to anchor his church. It's time to get started this evening. If you would grab a hymnal and
turn to him number 426, the bells on Christmas Day. Hymn number 426, 426, I heard the bells
on Christmas Day. We'll sing there starting on the first. Heavenly Father, thank you again
for just another opportunity to gather together this evening. Pray that you'd be with those
that were saved this afternoon and also those where maybe it was just a time a seed was
planted. It would just help grow that into a full faith or that they'd be receptive to
another soul winner that crosses their path. As I prayed this morning, I pray for the evening
that you would be with us for the service, that everything's done decently and in order,
that you open our ears to the message and fill pastor with your spirit and Lord that
you would just be with us as the weather is kind of rolling in and keep us safe and have
your hand of protection on us as we go our separate ways after the service this evening.
We sing we pray in Jesus name amen for our next him 425 no room in the in 425 no room
in the end 425 they're on the first no beautiful chamber these raise your hand bring you one
up on the front memory passage of the week which is Genesis chapter number one verse
27 on the inside our service times are listed there Sunday morning at 1030 Sunday evening
at 430 and our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 o'clock low there we do have our soul
winning times and of course again just as a reminder this upcoming Saturday will be
the first Saturday where we will meet on location so if you usually go Saturday to the Saturday
soul winning time be looking in our signal group for that address this week and then
we have our year-to-date statistics for soul winning which we had it looks like eight salvations
for today so great job soul winning there and then we have our upcoming events this
upcoming Wednesday is our New Year's Eve party so if the men would like to participate in
the men's preaching night you could still sign up I think there's three guys right now
if I'm right about that so 15 minute sermons and if you'd like to sign up for that please
do and then afterwards we'll get some food delivered and have games till midnight or
as long as you want to stay oh also if you want to bring games please do that as well
that definitely helps then a month from then January 31st will be our first soul winning
marathon of 2026 in Lawton Oklahoma which is about what two hours ish southwest hour
15 okay southwest of here so should be a good time we do have on the right our online visitor
card which of course that's on the back of your invites as well so if you get people
out soul winning to scan that get their email address have them subscribe to our YouTube
it's a great way to stay in touch with people and then for those who prefer to give online
that QR code below that is for our online giving platform and then below that lastly
is our prayer list that we do update so if you have any requests that you'd like updated
there please do email us and we'll be happy to add that for you and that's going to be
it for announcements this evening we'll go ahead and go to our third song together for
our third song number 429 429 Park the Herald Angels sing 429 429 there on the first good
singing this evening as the offering plates are being passed turn if you would to Romans
chapter 6 Romans chapter number 6 chapter 6 what shall we say then shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound God forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer
therein knowing not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into his death therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father even so we also should walk in
newness of life for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall
be also in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this that our old man is crucified
with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for
he that is dead is free from sin now if we be dead with christ we shall we believe that
we shall also live with him knowing that christ being raised from the dead dith no more death
hath no more dominion over him for in that he died he died unto sin once but in that
he liveth he liveth unto god likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto
sin but alive unto god through jesus christ our lord let not sin therefore reign in your
mortal body that ye should obey it in the lust thereof neither yield ye your members
as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but yield yourselves unto god as those that
are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto god for sin
shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the law but under grace what then
shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace god forbid know ye not
that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey his servants ye are to whom you obey
whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness but god be thanked that
ye were the servants of sin but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which
was delivered you being then made free from sin you became the servants of righteousness
i speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh for as ye for
as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanliness and to iniquity unto iniquity
even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness for when ye were
the servants of sin you were free from righteousness what fruit had ye then in those things whereof
ye are now shamed for the end of those things is death but now being made free from sin
and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life
for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, Gracious Lord, thank you for the book of Romans.
We pray that you just help us to set aside the cares of the weak coming up so we can
focus on the preaching of your word.
Apply it to our hearts.
We pray that you fill the past with your spirit, Lord.
Help us to focus on the message.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Man, Romans chapter number six.
