Resurrection Of Christ (1 Cor. 15:3,4;12-20)

Resurrection Of Christ

(1 Cor. 15:3,4;12-20)

Verses 3 and 4 are the foundation of Christianity. The death and resurrection of Jesus, it is our hope and the reason and ground of all we believe. We looked at the crucifixion and death of Jesus last week. We saw that our salvation and cleansing from sin was because of the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross at Calvary. But what about the resurrection, what does it mean to us. Well, we know that it means everything for the Christian. Because He lives we have salvation and assurance of eternal life.

I. It Ensures Salvation From Sin - (1 Cor 15:17 - And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins).

If Jesus had not rose again bodily from the grave we wouldn't have had salvation from sin. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then sin prevailed over Him and continues to be victorious over you too. If Jesus remained in the grave, then, when you die you would also stay dead. Furthermore, since "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), were you to remain dead in your sins, death and eternal punishment would be your future. The purpose of trusting in Christ is for the forgiveness of sins, because it is from sin that we need to be saved. "Christ died for our sins" and "was buried, and ... raised on the third day" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). If Christ was not raised, His death was in vain, your faith in Him would be pointless, and your sins would still be counted against you with no hope of spiritual life. It is Jesus who gives us spiritual life to us who are spiritually dead.

It says in Col.1:13,14 - “For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”. By the power of our resurrected Lord and Savior we have been delivered from sin and our sinful nature. Because He rose from the dead, we know that Jesus is victorious over sin and we who by faith receive Jesus as Savior, knows that He gives us that victory over sin also.

Eph. 2:1-5 shows us exactly what Jesus has done for us and our sinful condition, “2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”; we see in the first 3 verses that Paul describes just how Jesus has made us alive spiritually from our condemned state of our soul. He says Jesus has made us alive from our trespasses and sins, from our spiritual bondage to worldliness, to the devil, and to our own sinful fallen state (spiritually dead). Jesus defeated and destroyed the powerful affect of sin, destroyed the works of the devil, and has given us life for our death sentence.

Verse 4 & 5 shows us through God’s mercy and love He has made us, who are dead in our sins, alive in Christ. If Jesus is to be called the Lord of Life, then He cannot be held down and defeated by death. Jesus himself told Mary and Martha that He was the ‘resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live’; Jesus came not to make bad people into good people but to bring us out of our spiritual death into spiritual life. That’s why Jesus said that He was ‘the Way, the Truth, and the Life…’, we were blind and could not see the way, we were living in our life of lies and didn’t know the truth, and we were spiritually dead and lifeless and incapable of having life till Jesus came, died, and resurrected to give us the Way to the Father, the Truth that only He could cleanse us from sin, and Eternal Life is found only by putting our faith into Jesus who is the Lord of Life, victorious over sin, Satan, death, Hell, and the grave. If He was not victorious over death then our faith, our hope, our salvation would have been in vain. If He had not risen from the dead we would have been trapped forever in the bondage of our sins and forever condemned to eternal death.

II. It Ensures Our Eternal Life and Resurrection. (1 Co. 15:18-19 - Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable).

If Jesus had not victorious over death then death would be victorious over us all. Every Old and New Testament saint, and all the faithful and prayerful saints you've known--every other believer in every age also would be in hell. Their faith would have been in vain, their sins would not have been forgiven, and their destiny would be damnation. But because He is our Living and Risen Lord, we can rest assured in the peace of knowing that we have a ‘blessed hope’ and a resurrection from the dead. Death is not the end for the child of God because Jesus has rose victoriously from the dead. The grave, the power of death could not hold Him. Jesus the creator of life is the Lord of Life and death could not hold Him bound up in the grave.

Without Christ's resurrection, and the salvation and blessings it brings, Christianity would be pointless and pitiable. Without the resurrection we would have no Savior, no forgiveness, no gospel, no meaningful faith, no eternal life, and we could never have hope for any of those things. How could we ever believe His promise that He “would never leave us or forsake us even until the end of the world”, if He never rose from the dead.

To have hoped in Christ alone in this life would be to teach, preach, suffer, sacrifice, and work entirely for nothing. If Christ is still dead, then He not only has no ability to save you in the future, but He can't help you now either. If He were not alive, where would be your source of peace, joy, or satisfaction now? The Christian life would be a mockery, a charade, a tragic and cruel joke. Christians who suffer and even die for the faith would be just as blind and pathetic as those "believers" who followed Jim Jones and the People's Temple, David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, and Marshall Applewhite and the Heaven's Gate cult. How could we believe that there is a Heaven, a place prepared by Christ, or the hope of His promise that our soon returning King would return to take us Home, if He never rose from the grave.

Since a Christian has no Savior but Christ, no Redeemer but Christ, and no Lord but Christ, if Christ is not raised, He is not alive, and our Christian life is lifeless. We would have nothing to justify our faith, our Bible study, our preaching or witnessing, our service for Him or our worship of Him, and nothing to justify our hope in this life or the next. We would deserve nothing but the compassion reserved for fools.

BUT, God did raise "Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification" (Romans 4:24-25). “Because Christ lives, we too shall live” (John 14:19). "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins" (Acts 5:30-31).

We are NOT to be pitied, for Paul immediately ends the dreadful "what if" section by saying, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20). As Paul said at the end of his life, "I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him [i.e. his life] until that day" (2 Timothy 1:12).

Those who do not hope in Christ alone for salvation are the real fools; they are the ones who need to hear your compassionate testimony about the triumph of Christ's resurrection. So don't forget the resurrection; rejoice in it and glory in it, for He is risen indeed.

III. It Ensures that He is the Son of God

In all the miracles and healings and mighty works that Christ did to declare His Deity; the greatest sign that absolutely, positively proved that He was the Son of God was His resurrection from the dead. If Christ had stayed in the grave He would not have been God; He would not have been Savior (because the only One who could forgive sins is God); and if He stayed dead He would been an imposter and a liar. But He was God, He was our Savior and He cleansed our sins by His sinless blood sacrifice on the cross and conquered sin by His resurrection from the dead. You see the wages of sin is death but by His victory over death He destroyed the power and penalty of sin because God the Son conquered death for His children. All of His teachings and promises and words of our Lord are validated by His resurrection. It proves that He is God.

