WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.200 Music. 00:00:05.044 --> 00:00:09.544 Copy of the scripture with you, I'm going to ask you to open up to Romans chapter 6 this morning. 00:00:16.844 --> 00:00:20.024 And we're going to be dealing with, at least in some way, shape, 00:00:20.084 --> 00:00:22.924 or form, the entirety of Romans 6. 00:00:23.764 --> 00:00:26.124 It's not very long. It's 23 verses. 00:00:29.664 --> 00:00:35.384 Paul, it's kind of broken up, in most of our Bibles, it's broken up into two main main sections. 00:00:36.844 --> 00:00:42.564 But as we're going to see, those sections essentially are Paul saying the same thing. 00:00:42.964 --> 00:00:46.604 He's just saying them in two different ways so that they can be kind of like 00:00:46.604 --> 00:00:50.984 understood by maybe two different types of people, right? 00:00:51.124 --> 00:00:56.144 You know, so sometimes you have to explain the same thing one way for one group 00:00:56.144 --> 00:01:00.264 of people, and you got to find a different way to explain it and teach it to 00:01:00.264 --> 00:01:04.964 another group of people so that there's like a comprehensive understanding. 00:01:05.144 --> 00:01:07.284 That's kind of what Romans 6 does, right? 00:01:07.864 --> 00:01:10.804 It's not a different message. It's just a different way of saying it. 00:01:10.864 --> 00:01:11.644 We'll see that in a moment. 00:01:11.724 --> 00:01:17.364 But he opens up Romans chapter 6 here with this rhetorical type of question. 00:01:18.904 --> 00:01:23.444 The whole thing opens up and it says this. It says, It says, what shall we say then? 00:01:23.704 --> 00:01:30.544 Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 00:01:32.924 --> 00:01:38.324 This is not the first time that he's going to say something like this or ask this type of question. 00:01:40.304 --> 00:01:45.324 He's going to say it later in verse 15 as well. 00:01:45.484 --> 00:01:50.724 But I say that this is a somewhat rhetorical question that Paul asks because 00:01:50.724 --> 00:01:55.244 although Paul maybe meant it to be rhetorical, you know, like a rhetorical question 00:01:55.244 --> 00:01:58.264 is a question that the answer is already assumed, 00:01:58.404 --> 00:02:05.944 but you ask the question in order to make a point about what everyone knows the answer already is. 00:02:08.033 --> 00:02:14.893 And so I think Paul obviously meant it to be rhetorical, but here's the thing. 00:02:14.993 --> 00:02:22.833 The very reality of rhetorical questions is that they usually address a pervasive 00:02:22.833 --> 00:02:29.073 issue, mindset, or belief that exists in reality, right? 00:02:29.073 --> 00:02:37.813 That a rhetorical question is asked because there is some issue that is pervasive 00:02:37.813 --> 00:02:45.173 or that's happening or that exists in our minds or in the community or whatever. 00:02:45.613 --> 00:02:51.133 And I think that what Paul does here in asking this question is he gives himself 00:02:51.133 --> 00:02:58.853 an opportunity to address the issue that he sees and that he knows sits sometimes 00:02:58.853 --> 00:03:03.593 at the heart of all of us who follow Jesus, okay? 00:03:03.733 --> 00:03:08.953 He asked the rhetorical question to kind of like give himself an underhand pitch 00:03:08.953 --> 00:03:11.273 to knock it out of the park with the answer. 00:03:11.453 --> 00:03:16.613 And that's what Romans chapter six is. It's an opportunity for Paul to ask this 00:03:16.613 --> 00:03:18.973 question or to answer this question. 00:03:19.053 --> 00:03:20.293 But the reality is, it's not just 00:03:20.293 --> 00:03:24.793 a question that Paul deals with here in Romans or for the Roman people. 00:03:24.793 --> 00:03:30.953 It is actually a question that I am willing to bet that each one of us has wrestled 00:03:30.953 --> 00:03:36.673 with or an idea that each one of us has wrestled with at some point in our walk with Jesus, 00:03:36.853 --> 00:03:41.233 no matter if we've been walking with him for five minutes or for the last 40 years. 00:03:42.313 --> 00:03:47.893 Because the contemporary version of this question, shall we go on sinning so 00:03:47.893 --> 00:03:49.093 that grace may increase? 00:03:49.093 --> 00:03:56.853 Greece, the contemporary version of this question is probably most accurately 00:03:56.853 --> 00:04:00.153 phrased as like a statement more than a question. 00:04:00.273 --> 00:04:06.933 And it's something that our hearts can sometimes get to the point of making 00:04:06.933 --> 00:04:10.933 this really illogical conclusion, all right? 00:04:11.633 --> 00:04:14.853 Maybe at some point in your life, sometime in your walk with Jesus, 00:04:14.933 --> 00:04:18.313 you've come to a point where you've said something internally, 00:04:18.533 --> 00:04:22.713 you've felt this sentiment in your heart, but it's gone something like this. 00:04:22.833 --> 00:04:28.453 Well, you know, as a follower of Jesus, as a Christian, as a disciple of Jesus, 00:04:28.713 --> 00:04:33.273 you know, I know that I shouldn't do that. 00:04:34.933 --> 00:04:36.173 I know I shouldn't. 00:04:38.659 --> 00:04:42.439 I shouldn't say that thing. I shouldn't have that thought. I shouldn't be in 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:44.739 that relationship. I shouldn't make that decision. 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:49.059 I shouldn't do that thing. I shouldn't do that. 00:04:49.699 --> 00:04:51.299 But I really want to. 00:04:52.659 --> 00:04:57.219 But I really want to. And we do a really, really good job. 00:04:57.379 --> 00:05:04.399 Like, listen, I am the best salesman for my bad decisions. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:08.459 Decisions like I can talk myself into my bad 00:05:08.459 --> 00:05:11.339 decisions like like no one you have ever met 00:05:11.339 --> 00:05:14.939 before right I am a fantastic salesman for 00:05:14.939 --> 00:05:21.619 my own bad decisions and we regularly normalize rationalize and generalize the 00:05:21.619 --> 00:05:27.459 sin of our bad decisions because it's a choice that we want to make even if 00:05:27.459 --> 00:05:32.899 we know that we shouldn't and so we get to a place of being like you know yeah 00:05:32.899 --> 00:05:34.279 I know No, as a follower of Jesus, 00:05:34.419 --> 00:05:38.279 I know I shouldn't do that, but I really want to do that. 00:05:39.539 --> 00:05:46.199 So even though I know better, I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to do it anyway. 