set free to live free (rom 6:1-8)

7/31/2019 Set Free to Live Free (Rom 6:1-8)

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IntroductionI. Windows Into Romans:

A. As Ive said for the past 5 weeks now, we are in the middle of a series Iveentitled Windows Into Romans.

B. We just finished a mini-series about the Cross of Christ where we looked at thecrucifixion of Jesus through two different lenses:

1. It was a Display of the Righteousness of God.

a) When Christ took the penalty for our sin, Gods justice was upheld.

2. It was a Display of the Love of God.

a) When Christ took the penalty for our sin, Gods love was on display.

C. Last week in particular we looked at the amazing, extravagant, and unshakeablelove of God that was demonstrated for us on the cross of Christ.

D. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while

we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1. God doesnt just say, I love you and then do nothing about it. He firstdemonstrates His love toward us and then gives us His word to explain whatHe has accomplished.

2. Romans 5 describes us as helpless enemies of God who could do nothing forourselves. Then God in His great mercy stooped down and made a way for usto be saved from the judgement that we deserved for our sins.

E. In light of this amazing demonstration of Gods love we are pressing onward intoRomans 6.

Setting Up the ChapterI. Romans 6 is strategically placed right after Romans 5 for SO many reasons.

A. In Romans 5 Paul lays the foundation of salvation as a free and unearned gift ofGrace.

B. He said, there was nothing you could do to earn it. And once you are saved noteven your sin can overcome Gods electing love for you!

1. Romans 5:20 Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more!

C. In essence, Paul wants the believer to know and understand that before he getsinto the content of chapter 6 (which is all about fighting sin) he wants to make the

gospel crystal clear!1. You dont fight sin to earn favor from God! You fight sin by Grace in order to

live in the freedom that was won for you! Christ won your freedom from sin,now live like a freed man/woman!

2. He is like a master builder laying a good foundation for our spiritual homes.

3. New World Trade Center designed with


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D. He wants to lay the foundation for our spiritual lives that is made of titanium thatwill stand against the craziest storms of this life.

1. He begins with the fact that we have done nothing to earn Gods favor. And ifwe have been justified by our faith in Christ then there is nothing we can do toseparate us from the love of God.

E. World Trade Center

1. 400cubic yards (310 cubic metres) of concrete were poured onto thefoundations, carried by as many as 40 trucks.

2. The construction company tested the strength of the building againsteverything short of an atomic blast... and lets just say, there isnt much thatwill be able to hurt that building.

F. Once the foundation is laid. Paul is ready to move on to Romans 6. And in thisamazing chapter He gets into the nitty gritty battle of everyday life.

Title: Set Free to Live Free!I. Shawshank RedemptionA. I was always frustrated by the character of Red, Morgan Freeman. He had been

in prison for most of his life, and near the end of his prison sentence when hecould finally go free, he would intentionally fail his exit exams. I was like man,freedom is right there in front of you! Why dont you just take it. Youve beenlocked up in prison for more than 20 years! Youre a changed man! Go live yourlife.

B. But he saw no reason to leave prison. His was life was comfortable, he was atthe top of the roost, he had the respect of his fellow inmates. He believed that lifewas good. All the world had to offer was uncertainty, change, and risk.

C. It is possible that some of you in this room tonight are living your lives in thesame predicament. You have been living your lives in prison and you actuallybelieve you are living the good life.

D. Tonight we are going to take a look at Romans 6 and see Pauls strategy forcoming out of prison and living a NEW LIFE.

Romans 6:7-8 He who has died is free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ,we believe that we shall also live with Him.

Setting Up the ProblemsI. In this chapter Paul is dealing with ONE MAJOR ISSUE: SIN. MORESPECIFICALLY, ONGOING SIN IN THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVER.

A. He is dealing with this problem in two major ways.

1. First, as attack on the Gospel of grace.


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a) So, some people accused Pauls amazing Gospel of grace as somethingthat encouraged people to sin. The more I sin the more grace I get! So letthe sinning begin!

b) Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so thatgrace may increase?