We took a break on Wednesday to have a Christmas sermon so I want to continue through our Bible
study through the book of Romans and we're in Romans chapter number six this evening.
We'll start out in verse number one.
The Bible says, "What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?"
To kind of refresh us of why he's asking this question, look back at Romans chapter
five and verse 20.
He just got done saying, "Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but
where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."
So he just got done explaining to us in Romans five, a lot about salvation, that it's by
faith alone, and that whenever we sin, grace is going to abound over that sin.
And throughout the entire book of Romans, the apostle Paul, he keeps confronting these
questions even before they're asked.
He's thinking of these theoretical stumbling blocks that people can have in their mind
and he's preemptively answering those.
And so he does that in Romans six, one, "What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?"
He's saying, "Hey, just because grace is going to abound, just because we're saved by faith,
just because that when we sin, grace is going to cover that sin, should we just go on sinning
flippantly?
Should we just not even care?
Should we just not even try?"
And of course, the answer to that is, "God forbid."
Now, let me explain to you what this is not saying first, because this verse has been
preached earlier this year by one of these ex-new IFB losers.
They read it this way.
They said, "What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
God forbid.
How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?"
And this person said, "See, it's literally impossible."
They'll say, "Romans 6, verse 1 and 2 is teaching that once you're saved, it's impossible to
go on living in sin.
It's impossible to sin."
And they even use this example of them committing all these sins, and God looks down from heaven
and just says, "All I see is my son.
That's my son."
But that is not what this is saying, okay?
What this is saying is that should we continue just going on sinning, being flippant, not
even caring about our sin, just because we are saved by grace, and of course the answer
is no.
We should not abuse the fact that God is gracious to us.
When we sin, will God always cover that sin with grace?
Yes.
What's the limit on that?
There is no limit.
God will always cover our sin with His grace, but does that mean we should just abuse His
long-suffering, abuse His gentleness, abuse His kindness?
Absolutely not.
Right?
We're saved by faith, but should we just keep on going, living wicked lives?
The answer is absolutely not.
What's funny is people will say, "Oh, teaching that you're saved by faith alone, what you're
doing is you're giving people a license to sin."
And it's like, where did you get that from?
First of all, you don't have to give people a license to sin because people just sin on
their own.
And it's usually the people who think that they are the most righteous and who think
that they're living the cleanest lives that often have the most sin because they're prideful
and they're blinded.
But notice the apostle Paul, he makes it super clear that salvation is by faith alone, yet
he does not give a license to sin.
He says, "Hey, God forbid," in verse two, "how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer
therein?"
What does it mean to be dead to sin?
What that means is that sin no longer has dominion over us.
It no longer has that rule over us.
Let's remind you of something in Romans five.
Go back and look at verse number 14.
Notice it says, "Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses.
Even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is
the figure of him that was to come."
So we see death reigning there.
Death is in charge.
Death has dominion over people there.
Then look at verse 21 of Romans five.
"That as sin hath," there it is again, "reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."
What changes when you get saved?
You went from having death and sin reigning over you, having control over you, having
dominion over you, having power over you, to now what is over you?
The grace of God.
So how shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Why would we go on sinning when that sin and death no longer has any power over us?
Verse three says, "No, ye not, that so many of us, as were baptized into Jesus Christ,
were baptized into his death."
Now keep your place there and go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 12, because here the idea of
baptism is being brought up, but I don't believe this is referring to a physical baptism, though
there's definitely lessons that can be drawn that applies to that.
But what he's saying, hey, you're baptized into Jesus's death.
What does this mean?
Look at 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12, it says, "For as the body is one and hath many members,
and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit."
So here it's talking about how we are baptized into one body by the Spirit of God.
So there is no such thing as the universal Catholic Church, but there is the body of
Christ.
And what is the body of Christ?
It is every single person who believes in Jesus Christ.
And when you believe, you are spiritually baptized into that body.
You are fully put into that body of believers.
So go back to Romans 6.
That's why He's saying, "No, you're not," that so many of us, as we're baptized into
Jesus Christ, we're baptized into His death.