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:55.539 And I kind of feel bad about it, but really, you know, I mean, it's okay. 00:05:55.539 --> 00:06:00.739 Hey, it's okay because in a day or two, 00:06:00.919 --> 00:06:05.479 once kind of like the initial thing has worn off, I'll just, 00:06:05.619 --> 00:06:11.419 I will go to the Lord and I will ask for forgiveness and it will be fine. 00:06:13.159 --> 00:06:16.199 I can continue to do the things that I want to do generally, 00:06:16.299 --> 00:06:21.239 even though I know I shouldn't because grace and forgiveness exists. 00:06:25.899 --> 00:06:29.439 This is the rhetorical question that Paul is asking. 00:06:29.619 --> 00:06:36.159 Shall we go on sinning just so grace can increase? 00:06:37.999 --> 00:06:42.939 Shall we continue to do the things of our old self? 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:49.719 Shall we continue to do the things that Christ has put to death on the cross through faith? 00:06:49.899 --> 00:06:54.519 Shall we continue to do those things just because there is grace? 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:57.759 Just because there is forgiveness? 00:07:00.219 --> 00:07:02.579 And Paul answers his own question. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:07.360 Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Verse two, 00:07:07.460 --> 00:07:14.480 by no means, by no means we have died to sin. 00:07:14.620 --> 00:07:16.980 How can we live in it any longer? 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:23.880 It's almost like Paul asked the question so that he could answer the question 00:07:23.880 --> 00:07:27.100 in a definitive type of way. 00:07:27.220 --> 00:07:31.200 Like everyone knew the answer, but no one was talking about it. 00:07:31.260 --> 00:07:37.480 So Paul's like, let me ask a question that gives me the opportunity to say the answer out loud. 00:07:37.820 --> 00:07:39.920 Shall we go on sinning? By no 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:44.800 means. We have died to sin. How could we possibly live in it any longer? 00:07:45.440 --> 00:07:53.600 And for us, as well as the Romans, we are given a powerful, powerful reminder in Romans chapter six, 00:07:54.400 --> 00:08:02.600 of the power of the gospel to set us free from the power of sin. 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:09.040 To set us free from our bondage to sin, 00:08:09.200 --> 00:08:15.820 to set people free with the gospel and into a life of victory from the wages 00:08:15.820 --> 00:08:18.760 of sin that Paul says in verse 23 is death, 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:24.060 and the power of sin, which Paul says is slavery. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:31.720 See, sometimes we get into this mindset that even as we are in Christ, 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:35.540 even as we are living in relationship with Christ, 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:43.520 that we ultimately have no power to resist the temptation of sin. 00:08:45.699 --> 00:08:50.939 We are, at the end of the day, I know I'm going to do it anyway, 00:08:51.239 --> 00:08:55.499 so I'm just going to go ahead and do it, and then I'm going to ask the Lord for forgiveness. 00:08:55.619 --> 00:09:02.679 We throw up our hands as if Paul's words about the gospel are not true. 00:09:03.899 --> 00:09:09.379 That the gospel doesn't have the power to free us from sin. 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:16.359 That the gospel does not have the power to let us live in victory over sin and 00:09:16.359 --> 00:09:19.179 be a slave not to sin any longer, 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:25.059 but to be a slave instead to righteousness that leads to holiness, 00:09:25.159 --> 00:09:27.339 that leads to eternal life. 00:09:27.339 --> 00:09:42.439 We willfully adopt an identity of defeat where the gospel continues to communicate that in all things, 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:45.519 especially in our relationship with sin, 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:49.899 Jesus Christ has been victorious. 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:56.359 Victorious, and that by faith we are united with him, not just in life, 00:09:56.419 --> 00:09:59.239 but in victory over death and sin. 00:10:00.579 --> 00:10:07.279 We are not powerless over sin. We are not powerless over temptation. 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:12.219 We are no longer bound with the chains of sin and death, 00:10:12.319 --> 00:10:19.819 but God through Christ has given to us a new identity so that now we may walk 00:10:19.819 --> 00:10:23.379 and live in the victory of being set free. 00:10:26.499 --> 00:10:32.139 But how many times, listen, how many times do we go back to the old man that 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:36.239 has been set free from sin and we get down on our hands and knees and we're 00:10:36.239 --> 00:10:38.739 like giving this guy CPR. 00:10:39.239 --> 00:10:41.879 Like, man, we want sin back. 00:10:43.419 --> 00:10:49.319 We want to go back to the place place, we want to go back to the place of being 00:10:49.319 --> 00:10:50.899 like, yeah, I know that was set. 00:10:50.979 --> 00:10:55.079 I know the old man in me has been crucified with Jesus. 00:10:55.199 --> 00:10:58.659 I know that the life of sin has been dead in me. 00:10:58.739 --> 00:11:02.039 It has been put in the grave. It did not resurrect with Jesus Christ. 00:11:02.119 --> 00:11:03.539 Only life came from that. 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:09.559 But I'm going to go back to this old me and I'm going to do CPR on it because, right, I want to. 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:15.940 And it feels good. And there's forgiveness anyway, right? 00:11:19.020 --> 00:11:23.340 Paul's answer to this question, shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:26.460 Of course, we read is in verse two. It says, we died to sin. 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:31.700 How can we live in it any longer? There's a really important point. 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:34.980 I want you to see and understand and get up here. 