The Gospel Provides For A New Life

Transcript

GRM 1004
5/11/2008
The Gospel Provides for a New Life
Romans 6:1-14
Gil Rugh


We're going to look into the book of Romans together in our study today, so if you'd turn to Paul's letter to the Romans. And you can stop in chapter 1, we won't be staying there long. The book of Romans has as its theme, really, the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no more marvelous or wonderful message in all the world than the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of God's wondrous plan of redemption, His salvation for fallen, sinful humanity, His plan of redemption that will impact all of creation, that provision that He made that will enable sinful, human beings to be forgiven and ultimately to spend eternal glory in His presence, that made provision for the curse that has impacted all of creation to be lifted so that some day Jesus Christ will rule and reign over the earth that will be restored and brought to a glory that has not been seen since the days when Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden before their sin.

What the book of Romans does is unfold God's plan of salvation. And really the first eight chapters deal with this subject, and the rest of the book does as well, but the basic ingredients of this plan of salvation are found through those first eight chapter. You note what Paul has written in chapter 1 verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. And what the gospel does is reveal God's plan of salvation, how men and women who are sinners can be cleansed from their sin and become the recipients of God's righteousness, so that they now might be called the children of God. This happens by faith, it's the gospel that is the power of God for salvation. What is the content of the gospel that brings to us God's salvation and enables us to be the recipients of the righteousness of God for Jew and non-Jew alike. And it is a righteousness that comes to us by faith, not by our works. It's this message that Paul is eager to come and preach in Rome. Paul has not been to Rome yet, there is a church at Rome, Paul is writing to these believers in Rome, but he hasn't been there yet. But he wants to come, according to verse 15, and preach the gospel to them so that more people might come into the salvation that God has provided, be the recipients of His righteousness. And those who have believed in Him might learn more of what it means to live the gospel.

The gospel is unfolded over the next eight chapters. He begins by talking about sin, condemnation, judgment. Chapter 1 verse 18 through chapter 3 verse 21, Paul drives home the point that we are all sinners, no one is righteous, no one is considered good in God's sight. We have all sinned and the penalty for our sin is death. Beginning in chapter 3 verse 21 Paul begins to talk about the righteousness God has provided for sinful human beings. And he'll talk about that from chapter 3 verse 21 through chapter 5 verse 21, that though we are sinners, though we are under condemnation, God has provided His righteousness for us through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. By having His Son leave glory and come to this earth, suffer and die on the cross and be raised in victory, God can offer as a free gift His righteousness to all who believe in Christ. That's the message of God's salvation, that sinful human beings, and that includes every single person who has ever been born into the human race, can experience God's salvation, can be the recipients of God's righteousness. God says there is none righteous, no not one. But in Christ we receive His righteousness.

Now when you come to Romans 6 we're continuing to talk about the gospel, the message of the gospel. It's not only a message of sin, condemnation; a message of God's righteousness for us, justification, God declaring righteous those who believe in Christ; but it is a message of what we would call sanctification. It is a message that has built into it the provision for us to live holy lives. The word sanctification comes from the same basic Greek word that the word holy comes from, that the word saint comes from. They all come from the same basic Greek word, a word that means to be separated. A person is holy when they are separated from sin. God is perfectly holy because He is perfectly separated from sin. A saint is a person who has been separated from their sin to belong to God. One who is sanctified is one set apart from sin for God. So the same idea carries through in these words. We sometimes use the word sanctification and we think, that's an unusual theological word, but we are familiar with the word holy. Sanctification is the process of us manifesting God's holiness more fully and more clearly.

And that's the subject of Romans 6-8, and it's absolutely essential that we see that this is part and parcel of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is part of the package of salvation. And you do not have a complete gospel, you do not have a biblical gospel if all that you have is a message that we are sinners, Christ died for our sins and if you believe in Him you will be set free from the penalty of your sin, which is eternity in hell. That's not all there is to the biblical gospel. An incomplete gospel can easily become a false gospel, because the true gospel of Jesus Christ provides for a changed life, a transformed life, a life that is now lived in a way that is pleasing to God because it is a manifestation of the work of God and the character of God as it is being developed and produced in a life.

