Captives for Life - Romans 6:15-23
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
We are continuing our Roman series. And I wanna start today with a little history lesson. I don't know how many of you are history buffs or appreciate a good story, but you're about to get one. So, long time ago, I'm not a history person, so this is fun, but it's not my thing, but it's helpful. In the year 207 BC, long time ago, there was a war. There was multiple wars. So in the end of the Second Punic War, we're in Italy. just give yourself some geography, we're over in Italy, and the Roman army was pinned down into southern Italy by the ruthless general Hannibal of Carthage. And so by the way, if you are a history buff, I'm repeating someone else's account of this story, so if you have a problem with it, I am copying JD Greer, who's a pastor, who's the one who's doing this Roman series that we talked about every Sunday morning before the service. He gets the benefit of he's in Rome when he films it, so he's got like the historical background behind him. I have this wonderful stage so you can't see where the battle actually happened. So he's got to envision it. So we're in 207 and there's people that are pinned, the the Roman army is pinned down by general Hannibal of Carthage. But Hannibal's troops are exhausted, they've been fighting this war, they're depleted of supplies and so he's sent for his brother, has Drupal, who entered his armies from the north. So we have Rome pinned down in the south and we have an army entering from the north and so they do something unexpected and kind of risky. They rush all their forces to the north to meet Hasdrubal and they defeat him. They defeat Hasdrubal and just outside of Rome in 207 and historians will agree that pretty much at this point the war was over. Rome had won. It didn't officially end but pretty much this was the turning point, right? Rome defeating has Drupal in the north did not mean good things for Hannibal in the south. So everyone knew it, Rome had won, but for years small groups of Hannibal's forces would terrorize the Roman countryside in the south, still being present there. And so even though Rome had won, their victory had not yet been applied or recognized across every town and hamlet in the south south of Italy. And so, like I said, Pastor JD Greer shares this story to point out that this is exactly what sin does in the lives of believers.
Even though Jesus has defeated sin and death, sin still fights back in our lives and attacks the towns and hamlets of our lives. You didn't know that you had hamlets in your life, but you do. In Romans six, Paul is talking about this ongoing battle with sin for the believer. And Paul is really bringing the people of the church of Rome to this pressure point, helping them make a true and honest self-assessment of their spiritual status, making them look at what is in their hearts. This is such an important concept that Paul is gonna take as much time as he needs in this letter. So he's talked about the beginning of chapter six, we're continuing the same thought because it is so important. We also have to remember that Paul is writing to a certain Roman culture, and there are two rules when it comes to religion. The first is that everyone under the Roman Empire can worship any god that they want. Whatever religion, whatever god you have, you can continue to worship that god. The second rule is you just can't say that another god isn't a god. You can't say that there is only one god. You must accept the plurality of gods that is under the Roman Empire. Now, when I was prepping this sermon, I just thought, that's maybe similar to what we're going through today, right? Many religions are accepted or must be allowed to be present at the same time, but as soon as Christianity says that there's one God, then all of a one looks at us angry, and says, what are you talking about? No, no, no, and we're like, well, it's what we believe. It's the truth. And so we can maybe share in this reality with the early Roman church that Paul is talking to. He needs to make sure that the believers in the church of Rome, truly acknowledge, believe, and worship one true God. So if you guys would read with me, it's gonna be up on the screen, but Romans 6:15-23, you can follow along as I read out loud.
