Gospel Gifts: Liberty From Tyranny

Again, this summer we're looking at the gifts that the Gospel gives us. Too often we think that the Gospel is just about getting us to Heaven. But there's much more than that. The Gospel does a great deal more than that. And so I'm going to ask you now to turn to Romans chapter 6 as we look at another gift that the Gospel has brought to us in Jesus. Romans chapter 6.

I'll be reading the entire chapter, but this week we'll be looking at verses 1 through 14. Romans chapter 6, beginning in verse 1. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We are buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death. In order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we've been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him.

For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. The life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we're not under law, but under grace? By no means. Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness.

But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you are committed and having been set free from sin have become slaves of righteousness I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let's pray. Father, guide our thinking now. Help us, we pray. The gospel brings such good news to us. So many things that it accomplishes in this sin-cursed world. We thank you for a Savior who invaded this world, who lived among us, who died and was raised again, that we may have hope as we live in this sin-cursed world. of hope, of living lives of freedom.

Grant us understanding now as we look into your word. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Sasha Lushenko is a free man. He spent his entire life in the Soviet Union living under a repressive regime that told him what to do just about every minute of the day. He told them what university he had to go to.

When he graduated, the government told him that he had to work in a particular nuclear power plant. He was even assigned a certain apartment in the city where he worked. Whenever he had to go to another city in order to pursue that business, he had to report to the police station in that city and check into that local police station and show his identity papers and his permission to travel there.

He could never say anything about his work or his boss or the policies under which he worked because he was always afraid that an agent of the KGB might be nearby listening to him. Every moment of every day for 52 years, he's lived under the tyranny of that system of the Soviet Union Now at the height of the Cold War he finally immigrated to America and today he became a United States citizen Sasha is at last a free man You're excited, too, because he's your newest neighbor, and you just found out about all this. And this morning, you had quite a conversation with him.

He said to you this morning, where's the police station where I have to check in now that I'm a citizen of this country? And you say, Sasha, you don't have to do that anymore. but how do I get my travel permits and identity papers? Sasha, you don't need those things anymore. You're a free man now. You live in America. You're free.

Later that day, he knocks on your door, and so you invite him in. He says to you in hushed tones, I've decided to go to church with you tomorrow. Can I go with you? When do we leave? You say, Sasha, why are you whispering? And he says, because you never know who might be listening.

Finally, you say to him, Sasha, you're no longer living under Soviet rule. You are a free man. Start acting like a free man. That's what God says in Romans chapter 6. That's what Romans chapter 6 is about. You are free from the rule of sin.

Now start acting like it. In this chapter, the Apostle Paul tells us of this marvelous gift of the Gospel in verses 1-14. The sweet liberty from the tyranny of sin. The Gospel has brought you freedom from the rule and the tyranny, the despotism of sin. Now, let's get a sense for the context here as we come into chapter 6. You recall that the Apostle Paul, as we heard this morning, as Wes read it to us, in Romans chapter 5, verses 12 through 21, he lays out for you two realms of humanity, two domains of humanity, two different kingdoms, if you will.

The one is represented by Adam, and the other represented by Jesus Christ. There are two realms of humanity. If you're united with Adam, then you remain under the tyranny of sin and death. However if you in the realm of Jesus the one that he represents then you in the realm of righteousness and life Now we come to chapter 6 and this is really important Paul continues to speak about those two realms.

In chapter 5, he shows how this transfer from one realm to the other, He shows how this transfer changed your relationship to death. Okay? The transfer from one realm into the other has changed your relationship to death. In chapter 6, he shows how this transfer into another realm has changed your relationship to sin. In chapter 5, he shows how this transfer procured your pardon.

In chapter 6, he shows how this transfer has given you power over sin. Now chapter 6 draws two pictures of this freedom from the rule of sin. In verses 1-14, he puts it in terms of death. You've been freed from the rule of sin because you have died with Christ. in verses 15 to the end of the chapter he puts it in terms of mastery you've been freed from the rule of sin because now you have a new master you've been freed from the rule of sin through slavery to a different master the whole point of chapter 6 is you are free from the rule the tyranny, the despotism of sin Now you need to start acting like it.

That's what chapter 6 is all about. So let's look at the first 14 verses. I won't read it all over again. As we go through here and look at this, you look at the verses and see where we're going. See what happens. Now here's what he says in the first four verses.

