Sermons

Introduction
With God's amazing grace in hand should a Christian live in sin so God's glory may increase? No, because sin is inconsistent with the Christian's new life in the grace of God (Romans5:20). Christians continue to live in sin because they do not understand the real meaning of their new identity in Christ.

Many Christians are believers but not disciples.
There are a number of people who profess to believe in God, and even in Christ for their salvation. These people are like the Jews who heard Jesus' message in John 8 and believed He was the one God sent to save them from their sins. And yet, Jesus wanted them to take the next step.

A disciple is one who makes Jesus and his teaching a part of them. Jesus says to those recent believers in John 8:31-32, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." A disciple is someone who desires to live the Lord's life with him and is devoted to learn teachings of the Scriptures. Disciples are marked by a changed life and a growing freedom from the power of sin.

Jesus did not call the disciples to make believers…He commissioned them to make disciples. And yet, many believers are stuck. They continue to live in many of the same ways and patterns as before they believed. They may desire to do better, but they cannot overcome the forces within.

Romans 6-8 shows us the reason Christians are hindered in following Jesus. Christians simply still have a sin problem. Romans chapter six, in just 23 verses, mentions the word sin a total of seventeen times. The process he describes in these chapters is often called sanctification-the process of becoming Christ-like. These chapters address the power of sin in our lives so we can be freed to follow Christ as His disciples.

So our series will be called, "Set Free From The Power of Sin."

God's Grace Is Inconsistent With Sin (1-2)
I love to be around children-at least most of the time. The time from 11pm to 7am is not my favorite time! But I'll focus on the other times. My six-year-old daughter and I went for a walk, just the two of us, the other day. She asked me to tell her a story about Timothy, my two-year-old son. I said, well the other day Timothy grabbed the cat's tail and starting yanking and the cat shrieked…she said, no, the Timothy of the Bible. She just wanted to hear the stories of the Bible and learn about God. This is the part I love about being around children. They may seem to be simple-minded, but we can learn from their simple-minded faith.

In the same way, to understand God's grace, we have to be like children. When children open their presents on birthdays or Christmas, they are excited about the wrapping, the box, and the toys. They do not think about having to repay parents, relatives, or friends. They enjoy the gifts and the love poured out on them through the givers.

Romans chapters 1-5 tell us of a special gift God gave us. It is a gift that has no strings attached, no repayment necessary. It is a gift where we marvel and wonder at both the gift and giver. It is a" too good to be true" kind of gift, and yet it is true. What is this gift? It is the gift of Salvation. It is a gift undeserved, and unmerited. The Bible says that all have failed God and had a miserable relationship with Him. All were in fact enemies of God. And yet, He still sent His own Son to die for wrongdoers like you and I.

Salvation means we are freed from the punishment of our wrongdoing, not because of what we did, but because of what Jesus has done (THIS is the acceptance of God from Romans 5:6 and 8). Salvation means that God sees us differently now-as His Son or Daughter (THIS is the reconciliation of our relationship with God from Romans 5:1, and 10). This gift of Salvation is the unmerited and undeserved favor of God. It is Grace.

Let's read about this GRACE in Rom 5:20-21:

20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Grace is dynamic. Those who have received God's gift of salvation have a dynamic grace. When sin increases, then grace increases. Grace always increases more than sin. We will never run out of grace for the sins we commit-that is Good News.

Grace is powerful. We know that kings and monarchs reign, but what about grace? The gift, or the grace, we have through Jesus, reigns supreme over the power of sin. Nothing can take away God's grace of salvation, that's how powerful grace is through Jesus Christ.

Grace is dynamic, grace is powerful, and grace is amazing. It saves us from the punishment of our sin and it guarantees us eternal life in Heaven with God.

Shall We Sin…
So if grace is so wonderful and amazing, why not have more of it? What is one way we can get more grace? Simple-we sin more! The more we sin, the more God will be glorified for forgiving us. Do you agree?

We need to be careful here. We may enter into all kinds of activity that we know we should not enter, because we think God will be glorified in the end. We may even fall into the trap of thinking that "even if I do or say so and so, God will still love me." Though it is true, it is not a valid reason to sin.

So Paul addresses the question in verses 1 and 2, "Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" What is his answer? No way, not in a million years. God forbid! His NO is emphatic.

Remember, grace is unmerited favor. It is absolutely, unequivocally free. There is no qualifier to grace, no way to gain grace, earn grace, or steal grace. In our world we do not understand this kind of grace. We are conditioned to think there are always strings attached. So our natural impulse is to want to do something good in response to what we have received.

One year I was hoping my friend would not buy me a Christmas gift, because I had not bought one for him. When he presented me with a nice book, I felt immediately obligated to buy him a gift. I knew he would be disappointed if I had not bought a gift for him. He really did expect me to give him a gift, too. This is how the world works, through a series of obligations and reciprocity. If I receive, I feel obligated to give back for fear of losing favor with the giver.

This reciprocity is not how God's Grace works. The gift of salvation is truly free. God will not think any less or more of us if we do anything for him. Our natural response to the gift of Grace is to want to resist sin to be worthy of the gift. But we will never be worthy of the gift. So the reason for us to resist sinning is not to repay God or to show that we were worthy of his gift.

Paul gives us the reason to not sin-Sin is now inconsistent with what we are in Christ Jesus.

