the parallelism in it. You are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin or of obedience. And you'd think either of sin or of righteousness, or of sin or of God because you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, and that will result in death, or of obedience. Why say of obedience? We both obey. You are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin or of obedience. Because what is the characteristic when you talk about belonging to God of the believer? It is obedience. That's why he uses the word obedience here instead of God. Or of obedience. Because what is another name for an unbeliever?

Turn over to Ephesians 2. We've been to this chapter a number of times. Verse 1, you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working, note this, in the sons of disobedience. That is a title or description of unbelievers. They are sons of disobedience because they do not obey God. They are rebels against God, they are sons of disobedience, they live under the authority and control of disobedience to God.

Over in Ephesians 5:6, let no one deceive you with empty words. He's writing to believers. Don't be deceived here with empty words. For because of these things. What is he talking about, these things? The sins like verse 3, immorality, impurity, greed. Verse 4, filthiness, silly talk, coarse jesting, so on. Verse 5, you note with certainty no immoral, impure, covetous man, idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you by saying you can have an inheritance in the kingdom of God when you do these things. Don't be deceived by that, they are empty words. For because of these things the wrath of God comes upon, here is our expression again, the sons of disobedience. They are characterized by their disobedience to God. When they practice sin, they are in rebellion against a holy God, a righteous God. They are sons of disobedience.

Now are you asking a question? We who profess to be believers, can we sin because we are not under the Mosaic Law but we live under grace? In other words, can you be a son of disobedience and be a child of obedience? Come back to Romans 6. Do you see why he moves when he says in verse 16, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin or of obedience. Because those who commit sin are sons of disobedience. So you are asking if you can become disobedient and be obedient. I mean, you can't be a slave of obedience when you are being disobedient and you manifest who your master is by the one you obey. Who are you obeying? That's your master. You want to know, can you sin. Is sin your master? No, I believed in Jesus, I'm saved. Well what don't you know? Do you see why he asked the question? It's like, such a question is irrational, it makes no sense, it's an impossibility. Don't you know? I'm not saying Christians never sin, but the idea we have a freedom to sin and it's okay comes from a total misunderstanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's why faulty presentations of the gospel lead to confusion. If you don't understand the gospel, a person gets saved, truly trusts Christ but they don't grasp the issue of sin and it's dealt with and it's done with, then sin comes up and confronts them and they're confused. We have to be clear on the biblical doctrine of sin. And if we don't have that right, the whole issue of our salvation comes in question. That's what Paul does here. Don't you know? I mean, you are so confused at what happens to you at salvation, what it means to be saved from sin by faith in Christ. Are you sure who your master is? Because you know the one you obey is the one you serve. And you are asking if it's all right to be a slave of sin when you are a slave of Christ. You understand you cannot be a slave of both.

Come back to Matthew 6, Jesus is speaking. We'll pick up with verse 24, we're just going to note two statements in verse 24. No one can serve two masters. Sounds pretty much like a very concise statement of what Paul is saying. No man can serve two masters. The end of the verse, you cannot serve God and riches, mammon, wealth. Well, I think it can be done, now I'm a Christian and now I can pursue what the world offers and know that eternity is settled. That's not the kind of salvation that God offers. You cannot serve two masters, you cannot serve God and wealth. We say, we live in a materialistic world. Of course we do, the whole world lies in the evil one, under the domination of the god (small “g”) of this world. The prince of the power of the air, it is populated by the sons of disobedience. We Christians walk around and say, we live in a materialistic world, as though something drastically has changed in our day. You understand nothing has changed. And sin in all of its forms because sin, singular, dominates and controls the minds, the hearts, the lives of fallen beings. In Christ we have been set free, made new.

That's why an understanding of sin and a clarity in the presentation of sin is crucial. Churches aren't being loving, aren't being kind because we're playing down sin. We want sinners to feel welcome here, and unbelievers to come and feel welcome. And we do, we hope the seats are comfortable, the temperature is fine and people are friendly. You cannot belong to the church of Jesus Christ until you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ. We're happy to have you come, observe, you're welcome to come next week, but you understand you won't belong to the body of Jesus Christ until you come to understand you are a sinner separated from God, like all of us were at one time until by the grace of God we saw ourselves as God says we are and placed our faith in Christ.