I want to end with this verse; (1 Cor 15:57 KJV) “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

More Than Conquerors (Rom. 8:31-39)

More Than Conquerors

(Rom. 8:31-39)

In this passage we have read how that nothing and that no one is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Of all the things that Paul lists, he states that nothing can overcome or defeat the loving and gracious salvation of our Lord. No person or circumstance is able to cause a believer in Christ to lose our salvation in Christ. We read that in all those things that are named and that we might face, the fact is as it says in verse 37 is that we are “more than conquerors” over those things through Christ. Today, we will look at the reasons why we are “more than conquerors” through Christ.

I. 1^st reason - “God is for us” (v.31-32, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?)

The main reason that we should know that our salvation with Christ is secure is that God is for us. Who can overcome God? We know that answer is no one. So if we are God's own then who can take us out of the hand of God? No one (John 10:28-29 - “I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand”. If God is for us then who can be against us? The answer is still the same, no one. Ps. 27:1 declares, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”. God knew before we came into existence that humanity would fall; but in His wondrous love and grace determined that He would save us from our sins. God the Father reached out to us in grace through His Son Jesus Christ, by His suffering and death on the cross and His resurrection, to bring salvation to every person who would receive Christ by faith. What a glorious and miraculous power that God performed in order to just save us. The love, the pain, the suffering, the death and resurrection Christ went through on our behalf (Rom. 5:8 - “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”). Christian doesn't that show, doesn't that reveal this fact that God is for us? When we can get our minds and our hearts wrapped around this glorious truth, it is then we can have that peaceful assurance that we are eternally secure in our saving relationship with Christ. To grasp that we cannot save ourselves, that it is the sole work of Christ in the heart of a man or woman and nothing that we do can save us. It is God that's got us and it's God that keeps us and it's God that will present us on that final and ultimate day (Jude 1:24-25 - “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen”). God's got us; God is for us. In Christ we are forgiven, accepted, kept, and sealed until we are one day glorified. No one and nothing can undo the fact of our salvation in Christ. Only the One who has given us salvation can possibly take that away but that is a foolish thought because it says right here in v. 32 that “He ...did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all”, God will never throw out or turn away any of His children that have been purchased by the blood of Christ. For God to cast away any of His children after He has delivered up His Son as a sacrifice for our sins; He would never turn His back on us after He has cleansed us from sin by Christ's blood and made us righteous and acceptable in His sight. By the death and resurrection of Christ we know and understand that God is for us.

II. 2^nd reason – Christ Intercedes for Us (v. 33-34 - “Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”)

There are many accusers of the faith. Our greatest accuser is Satan and that's what the name Satan means. We can see in the book of Job where Satan accuses Job worshiping God out of selfishness rather than out of reverence and love (Job1:8-12). But we can see for the rest of the book of Job that the testing of Job could not destroy Job's persevering faith in God. There are other passages that show the accusations of the enemy against God's children. The world and Satan will always accuse believers in God. In the book of Zechariah 3:1-5, Satan tries accusing the high priest Joshua of wearing dirty garments while attending in the Tabernacle, it says, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by”. Although Joshua wore “filthy garments”, that is still living in this sinful body of flesh, he was one of God's redeemed and Satan can bring no accusation against him, Satan was powerless to destroy and discredit God's servant. Now every accusation of this world or by Satan are not always false because we are still not sinless. But even though the accusation is true, the charge made is powerless. If we are Christ's then every sin past, present, and future are forgiven and covered by the blood of Christ. The eternal salvation of Christ destroys all accusations of damnation by the accusers. Our salvation is not determined on our ability or us trying to be perfect (which is impossible) but it is based upon our God who has justified us through the person and work of Jesus Christ (His suffering, death, & resurrection). The accusations against us to condemnation are powerless in the light that Jesus saved us and keeps us because His sacrifice gave us the finished work of salvation. Because Christ provided for our salvation and when He finished that work the Bible says the He “sat down at the right hand of God – (Heb. 10:12)”. Although the work of atonement was finished, Jesus is still at the right hand of the Father ministering intercession for all of us who are redeemed until we have made it to our Heavenly Home (Heb. 7:25 - “He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them”). When we gain a pure understanding of the work Christ did on the cross to save our wretched souls then we can understand what it means to be secure in that salvation. All of us who were vile, sinful, wretched, and ungodly have been shown the love of God through the Father sending His Son to die for us, so how can we who have been saved by that love knowing that God's love is powerful to save, lack the power to keep us saved. If Jesus had the power to deliver us from the bondage of sin, then how can He lack the power to keep us saved? To believe that a Christian can lose his salvation and to deny the security of the believer is to misunderstand the wonderful gift of Christ and misunderstand the wonderful heart of God. It all comes down to ignorance of the biblical meaning of salvation. Be sure of this Christian, Jesus is ever interceding for His children and we are eternally secure in Him.

III. 3^rd Reason – Nothing and No One Can Separate Us (v. 35-39 - “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For thy sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”).

Let us look at first set of things that cannot separate us from the “love of God”: tribulation – severe hardship(hard times), distress – extreme stress, persecution – suffering for the sake of Christ, famine – lack of food and hunger, nakedness - destitution, peril – exposed to danger, or sword – assassination. Paul says that will not separate us from the love of God. How does Paul know this? Because he faced all of these things (2 Cor. 11:23-27 - “Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if insane) I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure”), but he still served God because it could not separate him from the love of God. Paul faced persecution and eventually martyrdom, why did Paul face all these things? It was because God loved him first (1 John 4:19 - “We love, because He first loved us”). Any Christian's love for God is the direct result of God so wonderfully loving us first, in the heart of every child of God is the seed of God's love that must grow and blossom into a love for His Lord that will want to sow the seeds of God's love in other people lives. Paul finishes this chapter with the truth that we are “more than conquerors” in Christ in spite of any attempt that this world or Satan tries to throw at us. Let me finish with the last two verses of this passage: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. There is nothing in heaven nor earth, no angel nor demon, no king nor president, no high mountain range nor ocean depths, and no human nor beast that can ever steal my salvation or destroy the love that Christ has for me.

It's All Good in God. (Romans 8:28)

It's All Good in God.

(Rom. 8:28)

The NASB gives us a better translation of Romans 8:28; “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”. The world has a saying, “it's all good”, but that statement is false because it most certainly not all good. The gist of that worldly statement means if it works for you whether it is done by good or bad means, moral or immoral behavior, just as long as you get what you want then the end justifies the means. This is not so for the child of God, as we serve God, as we live for God then God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him. This verse is a beautiful and wondrous promise from our Father God. Now it doesn't mean we will never have problems, trials, temptations, or persecution. Just like the country song says, He never “promised you a rose garden”. God does promise for those that are His own that we have a blessed assurance of being eternally secure in His salvation and in our lives He will work out the situations in our lives to His glory and our best. Today's sermon is “ It's all good in God”.