Paul says, "What then? Shall we sin, "because we are not under the law but under grace? "By no means. "Don't you know that when you offer yourself "to someone as obedient slaves, "you are slaves of the one you obey? whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness. But thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, "So now, offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness, "leading to holiness. "When you were slaves to sin, "you were free from the control of righteousness. "What benefit did you reap at that time "from these things that you are now ashamed of? "Those things result in death. "But now that you have been set free from sin "and have become slaves of God, "the benefit you reap leads to holiness, "and the result is eternal life. "For the wages of sin is death, But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Would you pray with me? God, thank you again for your holy word given to us that we may know you, know your truth, know the pattern of truth. And God, I pray that you would open it up to us, open our hearts to receive your truth and your word. God, that it would form us to be more like Jesus and that we would leave this morning empowered and encouraged to live a life fully for you. Be with us this morning. and we pray this in your name, amen. Last week, we talked about a throne in our hearts. I don't know if you remember that. I mentioned this little throne that metaphorically sits in our hearts, and whoever sits on that throne controls our lives, right? They control our thoughts, our actions, our desires. And Paul starts off with a similar thought process as he, in verse 15. He says, "Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace by no means?" Do you remember what we said about "by no means"? This is the strongest way to say "no" in the Greek. This is an emphatic "no, definitely not." Verse 16, Paul is setting up the rest of this passage here. He says that no matter what, we are slaves. Now we might be naturally repulsed by that statement. On top of the negative feelings around slavery, We innately also have a natural response of, I am the captain of my own ship. I don't like, don't tell me that someone else is in control. It's not what I like. We don't like being controlled. We don't like when someone else is calling the shots for us. We want to be at the helm. We want to be making the decisions. We like a certain independence. The Bible, however, is pretty clear that that mindset, that desire, comes from sin. It comes from a place of rebelling against God, who we were made to be in partnership with, not independent from. So this is the question that Paul presents. Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey? Whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness. Paul is starting at the assumption that all are slaves to sin. There is no neutral starting point. I think this is often how we think about it. Well, I was free, and then I became a slave to sin, or I can become a slave to righteousness. Paul is saying no.
The starting point is we are all slaves. From the very beginning, we are slaves to sin. Theologian Leon Morris writes this. He says, "For Paul, the basic assumption is that "all are slaves before they become believers in Christ. "They are not free to do as they will, "for they are subject to the bondage of sin." Notice that he, Paul, is not saying that slaves are required to obey their master, he is looking at it the other way around. The master we obey shows who's slaves we are. Unbelievers are slaves to sin, and this leads inevitably to death. But believers are slaves to obedience. So he is saying our actions, our choices, the decisions we make reveal who we serve. Paul is very clear that there are two options here. There's just two. We talked a little bit about this last week too. It's either being slaves to sin, which leads to death, or being slaves to obedience, or to God, which leads to life. So I just wanna ask us this morning, whom are you serving? What do your actions, your choices, the decisions you make, who do they reveal that you are serving? We'll continue in verse 17. It says, "But thanks be to God, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey." This is a high moment in the letter to the Romans. This is a moment of encouragement. This is great. Paul is encouraging them in what has happened in their lives. And there's a couple of things I want us to process in this verse, specifically about the transformation that has happened within the believers. The transforming work that yields obedience to God comes in two parts. First, it is the work of the Spirit, and it also comes from knowing the truth. So the first part is the work of transforming hearts is the work that only the Spirit can do. As believers, we cannot work on our own hearts and make it into something good. That's the work of God, to come in within us, form us, to sanctify us. Ezekiel 36:26 says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. So the first part is the work of the spirit.
The second part is the pattern of teaching. The accepted Christian teaching, the truth of God. This is the knowledge that is transforming our minds, renewing our minds, rewiring how we process and understand the world around us, how to process life as it happens. So first we have the work of God in our hearts, and then through the teaching, through his scripture, our minds are also transformed. These are two essential ingredients for believers, a heart that has been touched by God, and a mind that is learning God's truth. They are present here in the Church of Rome, and Paul is expressing encouragement and gratitude, saying, "Hey, your church has experienced God. "I see it in your lives. "This is good, be encouraged." And a question for us this morning, is that present here at Spring Valley Church? I believe it is. Have you experienced the transforming work of the Spirit in your heart? Are you also learning the truth, the knowledge that renews your mind? Again, I hope the answer is yes. And now in the rest of the passage, Paul explains their reality to them with a bold new imagery He puts before them the situation that they have gone through. In verse 18, it says, "You have been set free from sin "and have become slaves to righteousness." Now I know, we read that and think, they went from slavery to slavery. That doesn't sound that great. That doesn't sound like a great situation. Slavery is bad, yes, slavery is bad. But again, Paul is using the situation they are familiar with to express their spiritual reality. So this is what he says at the beginning of 19, and he's building upon some assumptions here that make the situation more palpable and make it make sense to us.