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:39.460 We don't often talk about like, or I guess we do, 00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:42.640 but like listen we we 00:11:42.640 --> 00:11:45.420 in american christianity we have 00:11:45.420 --> 00:11:48.320 an idea that transformation of our 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:53.980 life transformation of our heart and our soul simply comes with more knowledge 00:11:53.980 --> 00:12:00.840 right we just need more information we don't actually need the spirit's indwelling 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:06.440 of us to transform us right we don't actually need the work of the Spirit, right? 00:12:06.660 --> 00:12:11.760 And the work of pursuing intimate relationship with God, the hard work of pursuing 00:12:11.760 --> 00:12:13.980 intimate relationship with God in order to be transformed. 00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:19.460 We just need to know more up here. So we read the books and we listen to the podcasts and we watch. 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:22.740 You come to church on a Sunday morning and then you go home and you watch your 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:24.240 favorite preacher online as well. 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:27.180 And then you maybe listen to a podcast tonight as you're going to bed. 00:12:27.340 --> 00:12:31.620 You just need more information, right? And information precedes transformation. 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:38.240 Well, Information is important, and yes, knowledge is absolutely important, 00:12:38.500 --> 00:12:41.820 but knowledge is not everything. We are not just brains, right? 00:12:41.980 --> 00:12:46.900 We are also bodies. We have souls. We have emotions, right? 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:52.340 That God has created us as holistic, complete beings, and that if we do not 00:12:52.340 --> 00:12:56.600 attend to our whole selves in the process of transformation, 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:01.340 then we will be just really smart and informed formed deeply, 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:03.720 deeply dark sinners. 00:13:06.819 --> 00:13:11.499 Having every bit of theological knowledge up here, but having no application 00:13:11.499 --> 00:13:14.459 of it in our lives that brings transformation. 00:13:15.839 --> 00:13:19.739 But what Paul is going to say here in Romans chapter 6 is actually, 00:13:19.819 --> 00:13:26.039 is like, hey, have you forgot what you know about who you are? 00:13:28.019 --> 00:13:34.239 Have you forgotten about what you know about who you are? In this case, 00:13:34.379 --> 00:13:42.899 Paul is going to be like, I need you to remember who you are in Jesus. 00:13:44.719 --> 00:13:50.699 This whole section in chapter 6 is not Paul saying, this is what's possible if you do X and Y. 00:13:52.739 --> 00:13:55.639 This is what's going to happen if you just take these steps. 00:13:56.019 --> 00:13:59.099 What Paul is going to say is like, you've already taken the steps. 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:07.799 You've already done the things. somehow, some way, you have forgotten who you 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:15.459 are and you have gone back to operating under the identity of the one who is still in bondage to sin, 00:14:16.299 --> 00:14:18.499 who is still chained up in slavery. 00:14:19.219 --> 00:14:22.519 But that's not who you are, Paul says, okay? 00:14:24.479 --> 00:14:31.379 We died to sin. Is that present, past, or future? 00:14:32.259 --> 00:14:36.519 We have died to sin, right? How can we live in any longer? 00:14:36.719 --> 00:14:40.159 Paul is talking about a reality that has happened in the past, 00:14:40.719 --> 00:14:42.839 something that has already happened. 00:14:44.719 --> 00:14:48.839 We have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Look at verse 3 and 4. 00:14:49.899 --> 00:14:52.539 Don't you know that all of us 00:14:52.539 --> 00:14:57.899 who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Right? 00:14:59.158 --> 00:15:07.158 We were, therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death in order 00:15:07.158 --> 00:15:10.918 that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, 00:15:11.078 --> 00:15:14.398 we too may live that same life. 00:15:15.518 --> 00:15:21.438 We too may live that same life. Paul is talking here not about the possibility 00:15:21.438 --> 00:15:24.878 of what can happen in the future, right? Right? 00:15:25.578 --> 00:15:30.698 He's talking about what has already happened in you and I through faith in Jesus. 00:15:30.918 --> 00:15:33.838 We have already believed on Jesus. 00:15:34.618 --> 00:15:40.158 We have already expressed faith in Jesus for our righteousness, 00:15:40.438 --> 00:15:42.918 right? We talked about this last week in Romans chapter 5, right? 00:15:42.998 --> 00:15:50.318 That the righteousness of God comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ as a free gift of his grace. 00:15:51.478 --> 00:15:56.178 He's talking here not to the hopeful future Christian, although we can hear 00:15:56.178 --> 00:15:58.738 that, right? We can hear that voice. 00:15:59.138 --> 00:16:05.078 He's talking to those who have already expressed that they have faith in Jesus 00:16:05.078 --> 00:16:12.978 to justify them from their sin and make them righteous before God. 00:16:14.358 --> 00:16:20.238 And so he's saying to them, do you not remember where you have come from? 00:16:20.238 --> 00:16:24.418 Paul is talking about what has already happened. 00:16:25.838 --> 00:16:31.758 And because of what has happened, because you have been united with Christ in 00:16:31.758 --> 00:16:36.138 his death, because you have been united with Christ in his resurrection to new 00:16:36.138 --> 00:16:39.918 life, because this is who you are, 00:16:40.718 --> 00:16:42.898 he says this in verse five and six. 00:16:43.638 --> 00:16:48.858 If you have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also 00:16:48.858 --> 00:16:50.538 be united with him in his resurrection. 00:16:51.058 --> 00:16:52.618 For we know, listen. 00:16:55.218 --> 00:16:57.738 Are we listening? For we know. 00:17:00.198 --> 00:17:05.018 We know it. It's here already. We don't need more information in this case. 00:17:05.658 --> 00:17:08.518 We know it. For we know. 00:17:10.358 --> 00:17:19.518 For we know that our old self, our old self was crucified with him so that the 00:17:19.518 --> 00:17:22.678 body of sin might be done away with, 00:17:23.658 --> 00:17:28.938 that we should no longer be slaves to sin. 00:17:31.747 --> 00:17:38.127 That we should no longer be slaves to sin. Our old self has been crucified. 