This is a whole area that there is much confusion, even among those who profess to be believers in Jesus Christ. We fail to understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ not only is a message that will free you from the penalty of your sin, it is a message that frees you from the power of sin. And both are true. You cannot be saved by your works. If we had moved through the book of Romans in an organized pattern, we would have seen Paul has demonstrated clearly that you cannot be saved by works. Back in chapter 3 verse 9, we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. Verse 19, we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God. You see that. We are all shut down, we are all shut up, our mouths are closed, the evidence has been presented as we come to this point, as Paul has unfolded through the bulk of these first three chapters. Everyone is a sinner. You might as well close your mouth and hear what God has to say. You are not an exception, I am not an exception. Because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. Sadly, the Jews thought yes, we're sinners, everyone are sinners, the Gentiles are sinners. But we are different, we keep the law, therefore we are saved. Paul says you can't be saved by keeping the law. As we mention so often, it is sad that there are people today when you say, are you going to heaven? Yes. Why? I keep the Ten Commandments. You understand the Ten Commandments are part of the law, and by the works of the law no flesh can be declared righteous in His sight. How sad. People are on a road that has been declared a failure, it doesn't lead to heaven.

When you come to chapter 6 Paul makes clear that while you cannot be saved by your works, when you are saved your life will be so changed and transformed that now what you do, the works that you do will give evidence that you have been made new, you are a child of God.

You'll note how chapter 6 begins, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! Now naturally that flows out of chapter 5 and remember from chapter 3 verse 21 through chapter 5 verse 21 Paul has been demonstrating that the righteousness of God has been provided by grace for all who believe in the death and resurrection of Christ as the payment for their sin. In chapter 5 verse 20 Paul wrote, the law came in so that the transgression would increase. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. All that the law did was reveal how sinful human beings really were. But as our sin was revealed to be so great, God's grace was revealed to be greater. Now some people took that to the point to say, look, my sin is forgiven, past, present and future. And all my sin does, now that I believe in Christ, is reveal how great God's grace is. So even though I've placed my faith in Christ and been forgiven, sinning is not an issue because all it does is reveal how great God's grace is. Isn't it good to show how great God's grace is? So the more sin I have, the more His grace is revealed that cleanses me from sin.

So Paul asks the question, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? Now that we've trusted Christ, now that His righteousness has been credited to our account, are we free to continue to practice sin? His answer is clear—may it never be! King James says, God forbid! The word God is not used in the expression here, but the force of this is strong, the expression magnoito. May it never be, such a thought is inconceivable, that can't even be thought of as a possibility that God's grace has brought His righteousness to us so that we could continue in sin. What a perverted thought. May it never be!

Then he asks the question, how shall we who died to sin continue to live in it? Do you understand the gospel. To get from the point of being sinners under condemnation to being those who have been cleansed from their sin and been the recipients of God's righteousness credited to our account, we have to die. The penalty for sin is death. The transition from our condemnation to our justification is death. The wages of sin is death, the soul that sins, it shall die. How can a sinner be declared righteous by a holy God? He has to die. So Christ took our place and so when we place our faith in Him we are identified with Him. I Peter 2:24 says, He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds we are healed. He was being our substitute. So His death is what is crucial.

So Paul says, how shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know, verse 3. That expression, do you not know, is used by Paul when he wants to drive home a point, something that they should know but they are ignoring. Like you tell your kids, don't you know better? You don't expect them to say, no, I don't. The question is driving home the point, you know better and you should be living in light of what you know and you're doing wrong. So Paul is saying, do you not know? Of course you know, you can't be saved if you don't know this. That all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. Key theme through these verses is death. Every verse from verse 2 through verse 13 includes the word death or died in it. So it's all about death, it's all about dying. You cannot understand the gospel if you don't understand this point. All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death.

Now some people, when they see the word baptize they immediately think water baptism, it has to be water baptism. It's not so. We don't have time to go into an extensive consideration of this, we've done it on other occasions. You remember when John the Baptist came on the scene to announce the coming of the Messiah of Israel in the early parts of the gospel. He said, I baptize you with water, but there is coming one after me, the Messiah, who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. There are different kinds of baptism. John baptized with water, Jesus Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit, not water, and with fire.

Paul is talking about here those who have been baptized with the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 12:13 says, for by one Spirit we have all be baptized into one body. When you place your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, the One who died and was raised from the dead to pay the penalty for your sin, you are spiritually identified with Christ. The Holy Spirit identifies you with Christ so that you are viewed as having died when Christ died, having been buried when Christ was buried. So all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death.