In Paul's scenario, again, he's emphasizing, we didn't start from freedom and fall into slavery to sin. We were always slaves to sin. And I said that before, you're gonna hear it again. Paul's gonna say it again. It's so important for us to think that because we will always have this natural tension of control in our lives. It's part of the biggest issue with sin that we have. We want to be in control. It's the original sin of Adam and Eve, of Satan falling from, we want control. We want to be like God. And so we were always slaves to sin. That was our starting point. And Paul's also saying, we will always be slaves to something, either sin or obedience to God. So in verse 18, he is rejoicing that they are now slaves to God, meaning they will have eternal life. Their decision from their heart, from their mind, all those, their life now bends towards God. Verse 19, he says, "Just as you used to offer yourselves "as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, "now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness, leading to holiness. Paul needed to exhort them, instruct them to obey God, because just like that story at the very beginning of the enemy attacking, even when the war was, you know, pretty much over, that is our reality. Sin is still attacking. Sin is still looking for ways to get at us. And that thing, that person that you might have served before you were saved, that you might have worshipped, that might have dictated your life, isn't completely gone. So let's say you worshipped success in life, you valued success. You would make, even though maybe you are no longer a complete slave to success, you're now a slave to obedience, you can still struggle with that sin. And you can make every decision to experience success, even if that meant breaking God's law. If you worshiped money, that sin, that hold of money over your life might mean that in a moment you would do whatever it takes to maybe make more money, even if it meant breaking God's law. Or let's say there was a person that you wanted to please in life, you would do whatever it takes to make that person happy, even if it meant breaking God's law. So even though the believers in Rome are experiencing the transforming work of God in their hearts and knowing God's truth, they are still struggling to choose to obey God. They are still going back to old masters. That's a reality that we experience today too. If you are saved, if you believe in Christ, you are still dealing with sin in your life. The old masters still calling. And there are moments in our life where we choose to go and listen and obey that instead of God. I don't know if you've ever had a pet. Maybe some of you have pets, or specifically a dog. But you've probably had to train that dog. And training dogs, I only have one experience. I have one dog, only for six months. It's not about the dog, that was more about me. Dog was great. It was a season. But I started training that dog, and that was very hard. There was a lot of bad habits or natural habits for the dog to break. So like peeing inside or outside for the dog. You know, obviously outside. And it would get rewarded every time it did the right thing. You get a little treat, good job. Or something like chewing on furniture. It was puppy, so puppy phase of chewing on everything. My dog, I didn't necessarily give it a treat for not chewing, but it experienced my transforming love every time it did not chew on furniture. But still-- that's a joke. I don't know if I have transforming love for a dog. Obviously not, I don't have a dog anymore. But the dog still, even though if it knew the right thing, it still would tend to do the old thing. And I think that's what Paul is, it's going through Paul's head right here. It's like you still, you know, you've experienced the goodness of obedience in God, but we still, everyone smiles, still go back to sin.