His death is counted towards us.
His sacrifice is applied to us spiritually.
And of course, this is where we get the picture, this is what baptism pictures, is that you're
standing in the water and you're put under the water picturing the death of Jesus Christ.
And it says in verse number four, therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father, even so,
we also should walk in newness of life.
Now keep your place there and go to Galatians chapter number two, Galatians chapter number
two.
So it says there that we are baptized into his death, that we're buried with him by baptism
into death, that we should walk in newness of life.
This reminds me of Galatians chapter number two, verse 19.
Notice what it says, for I through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto
God.
Notice I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me.
Notice that because Christ was crucified when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's
like we are crucified with Christ.
Christ has died, it's like we have died with Christ.
And as Christ was buried and rose again, so we too should walk in newness of life as Romans
chapter 6 says, and I also like to go back there to Romans 6, that word there is very
important where it says that we should walk in newness of life.
See, there's a false doctrine out there that just teaches when you believe in Jesus Christ,
everything in your life is going to change.
You're going to stop the sins that you're doing in time past, you're going to start
doing everything that's right just automatically.
That's not the case.
The case, the reality is that we should walk in newness of life.
And this makes sense.
You know, if we're spiritually dead to the law, if we are crucified with Christ, if we
are risen with Christ, the Bible says we should do what?
Seek those things that are above.
I like to use this illustration of a person who literally died.
Think about Lazarus, Lazarus literally died.
And what did Jesus do to Lazarus?
Lazarus brought him up from the dead.
And what would, what should Lazarus do now that he is come back from the dead?
Now that he's alive, he should live his life.
He should walk in newness of life.
He should be thankful to Jesus.
He should serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and it would be silly and ridiculous and such
a waste of the great gift that God has given him of life.
Imagine Lazarus is dead in the tomb.
He's laying down and Jesus says, Lazarus come forth and Lazarus stands up.
And then he just lays back down and he's just like, I'm, I'm just going to lay down.
I'm just going to do nothing.
It's like, what are you doing?
You know, Jesus just brought you back to life and you know what?
Just as silly as it would be for Lazarus to just get back in the grave clothes, stay down
in the tomb, just stay there and stink for a few more days.
That's as silly and foolish as it is for us to not walk in newness of life.
But here's the thing.
It is a choice.
It is not automatic.
If Lazarus wanted to be, you know, foolish, he could have just laid back down.
He could have just wrapped those grave clothes around him.
But what should he do?
He should get up.
He should go live his life.
He should walk in newness of life.
And a Christian that is saved, that has had their sins forgiven, whose spirit has been
quickened by the Lord Jesus Christ, if you're not going out and serving God, if you're not
reading your Bible, if you're not praying, if you're not soul winning, if you're not
going to church, it's like you just got back down in the grave and just wanted to stay
dead.
It makes no sense.
You know, if you've been brought back to life, you should walk in newness of life.
And of course, these scriptures are talking about a spiritual truth, and baptism is simply
a physical thing you do that illustrates that spiritual truth.
That is why we literally say when we baptize someone, we ask them, have you trusted in
Jesus Christ for your salvation?
Yes, then I baptize you, my brother or sister, in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost, buried in the likeness of his death, raised to walk in newness of
life.
When you get baptized, you're identifying with a death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
You're making this public profession that, hey, I believe in Christ and what you should
have as your attitude is, hey, now that I'm coming up out of this water, I want to go
forward and walk in newness of life and not just be stuck being the same person you were
when you were dead, when death and sin had dominion over you.
Look at verse number five, it says, for if we have been planted together in the likeness
of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
See, Jesus died and his body was buried.
And someday, unless we live through the tribulation and to the rapture, we are going to be planted
in the likeness of his death.
We are going to be buried, which by the way, the Christian practice is to bury our dead.
Do not go get cremated.
That is an ungodly pagan practice.
We believe in burying our dead, why?
Because we believe that like as Jesus died and was buried, but here's the thing, rose
again from the dead, we believe that we also will be in the likeness of his resurrection.
How so?