00:17:39.407 --> 00:17:42.467 It has died with him on the cross. 00:17:42.767 --> 00:17:48.687 And so now we know that we have been set free from sin. 00:17:50.107 --> 00:17:54.687 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin 00:17:54.687 --> 00:18:00.607 might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone 00:18:00.607 --> 00:18:04.347 who has died has been freed from sin. 00:18:06.327 --> 00:18:10.087 Well, pastor, I don't think you understand. Like I just, like I, 00:18:12.607 --> 00:18:17.047 yes, I've accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Yes, I believe on him by faith 00:18:17.047 --> 00:18:18.887 for the justification of my soul. 00:18:19.007 --> 00:18:23.267 Yes, I have received the righteousness of God and imputed to me through God 00:18:23.267 --> 00:18:24.507 as a gift from Jesus Christ. 00:18:24.627 --> 00:18:28.727 But like I am powerless against this sin. I am powerless against this. 00:18:29.107 --> 00:18:33.187 I cannot help myself. I have to do it. I have to think it. I have to go over 00:18:33.187 --> 00:18:34.627 here. I have to be in this relationship. 00:18:34.887 --> 00:18:38.447 I have to, have to, have to, have to, have to, have to, have to. You want to. 00:18:39.967 --> 00:18:40.767 You want to. 00:18:44.087 --> 00:18:45.207 You want to do it. 00:18:48.307 --> 00:18:54.267 Because the power of the gospel in the genuine reception of faith through Jesus 00:18:54.267 --> 00:18:57.467 Christ has set us free from the power of sin. 00:18:57.467 --> 00:19:02.807 Either the power of the gospel is not strong enough to set you free from your sin, 00:19:02.927 --> 00:19:12.307 or you just want to and are living a life of continued defeat in saying, 00:19:12.307 --> 00:19:13.847 well, I'm powerless against it. 00:19:16.308 --> 00:19:21.988 Where all of the witness of the gospel is that no, no, in your unification with 00:19:21.988 --> 00:19:26.648 Jesus Christ through faith, the body of sin in your life has been put to death. 00:19:26.868 --> 00:19:31.428 You have been united with Jesus, not just in his death, but also in his resurrection. 00:19:31.688 --> 00:19:37.248 And that resurrection has put sin to death. And now it gives you victory into new life. 00:19:37.388 --> 00:19:43.328 So you can either believe that, right? And all that comes from it, 00:19:43.388 --> 00:19:50.168 or we can stand over here and say, yeah, I'm the exception to the gospel rule. 00:19:52.688 --> 00:19:57.328 And listen, I'm not trying to be cute or anything like that. 00:20:00.168 --> 00:20:13.588 I understand how sometimes it feels as though, though, it feels as though we are, we just like, 00:20:14.388 --> 00:20:16.628 I can't have victory over this. 00:20:18.288 --> 00:20:23.748 I'll never experience victory over this. I will never be able to escape the 00:20:23.748 --> 00:20:26.708 chains of this sin. I will never be able to walk away. 00:20:27.048 --> 00:20:32.168 Listen, I understand how that feels. 00:20:34.968 --> 00:20:35.688 I do. 00:20:37.968 --> 00:20:43.708 Hold on to this for a second, okay? But what Paul is talking about here is he's talking, like we said, 00:20:43.808 --> 00:20:48.328 he's talking to the people that have already received the righteousness of God 00:20:48.328 --> 00:20:52.988 as a gift from heaven through the justification that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. 00:20:53.248 --> 00:20:57.448 He's not saying if you did a few more of these things that this would be true. 00:20:57.648 --> 00:21:05.208 What he's doing is he is reminding us and reminding them of their current identity. 00:21:05.208 --> 00:21:11.568 Identity, who they are, not what they feel like. 00:21:14.859 --> 00:21:21.059 This is who you are, Paul says. He says you have been united with Christ through faith. 00:21:21.539 --> 00:21:28.799 Your old self has been put to death. You have been raised to new life in victory over sin. 00:21:28.999 --> 00:21:35.359 This is not something that you just feel. This is something that you need to know. 00:21:35.739 --> 00:21:39.399 It is not something that you're like, I don't know, maybe I'll be united with Christ. 00:21:39.459 --> 00:21:45.419 No, you either are or you are not, right? It is something that you are, 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:47.499 not something that you simply know. 00:21:47.719 --> 00:21:53.259 They have been set free from sin. We are united with Christ in his resurrection. 00:21:53.619 --> 00:21:56.879 The body of sin in us has been put to death. 00:21:57.339 --> 00:22:03.499 They are not, we are no longer the old man, the old person chained by the power 00:22:03.499 --> 00:22:10.299 of sin and no longer in control of any of our decisions, enslaved beyond our own volition. 00:22:10.939 --> 00:22:16.319 That person has been put to death in Jesus Christ and we have been set free in victory. 00:22:17.539 --> 00:22:21.839 And he restates the whole thing in verse 11. 00:22:21.999 --> 00:22:26.019 He kind of sums everything up here in Romans 6, verse 11. 00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:35.179 He says this, in the same way, count or some versions say reckon or apply or 00:22:35.179 --> 00:22:37.459 take, take this reality. 00:22:37.459 --> 00:22:41.839 Reality and like, if over here is a reality, he's going to like pick up the 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:45.719 reality and he's going to place it on top of your life, right? 00:22:46.659 --> 00:22:52.119 Reckon, count yourself in the same way, right? 00:22:52.939 --> 00:22:57.959 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:22:58.099 --> 00:23:04.679 How many of us living in states of perpetual defeat from our sin would consider 00:23:04.679 --> 00:23:09.779 ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:23:10.939 --> 00:23:16.119 Many of us would say that, well, sin is alive in my body and it is warring against 00:23:16.119 --> 00:23:23.699 me and I am constantly fighting against it and I can't get victory and I'm always 00:23:23.699 --> 00:23:26.759 in a state of love, defeat, right? 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:33.379 It's because we have not rightly applied the identity that we are given through 00:23:33.379 --> 00:23:36.419 faith in Jesus Christ to our own selves. 