Paul is coaxing them along in this letter saying, "You guys can do it, I know you can. "I see you slip every once in a while "and listen to that old master, "but keep doing the right thing. "Now that you know your minds are being transformed, "your heart has been touched by God, "keep choosing obedience to God." In verse 20 and 21 it says, "When you were slaves to sin, "you were free from the control of righteousness. "What benefit did you reap at that time "from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death. Paul makes it very clear that you are enslaved to sin from the beginning, and that being enslaved to sin only leads to death. Even if those things, those sins, where some brought you pleasure, felt good in the moment, it still leads to death. Wouldn't avoiding sin be a lot easier if there wasn't any pleasure involved? if it wasn't like, usually sin starts from a good thing, or something that we enjoy, and then there's too much of it, usually, most sins. It would be so much easier if sin was just like bad all around. It's like, no, of course I'm not going to do that. It's terrible. But experiencing success, wealth, pleasing a person, eating good food, all these things bring a certain level of pleasure to our senses. At some point God created those things for us to enjoy, but when we chase and serve and pursue Pleasure, we are no longer chasing and serving and pursuing God. God has become secondary to our desire for pleasure. Paul explains, again, their situation. He says that the believers in Rome used to be slaves of sin, and where did they get that? Or where did that get them? On the fast track to death. And this didn't mean a physical death necessarily, maybe, but more importantly, it meant the death of their soul. You see, sin corrupts, eats away at, and destroys our soul. What's that saying when you eat sweets? It's like a moment on the lips and forever on the hips. That's like sin, but like a million times worse. Like a moment of goodness, and then like your soul is destroyed. It's terrible. That will make you think twice next time you have that sweet. You're like, "Oh my goodness." Paul then again expresses this other option. So a moment of pleasure or sin, but at the cost of your soul.
The other option, verse 22, "But now that you've been set free from sin and become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." So what does being slaves to righteousness get you? Being made holy. Being made more and more into the image of Christ. Living a life that is closer and closer to what God intended. being the men and women that God created us to be. Whereas sin rots our soul and destroys and kills our soul, being slaves to God is life-bringing, renews our hearts and our souls. So obeying God, following God, brings life. Psalm 16:11 says, "You make known to me the path of life. "You will fill me with joy in your presence, "with eternal pleasures at your right hand." And then 1 John 5:12 says, is whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. Scripture is very clear that pursuing God brings life. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, there are stories upon stories of God bringing life. Sometimes it's a physical life. In the Old Testament, from Noah to Abraham to Moses to the Israelites to David, the only hope of a future, of a life even on earth was through Yahweh. He provided the only way for more life. And now in the New Testament, we talk about our eternal life and the only way is through Christ. For us today, entrusting our everything, our entire life to Jesus, is what brings life into our souls. On our own, without Jesus, our souls naturally just rot away and wither and die. And there was only one remedy. The only thing that can bring life to our souls is Christ. There's nothing else, nothing in this world, nothing that we can do on our own. The only remedy to sin is Christ. He is the source of life. Paul ends chapter six with this verse, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul is wrapping up this thought and trying to make it abundantly clear. German theologian H. W. Heidlin wrote, "Sin promises life but gives death." I love that summary, that what sin is actually doing. It looks good, right? Just like Adam and Eve in the garden. There's something appealing about something else. Again, we wouldn't want to sin. We wouldn't make that decision to sin. So sin promises life, but only gives death. Death isn't an arbitrary sentence, but the inevitable consequence of sin. It's a literal ending point for our lives. The other option is a gift, a free gift from God. And Paul uses the term gift here to emphasize the freeness found in this option. It's not a reward for the life that you have lived. You didn't earn it, but it's a complete gift from God. Paul is emphasizing the reality that slavery is not just a status, but a living experience. There's not just like in the book of life, your name, not the book of life, whatever book that, forget that analogy, it's not gonna work. (audience laughing) Whatever status is next to your name, it's not just slave to sin or slave to obedience. It is what you live, it is your experience. Dr. Gary Brashears, a professor and theologian, writes, "We have the first taste "of a number of eschatological blessings, "but the consummation and final fulfillment "is yet in the future." This is the idea that as believers, Heaven is already, but not fully yet. We have a glimpse, but not the full thing. And I think that's true of both eternal destinations, heaven and hell. For those living in sin, they are currently getting a taste of hell, a life void of God without His love and truth. Part of that reality is present. And for those who are enslaved to righteousness, they are getting a taste of heaven, a life full of God's presence, full of love, full of truth. I don't think we today often live in that reality, even as believers. The reality that our eternal destination is not so far in the future, that it doesn't affect us now. We tend to put it off and say, well, that's at the end. That's not right now. It's, I don't even think about it. Some of us are really future thinkers, future oriented, and we're great planners. You might have like a 5 to 10 year plan. You're like, I know general direction, where I'm going, and what should be happening. Others of us are not that way. Like, hey, what are you excited about this year? And you're like, I'm just trying to figure out dinner for tonight. I have no idea. I'm like somewhere in the middle, but lean towards what's for dinner tonight.
