“Free Slaves” (Romans 6:15–23)

“Free Slaves” (Romans 6:15–23)

Pastor Cameron Jungels

Eastside Baptist Church

Sunday AM, November 5, 2017

 

Romans 6:15–23 (NIV)

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. ¹⁸ You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

¹⁹ I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹ What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

1. Christians are living in a new era and are citizens of a new kingdom.

 

1. The salvation-historical then/now.

 

1. The salvation-experiential then/now.

 

2. Then: You used to be slaves of sin and bound for death.

 

3. Now: You are now slaves of righteousness bound for eternal life.

 

Summary: We are now part of the era and kingdom of grace, but being under grace instead of Law doesn’t mean that we are free to sin or free to indulge in lawlessness. Being under grace means that we are now citizens of a new Kingdom with a new Lord. It is to this gracious and righteous King Jesus that we now owe our loyalty and obedience. Let us serve him as willing servants, because the benefits are joyous and eternal.

 

Main Idea: Jesus sets us free to serve God in righteousness and holiness.