2. Second, Paul is addressing the fact that SIN is an ongoing problem forbelievers. And He gives us very practical instruction on how to fight against it.

a) So the question that we struggle with as Christians is, If Im a newcreation in Christ how do I fight these temptations that still come my way?

Solving the ProblemsI. How does Paul deal with this problem of Sin! How does he deal with the problems

raised in this chapter?

II. This week we are going to look at the first problem, and next week we are going tolook at the second problem.

Problem #11. If grace is so amazing why dont we just keep on sinning?

a) Hey where sin increases, grace increases all the more! Right? Just giveme a bit more sin so I can have a bit more grace!

b) If my sin only magnifies the love and grace of God, why not just live in sinand let Gods grace be magnified more an more!

c) Gosh, Gods grace is incredible! Nothing can separate me from His love!Ill just keep on sinning! This way I get the best of both worlds! Gods loveand the pleasure of sin! Yeah!

(1) Romans 5:20 Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more!

d) How does Paul respond to this reasoning?

e) Me Genoito! . GOD FORBID!

(1) Strongest phrase in the greek language.

2. Romans 6:2 If you have died to sin, why would you keep living in it?

B. Explanation: Paul explain yourself.

1. Paul is dealing with an age old lie right here:

a) Living life in obedience to sin is more fun/pleasurable than living life in

obedience to God.

b) What he tries to explain in the following verses is that Sin is a cruel slavemaster that drives you onward toward death! All the while it makes youbelieve that you are having the greatest time!

c) Romans 6:16 Do you not know that when you obey your sinfuldesires you have made sin your master? Do you not know that thisresults in death?


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Driving to Birminghamd) Two friends of mine when I was in high school went to b-ham to visit some

of our other friends who had just moved. Parents were adamant that theyget back on time. They ignored the detour. Luckily we were stopped...

III. Paul is explaining the truth about GRACE. GRACE DOESNT ENCOURAGE SIN,IT SETS YOU FREE FROM THE SLAVERY OF SIN! IT TAKES OUT SIN AT THEVERY ROOT! It helps you see SIN for what is actually is and then helps you seethe superior joys of life with Christ!

How Does Grace Empower Me to Overcome Sin?A. Romans 6:7 If you have died then you have been freed from sin

B. Sin is this universal plague. Every single person in the human race is under itscurse. No escaping it.

1. Except for one BIG exception.

2. There is one group of people on the earth right now who are totally free fromsin. They actually dont sin at all! If you want to hang out with them all youhave to do is walk down to the nearest graveyard. Thats right. Theyre dead.Those corpses lying in those graves can no longer commit sin.

a) Why?

b) They are dead! Their soul has left the building! They can no longer act ontheir sinful desires because they dont have any desires anymore. Theyare dead!

3. The only way you will ever be free from sin is when you die. He says, Look,while you are alive on this earth, you cannot be totally free from sin. Only

once you are dead are you no longer able to give in to the temptation of sin.4. However, our predicament is worse than just being free from the sinful desires

of our flesh.

5. If we die in our sin, then the wages of our sin will follow us beyond the graveand condemn us to eternal judgment.

6. So you might be physically dead and unable to sin, but you are still under thelegal penalty of sin which lasts for the rest of eternity!

Great Jonathan, There is NO hope for us on this earth? Right?

1. Wrong!

2. But how? If death is the only way to be free from sin then how can I be freefrom sin and still live life on this earth?

3. Romans 6:7 is talking about a very special type of death. A death that has thepower to set you free from all sin and all of its consequences.

4. Here is the answer:

a) Romans 6:5 We have become united to Christ in His death!


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(1) Here is what Paul is saying: Christ took your death! The death thatyou deserved... He died it.

(2) Now, you are united to Christs death by faith! This is amazing!

(3) When Jesus Christ was crucified on a tree He took on death for you!

(4) Now, if you believe that His sacrifice was for your sins, then you areunited to Him on that cross. You have died that death with Him. Butyou didnt physically have to go through it. He went through it for you!