Number one, we're coming back to life.
Number two, Jesus came back in a glorified state and today is in a glorified state.
And the Bible tells us that we will also be in that glorified state.
We will get new bodies that will never get sick, that will never get injured, that will
never get old and die.
We will receive that likeness of Jesus's resurrection, which is another great thing that baptism
pictures is saying, Hey, we believe that we'll be risen again from the dead someday.
Notice verse number six, knowing, knowing this, that our notice this old man is crucified
with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
We know that this body of death that we have, this flesh someday will be completely destroyed.
And from that point, we'll have no sin because the only reason that we sin now is because
we still have the flesh and we still have the old man.
Once we have the old man completely shed from us and the flesh, there will be no sin.
There are no people sinning in heaven.
There is no lustful temptation in heaven or anything like that.
Go to, if you would, Ephesians chapter number four, Ephesians chapter number four, because
the Bible brought up this idea of the old man and the Bible teaches that we have a dual
nature after getting saved.
You have the old man, the sinful part of you, and you have the new man, which is renewed,
which walks in perfect holiness.
Look at verse number 21, it says, "If so be that you have heard him and have been taught
by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation
the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts."
Notice, if we want to live a godly life, we have to intentionally put off the old man
because the old man is just completely corrupt.
And here is the truth about human nature, is that even if you are saved, if you decide
to just walk in the flesh, if you decide not to crucify that old man, you will be exactly
the same person that you were before you were saved.
And any natural sin that exists in this world is on the table for you if you do not walk
in the spirit, which motivates me to, "Hey, I want to walk in the spirit because I don't
want to be that person that I was before and potentially even get worse down the road if
you just stay in that state."
Notice verse 23, "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
So when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are made a new creature.
You get that new man.
Notice that new man is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Your new man does not sin.
Your new man desires the things of God, desires to walk in the spirit.
Then notice it says, "Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor,
for we are members one of another."
So what does it look like in practicality to actually put off the old man?
Well, you start by putting away lying, right?
Don't lie.
Verse 26, more examples, "Be ye angry and sin not.
Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil.
Let him that stole steal no more.
But rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may
have to give to him that needeth.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the
use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath, anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with
all malice, and be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God
for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
So what does it look like when a person actually is walking in the new man, when they're actually
putting off the old man?
What will that person's life actually look like?
Well, they won't be lying.
They won't have unrighteous anger.
They will not be stealing, okay?
You're going around lying, having unrighteous anger, going and stealing people's bikes.
Who's had their bikes stolen?
I've had my bikes stolen.
It's annoying.
Right?
Someone who's doing these type of things, they are not walking the new man.
They are not putting off the old man.
What else?
Corrupt communication, railing, blasphemy, gossip, these type of things, bitterness,
wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking.
When you see someone that is just filled with these characteristics, you're looking at a
person that is not walking in the spirit.
Does not mean that person's not saved.
There could be a person who is stealing, has corrupt communication, is angry, is bitter,
has all these things and they're saved.
The problem with them is that they've not put off the old man.
They've not crucified that old man.
They've decided to walk in that old man and not walk in the new man.
Look, they're going to look exactly like the unsaved.
And so what is the solution to these things?
You put off the old man, you walk in the new, you be filled with the spirit.
How?
Singing to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, going to church, reading
the Bible, praying, you know, praying and just asking God, God, fill me with the spirit.
God, please give me wisdom, Lord, you know, help me to avoid temptation, Lord, help me
to be walking in the new man.
Something as simple as that could really help you actually walk in the new man.
Go back to Romans chapter number six, Romans chapter number six.
So that's what it's talking about there in verse six, knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should
not serve sin, verse seven, for he that is dead is freed from sin.
Hey, when you die someday, you will never sin again.
And likewise, when you crucified the flesh, when you crucified that old man, you can walk
in the spirit and overcome sin as well.
Obviously you're never going to be sinlessly perfect.
Obviously there's going to be times in your life where you're walking in the spirit and
then you mess up and you get backslidden, but you can do that and you can be free from
sin in that way.