I. The Assurance (“And we know...”).

In those first three words of this promise, we see that we have an assurance, a certainty, and a sureness that we can know the wonderful security found in our Savior. Our salvation in Christ is sure and secure. Christian, our lives are in the hands of Almighty God and it will be divinely used by God to bring God glory and if it brings about God's glory then it will work out to our ultimate blessing. But the greater meaning of that we can know is that when we have been saved by faith in Christ, is that He has completely and eternally saved us. The Bible teaches us that our eternal, sovereign God alone saves us, that He alone is responsible for our salvation and it has nothing to do with any effort of our own. We cannot save ourselves. If our salvation had to do with our effort to save us then we would fail. But because eternal God alone is responsible for saving us through Christ, then God's salvation can never fail and we are eternally secure in His salvation. We cannot save ourselves and therefore we couldn't keep ourselves saved only God can do that. I remember that at one time, I believed that I was in a cooperative effort to keep myself saved and it brought about a great burden and grief to my Christian walk. I was always consumed by the effort to try and not sin enough to make me lost again, always consumed with fear that every bad thought or every little sin would condemn me once again to Hell. But when I began reading verse and passages that reminded me that salvation is solely the work of God through Christ then I was given that blessed assurance and that deep fear left my life. When I read in scripture that Jesus promised me in John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand”, nothing can take me out of the hand of my Savior and my God. And then I read in Rom. 8:1 that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” and in Rom. 8:35-39 that there is absolutely no one and nothing in this world that can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, that there is no fear of ever being separated from salvation in Christ and the Holy Spirit through the holy Word of God illuminated that truth to me and set me free from the bondage of religion. To “know” this certainty reveals that whatever I face in my life here on earth, I will face it in His hands. So today friends, whatever is going on in your life, be it heartache or stress or sickness or death or disappointment or trials or temptations or the devil or just life in general, I want you to grab a hold of this truth that whatever may be coming at you must not only face you but it must also face the God that is holding you in His hand. That's the truth that we must know and this is what brings you assurance to face the day and the day after that. You may not be able to face the problem but God is not intimidated. Just rest in that assurance and rely upon Him.

II. The Scope (“...that God causes all things to work together for good”...).

Now that we know let's look at the scope or extent of this promise. It says that because we are absolutely assured of an eternal relationship in Christ, we can see that there is a limitless work of God in our lives. The scope of God's blessing is unlimited (Eph. 1:3 - “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”) and if we are living in His blessings of His eternal salvation in Christ we see that God will be at work in our lives. It says in this verse that God causes all things to work together for good. God doesn't work the good out in some things but in all things. The extent is unlimited, there is nothing in our lives or that we face in our lives that God does not work His good in. It is God Himself that works out the good that comes to all that are His children. So when we see “all things” it is utterly complete, no limits, it's all-encompassing, and there is no restrictions or conditions in whatever experiences that we have in this life that God does not work in. what we read here is simply saying that whatever things we experience in our live that God allows to happen in our lives, be they good or evil, it says that God will ultimately turns those things into blessings. I know that there are those on TV, the false teachers that say if you are truly blessed by God then no bad will come into your life and if it does then you must have sinned or lost faith but they have ignored the saints of God on the Bible that have faced bad times and God had allowed it. Take for instance Job, God allowed Satan to tempt and try him but after Job had lost all that he had, his wealth and his children, Job still has faith in his God, that he still trusts God and we see this by his powerful affirmation of the goodness of God to him by him saying in Job 1:21, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD”. The book of Job gave no reason as to why God allowed Job to face what he faced other than to bring glory to God. Sometimes our suffering and hardships might have a reason like there was with Joseph. Joseph was thrown into a pit and sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, was falsely accused by Pothiphar's wife because he would not sin against God by sleeping with her so he was thrown in prison. Joseph became the chief trusty in prison and through God interpreted the dreams of two men who had been close to Pharaoh. One was his cupbearer and the other his baker, Joseph told them through the revelation of God that the cupbearer would be restored and the other would be hanged in three days and that came to pass, but the cupbearer promised to Joseph to mention his name before Pharaoh to help get him out of prison. Well, the scriptures say that the cupbearer forgot for two years before the Pharaoh had a dream and then the cup-bearer remembered Joseph. Joseph through God revealed the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream of a great harvest of 7 years followed by a great famine of 7 years across the whole land. Joseph was promoted to 2^nd in command of Egypt and stored up enough grain to save Egypt and the surrounding countries and even the promised people of God, Joseph's family. In all the evil that seemingly befallen Joseph, he served God and God used his life and his circumstances to bring about God's will and God's glory. Joseph realized this after he had been elevated and placed to where he was in Egypt. Joseph could have sought revenge against his brothers for the hardships he faced but just like he always had in his hard life journey, he saw God's hand in it all for he says to his brothers in Gen. 50:20, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive”. Joseph realized that God is in control and that God causes all things to work together for good. Through this we see God's will is good, that His faithfulness is good even if we are unfaithful. If we as His children sin against Him, the Bible says that He will discipline us for our good because He loves us (Heb. 12:6,11 - “For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives”. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”). Sometimes God allows sickness or death to come on us for our sins to warn us or others. Sometimes God may have to put us in the hospital to see the goodness of God and restore us to rightful fellowship with Him or death may come to some like Ananias ans Sapphira who as Christians lied to the Holy Spirit and God killed them but for what reason? The reason is found in Acts 5:11, “So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things”. Whatever we face we have to face it with God and we need to be obedient to His will for us whatever we face, we are His. We need to be like Job and realize the work God is doing in us for our good and His glory. Job says in Job 23:10, “When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold”. Trials of fire refine the gold of our walk with Christ.

III. The Recipients (“...to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”).

To have the good of God in your lives, the blessings of God in every circumstance, and His ever present Spirit every where you walk and in everything you face; you have to be a child of God. You have to be a recipient of His love through Christ. You can face life alone and then face an eternity alone in eternal torment or you can know His love here in this life and into the eternity to come but you have to believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father (John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”). No other way to face the hardships and trials of life except with Christ. He will never leave or forsake you and you can face everything in your life in His hands.