You can't go on sinning because of your union with Christ. You can't go on sinning because of your union with Christ. I've got to read it. I can't trust you. So I'll read it. What shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? Because he just got done saying, right? Where sin abounded, grace abounded more. And everybody here? And they say, well, then we should go on sinning. And he says, what shall we say then?

Are we to continue to sin that grace may abound? Let me just stop here. I've got to say this. You know, when you're reading the Bible, don't think that the Apostle Paul is scratching his head and saying, I wonder what lecture I can give today and write it down. There were people who were saying, if what you say about grace is true, then we can go on sinning.

He's heard that. People are saying that. And he's responding to that. So the people are still saying that today, aren't they? So here's what he says. Let's start again.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. This is the strongest negative you can have in the Greek language. Absolutely not, it's impossible, no! That's what he's saying there.

How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Of course, many people misunderstand the gospel of God's free grace.

Someone says, let me get this right, Paul. You say that no one will be declared righteous by obeying the law. Right. You say that God declares people righteous apart from any obedience on their part but that God freely, with no strings attached, declares you righteous if you only believe in Jesus. Right. You say that salvation comes to the man who does not work but trusts in Jesus.

Right. You even went so far to say that the law actually increases sin, but that where all that sin increased, God's grace increased all the more. And he says, right. So what you're saying is, saved by grace, so blessed condition, I can sin all I want and still have remission. And he says, no! That's where you got it wrong.

Absolutely not. Well, Paul, how can you say that? After you've said all this other stuff, then how can you possibly say, I can't go on sinning? Because you've just been making this whole point through the first five chapters. It nothing we do It all free How can you then say that we can go on sinning And he says grace does not mean we can go on sinning Absolutely not, because we are in fact dead to sin.

Now I want you to notice something here. Please note that sin is singular. This is very important for us to see in this chapter. Sin is singular. Not sins, but sin. He's not saying that we've been freed from sins or freed from sinning.

It's very important to see this. He says we have been freed from sin. Paul personifies sin. You remember what that is? You remember that from your high school English classes? What does it mean to personify sin?

It's like to attribute human characteristics to it. So if you will, it almost makes it a person by that singular, giving you the idea of, let's say, King Sin. As opposed to King Jesus, you have King Sin. And here you find decisive language describing our transfer out of the realm of King Sin. You've been removed from the rule of this king called Sin. You've been removed from the tyranny of Sin.

And that transfer is so radical that Paul uses the language of death. Who can I pick on this morning? Suppose Linda had a massive heart attack tonight. Right? Okay, you're all starting to cry. We're just pretending.

All right. Suppose Linda had a massive heart attack tonight and she dies. Tomorrow morning, her boss, who she's immediately responsible to, is getting kind of ticked off because she hasn't shown up for work. And she didn't call in. And so he calls and he gets hold of Lindsay and says, Where is your mother? She's supposed to be here today.

Right? Right? And he says, You tell her to get here to work. Will he be successful in that endeavor? Nope. Nope.

Why not? Because Linda no longer under his authority What do you mean she no longer under his authority She in a different realm altogether right now where his authority does not extend He has no authority over her because she dead You see? She's no longer in the land of the living. She's been transferred. You see, grace does not mean that you continue in sin because you are dead to sin.

You've died to the rule of that king. You're dead to him. He has no authority over you any longer. How is that accomplished? Verses 3 and 4. This transfer takes place in Christ.

You don't get out of the realm of king sin by merely leaving. Because you know what? He won't approve your transfer. It takes more than you to get you out of that realm. It takes more than you to free you from the tyranny of this king. You must be baptized into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Now, we talked about baptism last week. It's not that baptism itself transfers you. Baptism does not accomplish anything. Baptism is the seal that says that your faith is the real thing. So your faith, expressed through baptism, unites you to the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus. What happened centuries ago when Jesus died and was raised from the grave?

You know what? He left this domain, this domain ruled by death. He left the old realm where sin and death ruled. But he also inaugurated a whole new realm where righteousness and life rule, where Jesus rules. Now through faith, signified by your baptism, you enter into the death and the resurrection of Jesus. You are united to Him.

And so thus, His leaving the realm means you leave. You're dead to the domain of sin because by faith you've died and been buried with Jesus and you have left that domain. The second you believe, you're transferred. by your faith you've entered the new realm. The realm that Jesus entered when He was raised from the dead The purpose of your union with Jesus by faith is so that you can and should live differently That's what the gospel does.