00:23:36.479 --> 00:23:43.499 And we willfully and continually walk in an identity of defeat and sin where 00:23:43.499 --> 00:23:50.219 the gospel tells us to count yourselves dead to sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. 00:23:53.010 --> 00:24:00.350 And the reason, one of the reasons that we do that is because we love, we love. 00:24:05.290 --> 00:24:13.330 We have a really difficult time operating in life from the basis or the foundation of our identity. 00:24:15.470 --> 00:24:21.330 We want to operate our life from the basis or the foundation of our feelings. 00:24:23.170 --> 00:24:24.310 From our emotions. 00:24:29.410 --> 00:24:34.370 This is especially true, and you've heard me preach on this before, 00:24:34.470 --> 00:24:36.010 and I'm going to preach on it again this year. 00:24:36.490 --> 00:24:40.570 I'm going to do a series on forgiveness, I think in the late summer, early fall. 00:24:40.730 --> 00:24:43.690 We've preached on this before, but it's especially true when we look at something, 00:24:43.790 --> 00:24:45.110 for instance, like forgiveness. 00:24:47.690 --> 00:24:52.970 We have, like significant hurt has been done to us, right? Someone has sinned against us. 00:24:53.070 --> 00:24:55.930 Someone has caused injury in our life. 00:24:57.910 --> 00:25:00.870 And we read what the Bible says about forgiveness. 00:25:01.250 --> 00:25:04.350 For instance, in Matthew chapter 6, in the Sermon on the Mount, 00:25:04.450 --> 00:25:08.570 where Jesus, at the end of the Lord's Prayer, essentially says that if you do 00:25:08.570 --> 00:25:14.730 not forgive others when they have sinned against you, what? Your heavenly Father will what? 00:25:15.170 --> 00:25:20.350 Not forgive you of your sins. It's like Jesus could not be more crystal clear. 00:25:21.670 --> 00:25:25.870 About the dynamic of forgiveness in our lives. 00:25:27.870 --> 00:25:33.510 But we stand over here having been deeply hurt, having been deeply injured, right? 00:25:33.610 --> 00:25:39.310 Having experienced this emotional, mental, physical, spiritual, 00:25:39.470 --> 00:25:42.890 whatever it may be, pain, and we say something like this. 00:25:43.630 --> 00:25:50.810 I can't forgive this person because I don't, what? 00:25:51.510 --> 00:26:02.630 Feel like it. I don't want to. I don't feel like I am in a place of forgiveness yet. 00:26:03.370 --> 00:26:08.550 And what is happening in that situation is like we, 00:26:08.690 --> 00:26:15.790 as people who follow Jesus, are now making decisions about things that Jesus 00:26:15.790 --> 00:26:21.690 has said clearly, all based upon our feelings. Thank you. 00:26:26.112 --> 00:26:35.612 And when we make decisions based upon our feelings, we deny our identity, who we are. 00:26:37.232 --> 00:26:44.872 Because when it comes to forgiveness, what is our identity? We are forgiven. 00:26:47.812 --> 00:26:53.492 I am not, in the eyes of the Lord, I am not guilty of sin. 00:26:54.352 --> 00:27:00.912 I have been justified for my sin through faith in Jesus Christ. I have been forgiven. 00:27:01.072 --> 00:27:05.872 My identity now is not one who is dead in sin. 00:27:06.052 --> 00:27:10.052 My identity is one who is alive through faith in Jesus Christ, 00:27:10.212 --> 00:27:13.332 that I have the righteousness of Jesus Christ myself. 00:27:16.812 --> 00:27:24.092 Right? And so what happens now is we must make a decision about how we are going 00:27:24.092 --> 00:27:26.152 to walk in our spiritual lives. 00:27:26.232 --> 00:27:29.552 Are we going to walk according to how we always feel, 00:27:31.812 --> 00:27:35.592 and let our feelings dictate our actions? 00:27:36.752 --> 00:27:42.652 Or are we going to walk according to our identity, who we are in Jesus, 00:27:43.252 --> 00:27:49.012 and allow our identity and our knowledge and understanding of our identity Determine 00:27:49.012 --> 00:27:51.172 now the actions that we take, 00:27:53.232 --> 00:27:59.212 We want to wait until we feel like it You want me to give you a little bit of like insight into this? 00:27:59.652 --> 00:28:02.132 You're never going to feel like it. 00:28:05.512 --> 00:28:12.612 You won't You will never feel Like forgiving someone who has hurt you deeply. 00:28:15.949 --> 00:28:24.049 You will never feel like it. So you must make a decision to operate out of your 00:28:24.049 --> 00:28:26.129 identity as a forgiven person. 00:28:26.329 --> 00:28:28.289 Forgiven people forgive people. 00:28:30.529 --> 00:28:35.429 Forgiven people forgive people. That is your identity. I am a forgiven person. 00:28:35.729 --> 00:28:40.849 And so since that is my identity, what is the action that proceeds my identity? 00:28:41.109 --> 00:28:45.029 Well, I am a forgiven person. So the action that proceeds that is forgiveness. 00:28:46.269 --> 00:28:51.469 I will forgive because I have been forgiven. Or you can wait until you feel 00:28:51.469 --> 00:28:56.329 like it and you can abandon the identity that Jesus has given you himself. 00:28:57.649 --> 00:29:01.769 And this is the same principle that we're dealing with here in Romans chapter 00:29:01.769 --> 00:29:05.969 six, is that Paul is gonna say, he's gonna ask that question, 00:29:06.129 --> 00:29:07.869 shall we go on sitting so that grace may increase? 00:29:07.989 --> 00:29:11.469 By no means, why? Because we have been set free from sin. 00:29:12.569 --> 00:29:18.929 We are no longer in chains to it. It is not our identity any longer to be a 00:29:18.929 --> 00:29:25.849 people that live in perpetual defeat because of sin in our lives. That's not who we are. 00:29:27.529 --> 00:29:31.729 Sin has been put to death. We are united with Christ. 00:29:32.189 --> 00:29:36.089 We are now resurrected with Christ into new life. 00:29:36.169 --> 00:29:40.669 The body of sin in us has been put to death. That is who we are. 00:29:41.069 --> 00:29:49.009 That is our identity. We are no longer in chains, so stop acting like it. 00:29:54.849 --> 00:29:59.329 Stop going back and resuscitating the person that Jesus Christ has put to death. 00:30:11.886 --> 00:30:18.746 Verse 12 through 14. So if we're in verse 11, and he kind of sums it up, 00:30:18.786 --> 00:30:22.206 this whole thing, and he says, in the same way, count yourself dead to sin, 00:30:22.346 --> 00:30:24.786 but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:30:24.946 --> 00:30:27.666 That's the summary of our identity, right? 00:30:27.866 --> 00:30:32.906 We have been, we are dead to sin. We are alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:30:34.166 --> 00:30:39.486 Here is where, I'm gonna tell you, all of that we just talked about is the easy part. 00:30:42.546 --> 00:30:46.006 This is where it begins to get a little bit more difficult. 