Dead to the Law (Rom. 7:1-6)

Dead to the Law

(Rom. 7:1-6)

In our study of Romans, we have found that we are dead to sin and free from the slavery and bondage of sin in Romans 6. Here in Romans 7, we begin with how we are dead to and freed from the Law and the consequences of breaking the moral law of God that was revealed to us through Moses. Today, we will study about the power of the Law, dying to the Law, and the use of the Law.

I. Jurisdiction of the Law (v. 1 - “Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?”)

Paul begins here in chapter 7 by making a statement that every living person is under the authority or jurisdiction of law. The law he mentions here is any kind of law be it civil or religious. At that time Rome ruled the world, so everyone one living in the Roman Empire was subject to Roman law. The Jews were so supposed to be bound by the Mosaic law. But Paul was saying that the law has authority over all people. We all live under law, for us it is the Constitution of the United States and the laws of this land and it's states. If we break the law then we will suffer the consequences of the law; we will be prosecuted and punished by the law. But if a law-breaker dies then he no longer be subject to prosecution and punishment under the law. Take for instance, Lee Harvey Oswald, who was supposedly the assassin of President Kennedy. Before Oswald went to trial, he was shot to death by another man. Therefore, because he died, he was not prosecuted and punished under the law of the land. Although the crime he committed was a horrible crime, because he died, he did not suffer the penalty of the law of the land. The jurisdiction of the law is only limited to the living. What Paul is saying is that the law is binding only on the living. So where is Paul going with this? Paul is alluding to the Mosaic Law, that supreme moral Law of God that none of us can keep from breaking. But Paul doesn't stop there, he goes on in the next verses to reveal what he means.

II. Dying to the Law (v. 2-3 - “For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. ”)

So it is becoming more clear, Paul states that we as Christians have died to the Law. Paul uses a illustration of the marriage law as an analogy between that and the point that he made in verse 1, the law has no authority over a person when they're dead. He uses an illustration of when a woman is married and her husband is living and she marries another man then she is guilty of being an adulteress; she is an offender against the law of marriage. She is bound to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies then she is free from the bonds of matrimony and can freely marry again, she is no longer bound to her former husband by marriage. Marriage laws are binding only when both spouses are living (“till death do you part”). So, in verses 2&3, the woman is absolutely free from the law that bound her to her late husband. In verse 4, Paul begins to apply this truth to us as Christians. He explains that just like the death of the husband has freed the woman from being bound together in marriage, that we as Christians were made to die to the Mosaic Law (moral law of God). We have died to the Law that has condemned us to our sins through the person and work of Jesus Christ. The law was never a means of salvation to us (Rom. 3:20a - “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight”); the law was to show us how sinful we are and to teach us that we need a Savior from sin (3:20b - “for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin). In chapter 6, we found out that we have died to and freed from sin, but here we see that we have died to the law and free from it's consequences of the penalty of the law. The law declares that if we break the moral law of God (sin) then we must suffer the penalty of the law which is death (1 Cor. 15:56 - “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law”). Under the law of God, we are found sinful and condemned because we cannot keep the holy and moral law of God. If we but only break one commandment, we are guilty of breaking all of of the law (James 2:10 - “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all”). Christ's death has freed all believers from the law. Christ's life was sinless, He kept all of the law, in fact He fulfilled the law by His sinless life (Matt. 5:17 - “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill”). He fulfilled the law on our behalf and bore our penalty for not being able to keep the law. But by His death he has freed us from our former relationship to the law (condemnation), just like the widow was freed from her relationship to her former husband. Just like the widow she was free to be united to another husband, we are free to be joined to another, our Lord Jesus Christ. We are free now to live a new life in our new relationship.

III. Living to Serve (v. 4-6 - “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another; to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”)

Salvation in Christ has brought about a totally new spiritual relationship just as the remarried woman had a totally new marital relationship after her husband died. The image of a dead husband and a new husband in a new committed relationship even can apply to us as Christians. We could say that we are no longer “married” to the law but are now “married” to Christ. We are in a new spiritual relationship. 2 Cor. 11:2 says, “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ”. Paul is showing us that we are placed into a new way of life, a new way of living, because we are now in a new relationship. And that new way of life is evident as we live out the new life. It says here in verse 4, that because we have been saved, we now have a life that has been transformed and because we are joined to Christ, that we should produce or “bear fruit” for God. In Galatians 5, it contrasts the fruit of a sinful life with that of the fruit of the Spirit in our new relationship with Christ. The fruit of the sinful condemned man is seen in 5:19-21, “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God”. It goes on to describe in the life of the believer, we will began to produce the fruit of the Spirit which is seen in Gal. 5:22-25, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit”). In verse 5, that when we were sinners we produced the fruit of death which comes through living a life of sin under the law. The purpose for us being joined with Christ is to produce fruit for God for it says in Eph. 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works...”). We were delivered from the law and united to Christ to bear fruit for God. Our lives have been delivered from the penalty of sin whose fruit is death so that we will live out holy lives which is the fruit of repentance. The old life under the law was evident in the sinful life we lived, it was evident that we were under the condemnation of the law because of sin. But if we are truly His, in a new relationship with Christ then our lives will bear fruit for God, it will be evident as we live out our lives to Christ's glory. In this study of Romans 6 and 7, we see that we are delivered from our old sinful life condemned by the law. We have been released, set free, and made dead to the law and sin which only brings condemnation and death. We were held by it and bound to it. There was no way out. But God who was rich in mercy and grace has provided deliverance from it through the death and resurrection of Christ. Through Christ's death we have died to sin and the law and by His resurrection we now live eternally in Christ; it says in verse 6, that since we are delivered in Christ from the death of the law that we should serve God in the newness of the Spirit not in the oldness of the law. It could be best summed up by Paul in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”.

The Law did what it was supposed to do and that it showed me how sinful I truly was and convicted me of my evil. But it also pointed me to the one who saved me from the condemnation of the Law. Ask yourselves today, have you let God deal with your sin and the condemnation of you as a sinner seen through the holy law of God? Only Christ can cleanse you of your sins and deliver you from the penalty of sin, which is eternity in Hell. Put your faith in Christ today.

Saved to Sin? No, Saved to Serve! (3 Common Misconceptions of Eternal Security) (Rom. 6:1-2)

Saved to Sin? No, Saved to Serve! (3 Common Misconceptions of Eternal Security)

(Rom. 6:1-2)

Today, we are going to find out what eternal security is not. We are going to look at three common misconceptions of eternal security. Sometimes you have to see what something isn’t to truly understand what it really is.