Turn over to John 16. Jesus instructing His disciples to prepare them for His departure. We're in that last night, they've had the Last Supper, He is teaching them, preparing them for His impending crucifixion that will happen in the morning. He's talking to them about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and I think it's important that you understand. Look in John 14:16 first. I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper that He may be with you forever, that is the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth. He is the person of the godhead who inspired our Bibles so that the word of God was accurately communicated and recorded. This is the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. And that transformation will take place in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit now dwells within. We'll get into this in Romans 8. I want you to note here, He is the Spirit of truth.

Come over to John 15:26, when the helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me. Come down to chapter 16 verse 13, but when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. The Holy Spirit of God, the one who gave us this truth, and He is the one who carries on a ministry in the context of this truth. And note what will happen when He comes. Verse 7, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away the helper will not come to you. But if I go I will send Him to you. His helper, the paraclete, is the Spirit of truth. And when He comes He will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. You understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth takes place in the context of the word of God which the Spirit of truth has given to men. And yet we think we'll help Him out. People don't want to hear about sin, judgment, the need for righteousness, so let's soften it and make them feel more comfortable. Let's stifle the ministry of the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of truth, and we'll convict of sin. We think we're doing evangelism, and we are hindering evangelism because we don't want the Spirit of truth to carry on His ministry of truth in convicting of sin, righteousness and judgment. And a person is not saved if they don't come under the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit for their own sin and guilt. We think if we can avoid that we won't offend them, we won't drive them away. We need to let the Spirit do what the Spirit does. What we do is set forth the truth.

You'd be appalled if we spent the time for me to read you examples of the position of churches today regarding this. Even a book here in recent weeks criticizing churches like ours, they call us the boundary-set churches. Do you know what a boundary-set church is? It's a church that sets boundaries. So we are a boundary-set church. We believe in foundationalism. You have to come up with extraordinary words. Foundationalism, basically we believe there is an unshakable, true foundation which we know with certainty. Now these are evangelical churches, I don't care about those outside that bound. And by setting boundaries, by preaching our doctrine that we are convinced is true, we are keeping people out. That's why we set boundaries, they say. And we're arrogant because we believe there is a foundation that we know is true and won't change. Now that the world would criticize us of that is amazing. That churches would say they are evangelical ........... I'm reading the book because of its recommendation of an evangelical pastor who says this is the philosophy of their church. I say, we present the truth.

Is it any wonder we come and talk about the doctrine of sin and Christians are wandering around in a haze and a fog and don't know how to deal with sin. What do I do? We need counselors, we need a counseling department, we need recovery groups, we need all this because .............. Because we don't know what to do with sin, because we never talked about sin. You want to trust in Christ so you'll have a better marriage, so you'll have a happier life, so you'll know how to be successful in your job. And the Bible never says that the Holy Spirit will come and encourage you to believe so you can have a happier life and be more successful in your work and all this. He comes and convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment. Well we have to minister to our culture. We do, we have to bring them the truth of God so that the Spirit of God can bring His convicting ministry.

So we come back to Romans 6. How did these questions come up in the church at Rome? Because we begin to get confused and we take our focus off. This is what God says, this is our foundation, this is unchanging truth, these are the boundaries that God has established. There is no other way of salvation.

So verse 17. You know we've established the fact of slavery. There are only two possibilities—you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin or of obedience. Sin resulting in death, obedience resulting in righteousness; obedience to God beginning, the first act of my obedience was by His grace when I placed my faith in Him. Hard to realize that I never, ever obeyed God prior to that. Even in the “good things” I did, the good things you did because you never even did those good things out of a desire to honor God, be obedient to Him and bring glory to Him. Because if you had, you would have believed in His Son before that. So our obedience of faith began when we placed our faith in Christ So that's the beginning now of a life of obedience. We've talked about justification is distinct from sanctification, but it's not separated from it. And I obey God because God is commanding all everywhere to repent, believe in Christ. And that was my first act of obedience by His grace. But it's not in isolation. Now it is to be a life of obedience, a life of slavery which manifests itself in righteousness. So how can I talk about, am I free to sin when I'm a slave to obedience to God in carrying out His righteous purposes.