That's what the gospel does. It transfers us so that we can live differently. You see, otherwise you're under the tyranny of sin. You can't live differently. King Sin rules. And until you are transferred, until you leave that realm where he rules, you're a slave.

You're a subject. You can't help but sin. But by faith in Jesus, you're taken into this new realm. So there it is. The Gospel does not mean that you continue in sin. Why not?

Because you've been joined to your Savior who by His death and resurrection brought into being the domain where sin no longer rules. And by virtue of your union with Him has brought you there to live. Does God's grace mean then that we go on sinning? No! You can't go on sinning because grace has united you to Jesus. You've died to the rule of sin.

And you've been raised in the realm. where the rule of Jesus is evident. That's why grace doesn't mean you go on sinning. Because grace accomplishes that. The grace of God accomplishes that very transfer. Now Paul goes on to explain all of this in even more detail in verses 5 through 11. He says you can't go on sinning because you're dead and alive. now most of you don't remember this because you're not old enough but there used to be an old television program called wanted dead or alive with steve mcqueen all right he carried that that shot off um that sawed off um winchester on his on his hip you know that it was so cool right he was his bounty hunter he's going after guys one and it was called wanted dead or alive that shows McQueen walking up in the opening credits and ripping off the poster, right?

You always remember that, all the wanted dead or alive stuff. The verse is... These verses, verses 5 through 11, are a poster that says, found Christians dead and alive. We are dead and we're alive. Both of them are true. In verse 5, Paul says, okay, let me say it again so that you get the point.

If we've been united with Him, he says, for if we've been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. So now, he says, now here's what's going to happen. You'll be united in the death like his, well, then you're certainly going to be united with him in a resurrection like his. And so now he's going to explain all that.

Now he's going to tell you how that works out. All right? First of all, he says, you are dead. Verses 6 and 7. You are dead to the old tyrant, King Sin. You're dead to him.

You are dead to that old tyrant because the old man was crucified when Jesus died. Now this verse has caused all kinds of difficulties for me. I can remember the debates when I was a kid and the things I was taught. But here's what he's saying. The old man or the old self that died is what you were in Adam. It is the man of the old domain.

It is the man who lives in the domain of the tyranny of sin. That's the man that's died. He doesn't exist. The man who lives under the rule of sin does not exist. He's died. So here you and Sasha are.

You're driving home from church, right? And Sasha says to you, you know, the old Sasha would never have done this. Now what are you thinking? Are you looking at him going, okay, wait a minute, you mean you're, okay, aren't you Sasha? you're missing the whole point what he's saying is the Sasha that lived in the Soviet Union he never would have done this but this is a different that one's dead he doesn't live there anymore he doesn't live in that domain that old man the old man of Adam the old man that lived in that that old realm who lived according to the rules of that country he's dead he doesn't exist anymore you see the crucifixion of that old self he says had a purpose our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin The crucifixion of the old man had a purpose, to make ineffective or impotent the body of sin.

Now, he's talking about our bodies here. And the body of sin doesn't just mean the physical body with its physical appetites, and physical lusts. If that were true, the answer would be, let's all go to a monastery where we can isolate those things from temptation, or so we think. He uses the body to represent the person as he interacts with the world.

You know what we say too often and it's wrong? We'll look at a body in a coffin and say, that's not really him, that's not really her. Well, actually, that is him and her. we have this idea that somehow we're we're a soul imprisoned in a body that's not the biblical view all right um the body is part of you it is it is you if you will now not entirely not entirely something radical has happened there right the soul is separated from the body so it is and it isn't but let's let me illustrate it this way we talk like this all the time about bodies.

When you do see that body in the coffin and you're standing there, it's your mom, and you're greeting everybody, and what do people normally say? They come up and they say, doesn't she look wonderful? Didn't they do a good job? People don't know what to say in those situations. And you don't say, yeah, mom's body looks good. You don't say that.

You don't say, yeah, her body looks pretty. You don't do that. You say, yeah, mom looks pretty good. That's what you say, because that body is connected to the person. And so he's saying this. This part of us that interacts with the world, the physical part of us, will that body be used as an instrument of sin or not?