I. It Isn’t “Fire Insurance” (Rom. 6:1-2 - What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?).

I’ve heard so many people say this about eternal security, “I got fire insurance!”; now when that is usually mentioned it is dealing with sin in their life of someone who is a Christian. This idea that it’s ok to sin since I’m a believer and nothing can separate me from salvation in God, it is a dangerous and destructive frame of mind. Eternal security does not give the Christian a license to go out and sin. Paul’s reply to such an idea is “God forbid (may it never be so). How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”, the result of receiving this gracious gift of salvation is a changed life. The Bible says about those who are saved are no longer slaves to sin, Rom. 6:18 says that, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness”; we have changed masters and our spiritual condition has changed. We are no longer in spiritual darkness, we are now in His glorious light. We have been set free from the bondage and slavery of sin and are now free to live and serve and glorify Christ in all that we do. Eternal security gives us blessed assurance and not blessed insurance. The assurance I received when I found out that my salvation is eternally secure and eternally kept in the precious hand of Jesus and the Heavenly Father. When I finally found that out, I then began to understand that all the time I wasted to try and keep myself “saved” can now be used to live more productively for the Kingdom of God by serving Him without fear. Let me give you an example; In 1937, the Golden Gate bridge was built in San Francisco, spanning that great bay. It was a dangerous thing to work on because it rose hundreds of feet above those icy, swirling waters of the San Francisco bay. The workman were afraid for their lives. Some of them fell and drowned; in all 23 people lost their lives in accidental deaths. Management said they had to something about this, so they built a safety net underneath the workers. They spent $100,000 to build this net, and when they built the safety net, they found out it really wasn’t an expense. It was a great saving, because work went 25% faster, and far fewer lives were lost. As a matter of fact, only ten fell and they fell into the net, and of course their lives were saved. Why could these people work with more productivity? Because of their security! They knew the net was there. And that’s the way it is a Christian’s life. I’m not struggling to keep myself safe. I know that I am saved. I’m saved by the grace of God; so I can be productive with grateful service. When we are confident of the future, we can concentrate on the present. So the bottom line is that eternal security gives us blessed assurance and not ‘fire insurance’. We are saved not to sin freely but to serve freely. The life of the believer will show the fruits of salvation. Although we will never be sinless in this body, we can live a life of holiness, a life that desires to live for God, to serve and please Him. (Rom. 6:19,22- I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.; But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life). We are given the ability through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to live lives that are holy. It simply means that we are set apart from the practice of sin and set apart to the practice of righteousness. We have freed from sin to become servants of God because of the person and work of Christ we have new life and eternal life.

II. It Isn’t Cheap Grace (Rom. 5:8-10 - But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.)

Just because we believe in eternal security it doesn’t mean we make light of the glorious salvation that was attained by the suffering and death of Christ on that old rugged cross. Belief in eternal security in fact, makes us more aware of the wonderful work of salvation that Jesus has provided for us through His death and resurrection. It keeps us remembering that the work of salvation is only the wonderful work of grace and mercy that it is because He is the only one that can effect the work of grace in our lives. The familiar verse of the work of salvation by faith is found in Eph. 2:8-10 - ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them’; we are taught by this verse that this gift of salvation is in no way something that we can attain by our works or power. God chose to love us and provide the way of salvation through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. By faith we receive the salvation of our souls and the remedy for our sins and eternal life that is only found in God the Son. By the work that Jesus did by suffering and dying on the cross, by having my faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone, there I become a child of God. I was then put into an eternal relationship with God and He is my Father. I am in a relationship that cannot be denied or revoked. For example, I have a daughter and I am her father, that is the truth about our relationship and no matter how much she might want to deny it, the truth is that our relationship cannot be broken irregardless. Now the fellowship between us can be affected in our relationship. But it does change the fact of our relationship. Sin in the life of the believer can affect the fellowship we have with God but not our eternal relationship. Just like the verse we’ve read in Eph. 2:8-10, we see that we are saved by faith in Christ and we are the workmanship of Christ (we are saved and kept saved and completely saved) and we are saved for good works in Christ. If we are busy for the Kingdom of God then a Christian won’t have time for sin in their life.

III. It Isn’t Just Profession, It’s Possession (Luke 6:43-44 - For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. - James 1:22 - But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.)

I am not preaching perfection or trying to get people to question their salvation. I am just looking at the facts of scripture that say my life is supposed to have evidences that I am in Christ. For we are ‘known by his own fruit’ and our lives are changed when we are saved. 2 Co. 5:17- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. We sometimes need to ask the hard questions about our Christian walk. Are we doing all we need to do for our Lord Jesus Christ? Do we reflect the glory of God in our lives? Is there evidence in our lives that can convict us of being a Christian? 2 Co. 13:5 “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” Security of the believer brings assurance of your salvation and the test is simply was your faith put in Christ for your salvation and if it was you will see evidences of that salvation. Our lives that are saved and changed by Jesus will reflect that change. A life that seeks to live and desire the things of God is a life that is saved from sin. It is not profession only it is also possession of salvation in Christ.

I hoped this has helped you see what eternal security isn’t so that you can understand better what it really is. And if anyone asks you can explain the wonderfully complete and secure salvation that we have in Jesus Christ.

Death in Adam; Life in Christ (Rom. 5:12-21)

Death in Adam; Life in Christ

(Rom. 5:12-21)

We are continuing our study of Romans. We are going to look at this passage in Rom. 5:12-21 and gain an understanding of the beginning of sin and the only cure of sin. Paul used an analogy of Adam and Christ to help us gain an understanding of sin and God's plan of redemption for man through Christ. Through today's study of this passage we are going to gain an understanding of where sin began, when sin entered this world, the consequences of sin to humanity, and God's plan to save men from sin. Today's sermon is “Death in Adam, Life in Christ”.

I. Adam (v. 12-14) “...just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned – v.12)

In the case of Adam, scripture says that “sin entered into the world”. But it does not say that sin originated with Adam. Where does sin originate? Let's look at scripture.