In chapter 8 it says, "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we also shall live
with Him.
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieeth no more, death hath no more dominion
over Him."
So notice, Jesus Christ died for our sins one time, right?
So there's no such thing as losing your salvation and getting it back.
Christ is not being crucified afresh, right, as the Bible talks about in Hebrews.
He died unto sin once, He's a once for all sacrifice.
And now that He has died and risen again, death hath no more dominion over Him.
Why?
Because for a short time, death did have dominion over Him when He was in hell.
But He did not stay in hell, He rose again, of course, the third day.
Verse 10, "For in that He died, He died unto sin once.
But in that He liveth, He liveth unto God."
Now here's the application for us, verse 11, "Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
So notice, again, serving God, walking in the Spirit, putting off the old man is a choice
that you have to actively make.
That's what it's saying, reckon.
What does that mean?
Count.
Right?
Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God.
Look at verse 12, "Let not sin, therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should
obey it in the lusts thereof."
You actually have control when you are saved.
You have the ability to walk in the Spirit.
So every single time that you sin and that I sin, you know whose fault it is?
Our fault.
Every single time someone sins, they have made the decision to do that.
Because here's the thing, you have the option to let not sin, therefore reign in your mortal
body, right?
The apostle Paul talks about how he keeps his body under subjection, lest when he preaches
to others, he himself should be a passed away, right?
He's disciplined in that way.
And so when those lusts of the flesh arise, that crossroads is a moment where you could
either walk in the Spirit, pray and ask God to help you with that temptation, with that
issue, singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs, or you could allow sin to reign in
your mortal body.
But if you do that, that is the decision that you have made.
It is not automatic.
Verse 13, neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves
unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God.
Again, notice how there is human volition involved when it comes to sin or when it comes
to serving God.
It's not like we are the Calvinist puppets that the Calvinists talk about how everything's
preordained and God's just controlling what we do and we're just kind of these robots
that exist.
That word yield, we use that word in our modern vernacular when we're driving.
And here's the thing, even though the law may say yield, the sign may say yield, aren't
those those people that just refuse to do it?
I mean, the law says to yield, the sign says to yield.
What does that mean?
Let that person merge, let that person go.
But aren't they aren't there those jerks usually from Texas, no offense, people from Texas,
that they just don't care what the law says, they don't care what the driving rules say,
and they're just not going to yield.
Okay, that was a decision that they made.
Right.
So you have the decision, you have the free will Calvinists.
It says, neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness.
What is your members, your body parts?
You do not have to yield your tongue to speak evil, right?
You could yield your tongue as a member to serve God, to be righteous.
You could use your tongue to preach the gospel.
You could use your tongue to pray for your brethren.
You could use your tongue to praise the Lord in song.
You could use your tongue to preach a sermon, or you could yield your tongue as a member
of unrighteousness, and lie, and gossip, and blaspheme, or preach false doctrine.
These are things that people do, and at the end of the day, it's a decision that they
made.
It wasn't predetermined.
What should we do?
We should yield our members as instruments of righteousness.
Notice verse number 14.
It says, "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you're not under the law, but
under grace."
What then?
Should we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace?
God forbids.
It kind of reiterates this question.
Yes, grace is going to cover our sin.
Yes, we are under grace.
We are not under the law, but should we just keep on going, sinning because we're under
grace?
He says, "God forbid."
Why?
"Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves, servants to obey, his servants ye are, to
whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness."
This is a really important concept that the world just does not understand, and the Apostle
Paul is trying to get people to understand this.
Look, should you just continue to sin just because we are under grace, no, here's why.
You are going to be a servant to something in this world, and whatever it is that you
yield yourself to obey, whatever it is that you allow your body to do, if you allow your
hands to be instruments of murder, if you allow your feet to be swift in running to
mischief, if you allow your tongue to be used to lie and to blaspheme, okay well here's
it, at the end of the day, you are going to become the servant of sin.
You are going to be brought into the bondage of the corruption of sin, and you know what?