What would it look like for you to live your life with your eternal destiny, your presence with or without God at the forefront of your mind? How would your day be different if you were more present and aware of the life that Jesus is giving your soul each day? Or if you were choosing sin in that moment, or that day, or that season of life, what if you were more aware of the destruction and the corruption and the ruin that that sin was bringing to your life? Might we be more conscious of the decisions we make? And might we strive to take better care of our hearts and our minds, and be more intentional in what we allow in our hearts and what is coming out of our hearts. Maybe we'd be more thoughtful and careful about who is sitting on the throne within us. We might be more aware of the possible attacks of the enemy and how sin might be creeping back into our lives. So as I close, I just wanna ask these questions again. From verse 16, whom are you serving? What are your actions, your choices, the decisions you make, who do they reveal you are serving? And then from verse 17, have you experienced the transforming work of the Spirit in your heart? And are you learning the truth, the knowledge that renews your mind? And then from this last verse, 23, what would it look like for you to live your life with your eternal destiny at the forefront of your mind? Church, as you answer these questions right now, throughout this week, you ponder them, I wanna remind you that in your pursuit of God, you are not alone. The people in this room are also with you. This is your community, these are your people. And we are all looking to pursue God. We're all looking to chase after God. And I love this image of all of us, wherever we're at, some of us, 30 years of following God, some of us, six months of following God. All of us are heading towards him. And what an encouragement to see when someone slips to be like, "Hey, I got you. "Let me help you up. "Let's keep going." As we live to be more like Jesus, as we pursue him together, what a glimpse of heaven here on earth, where his kingdom is at the forefront of our minds. These are people in this room who you can be vulnerable with, you can open up with, who can encourage you and who you might need to encourage. So that's our prayer today, that God would use this church, this community for His kingdom. As it says on our wall, that He would saturate this community with His glory. Amen?
Let's pray. God, again, thank you for your Word. Man, we are so thankful for the work that you are doing in our lives. When you transform our hearts, God, in the continuing sanctification that we are going through, making us more and more like Jesus, we're so thankful for that. There's nothing we can do but allow you to work in us. And then, God, we just pray that you continue to put forth your patterns of truth, your word, God, through teaching, through reading, through singing, all these ways that we soak in your truth. I pray that it would truly transform our minds. The way we look at the world process would all be more like how you see the world. God, fill us with your love, with your grace, your compassion, and I pray that you would reveal to us who is sitting on the throne of our hearts. You would make that clear, and if it demands a change, God, help us to make that change. God, we wanna offer our lives as a sacrifice to you, that you would use us as instruments of righteousness, instruments for your kingdom. God, thank you for this church right here, Spring Valley. I pray that we would be emboldened and strengthened to come together to pursue you and chase after you. This is not a journey that is meant to be done alone, but to be done together as a body of believers. So help us to love our friends, our family, sitting next to us and across the room. God help us to have a mind and a heart that reaches out to them and wants to encourage them and help us to be open to receiving encouragement from others. God continue to transform this entire church that we may be a light into this community here at Rocklin. We know that you are working and we're thankful for it and we take joy and get excited about the work that you will continue to do as we look forward into the future. God, we give you all this. We sing your praises. Amen.
Guys, thank you for being here this morning. And we look forward to continuing our series. Look forward to seeing you midweek, but we hope you have a great weekend. All right. Be blessed. - Thanks for listening. And if you would, please take a moment to subscribe and leave an encouraging review to help others find our podcasts on whatever platform you are listening on. We hope you have a wonderful day. We'll catch you next week.