A. Through Adam – v.12a “sin entered the world”

1. Origin of Sin – The originator of sin is Satan. In 1 John 3:8 it says, “the devil has sinned from the beginning”. It doesn't say when the beginning was but it was before Adam and Eve sinned. In Ezekiel. 28, it talks of Lucifer's sin in the beginning (28:15 - “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you”), Lucifer's sin of pride and rebellion prompted him being cast out of Heaven; Jesus said of this in Luke 10:18, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”. Universally, sin was introduced by Satan, but sin in this world was introduced into the human realm by Adam; it began with him. In Genesis 2:15-17, Adam was given one simple restriction or prohibition and that was to not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But he disobeys God's one command and sins against God. Although Eve disobeyed first, Adam was held responsible because God had directly given His command not to eat of the tree and he was given headship over Eve and should have used his given position of authority to insist that they mutually obeyed God rather than allow her to lead him in disobedience. This act of sin changed his nature from innocence to sinfulness and that sinful nature was then passed on to all of his descendants (all humanity). The question that I have heard time and again is this, “why should Adam's sin cause me to be born sinful?” That's a good question and to answer that let's look at v. 12, it says sin entered this world through one man, Adam. Notice that it doesn't say sins but sin. That is singular because it is taking about man's sin nature and that nature was passed generationally and individually. Mankind is a single entity that are the descendants of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Adam represents the entire race of humanity and we possess the same sin nature and capacity to sin. Adam was representative of the whole human race; so when Adam sinned and his spiritual nature fell and became depraved then all of posterity received the same fallen nature. When Adam sinned in the Garden, he sinned not only as a man but as man. 1 Cor. 15 :22 says that “in Adam all die”, this speaks of the shared guilt of all mankind just like everyone was present with Adam and sharing in the very sin he did. If we didn't fall with the first Adam then we could not have been saved by the last Adam, Jesus (1 Cor, 15:21-22 - “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive”).

2. What is the meaning of sin? - There are a couple of words in N.T. Greek that are used to describe sin. The first is harmartia that shows sin to be pictured as “any attitude or act of man that does not hit the bulls-eye of God's glory target”¹(Romans 3:23 - “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”). The other word is parabasis which means “to overstep a forbidden line”. Sin thus describes man's inability to do right and his inclination to do wrong.² It shows our sin nature and our desire to willfully sin. Our sin or sinful nature is the root of our problem that was caused by Adam and our sins are the fruit of our problem caused by us. We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. That is our nature.

B. Through Sin – v.12b “death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” - Not only did sin enter into this world through Adam but also the consequences of sin: death (Rom. 6:23 - “For the wages of sin is death”; Ezek. 18:4 - “The soul who sins shall die”). God warned Adam in the Garden that if he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that Adam would die. If Adam had not have ate of that forbidden fruit then he and his descendants would have never experienced death. But Adam did sin and brought death to himself and all his descendants, mankind. Sin has brought three different kinds of death to humanity. Death is separation. The first death Adam experienced is spiritual. The moment he sinned he became spiritually separated from God. The apostle Paul reminds us of our lost condition in Eph. 2:1-2, we he describes us before Christ as “dead in our trespasses and sins”. The second death that has resulted from sin is physical death. It is separation from human beings. At the moment Adam sinned, the process of physical death began. Although he did not immediately die, he did become subject to death. We are all subject to death, we all will die and we have seen all have that others have died before us.

The third kind of death from sin is the worst kind kind of death and it is eternal death. This death is the eventuality of all who die without Christ. It is eternal separation from God. Not only eternal separation from God but also eternal torment in hell. Through the disobedience of Adam all have been born sinners and condemned. Through Adam, all are under judgment, condemnation, and subject to death reigning over all their lives because Adam sinned. And we are no better than Adam, it even seems that mankind has slid further into depravity than ever. But it is not hopeless. Our omniscient (all-knowing) God knew even before He made the world that when he made us that we would sin. Because of that, our Triune God purposed to provide salvation to us.

II. Jesus Christ, the second Adam. (v. 15-21)

This brings us to our Lord Jesus Christ. The promised salvation of mankind. In Rev. 13:8, it gives Jesus a certain title and it is this, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world”. The purpose and plan of God to bring glory to Himself by providing salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God had so lovingly and graciously purposed to save us through the death of His Son Jesus Christ. God chose to save us and to reveal His love even before the beginning of the world. God gave hope to Adam and Eve in Gen. 3:15 by promising the Seed that would crush the head of the Serpent. To Moses and Abraham and David and all the O.T. Saints the promise of the Messiah who would save them from their sins. To the time when He did come and die at the appointed time for the salvation of our sins (Rom. 5:6 - “when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”). Where Adam had brought sin, death, judgment, and condemnation; Jesus brought righteousness and life (vv. 15-19, “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense (Adam) many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned (Adam). For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act (Jesus) the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous”). Adam brought sin and death into this world and Jesus Christ brought righteousness and life into the world (1 Cor. 15:21-22 - “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive”). Jesus brought to us the free and abundant gift of grace into this world. We can see the abundance of grace that Jesus has provided in verse 15, “much more the grace of God” and verse 17, “much more... abundance of grace” and in verse 20, “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more”. Whatever had been lost in Adam, God had provided even more grace. We, as repenting sinners, have received much more in Christ tan we ever lost in Adam. Christ not only has reversed the curse of death by forgiving and cleansing from sin, but He has also provided the way for saved men to share in the righteousness and glory of God. Even though in Adam sin increased but through Christ grace abounded even more.

We can see in this analogy of Adam and Christ, that in Christ is the answer and remedy for sin. There is no other way of salvation but in the person and work of Christ. Our sin left unresolved, will bring death to us in our body, soul, and spirit. If we are born again in Christ by putting our faith and trust in Christ then we will receive abundant grace and eternal life. But if we reject the free and abundant grace of God through Jesus Christ then we will not only die physically but eternally, we will be eternally separated from God in the fiery torment of hell. When we face eternity, we will face it as a child of Adam or we will face it as a child of God. In Adam is death, in Christ is life. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” - John 14:6.

1Willmington's Guide to the Bible

2Willmington's Guide to the Bible

Whose Slave are You? (Rom. 6:15-23)

Whose Slave are You?

(Rom. 6:15-23)

The other day, I read an article on the Civil War. I was surprised and bewildered by what I read. It said that there were slaves who fought on the Confederate side during the war. I could not fathom how slaves willingly fought with their masters against the Union Army. They fought against the very people who were trying to emancipate them (to set them free from their slavery). I then began to think about how sinners in the world today fight against Christ, the One who can set them free from their sins. This sinful world is at war against God and against His Gospel that can set them free and emancipate them from their slavery to sin and their master Satan. Today, we are going to study this passage in Romans 6:15-23 and see that Paul is going to use the image of slavery to determine who your Master is and just who is Lord of your life. Today's sermon is “Whose slave are you?”.