You're free from righteousness, you're free from all the rules, you're free from the sticklers
at church and the backwards fundamentalists, but you know what you are?
You are in bondage to your own sin, and a lot of people today, they look at church,
they look at serving God, they look at the preacher, they look at the Bible, and they
say, "I don't want all those rules, I don't want the strict lifestyle, you know, Baptists
don't have any fun, Christians don't have any fun, I just want to be free."
And so they go out and they live a life where they yield their members instruments of unrighteousness,
like doing what?
Like going and committing fornication, and they think, "Hey, I'm free, no one can hold
me down, the rules can't hold me down," until they get brought under the corruption of bondage
of STDs, and it's like, "Okay, you're going to be the servant of something, you're going
to be under bondage in a sense to something, and I would rather submit myself to the rules
of the Bible, to God's commandments that are always there for our betterment, for our protection,
and be the servant of God, rather than I'm brought under the slavery of an STD."
And here's the thing, people, once they go down that road and they get the STD, you better
believe that they wish they could undo that, but a lot of actions people do in this world
have lifelong permanent consequences.
You know, you think you're so free when you go out and you drink alcohol, and you get
in the car, and you're drinking and driving with your buddies, and you're having such
a fun time, and hey, no one at church can tell you what to do, your parents can't tell
you what to do, the Bible can't tell you what to do, and then you wake up, and you killed
someone.
Oh yeah, I want to undo that, I don't want to have to be in bondage, literally in prison,
for killing someone.
I mean, it could lead to literal bondage, literal imprisonment, the sins that people
do in this world.
We talked about this morning, adultery, oh I don't want to be chained, don't people call
their wife the old ball and chain, oh I don't want to be chained down, I don't want to
be tethered to my wife, so I'm going to go be free and commit adultery, and it's like,
does that actually bring liberty to your life, or does it also bring STDs, bastard children,
ruined home, the wrath of God on your life, the apostle Paul is saying, look, know ye
not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are, to whom you
obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness, what's the difference,
you're going to be under bondage in some sense of the word, either way, but one is sin unto
death, right, nothing profitable is being done by living a life full of sin and wickedness,
nothing that's going to, you know, turn into something good, nothing good ever happens
when you're drinking alcohol, nothing good ever happens from a fornicating relationship,
nothing good ever happens from being a prostitute, nothing good ever happens from getting a tattoo,
none of these things bring anything good, it brings death is what it brings, or when
you obey God of obedience unto righteousness.
Verse 17, but God be thanked that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
How is it that you obey the gospel?
It's an imperative, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
We have obeyed that form of doctrine.
Genesis 18 being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
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.
Again, how in the world could you get around the idea that having good works after you
get saved is not automatic?
Why would the apostle Paul have to even say this?
If it was just automatic, you're going to change automatically.
Your life's going to turn around.
He's saying, look, in time past, you yielded your members instruments to wickedness, to
evil, to sin.
Now just yield those same members to doing something good.
He's telling them this because it is not automatic.
Notice here's another reason why verse 20, for when you were the servants of sin, you
were free from righteousness.
You know, some people get this idea that there's people in this world that are not saved, but
they're righteous people, they're good people.
That is a lie.
The Bible says there's none good, but one that is God.
First of all, second, when you are not saved, you are not being righteous.
You are not doing good.
People say, oh man, Mohammed Gandhi was such a good person.
No, he wasn't.
Oh, Martin Luther King was such a good man.
He was an evil false prophet and an adulterer.
No, he was not a good man.
No, he was not being righteous.
And you know what?
Before you and I were saved, we were not righteous people.
What does it mean to be righteous?
To do right.
How do you do right?
You walk in the new man.
How can you walk in the new man?
You have to have the new man.
You have to be saved.
Look, this world is not filled today with good people.
It's filled with evil, wicked people.
Read Romans chapter three again.
This mentality of, you know, I think everybody's just good deep in their core.
No, no, no.
Every human being is evil and needs to get saved so that we can walk in that new man.
Notice verse 21.