Thanks be to God, verse 17, though you were slaves of sin you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed. Thanks be to God, all the glory, all the praise, all the credit goes to God for our salvation. I was a slave of sin, you were a slave of sin. Maybe it wasn't as clearly manifest if you were blest by God to be saved at a younger age than an older age and spared some of the more open manifestations of sinful behavior. But at heart we were all in the same condition, right? We are by nature children of wrath. But thanks be to God, though you were slaves of sin. And there are no exceptions. That's why Paul started out with the doctrine of sin, teaching us about our sin and that there are not exceptions.

Back up to Romans 3:10. This includes Jews and Greeks as he says in verse 9. We have already charged both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. Verse 10, there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have become useless, there is none who does good, There is not even one. And on it goes.

Back to Romans 6:17, but thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin you became obedient from the heart. That's that initial act of obedience where God commands us to repent. I obeyed Him, I believed in His Son. That's your first act of obedience. From the heart, not assenting mentally—yes, I believe; all Christians believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in Jesus Christ, I go to church, I believe these basic doctrines. But this is a belief from the heart that by the grace of God I have understood my wretched, sinful condition and understood the full provision, the full payment has been made for me in Jesus Christ. I've trusted Him, I became obedient. He's using the word obedience here because we're talking in the realm of slavery, and that obedience that initially took place from my heart when I placed my faith in Christ, I became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed. Interesting way to put it. You became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching, that tupas. We get the word type from this. That form, that pattern, like a stamp was stamped and it left the image on what was stamped. That pattern, form of teaching to which you were committed. Interesting. He doesn't say which you received, but to which you were committed, given over to. This is an act of God.

That's why he starts out, thanks be to God. It was His action which gave you over to this form or pattern of teaching, the gospel. It's what he is talking about, where you were removed from the realm of slavery to sin, to the slavery of obedience resulting in righteousness. Thanks be to God you were a slave of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching, that pattern of teaching to which you were committed—the gospel of Jesus Christ, the truth that God has revealed. That didn't mean I've trusted Christ, now I have that taken care of, eternity settled. Now it's nice to know whatever else I do I'll be in heaven for eternity. The Bible knows nothing about that kind of salvation. When God truly saves you, you were given over to the gospel of Jesus Christ and all that that entails and involves. And now that is what shapes and controls your life—the truth. Remarkable.

You'll note there are only two issues here—slavery to sin, slavery to God. There is no middle ground. People say, I don't know if I want to become a Christian and give up my freedom. You understand you never had any freedom, you lived totally enslaved and controlled and dominated by sin and Satan. Not me, I'm my own man, I do my own thing, I make my own decisions. When I'm done I'll sing the song, I Did it My Way. You did it sin's way, you did it as the song tells you—you did it my way. In rebellion against God, in opposition to Him, in refusal to submit to Him. Controlled and dominated by sin. You were slaves of sin, but thanks be to God you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed.

You see why it becomes a corruption of the gospel when we apply, and we get on crusades and moral crusades to ............. We're going to put a stop to homosexuality and we're going to get ............... You understand these people are enslaved to sin. People who never practiced immorality are just as enslaved to sin as people who practice it every day. They may not be manifesting their enslavement to sin by practicing that particular sin, but they are no less enslaved to sin. Don't want to talk to sinners and give them the idea that if you could do this and do that ......... You understand they are slaves to sin. There is no other answer, there is no other escape, there is no freedom from the power, domination and control of sin but in Jesus Christ. And it doesn't help me to talk to them and imply that they are not such bad people. And you are seekers. You are not sinners, you are seekers. What does that mean? You are a sinner, you are in rebellion against God, you are the enemy of God, you are under the condemnation of God, you are on your way to an eternal hell. You're judgmental. I'm just telling you what God said. Someone told me, I'm certainly glad they did. But that's not the end of the story. There is a Savior, Jesus Christ. When you believe in Him He sets you free.