I. Freed from sin not free to sin (v. 15 - “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!”).

We have earlier studied about the devastating and destructive power of sin. Sin is the reason for our human condition today of sickness, evil, and death; the fallen condition of this world. Sin is rebellious and hateful towards God and anything that is of God. Sin cannot be cured or overcome by any of man's effort or power. Mankind is enslaved by sin and that brings about satanic control. Sin serves the purpose of Satan and makes a sinner a spiritual child of the devil. It sends unredeemed men to Hell. It controls the sinner's mind, thoughts, and actions. Sin is humanly inescapable. Mankind cannot by ourselves escape from sin or the guilt of sin (even if we genuinely desire to do so). Sin stains and mars everything that we are and do. It is like the growth of an incurable cancer that grows blackly in our hearts till it finally destroys us. That is the hopelessness of sin and without the intervention of God we cannot overcome sin and its deadly effects. Because of sin we cannot have a relationship with God because sin cannot come into the presence of our holy God (Hab. 1:13 - “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity”). It is from this wretched state of slavery to sin that God has provided freedom through the greatest gift God could ever give mankind. That very gift of freedom from sin is the gift of salvation He offers through His Son, Jesus Christ. When we are saved through faith in Christ, Jesus frees us from the power of sin. This is because we have died in Christ to sin and risen with Him in righteousness (Rom. 6:11 - “also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord”); that was our last study in Romans. If we through Christ have died to sin then we are no longer under the lordship of sin (Rom. 6:6 - “our old man (sinful nature) was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin”). The relationship of the believer has changed towards God and our relationship to sin has changed also. This means we have a new Lord and we are under the lordship of righteousness (but more on that later). Because of this new relationship to God and towards sin, Paul asks a question and answers it in verse 15, “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!”. Paul is dealing with those who thinks “if I'm free from the power and penalty of sin then I can sin and do as perfectly as I please”. Paul is showing them that Jesus has freed them from their sins and not given them a license to sin. It's the wrong idea about eternal security from those who think they have “fire insurance”; those who see God's amazing grace as cheap grace, believing that since they have prayed the sinner's prayer that they can go out and live how they want to and not reap the consequences. From this verse we can understand that this is not the intention of God's grace at all. God's purpose of His grace is to free man of sin. God's grace through Christ justifies a life and also transforms that life (2 Cor. 5:17 - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”). If there is no evidence of a life that is changed morally and spiritually, transformed through salvation in Christ, then that person is most likely not saved. Christ has freed us from sin, not freed us to sin. Sin can never glorify God, it can never be a product of grace. The grace of God has freed us to give us the ability to not live sinfully and the ability to began to live life righteously for Him. That is the work of sanctification in the believers life, less like the sinner we once were and more like Christ, who we need to be. Salvation in Christ transforms your life and if there is no evidence of transformation then there is no salvation.

II. Who's your Master (v. 16-18 - “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness”).

Paul uses the picture of slavery to see who our allegiance is to. Paul's picture is of someone who is a slave that has willingly given their life in total obedience to their master. He says that we can be slaves of sin which leads to death or become obedient to God which leads to righteousness. If our pattern of living is sinful then we are sin's slaves but if we live our lives for God's glory then we are being obedient to His will and we are God's slaves. Our lives will reflect who is lord of our lives. Slavery to sin brings about physical and spiritual death while slavery to God brings about righteousness, the earmark of eternal life. There is a lie that we can be master of our own life and destiny, but that is just a delusion. We need to understand we are never really free. Either we are mastered by sin under the lordship of Satan or we are mastered by righteousness under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Those are the only two influences that determine our lives. Our habitually sinful life needs to be in the past and buried while the new life in Christ needs to be our present and future, alive and maturing. I think it needs to be reiterated that we will never be without sin in this body but we are as Christians need to be growing and maturing spiritually. We will never be sinless till we are glorified but as we walk in sanctification we sin less, we allow the Holy Spirit to conform us to the image of Christ. But how is it that we have come to the place of being under the Lordship of Christ and slaves of righteousness? Evidently it has nothing to do with human determination or knowledge or wisdom or effort but only because of the gospel message of Jesus Christ that has saved us from the slavery of sin. Through Christ we have become the children of God, we are God's very own. When we saved, we are positionally placed in Christ's righteousness because that's what makes us acceptable to God and in a right relationship with Him. It is solely through the person and work of Christ that we are saved us and it sets us free from sin. But when we are saved God's grace changes us and we are enabled to begin to live out a righteous life. Let's look at verses 19-22 to see how we are enabled to live.

III. Living for the Master (v. 19-22 - “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life”).

When we are saved, we are eternally saved. Our spirit (inner man) has been eternally redeemed and it is no longer subject to the power of sin. But our outer man, our flesh, is subject to defilement by sin. It will always be a struggle and a place of battle as long as we are living in this temporary body of flesh. As I have just stated that we are positionally placed in Christ's righteousness but because of our position in Christ we know are enabled to live out a practical righteousness. We are to first dedicate ourselves daily to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Paul said in Romans 12:1 that we are to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God”; so now let us present (give willingly and obediently) our bodies (or like it says here in verse 19) presents the members of your body in obedience of God's word to His work and will. It simply means to daily give yourself and your life over to the righteousness of God, to live out practical righteousness. Don't allow yourself to give place to sin (don't... give place to the devil – Eph. 4:27) but keep your heart and mind on Christ and His Word then by the power of the Holy Spirit you can live righteously. When we were sinners, we could not help but to sin (when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness), that means we were nowhere near righteousness. We were on that slippery slope of destruction but thanks to God, He chose to reveal His love to us through Jesus Christ. Through the enabling power of Christ, it is now possible for us live righteously and we should present our members as slaves of righteousness. When we were sinners, our sinful lives lead to more sin, but when we became saints, our lives as slaves to righteousness should lead to even further righteousness. The practice of righteousness (that's a good way to say it), will lead us into deeper walks of righteousness and holiness. A child of God, if he is growing in this grace walk, will be maturing more and more into righteousness. But if a believer, is not growing or progressing, although they will fall back altogether out of righteousness, will slip back further into sin. We need to keep the eyes of our heart fixed on Christ so that we will not lessen in our commitment to our Lord and Master. Let's commit to being His slave, obedient to His will which is His Word.