00:30:47.966 --> 00:30:52.706 Because once we reckon our identity correctly, 00:30:54.986 --> 00:31:02.446 once we understand who we are, I have been set free from sin, 00:31:02.546 --> 00:31:05.766 the power, and the penalty of sin through Jesus Christ. 00:31:05.766 --> 00:31:16.926 The next question is like a okay well then what does that require of me, 00:31:18.546 --> 00:31:28.546 what does my identity demand of me if i now know who i am is it enough to just know, 00:31:29.266 --> 00:31:34.366 it's not enough to just know it's important to know it's not enough to just know, 00:31:35.766 --> 00:31:38.806 Something then, something now must happen. 00:31:38.906 --> 00:31:44.246 And you see how Paul kind of does this, he begins to switch the conversation. 00:31:44.566 --> 00:31:51.826 He says, okay, you know all this, verses one through 11, now verse 12, therefore, 00:31:52.166 --> 00:32:01.006 because you know all this, therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body 00:32:01.006 --> 00:32:04.266 so that you obey its evil desires. 00:32:06.929 --> 00:32:12.549 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, 00:32:12.609 --> 00:32:19.869 but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death 00:32:19.869 --> 00:32:27.249 to life and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 00:32:28.789 --> 00:32:33.969 You see, he says there's two things that happen here, right? right? 00:32:34.009 --> 00:32:37.409 He says the process now becomes twofold. 00:32:37.629 --> 00:32:43.869 We understand who we are, so now we must make some decisions about how we're 00:32:43.869 --> 00:32:46.749 going to walk in the identity that we have. 00:32:46.929 --> 00:32:49.029 What are we going to do? 00:32:49.229 --> 00:32:52.389 It really involves two main things. 00:32:52.529 --> 00:32:56.469 There are things that we must leave behind in our life, and there are things 00:32:56.469 --> 00:32:58.169 that we must pick up in our life. 00:32:58.289 --> 00:33:02.589 There are directions that we must stop going, and there is a new direction that 00:33:02.589 --> 00:33:05.809 we must go with everything that is in us. 00:33:06.849 --> 00:33:12.449 If you look at verse 12, listen to this. Therefore, do not let sin reign in 00:33:12.449 --> 00:33:15.749 your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 00:33:15.969 --> 00:33:20.509 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness. 00:33:22.278 --> 00:33:30.998 It requires that we turn from the things that have kept us in the big pot of death, 00:33:31.278 --> 00:33:38.658 that has kept us in the grave, that we turn from them as a decision out of our 00:33:38.658 --> 00:33:41.518 own volition, based on who we are. 00:33:41.578 --> 00:33:44.438 I know who I am. 00:33:44.698 --> 00:33:48.298 Therefore, I am going to go this way 00:33:48.298 --> 00:33:56.078 and leave behind who I used to be and everything that defined me as I was. 00:33:57.398 --> 00:34:03.338 Because of who I am, this is who I am no longer going to be. 00:34:04.518 --> 00:34:09.898 Because I am united with Christ, because I have been set free from sin, 00:34:10.098 --> 00:34:15.678 because I have been resurrected to new life in victory, I am no longer going 00:34:15.678 --> 00:34:22.158 to make the decisions that I made when I was a man walking, a dead man walking. 00:34:23.618 --> 00:34:27.358 I am leaving behind my life of sin. 00:34:27.498 --> 00:34:33.578 In the big fancy theological world, we call this repentance, right? 00:34:34.298 --> 00:34:35.318 We repent. 00:34:37.438 --> 00:34:42.078 We say, Lord, thank you for adopting me into your family. 00:34:42.278 --> 00:34:46.998 Thank you for uniting me with Christ Jesus by faith. 00:34:47.098 --> 00:34:54.658 Thank you for putting to death the sin in my life. Thank you for raising me to new life in him. 00:34:54.798 --> 00:35:01.198 I now, Lord, turn from my sin and turn towards you. 00:35:02.418 --> 00:35:07.238 You have put my sin to death and I am not going back to it. I am walking away. 00:35:07.318 --> 00:35:10.838 I am walking in now a different direction. 00:35:14.392 --> 00:35:22.672 But it also involves the decision to be proactively pursuing a life of righteousness. 00:35:25.592 --> 00:35:31.372 It is not, you know, it is not just enough to say, okay, I'm going to repent 00:35:31.372 --> 00:35:34.532 and turn from my sin, and then I'm going to drift. 00:35:36.232 --> 00:35:41.032 I'm going to meander throughout life, hoping that I find, you know, 00:35:41.052 --> 00:35:44.072 God's calling for me, God's desire for my righteousness, 00:35:44.392 --> 00:35:48.712 God's desire for my holiness, I think eventually if I just wander around long 00:35:48.712 --> 00:35:53.172 enough, I'll get to the place where I need to be, right? 00:35:55.212 --> 00:36:00.912 We never drift in good directions. You don't, right? 00:36:01.592 --> 00:36:05.912 You shove a boat out to sea and you take its rudder away from it, 00:36:05.972 --> 00:36:09.792 it's not going to end up in the location that it needs to go, right? 00:36:11.112 --> 00:36:16.252 We never drift aimlessly and end up in the right place. 00:36:17.412 --> 00:36:21.812 It takes intentionality to get to the place where we need to go. 00:36:21.952 --> 00:36:24.472 And this is no different. What does Paul say? 00:36:24.672 --> 00:36:30.652 He says, forget, like, do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments 00:36:30.652 --> 00:36:32.512 of wickedness, but rather, 00:36:34.092 --> 00:36:40.872 Rather, but rather, offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. 00:36:41.032 --> 00:36:46.752 Offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 00:36:50.012 --> 00:36:54.872 Well, I can't get free from sin. I can't get free from sin. 00:36:54.992 --> 00:36:59.872 I can't get free from sin. It's because you continue to offer yourself as an 00:36:59.872 --> 00:37:01.592 instrument of wickedness instead 00:37:01.592 --> 00:37:04.772 of offering yourself to the Lord as an instrument of righteousness. 00:37:08.127 --> 00:37:14.547 This is a take my entire life and use it, Lord, for your purposes. 