Thanks be to God, verse 17, though you were slaves of sin you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed. And having been freed from sin you became slaves of righteousness. There are only two kinds of people in the world and they are both slaves. You are either a slave of sin or you are a slave of righteousness. Period. There are no other people in the whole world, the known world, the unknown world. You are either a slave of sin or a slave of righteousness. You see that answers the question, verse 15, shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be, God forbid, such a thought is inconceivable. Don't you know? What happened? Having been freed from sin you became slaves of righteousness. Verse 6, knowing that our old man was crucified with Him in order that our body as controlled by sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. Verse 18, and having been freed from sin. You're not set free from sin so you can do what you want, you are freed from sin so you can do what God wants.

That's why I don't care for the expression free will. You say, do you believe in free will? No, I don't, I believe in responsible will. We are responsible before God for the decisions of our will. But people get the idea about a free will, the idea that I'm free, I do what I want. No, you are a slave. The question is, a slave of whom? A slave of sin or a slave of righteousness? Well you have to be freed from sin. Everyone starts in that condition. It's only through faith in Christ that people are set free from slavery to sin. And now you become a slave of righteousness and that's freedom in the true sense because now I can function as the eternal created me to function—in harmony with Him, in obedience to Him, fulfilling His purpose for me as one created in His image. That's true freedom, the ability to function as you were created to function. So I am a slave, certainly I am. We need to understand that.

So then let's go back to the question, shall we sin because we're not under the Mosaic Law? Now you can understand why Paul said, where did you get the question? It's an impossibility. Don't you know? Christ died for you so that you could be set free through faith in Him. And when you were set free through faith in Him from the slavery to sin, you became a slave of righteousness. Now if you are a slave of righteousness, how can you ask, can you commit sin? No, absolutely not. Now I'm not saying we never do commit sin, there is provision for that by the grace of God, but the fact of the matter is I ought never to. There is never an excuse for me to do it. I never have to sin, I never have to sin, never. All the best excuses I've ever come up for sin for myself, I've never had to do it because He set me free. Now I'm a slave of righteousness. The only time I sin is when I want the pleasure to do it. I lost my temper because I like the feeling of getting it off my chest and blowing off the steam and doing it. And I cut someone off because I wanted to. I never had to sin, and we can go on and fill in any other kind of sin and all sins.

Isn't it great to have a salvation that set us free? Christians aren't paddling around in a puddle wondering what to do next. Jesus Christ has dealt with sin. Thanks be to God. Having been freed from sin you became a slave of righteousness. You mean that sin that seems to have a hold on me, I'm a child of God, I don't have to do it? Don't do it, consider yourself dead, don't let sin reign, stop presenting your body to sin. Present your body an instrument of righteousness. And don't think you can dabble in sin because occasionally it won't be so bad. It's bad, it's serious. We are slaves of righteousness. And we want to be honest, God is a loving God but He is a demanding God and He expects His slaves to serve Him. He requires His slaves to serve Him and He has made provision for us to serve Him. And what else would I want to do but use my life to honor Him.

What a great gospel. That's the gospel we have to present to the world, that's the gospel we have to live as His people.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the power of the gospel. What a privilege it is to know that the gospel is your power for salvation to everyone who believes. And it's the gospel that reveals your righteousness provided for sinful man in your Son. Lord, may we as your people take to heart the wonderful truths of our salvation, what Christ has accomplished and done for us and to us. May we deal with sin accordingly. Lord, I pray for any who are here that don't know the wonderful liberty of being set free from bondage to sin, the joy and privilege of being enslaved to you, our Creator, our God, and your righteousness. May this be a day of salvation for them. We pray in Christ's name, amen.