What fruit had you then in those things where you are now ashamed for the end of those things
is death?
He's like, what benefit did you produce with your life before you were saved?
What was the fruit of those things that you were doing?
What was the benefit to the world that you were doing?
Note, he says, those things where you are now ashamed and look, it's great when people
get saved really, really young in life as children, as young teenagers and they're walking
in the spirit, they're in church, they're doing that, which is right, because hopefully
you want to have this testimony that you just got saved young and you just started serving
God and you just continue to serve God.
But you know what?
Who we got saved in our teen years or late teen years, some people 20s, 30s, 40s or whatever.
And if you're honest, if you looked back at your life, you look back at the person you
were before you got saved, you know what you would have is a feeling of shame.
At least you should.
You know, the wicked have no shame, the Bible teaches, but you should look back at the things
that you did before you were saved and not wallow in self-pity and not move on for Christ.
But you know what, you should not glorify how your life was before you were saved.
And some people think it's kind of cool to like brag about what a messed up life that
they had before they were saved.
And you know, modern, New Evangelical churches will do this where they'll bring in gangsters
and mobsters and MS-13 and prostitutes and they'll bring them up on the stage and say
like, you know, I murdered, you know, 700 people in MS-13, but I believe in Christ now.
And everyone's like, oh yeah, it's so great, it's so wonderful.
It's like, no, no, no, you had no fruit in your previous life.
It's not something to glorify.
It's something you should be ashamed of.
And the gospel, your testimony is not about your changed life.
It's about believing the gospel.
You know why we don't have testimony night here, where we share our testimony?
Because we all have the same testimony.
And if you have a different testimony, we definitely don't want to hear it because it's
probably full of false doctrine.
But really, do you want us to just all get up here and be like, I am a sinner.
I deserve hell.
I heard the gospel, that Jesus died for my sins, that he was buried, that he rose again.
I heard that if I just put my trust in him and call upon his name, then he'll save me
for forever, for all of eternity.
And so I did that.
Next.
I was a sinner and I heard, you know, like, wouldn't that get old really quick?
Yeah, it does.
And that's why we don't constantly preach about salvation and we don't constantly preach
about our testimony because everyone in here is saved.
Now we're talking about a little more because we're going through the book of Romans and
it's definitely a heavy topic in the book of Romans.
But really we emphasize this where to the world out soul winning, right?
But when we look back at our life, when we look back at the person that we were before
we were saved, you should not look back at those things with rose colored glasses because
there is a danger and you saw this with the children of Israel in the Old Testament where
God parts the Red Sea, he brings them into the wilderness, he delivers them from bondage
of the Egyptians, but they just started losing their contentment and they looked back at
the things of Egypt and they're like, "I miss the leeks, I miss the garlic, I miss the melons,
I miss all these things."
But here's the thing, what profit did their life have back then?
Was there anything good back then?
Absolutely not.
And you know what, you need to remind yourself too, don't sit here and look back on your
college days and say, "Yeah, I mean it kind of was fun going out to the bar with the girls
and drinking and doing all these things."
Don't think that way.
You're deceiving yourself and especially don't talk that way in front of your children and
in front of the next generation.
We need to make sin exceeding sinful because oftentimes what the parents do in moderation,
the children do in excess.
And if you just excuse sin a little bit, if you tell them drinking's not as bad as Pastor
Oz makes it out to be, "Look, I fornicated, I didn't get a disease," or something like
that, you know, you can make your children just go crazy.
That's obviously not something that we would want.
Notice he says, "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?
For the end of those things is death.
But now, being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness
and the end everlasting life.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord."
We have a choice to make when we get saved, and we can either look at our life that we
had before we got saved, and we could be foolish and we could kind of exalt that and think
highly of that and walk after that, but here's the thing.
What's the end of those things?
Death.
What do you have to gain if you yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness?
You have absolutely nothing to gain, nothing is going to come from it, and you know what?
Life is just too short to waste it on the temporal pleasures of sin for a season.
Life is fleeting, you never know when your last day is, and people oftentimes make all
these plans of some day in the future I'm going to serve God.