5. What is even more amazing? Here is where it starts to get crazy good.

a) So we enter in to death WITH Christ.

b) But what happened next? Christ rose from the dead!

c) By Grace we have been united with Christ in His resurrection!

d) Look at the next verses with me:

(1) Romans 6:8-9 If we died with Christ, we believe we shall also live

with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead,is never to die again; death is no longer master over Him!

6. Guess what!? If death is no longer master over Christ what do you think thatmeans for you and me? Death is no longer master over us! Just as Jesusrose from the dead, we too will one day be raised never to die again! This isthe amazing hope of the Gospel!

IV. What have we seen thus far?

V. Here is Pauls point:

A. GRACE doesnt encourage you to sin! GRACE rips up the power of sin by itsroots. GRACE unites you with Christ who overcame Sin and Death! GRACEactually gives you the power to live an overcoming life!

B. Paul simply asks, If by GRACE you have been set free from a life of slavery tosin why would we you choose to live in it?

C. That was the old life that was crucified with Christ.

1. Its joys were cheap and its penalties steep!

Freedom from

Sin? DEATH

Freedom fromDeath? CHRIST

Now what? Im

still dead?

Now, by Grace, we arefree from SIN/DEATH!


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2. The joys of sin are fleeting and they leave you empty, trapped and enslaved.And the wages of sin is DEATH!

3. Christ died so that you and I wouldnt have to be slaves any longer!

a) Romans 6:6 Our Old Self was crucified with Christ . . . so that wewould no longer be slaves of sin.

Joel Getting ArrestedI. Which reminds me of a story about a good friend of mine named Joel.

A. After college I lived with Joel for a while in Atlanta. And one of the things aboutAtlanta is that you never know what you are going to see.

B. Ill never forget the night that Joel, and I, and our other roommate steve walkedoutside only to see 5 cop cars screeching down our street. Steve dares Joel torun, he does and gets arrested.

C. He explained it was just a stupid dare. And they scolded him, but let him go aftersome brief questions.

II. Now that was stupid. No doubt about it.

A. But do you know what would have been even more stupid? If when the copsbegan interrogating him, he continued with the joke and acted like a drug dealer.

B. Before Joel was saved he did some shady things. What if he just started actinglike His Old Self right there in front of the cops!

C. Officer, I was just running two pounds of cocaine to my buddy down the street.Im guilty! Please arrest me!

D. That would be ridiculous. Why would he live like a criminal if he was no longer acriminal? He had been free from that stuff for years. He had no reason to act likeHe was still doing drugs or breaking the law. Why would he willingly allow himselfto be locked back up in a jail cell to sit there for the next two years?

E. To take the analogy one step further. What if, while sitting in his jail cell, Joelactually believed, Whoohoo! This is the good life! Man am I living it up now! Itdoesnt get any better than this! Gosh Im glad that I chose to go back and live inmy former life of sin and lawbreaking! Im so glad I got arrested! This is so muchbetter than the freedom I had in Christ...!

F. Nobody would do that! But that is exactly what we do when we choose to live insin after Grace has set us free from the condemnation of sin.

G. Just like Paul says, If you have died to sin, why would you live in it?Conclusion: Paul proves His point. The Gospel of Grace doesnt lead

to more sin. It sets us free from the power and slavery of sin.

Core Truth: Grace does 2 things: It frees you from the condemnation

of sin and it gives you strength to overcome sin in your life.


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Problem #2 (Regarding Sin)I. Thanks Paul, Youve made it abundantly clear that Grace has empowered me to

overcome sin in my life. Youve shown me that Christ has set me free and I am towalk in newness of life with Him.

A. Now, what do I do with all these crazy sinful desires that are still in my flesh?How do I deal with all these sinful tendencies?

II. Glad you asked!

III. Come back next week and we will deal with that issue in fulness!

IV. Christian, fight all known sin in your life! Live like you are alive! Dont live like youare dead. Dont go back into the jail cell that you were set free from!

Romans 6:12-1412Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that youobey its evil desires. 13Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument ofwickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been broughtfrom death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument ofrighteousness. 1

1The New International Version. 2011 (Ro 6:1213). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

set free to live free (rom 6:1-8)

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