Turn over to Colossians 2, we're only going to take this one passage on this subject, for time. And in the context he's talking about in Christ, verse 10, we have been made complete. Verse 11, and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ. You see here he is taking circumcision, but he's talking about a spiritual circumcision, a circumcision of the heart. You remember the prophets as God's spokesmen commanded Israel, they must have their heart circumcised, which is talking about removing the sinful person, having their sin removed. It's a spiritual circumcision, not made with hands, in verse 11, means the removal of the body of flesh. The body is dominated and controlled by sin. Then verse 12, having been buried with Him in baptism in which you are raised with Him through faith, in the working of God who raised Him from the dead. He's talking now not only about a spiritual circumcision, he's talking about a spiritual baptism that happened by faith. We are identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. Same kind of context as we have in Romans 6.
Turn back to Romans 6. What happened when you believed in Jesus Christ and you came to realize I am a sinner, that's why the gospel starts there, that's why almost the first three chapters of Romans are about our sin. We're condemned. You heard that message and the Spirit brought conviction to your heart and you realized I am guilty before a holy God, I am justly under condemnation. You turned from your sin and placed your faith in Christ, the Spirit of God identified you with Christ. So you were baptized into Jesus, you were baptized into His death. Therefore, verse 4, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death. The reality of our death is demonstrated by our burial. When Christ died on the cross they took Him down and buried Him, He was dead. So we have been buried with Him through baptism into death. We are identified with Him in His death.

Why? A purpose is expressed. So that, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we, too, might walk in newness of life. The reason we were identified with Christ in His death and burial was so that we could be identified with Him in His resurrection, which means that we would walk consistent with our new life. So you see it is a package. Could Jesus Christ have died on the cross and been buried and left in the tomb? Some of your were here for our study of I Corinthians 15. Paul said if Christ was not raised from the dead, faith in Him is worthless. You cannot be saved by believing in Christ if He was not raised from the dead. The gospel is not complete, it is not a biblical gospel unless it includes the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And so the application of the gospel to our lives in a saving way cannot happen if we are not identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection to new life.

Now many of your are aware that there is a disagreement among people over this very subject. Some people think you trust Jesus Christ to save you from the penalty for sin, period. You don't want to go to hell, so place your faith in Christ, trust Him, that's all that matters. That's not all that matters, that's not all there is to the gospel. It's a partial truth, but a partial truth ends up being a full-blown heresy. It's just like trying to talk about the fact that Christ died for my sins on the cross, whether He was raised from the dead or not doesn't matter. Paul said is makes all the difference in the world, because without the resurrection you don't have the gospel, there is no salvation. So the point here that we were identified with Christ in His death and burial so that we might be identified with Him in His resurrection. Why were we identified with Him in His resurrection? So that we might lead a new life, we might walk. That denotes the pattern of our life. It has now changed. Step by step we are walking in a new way, we are living a different life, it's not the same person who died. I have been made new, the old me died. I have become a new creature. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold, new things have come, II Corinthians 5.
So Paul says we have been buried with Him through baptism into death so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father. It was a demonstration of the magnificent power of God when He raised Christ from the dead. So we, too, might walk in newness of life.

There is a certainty to this. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection. You understand the biblical gospel, biblical salvation is a complete package. You cannot be identified with Christ in His death without being identified with Christ in His resurrection. Sanctification is different than justification. It cannot be separated from justification, it is the necessary result of being made new in Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 6, knowing this, that our old self, our old man was crucified with Him in order that our body of sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. You see how Paul began, verse 1, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who have died to sin continue to live in it? Knowing this, verse 6, our old self. That word self is the word man, King James has it as man. Our old man . Now again if we had come into chapter 6 by first studying chapter 5, the context, the connection would be clear. Beginning in Romans 5:12 we read, therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned. Verse 18, so then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. Adam sinned and all of his descendants are born corrupted by sin.

So the old man is all that we are in Adam as unredeemed, unsaved individuals. That is what we are as individuals controlled by our sin, individuals who manifest their sin in their behavior, in what they do. So when he says in verse 6, our old man was crucified with Christ, he's talking about what we are as fallen, sinful human beings. Chapter 5 verse 12, death spread to all men because all sinned in Adam. But that sinful man was nailed to the cross with Christ. Why? In order that our body of sin might be done away with, this body controlled by sin, this body being used to serve sin, this body as characterized by sinful behaviors might be done away with. So that we would no longer slaves to sin.