00:37:15.607 --> 00:37:18.487 How would you use every bit of me? 00:37:18.607 --> 00:37:23.727 How would you use every cell in my body, every thought in my mind, 00:37:23.867 --> 00:37:28.047 every word that comes out of my mouth, every dollar I have in my bank account, 00:37:28.167 --> 00:37:30.047 every minute I have in my day? 00:37:30.147 --> 00:37:37.647 How would you leverage absolutely everything that I have for your righteousness and your glory, Lord? 00:37:38.787 --> 00:37:41.587 It is to take everything that I have and use it for you. 00:37:43.107 --> 00:37:47.987 I give myself fully to you. You see, in the rest of the chapter here, 00:37:48.027 --> 00:37:53.007 in chapter 6, Paul says it all over again. Well, what does Paul say in the rest of chapter 6? 00:37:53.147 --> 00:37:55.567 He says the same thing, just in different language. 00:37:57.067 --> 00:38:03.127 The exact same thing. It's almost like he's talking to a highly educated crowd 00:38:03.127 --> 00:38:08.447 over here in verses 1 through 14, and then verses 15 through 23, 00:38:08.647 --> 00:38:12.567 he's kind of talking to a more blue-collar crowd. 00:38:17.127 --> 00:38:21.027 That's the only way I know how to explain it, right? It's like lots of high 00:38:21.027 --> 00:38:25.187 theological language in the first 14 verses, a lot of really basic language 00:38:25.187 --> 00:38:29.247 in the second half of the chapter, 15 through 23, 00:38:29.427 --> 00:38:37.667 because he uses an analogy that would have been really like applicable to the Romans. 00:38:37.927 --> 00:38:40.167 It talks about slavery, right? 00:38:40.707 --> 00:38:50.267 Slavery in Roman times was a, it was both different and the same than the extraordinarily 00:38:50.267 --> 00:38:53.167 negative understanding that we have of slavery now. 00:38:54.067 --> 00:38:57.847 But slavery in the Roman Empire was massive. 00:38:59.467 --> 00:39:04.567 In fact, it's been said by some scholars and some archaeologists that anywhere 00:39:04.567 --> 00:39:11.667 from a third to a half of the population of the Roman Empire was either current slaves or freed slaves. 00:39:13.487 --> 00:39:21.507 And at one time, the Roman government considered making all current slaves wear 00:39:21.507 --> 00:39:24.827 the same clothes, the same uniform. 00:39:25.547 --> 00:39:29.767 And as they began to crunch the proverbial numbers, They were like, 00:39:29.887 --> 00:39:32.527 yeah, we're not going to do that anymore. 00:39:33.587 --> 00:39:38.607 And the reason they weren't going to do that is because those in slavery would 00:39:38.607 --> 00:39:44.947 then know how numerous they were and how easy it would be to overpower the government. 00:39:45.747 --> 00:39:50.047 Like, so yeah, we don't want to bring them, you know, like we don't want to 00:39:50.047 --> 00:39:51.607 unify them around anything, right? 00:39:51.607 --> 00:39:56.407 But slavery in the Roman Empire would have been something that everyone understood 00:39:56.407 --> 00:40:04.087 as part of a cultural sludge, nothing good about it, but existed there. 00:40:05.921 --> 00:40:11.181 And so he talks, he uses slavery as an analogy to make his point, right? 00:40:12.481 --> 00:40:17.601 Verses 16 and 18, he says this. He says, don't you know, or he starts off in 00:40:17.601 --> 00:40:19.801 verse 15 with essentially the same rhetorical question. 00:40:20.061 --> 00:40:24.401 What shall we say then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, 00:40:24.601 --> 00:40:26.241 but because we are under grace? 00:40:26.281 --> 00:40:31.341 By no means, verse 16, don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone 00:40:31.341 --> 00:40:35.601 to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, 00:40:35.921 --> 00:40:40.941 Whether you are, listen, whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, 00:40:41.181 --> 00:40:44.901 or you're slaves to obedience, which leads to righteousness. 00:40:45.841 --> 00:40:54.161 But thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin, 00:40:54.321 --> 00:41:01.221 you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 00:41:01.221 --> 00:41:09.201 And you have been set free from sin and have become slaves now to righteousness. 00:41:13.081 --> 00:41:17.461 There's a really important point here, right? It's this. 00:41:19.001 --> 00:41:28.381 Is that Paul talks here about the escape from slavery to sin and death and the 00:41:28.381 --> 00:41:35.961 escape to life in righteousness righteousness being affected primarily by not 00:41:35.961 --> 00:41:38.121 just our identity now, right? 00:41:38.241 --> 00:41:45.421 But by our obedience to the teaching that has formed us into the people that we are. 00:41:49.916 --> 00:41:50.516 Obedience. 00:41:52.996 --> 00:41:57.796 Thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin, you what? 00:42:00.096 --> 00:42:05.076 Wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 00:42:10.096 --> 00:42:17.716 Now, obedience, the word obedience, the word obey has become somewhat of a like 00:42:17.716 --> 00:42:20.316 like cultural obscenity. 00:42:21.496 --> 00:42:23.636 What do you mean obey? 00:42:26.816 --> 00:42:29.196 We're Americans, okay? 00:42:33.596 --> 00:42:38.736 I am the master of my own life. 00:42:39.436 --> 00:42:42.716 I am the captain of my own ship. 00:42:45.016 --> 00:42:54.636 Listen I march to the beat Of my own drummer No one And nothing Tells me what 00:42:54.636 --> 00:43:02.616 to do Or how to do it I am an independent Strong and opinionated Person, 00:43:03.976 --> 00:43:08.956 I answer To No one. 00:43:14.656 --> 00:43:23.796 It would be, I wish it were less funny because the awkward chuckles are like, well, yeah, duh. 00:43:25.416 --> 00:43:30.976 But the reality of scripture, if we take the inverse of what Paul says here, 00:43:31.116 --> 00:43:37.276 is like, yeah, we generally live and consistently live in a pattern of slavery 00:43:37.276 --> 00:43:43.856 to death because we simply refuse to obey anything anything that is not our own idea for our life. 00:43:48.596 --> 00:43:52.756 You can make all the theological gymnastics you want about, like, 00:43:52.756 --> 00:43:56.196 why we can't get free of sin, and why we can't move on, and why we can't do 00:43:56.196 --> 00:43:59.696 this, and why we can't do that, and really what it ends up coming down to is 00:43:59.696 --> 00:44:02.556 that when we have already been transformed by Jesus Christ, 00:44:02.716 --> 00:44:11.096 right, when we have been wholeheartedly obey the teaching that's been entrusted to us, 00:44:11.296 --> 00:44:15.436 When we live a life of obedience to the word of God and to the spirit of God 00:44:15.436 --> 00:44:17.096 in us, we experience victory. 