The old man has been crucified and has been killed so that this body, this part of you that interacts with the world, will no longer be a helpless tool of sin. your body is no longer a helpless tool of king sin that he can use however he wants it been freed from that slavery the capacity to interact with the world has been rescued from the rule of sin because the old man no longer exists Therefore, this body is no longer that helpless tool that sin can use as he wants. As you download your email, you receive an invitation to go to a particular site. But the old man has been crucified and so your body, your eyes, your finger on the mouth are no longer slaves of sin.

The old man has died to render that slavery of your body to sin ineffective. Now he comes to verse 7. You see, you're united with Jesus in his death. The old self once ruled by sin has been crucified and the body rescued from sin's tyranny so that you should no longer be a slave of sin. In fact, you're not a slave because you died and are free. Now again, listen carefully.

Look at that verse carefully. Paul is not saying that we're free from sinning. He's not saying that. How do I know he's not saying that? Because if he did, he'd contradict what he's saying in verses 12 and 13. What is he saying in verses 12 and 13?

Don't let sin reign in your mortal bodies. If you do, you obey it. So he's already telling you there's a battle going on. Verse 13. Don't give the members of your body as slaves to unrighteousness, but give them as slaves to righteousness, as weapons to righteousness. So he says in verses 12 and 13, there's a battle, there's a struggle going on.

What he's saying is you are no longer king, sins, slave. You've been freed from his tyranny. That's what he's saying. Can you see that? He doesn't say, and so you're free from sinning. He says you're free from singular sin.

You are free from king sin. That's a mighty gift of the gospel. You are free from the tyranny of that king. But he goes on, verses 8 through 10, you not also dead to the old tyrant but you alive to God You dead to him but you alive to God Okay? Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again.

Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. All right? Jesus died and was raised to life. He entered the realm of sin and death. He entered the realm where king sin ruled.

Now, he never sinned. But by taking on our sin, he died. And by the resurrection, he broke the power of death over him. And by dying to this world, he severed his relationship. Now, he never sinned, but he lived in the realm where sin was a tyrant. But by dying and being raised to life, there's no relation to it anymore he lived in the old domain where sin and death ruled but he died to it and was raised so that now he lives in a different realm to the glory of the Father with no hindrances do you think Jesus had hindrances to living for the glory of the Father while he was here? yeah he did it was a hard obedience it was a hard obedience for Jesus He entered this realm.

He was surrounded. He was engulfed in sin, something that he had never had in his state he had with the Father before. He had great hindrances to living for the glory of the Father. Now he lives in a domain where there is no hindrances to the glory of God at all. Say, what does that have to do with us? It says, verse 8, we believe that we will also have the same life with him.

Essentially, God says, look to the future. Do you believe that you will someday live with Jesus in the same way that he lives now? Will you someday live in a realm with no hindrances to living for the glory of God? Will you someday be there? Yes. Then live like it now.

Live like it now. Your boss says to you one day, Dave, I'm taking another job with another company in three months. when I leave, you're taking my position. You're going to be over this whole area. You're going to be the guy in charge. Alright? If you believe that you're going to be the boss of that area, is that going to affect the way you start relating to your co-workers?

Are you going to start taking more of an interest in how things run? Is it going to change? With three months ahead in your mind, is it going to change the way you respond now to your work? You bet it does. Or let's take another example. You've got vacation in two weeks.

You think you can handle what comes down the pike tomorrow at work? Yeah, shoot, two weeks, I can take anything. In two weeks, I'll be out of here. Right? That's what he's saying here. That's what he's saying here.

That's in the future. Let it change the way you act now. Here's the point. Get this saying down. All right? Listen carefully.

Sin has not changed. But your relationship to sin has changed. You got it? This is the easiest way to remember it. You have to write it down. Sin has not changed.

But your relationship to sin has changed. Is sin still a tyrant? Is it? Yes, sin is still a tyrant. That hasn't changed. Sin still tyrannizes.

But what has changed is your relationship to sin. Sin is a tyrant commanding people to follow his every command. Absolutely. But because you died to him, because the man that was once subject to him was crucified, because you united to Jesus in his death and resurrection, he is no longer your ruler. He no longer tyrannizes you. So here's Sasha.

He is a free man in a free country. And let's say this is 1969. Has the Soviet Union changed? No. It's still a repressive regime. But his relationship to the Soviet Union has been radically altered.

He doesn't live there. He's not under its oppressive rules. He lives here now. So sin has not changed, but your relationship to it has. And thus we come to verse 11, the very first command in this entire book. You know that? there are no commands until we get to verse 11 of chapter 6 The very first command in the entire book of Romans which says so you also must consider must reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus Because your relationship to sin has changed, now you have this command, and that is, in all that God has done for you, what must you do?