Turn over to Colossians 3. Two other places in Paul's letters Paul refers to the old man, uses this expression, the old man, talking about what we were in Adam. Called the old man because it's what we were before we were made new in Christ. It's what we were in Adam in contrast to what we now are in Christ. We're going to read the opening verses of Colossians 3, note how it flows and it will be the same exact pattern as we find in Romans 6. Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ. We are identified with Him in His resurrection. If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. So you see that connection. We were identified with Christ in His death, so we have died, the old man has died, we've been raised up with Christ. Now we are to think as a new man, a new person. We're not absorbed with earthly things, we're absorbed with heavenly things. When Christ who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body, this physical body, as dead, no longer function doing these things. My body doesn't work for these things anymore. What? Immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience. The sons of disobedience is another way of referring to unbelievers, those who don't belong to God. Their life is characterized by disobedience to God. In contrast, those who have trusted Christ have been made new.

So verse 7, in them, in these sins, you also once walked when you were living in them, but now you also put them all aside. And he adds a few more—anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you laid aside the old self, the old man with its practices, and have put on the new man who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. You see now the old man is a reflection of Adam and his fallen, sinful state, dominated by sin. The new man that I am in Christ is made according to the image of God. So it is His character that is now to be produced in my new life. That's the contrast. Same contrast that is unfolded in Ephesians 4, we won't take the time to go there. So the contrast is with what I was before I was made new in Christ, and what I am after I am made new.

Come back to Romans 6. That's what he meant in verse 6 when he said our old man was crucified with Him in order that our body of sin might be done away with. Our body is used for sinful things, sinful behaviors—immorality, impurity, lying, stealing, greed, revealing what was in my heart because Mark 7 says it's out of the heart of a person that all these evil things come. Now my body is no longer used for them because I'm a new person, living in this body. The old person has died, so my body is used for new things, things that honor God and bring Him glory and manifest His character.

It's in Romans 6:6 when he says that our body of sin might be done away with, that verb translated done away with, katargeo, means rendered inoperative, made powerless. Doesn't mean that sin no longer exists, but sin's power and authority over me has been ended. Jesus said, he who sins is the slave of sin. The Bible also says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And he who sins is the slave of sin. Every person is the slave of sin. That's why the concept of free will ........... People say, I wouldn't want to become a Christian, I'd lose my freedom. You understand that a person who is not a Christian is not a free person, they are a slave of sin and a slave of the devil. Jesus told the religious leaders of His day, you are of your Father, the devil, and you always do what he wants done. He was a liar from the beginning, you are liars; he was murderer, you are murderers. Sad thing is, people think they are free, and they're really being controlled and dominated by their sins and their passions, they're being consumed by them, destroyed by them. That's not freedom.

Now, don't make the mistake. When you are set free from the authority and power and bondage of sin, you are not free now to live your life as you please. Remember when we studied I Corinthians 6? You were no longer your own, you have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. All humanity can be divided into two groups, and they are both slaves—there are those who are slaves to the devil and sin, there are those who are slaves to God and righteousness. That's where Romans 6 is going. That's why I'm not comfortable with the expression free will. We have responsible wills, wills for which we will be held accountable before God. But you're not free. Before you are saved you are slave of satan and sin; after you are saved you are a slave of God and righteousness. No concept of free to do as I please, as though I wasn't dominated by anything. You are either dominated by sin or you are dominated by righteousness.

So our old self was crucified with Christ so that the power and authority that sin had over us, that the devil had over us, could be broken and we could be freed from that bondage to become servants or slaves of the living God. Which is true freedom, because we were created for Him and to serve Him. So indeed that is true freedom, you can function now in the relationship and for the purpose for which you were created—to serve the living God and enjoy Him forever.

Turn over to Hebrews 2. You have this same verb that we're talking about, to be done away with, katargeo. Verse 14, therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood. He's talking about those that Christ was to redeem, humanity, we are flesh and blood. Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same. Christ became a human being. Why? That through death He might render powerless, there's our verb, katargeo, translated be done away with in Romans 6:6. That He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. You see were enslaved to death, we were enslaved to sin, we were enslaved to satan, but Christ has broken the power of the devil, rendered it inoperative. He no longer has authority over me, I am no longer enslaved to my sin because I have died with Christ.

So come back to Romans 6. Verse 7, he who has died is freed from sin. Interesting, that word translated freed is the word that's translated righteousness. We have been set free, we have been declared righteous from sin. Like you're in a courtroom and you have been charged with certain things. When all is said and done the judge declares you righteous, freed from all charges. So we have been freed from sin, its power, because I died. The wages of sin is death, but the penalty has been paid. I'm freed from sin, its authority over me.