Our New Identity in Christ (3-7)
2 Cor 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
What are we in Christ Jesus? We are NEW CREATIONS! We have a new identity and a new life

National Identity Motivates
These past few weeks I have seen more American flags than I have ever seen in a lifetime. My wife went to the Dry Cleaners and bought a T-Shirt with an American flag that says, "United We Stand." Apparently Americans are standing together as 90% of Americans polled agree with the President's actions and many are signing up to fight.

On the other side is the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Amidst the incessant bombing on Afghanistan, the Taliban has pleaded with their troops and government to stay united to the death against the Western foes. They also appeal to those who share the Muslim faith to stand with them.

What do American patriots and the Taliban have in common? They both are appealing to the power of identity. When the Twin Towers fell, Americans who identified with the victims not only felt the thunder of the tallest buildings in the world falling-they felt the pain of those dying and those left to grieve. These Americans identified with them and many were willing to give prayers, money, raise flags and send troops in their honor.
Some in Muslim nations such as Pakistan and Indonesia have felt their identity and kinship with the Afghan and Islamic people. They have a different identity that empowers them to act differently than Americans.

The point is that identity makes a great difference in how we think and act. Just think if you were an American patriot one day, and the next day you had become a Taliban worker. How might your thinking and behavior change?

New Life in Christ
Followers of Christ, Christians, have not just changed citizenship or allegiance from one country to another. They have actually died to one allegiance and been raised to life to another. The question of whether to continue to sin or not is now a non-question. Sin is inconsistent with the new creation in Christ.

Verses 3-7 describe being baptized into Christ. By being baptized into Christ we mean that we have died, been buried, and raised again with Christ. The word for buried actually means "co-buried." It means that we were literally buried with Christ when He was buried. For what purpose? Verse 4 says " So that we too may live a new life."

Verse 6 tells us that our old self was crucified. For us to understand the new life we have in Christ, we need to understand what characterized the old life.

Ephesians 2:1-3 gives us more characteristics of the old life: As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

What characterizes the new life? The opposite: eternal life, following the ways of God, submission and obedience to Him, putting off the cravings and thoughts that lead to sin.

Think of any habits, thought patterns, or goals you had when before you made a decision to follow God. How do you feel toward them now?
When I was in Jr. High I was a smart mouth and sarcastic student. I thought that was just because I was a Jr. High student! But actually my wife tells me I can be quite sarcastic with my comments. It is true there are times I am sarcastic-but I do not feel comfortable with it. I may still say sarcastic comments, but when I do I have an intuitive feeling that I should not anymore. Why? Sarcasm is a way of putting down people, and God has taught me to edify and lift up people.

The fact that I have any kind of discomfort or struggle with sarcasm shows that I have new life. Now I have a choice as to whether I will go back to old ways, or live as the new creation I truly am in Christ.

Brothers and sisters, the reason we died, were buried, and raised again in Christ was so that we would live a new life. This is the Christian's purpose. For the Christian, this old self is killed and dead-verse 7 says anyone who has died, as we have died with Christ, is free from sin. Now Christian's who had no choice but to sin before now have a choice to follow God as disciples of Christ.

Let me summarize why Christians should no longer live in sin: Because sin is inconsistent with their new life. They do not resist sin because they owe something to God or because they want to feel worthy of God's gift.

How come many Christians do not feel like they are free from the power of sin in their life?

Alive to God, Dead to Sin (8-14)
We can only be victorious over the power of sin when we continue to live in Christ. It is not in our own strength or will that we can overcome sin. It is through the life of Christ. We must join our life to His to overcome the power of sin.

Verse 11 gives us the first command of the book of Romans: as Christ lives His life to God...in the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. How can we be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ?

Dead to Sin…
Think of someone you have had a fight or argument with. Before you make up, how do you treat that person? If you are like me, you look into your arsenal and you find the freezer. The tools of the freezer are the cold shoulder and the icy glare. If you see them in the hallway, you look away as if they do not exist. If they talk to you in a meeting, you ignore their presence. For my wife and I, we sit in two different rooms and pretend the other person does not exist. That is being dead to someone. We can be dead to things too. When I started college, I wanted to be dead to the television. I did not want to watch TV for fear it would control my life. I put away the video games. I did not give any life to the TV.
That is how we become dead to sin. When temptation comes, do not entertain the thoughts. When anger is coming upon us and we want to yell at someone, become dead to those feelings. When we see a beautiful woman or a handsome man, turn a cold shoulder to the temptation to entertain lustful thoughts. When we are numbing the pain of our life through eating, surfing the internet, or watching TV, put those things away. We have died to sin, now every day we must continue to be dead to what God does not want us to think or do.

Whatever those things are that God wants us to change, those things are in the past, and we are to put the past behind us.

…Alive to Christ
On the other hand, we are to be alive to God. How do you and I treat people we have a close relationship with? Think of a friend or spouse whom you are close to. What characterizes this close relationship? There will be time spent together, shared interests, and care. Consider this, there cannot be a close relationship unless both parties give of themselves to the other.

To be alive to God is to have the relationship with God that Jesus had with the Father. Verse 10 says:
The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
Verse 11 says, "Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus
Verse 13, "…offer yourselves to God, as those who have brought from death to life."

Our life to God is a life as Jesus lived-He lived for God. How? By submitting His will, offering Himself, to a Holy God.

Everyday is filled with choice to give ourselves to old ways, or to submit ourselves to God's ways. God sent His Son not just so we would have insurance against Hell. He sent His Son to free us to live a new life and a new identity. To live this new life in Christ is the world of God through our Choices.

Let us remember the words of verse 2, "We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?"

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