You've got to start counting yourself, thinking of yourself, believing that you are free from the rule of sin. What must Sasha do now that he lives in the United States? What must he do now that he's a citizen of a free country? He has to start thinking like a man who is free. Instead of thinking the old way, he has to start thinking like a man who is free.

He has to start looking at himself the way you look at him. and so we have to start looking at ourselves the way god looks at us we have to start thinking like free men and women we have to start believing and reckoning no i'm dead to sin i'm alive to god that's the facts that's what it is i've got to start thinking that way as soon as you start saying well i'm just a sinner i can't do anything to please god you're headed down the road to defeat. See, the gift of the gospel is it frees you from the tyranny of sin, and you've got to start thinking that way. If you don't start reckoning yourself that way, you're headed down the road of defeat.

Instead, I am free. I can live for God. I am dead to sin, and I am alive to God. now what is what does it mean then if you start thinking that way you know all that you start reckoning yourself that way now what verses 12 through 14 let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions you see there it is sin has not changed sin still wants to tyrannize and it still wants to tyrannize you.

Let's keep going. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace You cannot go on sinning because you who are free from the tyranny of sin now must fight sin You now must fight sin.

Here are some commands that God gives us to obey. What we were in Adam is no more, you see. But until heaven, the temptation to live in Adam will always be there. while you belong to the realm where jesus rules guess what you bring into that realm old habits old propensities old ways of thinking old ways of doing that you've always had you take that with you and so you're tempted to live like you're in the realm of adam but you're no longer in that domain you're no longer under the rule of the tyrant sin However, the tyrant still keeps calling you.

In fact, let's put it this way. Even though he's dethroned, even though he's no longer king, he's always trying to get back on the throne. Why? Sin has not changed. What's the nature of sin? What is the nature of sin?

The nature of sin is to rule. Sin is never satisfied with just a little. It wants all. Okay? Keep that in mind when you're tempted. When you're tempted and you say, I'm just going to take a little bit of that, understand this.

Sin is not satisfied with only getting a little. It wants it all. And sin has not changed. And that's why he says, don't let sin reign. Why? Because sin is trying to reign still.

Even though you're free from his rule, he's still trying to get on the throne. Verse 12. So don't let that happen. Don't let that happen. Alright? In light of all that God has done.

Now this is what you must do. The fact that God has freed you from the tyranny and the rule and the despotism of sin, what does that mean now? That means you've got to fight. That means sin is still going to try to tyrannize you and you've got to fight. resist and fight against sin's attempt to master you maintain your liberty against that dethroned tyrant resist by refusing obedience to the many lusts that demand it Alright He says here in verse 12, Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions, its desires.

When the lust for revenge whispers in your ear, consider yourself dead to it and resist it. when the lust to overindulge your eating entices you, see yourself as dead to it and resist, when the lust to dominate others seems so sweet, turn on it and say, I am dead to you and I refuse to obey. You see? You now resist sin. And you're free to do that. You're free to resist his rule.

Erwin Lutzer in his book, How to Say No to a Stubborn Habit, has this marvelous illustration. Here you are. You live in an apartment building. You have an apartment in this apartment building. And your landlord comes on the first Tuesday of every month, knocks on your door. You open the door.

There's your landlord. He says, pay your rent. So you pay the rent, right? Okay. But he has now sold the apartment building to someone else. And that landlord comes on the last Thursday of every month to collect the rent.

Right? Okay. So here you are. You're under new ownership. You're in your apartment. And on the first Tuesday of the month, there's a knock on your door.

And you open it, and there's your old landlord. Lord. And he says, give me the rent. Can you pay him the rent? Can you hand over the money? It's a trick question.

Can you hand over the money? Sure you can. Yeah, you can. You could pull your wallet out and pay him the rent. The question is, do you have to? And the answer is no.

You can say, I don't owe you a dime. That's the point he's making in verse 12. You see? You can say no. I don't have to do that. I don't need to do that.

I don't have to pay you. That's the point of You're free to do that now. Before you weren't. Now you can. All right? In fact, you can take the old landlord and kick him off the balcony if you wanted to.

Because he doesn't need to be there. You don't owe him a thing. All right? Assuming you live on the second floor. Now look at verse 13. Rather than succumbing to sin, resist it by enlisting your capacities for righteousness.