Now you'll note the purpose, the end of verse 6, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. Understand something here, we have confusion on what biblical salvation is. When you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ in a saving way, you are set free from the penalty of sin, you've become a child of God and you are on your way to glory. You have also been set free from the power of sin and its control over you. Some people go on and think, I've trusted Christ but I just can't help it, I just sin. One of two things—you are never saved or you are lying. It's never true, I can't help it. I just couldn't do anything else. That's always a lie if you are a believer. In all the years since I've been saved I have never sinned because I didn't have any choice. I didn't say I have never sinned, that's as far as my confession is going. But I never sinned when I didn't have a choice. My choice was always don't sin. But you don't know what they did to me. No, it doesn't matter, does it? I'm not talking about them, I'm talking about you. You don't have to sin, people around you may sin against you all the time. That never makes me sin. The temptation was so great, I couldn't help myself. Lie. How can you say that's a lie? You weren't in my heart and mind. No, but God was and He told me that he who has died is freed from sin. So the one who has died doesn't have to sin anymore. So any time a believer sins it's because he simply wanted to, the pleasure was appealing enough, I chose to rebel against God and to sample again the pleasures of sin for a time.

You know what happens when a believer sins? Can't enjoy it like the unbeliever, because if you're truly saved you're a child of God and that sense of guilt and conviction of the Spirit who dwells within us, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You realize whatever I do with this body, I do with the Spirit of God dwelling within me. He never moves out once He moves in. That's why the Bible says we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit, because He is there. You know it's like our kids, if they're going to do something bad or something they're not supposed to, they want to run off and hide some place and do it. They want to steal the cookie and go into their room and close the door and get in the closet and eat it. You know what? Everywhere I go, everything I do the Spirit of God who has made this body His temple is there. I never told a lie that He wasn't there. I never did anything, He wasn't there. That's why Paul says, how can you commit immorality? You're going to take the parts that have been joined to Christ now and enjoin them in an immoral relationship? Doesn't that make it so repulsive to you? You understand, you can't say this adultery, this immorality, it's only going to be for a time. You wait out here, I'll be back. The Spirit of God never waits outside. That's an awesome thought. Doesn't that make sin far more hideous for us as believers than for the unbeliever? I mean sin is always a horrible offense against a holy God, but now me, one who has been joined to Christ, one in whom the Spirit of God permanently dwells, I should do such a thing and then try to justify, I couldn't help myself. Or other reasons why it's okay. Usually telling what somebody else did that meant I'm just a victim, it wasn't really something I could be held accountable for. It is never, ever, ever true for us as God's people. Never. We've died, we've been set free. I can always treat my wife the way I should, doesn't mean I always want to, but I always can, I always should. If I don't it's because I've decided with my own will not to. And in doing that I'm using my freedom, but you understand, I am a slave of the living God and accountable to Him for everything I do. Now this body belongs to Him, I'm His child, I'm accountable.

Look at how he follows on, we'll just highlight the rest of these verses. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. Now he's not talking about our ultimate bodily resurrection. That is true, but he's talking about the spiritual reality of the resurrection we have experienced when we placed our faith in Him. Note how this follows on. What he's driving home the point is there is no such thing as a person who died with Christ, who wasn't also resurrected with Christ to new life. Knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead is never to die again. Death is no longer master over him. For the death that He died He died to sin once for all, the life that He lived He lives to God. Death was a master over Christ. You say, why? Not because He had any sin of His own. But why did He come to this sin-cursed earth? To give His life a ransom for many, to bear our sins in His body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. So the One who would take our place and bear the penalty for our sins, death exercised authority over Him, for there was no other way to pay our penalty but to die. But He died to sin once for all, it's done. Sin has no hold on Him, He's paid our penalty in full. He now lives His life for God, He's accomplished the work of redemption. Now what does that mean? Well we've been identified with Him in His death, in His resurrection.

So verse 11, even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. That's it. Remember Colossians 3? You set your mind on things above. My whole way of thinking is different. The unbeliever sits and thinks about greed, about the things he needs to satisfy himself to enjoy life, he thinks about self. But I'm not the old person I was, I've been made new in Christ. That old person has died, the new person is created in the image of God.