I want to finish this sermon with this verse, verse 23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”, an unrepentant heart that is still enslaved to sin will find that the end of that sinful life is a judgment of condemnation. The result of sin, the payment (wages) for the life of sin is death, both physically and spiritually. Hell's down payment is the knee that will never bow in faith and repentance to Jesus Christ. God's gift of salvation through Christ is freely offered today. Come to know Christ as your savior and Lord today.

Excuses of the Guilty (Rom. 1:18-21)

Excuses of the Guilty

(Rom. 1:18-21)

Last week, we dealt with what the wrath of God is and what that means in relation to mankind; that our holy God hates sin and because he is holy and just He must punish sinners. God has revealed to the entire world through the scriptures His wrath and His salvation from the condemnation of sin. Because of this knowledge God has pronounced judgment against sinful man. This verdict of His wrathful judgment against lost mankind has indicted all those who reject God and His remedy of mercy and grace found in His Son, Jesus Christ. The high, holy court of Heaven has called three defendants, representative of mankind, to stand and receive their day in court to answer for their sins. These 3 defendants are here in chapters 1&2 and they are the heathen man, the moral man, and the religious man.

Introduction: God’s indictment (v.18)

God’s fierce wrath is revealed against all ungodliness (sins against his Person) and unrighteousness (sins against his will). The first category is vertical (faulty relationship towards God) while the second is horizontal in nature (faulty living & faulty relationships with fellow man due to our faulty relationship with God). Because of our sinful nature we are unable to have a right relationship towards God and if we are unable to have a right relationship we certainly cannot live according to the righteous standards that God has set forth in His divine, moral Law. Because of our sins we are indicted under the wrath of God. The indictment against mankind is specifically listed in verses 18, it begins by saying they, mankind, “hold (or suppress, smother) the truth in unrighteousness”; in other words, men suppress the truth of God by steadfastly clinging to their sins. Man’s sinful nature desires to naturally oppose God and his truth. The truth that they are sinful and unable to not sin and need God to save them from themselves and the end results of their unrepentant hearts. All of humanity is under God’s condemnation and they are found guilty by two things: 1. God’s Law (2:12 – “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law”; 2. their own deeds (2:6 – God “will render to each one according to his deeds”). You could say that ‘God’s Law’ and ‘their deeds’ are their jury. So let’s begin with our defendants.

I. Defendant #1: The Heathen or Pagan Man (vv. 19-32)

The heathen or pagan man is representative of those who claim ignorance of the knowledge of God. They are in different religions or they could be atheists or they just reject the Christian concept of God. The generation coming up today could be counted among these. They have decided to call this generation the “Y” generation. They are called this because they always say “why should we believe in God, especially the Christian God”. They have been brought up in homes that don’t go to church or read the Bible and have been brain washed in our public schools to believe only in themselves and whatever propaganda the TV and internet says is true. They are thought to question and be skeptical of whatever Christianity says is true. This “Y” generation is truly the ‘pagan’ generation that has forsaken the only true God of the Bible. This generation has chosen to serve a ‘god’ of their own choosing or even not to believe in anything at all. There has never been a time in our nation that we have had such a large percentage of people not in church of some kind. The percentage of people in the USA today are ignorant of what the Bible says and the real gospel message of salvation in Christ. In Amos 8:11-12, the Bible spoke of a famine of God’s word in the land. Here in our nation there seems to be a “famine of God’s word in the land”. There is a generation that does not know the Lord. A generation that wants to be ignorant of God’s truth and a desire to only smother their guilty conscious with false religion and in vile sins. They have chosen false religions and vain philosophies absent of the truth of God’s word. They have exchanged the holy glory of the one true God with the spiritual darkness of false gods and the giving of themselves over to evil desires and gross sexual sins. Verses 21-32 show their regression to viler and viler sins. The verses in 1:21-23 says, "although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man; and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things”. We see through history and even today people have chosen to serve a ‘god’ of their own making. Today, the New Age religions and atheists have chosen to worship themselves and the efforts of mankind. The ancient Greeks and Romans worshiped a pantheon of gods that were just as depraved as or worse than men. Ancient peoples like the Egyptians, had gods and goddesses that had features of animals and even considered certain animals sacred. Hindus even today worship animals. Our generation today considers themselves ‘spiritual’ but not specifically believing in any one religion. Modern man finds whatever spirituality that condones their sins and relieves them of the fear of consequences. They deceive themselves to believe that because of their supposed ignorance of God and His truth that He will acquit them of His judgment. Verses 1:19-20 refute their excuses. God’s twin witnesses of 1. Conscience (v. 19 – “what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them”) and 2. Nature (v. 20 – “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead”; they witness of the existence and God’s law, “so that they are without excuse”. No matter how much they deceive themselves or numb their conscience with gross sin, it won’t stop His judgment.

II. Defendant #2 – Moral Man (vv. 2:1-16)

I like to call this 2nd defendant the ‘good ole’ boy’. The reason that this 2nd representative of judged man thinks he is not deserving of God’s judgment is because he’s not as bad as other men. Most of the time, he is a decent, moral person and not too sinful in his eyes and mostly law-abiding, hard-working, relatively moral person in comparison to the thief, murderer, crack head, or low-life of society. His excuse is that in comparison of his life to others that he is not as bad as society’s criminals (ex. - kid’s grade on a test-not as bad as Billy). I’m not as bad as others so I’ll be alright with God because God grades on a curve. But God refutes their excuse by they do the same things but in a refined way (hide their sins, etc.). God does not judge them according to man’s best but according to His own standard of righteousness and holiness. But they will not escape God’s wrathful judgment (2:1-4, “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”).

III. Defendant #3 – The Religious Man (2:17-3:8)

The religious man Paul used as an example were the Jews. The Jews claimed to be the “people of God” solely on the fact that they knew the law of God and taught it, in other words they were righteous because they were religious (2:17-20 – “Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law”). They were outwardly religious but inwardly in the same condition as every other lost man. They did belong to those who had head knowledge about God but no heart knowledge (no personal saving relationship with God). But God refuted their feeble excuse by plainly telling them, “You don’t practice what you preach” (2:21-23 – “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, "Do not commit adultery," do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?”). Instead of trusting God to save them from their sins they trusted in their own good works of their religion (ex. RCC, baptismal regeneration, etc.).

What is seen through all these defendants is this simply this that all people regardless of race, creed, color, or social status, that all are under sin and in need of a Savior. God has graciously extended His hand of grace through His Son, Jesus Christ and He is not willing that any should perish in their sins but come to repentance.