Now, he gets real specific here. Isn't it interesting, and I find this fascinating, verse, do not present your members to sin as instruments of righteousness. I mean, he gets really detailed here. Do not present the members of your body as instruments of sin. Don't offer the members of your body as instruments or weapons of unrighteousness. He draws the picture of a lord here. a lord.

You know, in the old days, you had this lord over this area, and when danger would come, he would call all of his vassals, all of his people subordinate to him, and says, show up at this place with your weapons. We're going to war. All right? That's the picture he draws here. When the old king, when the old king, no, he says, when, the fact is, when, when it's time to fight, you need to submit the members of your body to righteousness rather than to unrighteousness.

Enlist yourself and your weapons in service to God and in service to righteousness. You must consciously enlist all the members of your body and all your capacities in service to God. You must take your voice, your eyes, your arms, your legs, your feet, your hands, every part of you, your abilities, your talents, every part of you and enlist them to God.

Don't let sin use them anymore. Enlist them in service to God. So you not only resist sin, but you actually actively pursue righteousness It the put put principle Don use them this way but use them this way It never good enough to say no You've got to say yes. You've got to say no here and yes here. Alright? So you've got to think this way.

Guys, you know what I'm talking about here. Guys, right? You know, there are times where Ho! My eyes don't belong. My eyes don't belong there. I've got to use my eyes for God.

So looking that way, I can't do it. Alright? You guys know what I'm talking about here. You've got to think that way. I've got to enlist every part of me in service to God. And you do this not because you have the ability in yourself, but because you're already in the domain of life and freedom.

You're already there. well how can this be how can i so resist the voice of my former master and serve god i love this for sin will have no dominion over you sin will certainly never be your lord again it won't it can't this is the promise of god based on his work in christ christ's work on the cross has delivered you from the power and the tyranny of sin. Can't overturn that. Can't overturn that.

God has accomplished your freedom. He's accomplished it. Sasha, you can say what you want, worship where you want, go anywhere you want because the system you left will never again tell you what to do. It will never rule you again. That's the promise of God. Sin will never be your master. how can you be so certain that sin will never be your master because you're not under law but under grace now don't misunderstand him here he does not mean that Christians don't have a law we do, it's the law of Christ over and over we have commandments all through the New Testament we have command after command after command alright We do have a code But remember what he said about the old the nature of the old code in chapter 5.

God's law actually excited sin in us. Now, the problem wasn't the law of God, was it? The problem was us. There's the problem. When God said no, we said, why not? That's exactly what I want to do.

Why did you tell me no? Now, the problem was not God's law. The problem was our sinful hearts. But guess what? Something's changed. That law, that law which excited and intensified sin is gone.

The law could never change a human heart. Not even God's law can change a human heart. It could never transfer us out of the realm where sin and death reign. But grace reigns in the new realm. the grace that puts to death the old man, the grace that renews you, the grace that transfers you into the realm of Jesus. That's why you will never again be a pawn in the hands of King Sin.

What does the grace of God mean to you? What does the gospel do for you? if you take it for a license to continue in sin, then you don't know the grace of God. If you believe that grace means that you continue to sin, then you are a stranger to that grace. It doesn't mean that at all. The grace of God not only pardons your sin, but the grace of God subdues it. but that grace doesn't command us to subdue sin on our own it doesn't command us to free ourselves God grace unites us to the death and the resurrection of Jesus so that we are taken to his kingdom where sin no longer rules God accomplishes freedom for us in Christ That means then that free men will fight Free men will fight for their liberty.

And that is especially true in this realm. You're free, now fight. that's what grace means not to continue in sin but to be released from its tyrannizing and all controlling power so that now as it attempts to rule you you have the freedom and the ability to fight it that's what grace means that's what the gospel gives us Father thank you for your word that speaks of such sweet liberty. Father, help us to begin and to be serious about acting like free men, that we would think and act and become what we are, free from the tyranny of sin.

Grant it to us, we pray. Lord, I pray that your word today has given great hope to us in our battles, that, Father, that we begin thinking correctly and fighting with the proper weapons. Thank you for the gospel. The gospel that not only takes us to heaven, but a gospel that frees us from the tyranny of sin in this world so that we can live different lives, lives of peace and joy. thank you for the hope that we have in Jesus.

We pray all of this in his name. Amen.