Verse 12, therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies so that you obey its lusts. You see it's a responsible decision. The whole biblical counseling movement is not biblical, that's an oxymoron. Now I realize the Word of God can use the word counseling, it doesn't use it in the context that people use it today. I'm struggling with lust, what can I do? Well come in and see me for the next six weeks and we'll work on it. The question is, have you really trusted Christ? Yes. Then you've been set free from the power of sin. That doesn't mean it will be easy, but it does mean you don't have to be controlled by your lust and you better not submit to your lust. What have you been thinking about? If you're dead it's a non-issue for you, get on to other things. Now no sense in coming back next week, just pay me all six weeks today, we're done. We've complicated the message of the gospel because we don't want to have to obey it. I want to act like, well this is just God's authority over me, yes I've trusted Christ, yes I've died with Christ, now if only I could get free. What kind of salvation is that? That's not what Romans is talking about. We have a lot of people who have made decisions that have never been saved and they are still controlled and dominated by their sin. And the problem isn't that they need counseling, the problem is they need salvation, they need to be born again, they need to be made new. I'm not saying there can't be an appeal in sin, but we need to stop making excuses for sin, for ourselves and for others. Some of you are practicing immorality, some of you are practicing immorality because you've never been saved and you're comfortable practicing immorality. But you understand immoral people will not inherit the kingdom of God. You say if I quit practicing immorality will I go to heaven? No, you'll be a person going to hell who is not practicing immorality. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die. This is all you're getting. But if you are truly a believer, that's not where you live. That's why I John 3 says, by this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Those who practice sin belong to the devil, those who practice righteousness belong to God. Because you are saved by our works? No. Because when God makes a person new He changes them completely. You are no longer what you were.

Consider yourselves, verse 11, to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your moral body so that you obey its lusts. Could it be any clearer? It's dealt with as something you must stop. The Bible says it is sin, stop it. Well I'll work on it. Stop it. If you're not treating your spouse the way you should, start. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and sacrificed ........ Do it. You don't know ............ I don't care to know. My mind is not a garbage pail, I don't want to hear it all. You're either going to do the right thing, or you're not. I'm not going to be responsible for your decisions. You are responsible before God, you are accountable. But don't try to twist the scriptures, those who twist the scriptures do so to their own destruction, II Peter 3. The whole idea that we've been slippery enough that we think we've excused ourselves. Never happens. Praise God our salvation frees us not only from the penalty, but the power of sin.

Verse 13, do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Just don't do it. But present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. So God's grace has made provision and our death with Christ, the indwelling Spirit, now we are empowered to live for God. That doesn't mean it is always easy, but it's always possible, it is always required. Am I saying I live the perfect life? No. But my life changed when I got saved. If you've been saved, your life will get changed, we're in the process of being conformed to the image of God. I can't live where I used to live, you can't live where you used to live if you've truly been saved. We are new creatures. We have created a false gospel and presented out there and it is ugly. We have all kinds of sins being practiced and tolerated as though well, these are people who have trusted Christ and they know they're going to heaven but they're just not living for the Lord. The Bible knows nothing about that kind of gospel, nothing about that kind of salvation. And aren't you glad that we have a gospel that brings us salvation, that saves us from the penalty of sin and it also saves us from the power of sin. I now can live for the God who loved me and had His Son die for me, I can now live manifesting the beauty of His character, His righteousness. I can now manifest His love when I couldn't before. I can now love my wife, my husband when I didn't love them before because the Spirit of God produces God's love in me. That's the power of the gospel, that's the wonder of God's salvation. That's the only gospel, that's the only salvation, and it's the only one needed.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for who you are. Lord, thank you for the beauty of your character. You are a God who is holy, holy, holy. Because you are holy, your people must be holy. And, Lord, the beauty of it is that in the gospel and its transforming power you have made provision. How remarkable, how wonderful that we sinful beings, sinners by nature, sinner by choice, could experience your transforming power to die to sin and made alive to righteousness, that the old man that we were was crucified with Christ and we were raised to newness of life. Lord, may we examine ourselves carefully. Some are here who have professed to trust you, but Lord, they've never had a changed heart. They live in sin, they enjoy sin, they don't want to leave sin because they are slaves of the devil and slaves of their sin, self-deceived and self-deluded. Lord, may the spirit convict them of their true condition, that they might turn from their sin and experience the power of your salvation through faith in your Son. And Lord it is possible there are some here who have tried to corrupt the gospel to excuse sin in their lives, think they can continue in sin because of the beauty and wonder of your grace. Lord, may we as your people see the awfulness, the hideousness, the ugliness of sin, flee from it. Count it our greatest privilege to use these bodies and all their parts to serve you, our God. We pray in Christ's name, amen.