00:44:17.276 --> 00:44:22.516 And when we flat out reject the authority of God and we flat out refuse to obey 00:44:22.516 --> 00:44:29.136 anything that our own opinions and feelings, we continually walk in slavery to sin and death. 00:44:36.989 --> 00:44:43.409 Paul uses the word obedience here twice to describe the pathway to righteousness 00:44:43.409 --> 00:44:47.729 and as a way out of slavery from sin and into freedom. 00:44:47.889 --> 00:44:54.829 And this is not the only place where the idea of obedience is elevated in the 00:44:54.829 --> 00:45:01.709 word of God and elevated in the heart of God over against any other religious 00:45:01.709 --> 00:45:05.489 type of performance or system or anything like that. 00:45:05.489 --> 00:45:14.629 In fact, when God rejected King Saul as king over Israel, right? 00:45:14.709 --> 00:45:17.729 What was the reason that God rejected him? 00:45:18.269 --> 00:45:25.609 It's because Saul wanted to create this really extravagant system of offerings 00:45:25.609 --> 00:45:28.169 and burnt offerings and sacrifices. 00:45:28.169 --> 00:45:38.289 And what the Lord was like, I desire obedience, not your sacrifices. 00:45:40.169 --> 00:45:44.049 Keep your religious pomp and circumstance to yourself. 00:45:46.649 --> 00:45:52.849 I desire, this is the Lord speaking to Saul. I desire obedience. 00:45:54.689 --> 00:46:03.789 This is 1 Samuel 15, verse 22. Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings 00:46:03.789 --> 00:46:08.729 and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? 00:46:10.089 --> 00:46:17.909 1 Samuel 15, 22. Has the Lord as great of a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices 00:46:17.909 --> 00:46:20.649 as in obeying the voice of the Lord? 00:46:21.269 --> 00:46:30.429 Behold, God says, to obey is better than sacrifice and to listen better than the fat of rams. 00:46:36.413 --> 00:46:40.733 Paul goes on then to finish up in verses 19 through 22 in saying these things. 00:46:44.033 --> 00:46:48.273 He admits, right? I put this in human terms so you guys can understand. 00:46:49.133 --> 00:46:53.073 Verse 19. I put this in human terms because you're weak in your natural selves. 00:46:53.653 --> 00:46:58.253 Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and 00:46:58.253 --> 00:47:02.673 to ever increasing wickedness, so now, make a decision, right? 00:47:02.953 --> 00:47:05.293 You are a person of volition, so now. 00:47:07.913 --> 00:47:12.513 Offer them in slavery to righteousness that leads to holiness. 00:47:14.593 --> 00:47:17.913 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 00:47:18.313 --> 00:47:22.613 But what benefit did you reap at that time from the things that you are now 00:47:22.613 --> 00:47:25.353 ashamed of? Those things result in death. 00:47:27.433 --> 00:47:31.353 Are you getting a lot of, listen, are you getting a lot of benefit? 00:47:33.293 --> 00:47:38.153 Are you getting a lot of benefit right now? In your life, personally, 00:47:38.393 --> 00:47:40.993 from the sin that you will not walk away from? 00:47:43.013 --> 00:47:48.593 Is it producing a lot of good things for you? Is it leading you to the place you want to go? 00:47:50.173 --> 00:47:53.053 Is it exemplifying the identity that you desire to have? 00:47:55.553 --> 00:47:59.893 Is it like supporting the things that are most important to you and the things 00:47:59.893 --> 00:48:01.093 that God desires for you? 00:48:01.233 --> 00:48:07.213 Is it an exercise in obedience to the Lord? or do you know that you're willfully saying no to the Lord? 00:48:07.573 --> 00:48:10.713 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? 00:48:10.793 --> 00:48:12.213 Those things result in death. 00:48:12.373 --> 00:48:16.053 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, 00:48:16.233 --> 00:48:21.573 the benefit that you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life. 00:48:23.513 --> 00:48:29.233 The benefit of obedience to the Lord is holiness which results in eternal life. 00:48:32.833 --> 00:48:38.533 I'm going to leave you this morning with this prayer We'll try and leave it 00:48:38.533 --> 00:48:41.933 up on the screen long enough for you to take a picture of it if you want Maybe 00:48:41.933 --> 00:48:45.553 we'll make a slide of it and put it on our socials later today. 00:48:50.033 --> 00:48:56.873 This is a covenant prayer of obedience This is a covenant prayer of saying to 00:48:56.873 --> 00:49:04.113 the Lord Lord, because of who I am and because of who you have made me to be, 00:49:04.313 --> 00:49:09.173 I now offer myself to you as a slave to righteousness, 00:49:10.393 --> 00:49:12.073 as a slave to you, Lord. 00:49:13.693 --> 00:49:19.633 I empty myself of my own prerogatives and I freely and fully give myself in 00:49:19.633 --> 00:49:23.973 obedience to you because, Lord, I know that in obedience to you, 00:49:24.753 --> 00:49:26.733 it leads to holiness and eternal life. 00:49:30.873 --> 00:49:32.673 Make this your prayer this week. 00:49:35.648 --> 00:49:39.768 I am no longer my own, but thine. 00:49:42.228 --> 00:49:46.348 Put me to what thou wilt, and rank me with whom thou wilt. 00:49:47.808 --> 00:49:51.288 Put me to doing, put me to suffering. 00:49:52.688 --> 00:49:57.168 Let me be employed by thee, or laid aside for thee. 00:49:58.228 --> 00:50:05.468 Let me be exalted for thee, or brought low for thee. Let me be full, or let me be empty. 00:50:07.008 --> 00:50:10.128 Let me have all things or let me have nothing. 00:50:11.448 --> 00:50:21.808 I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. 00:50:23.368 --> 00:50:30.988 And now, oh, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it. 00:50:31.448 --> 00:50:36.048 Thou art mine, and I am thine. 00:50:37.828 --> 00:50:47.348 So be it. And the covenant with which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. 00:50:49.028 --> 00:50:53.028 Amen. Whose will you be? 00:50:55.608 --> 00:51:00.728 Will you be your own, which leads to death and destruction? 00:51:02.288 --> 00:51:07.028 Or will you be God's, which leads to holiness and eternal life? 00:51:08.148 --> 00:51:11.688 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. 00:51:13.848 --> 00:51:23.048 And we ask, Lord, that your word would transform us as people who have moved 00:51:23.048 --> 00:51:28.048 from death to life, from slavery to sin, slavery to holiness. 00:51:28.488 --> 00:51:37.008 Lord, may we live in the reality of our identity and not the reality of our feelings. 00:51:41.548 --> 00:51:50.328 Let us obey you fully and heartily in everything that we do in all times. In Jesus' name, amen.