Some day in the future I'm going to yield my members as servants of righteousness and
I'm actually going to produce something with my life.
Notice what it is, verse 22, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting
life.
You either serve sin and you produce nothing, in fact the wages of sin is death, or you
yield your members instruments of righteousness and you have this thing called fruit.
You actually could live a profitable life.
And I think oftentimes Christians today, their minds are just so carnal, they're just so
interested in living for the things of this world that you lose the big picture of eternity
and you're just stuck in this mundane rut of life and it's just wake up and make money
and wake up and save vacation time and wake up and buy the new cool toy that I want, not
even realizing that your days are just ticking away, ticking away, ticking away, and someday
you are going to stand literally before the Lord Jesus Christ and He is going to judge
you according to your works and you are going to be given rewards that are going to be
yours for all of eternity and once you are dead, it is over.
You don't get any more opportunities to earn rewards for Christ, you don't get to produce
any more fruit for the kingdom of heaven, it is now, it is right now.
That's why the apostle Paul is trying to wake people up in this chapter, look, will grace
cover your sin, yes, but you know what, if you go out and live a wicked life, the only
thing that you are going to bring forth in that is death.
You are going to destroy your life, you are going to destroy other people's life, there
is going to be nothing profitable for you in the kingdom of heaven, whereas when you
yield yourselves servants to righteousness, you have this thing called fruit.
You are going to be the servant of someone, you are either going to serve sin and have
nothing to show for it, or you are going to be the servant of righteousness and you know
what, you could have great rewards in heaven.
We need to constantly remind ourselves that we really are just pilgrims on this earth,
that we really are just passing through and you need to wake yourself up out of this normalcy
bias that people have where they think, hey, I'll die when I'm 80, I'll die when I'm 70,
I'll die when I'm 100.
Look, I literally pray that God lets me live to 100.
I pray that regularly, but you know what, I'm not going to live my life just banking
on that.
I want to go full throttle, yielding my members as instruments of righteousness because I
don't know how much time I have, but what I know is that whatever amount of time God
gives me, he is going to judge me for how I stewarded that time.
And however long or little of time I have, I don't want Christ to see my job resume and
say, what's this huge gap in your work history, right?
You see a lot of people, sometimes they get on fire.
Sometimes they get in church.
Sometimes they're like, yeah, you know what?
The world is worthless.
There is nothing for me there.
Maybe I should go serve God.
And then the cares of this world just come up and choke their heart and they quit.
They stop serving God.
They stop going to church.
They end up just living for the flesh, living for this world, and you know what?
Sometimes that's a month, sometimes that's a year, sometimes that's decades, and they
just have this giant wasted opportunity in their life of years and years and years that
God has given us.
And you know what?
The Christian that does that is like the Lazarus that gets raised from the dead and instead
of walking in newness of life, he just lays back down in the grave.
He just covers himself with the grave clothes and just goes right back to sleep.
You know what that person would be?
A fool.
And I submit to you today that the Christian who is saved has the new man and just willingly
yields their members instruments to unrighteousness.
I submit to you that person is a fool.
And I submit to you when you stand at the judgment seat of Christ and you receive the
things done in your body and you face eternity and you're dirt poor spiritually, you're going
to regret that.
And so my job now and what the apostle Paul's job was is to get you to wake up and actually
make the decision, hey, I'm going to yield my members servants to righteousness because
that's the only thing in this world that actually has profit.
Let's pray Lord.
Thank you so much for your word.
Thank you for the book of Romans.
I pray that every single person in here would not just have a normalcy bias about their
life thinking they have so long to serve you and they'll just focus on our own lives first
and then think about you Lord.
Help us to make the decision to walk in the new man daily.
Help us to yield our members servants to righteousness and I pray Lord that you would just give us
the strength along the way to do that.
Help us to be long suffering and merciful with each other but Lord please just give
us the strength to serve you and to bring forth fruit with our lives in Jesus name we
pray.
Amen.
This evening will be number 427 we three kings of orient are on the first we