Introduction

Good morning we are going to continue our study in the book of Romans this morning.

As a reminder - the book of Romans is the theological backbone of the New Testament - there is a spiritual and intellectual richness to it that is deeply theology - it is a treasure trove waiting to be revealed - BUT it can, at times, be dense in its reading.

In other words - Romans is the blueprint for Christian faith - but the technical details can make it difficult to understand - And so I want to start by encouraging you not to give up - Keep leaning in—it will be worth the effort. Dory tells Marlin to “Keep on swimming”.

Livvy Grade 11 - hard at the moment - Geography class doubled in size - hold tight, keep swimming - it will get better - and easier.

Please turn to Romans 7 and we are going to read verses 1-6.

READ ROMANS 7:1-6

Released from the written code

Now there is a temptation to focus on the first 3 verses and to be distracted by the example Paul uses - BUT, as he explained in v19 of chapter 6 - “I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves”.

What this is not - The verse here are not teaching on divorce or remarriage - rather it is an illustration.

Okay, an example of what - an example of how we are free from something to which we were previously bound - an example of how law has authority over us.

The hero verse in this passage is v6 “...by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the Law - so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit” NIV - And it is on this verse that we need to focus all our energies this morning.

The book of Romans is deeply theological - but it has been written in a systematic way - we have seen much of this structure over the last 6 months.

  • Chapters 1–3 | The Problem | Everyone has sinned; no one is righteous on their own.
  • Chapters 4–5 | The Solution | Justification through faith in Christ alone.
  • Chapters 6–8 | The Result | Freedom from sin.

These chapters 6-8 are also systematic.

Romans 6:1-15 (Lawrence)

  • Paul teaches us that we are dead to sin:
    • Chapter 6:2 | “We died to sin”
    • In other words when we are saved - we are baptised into Christ’s death - so that we can also be united to Him in His resurrection
      • That is what we demonstrate in the water baptism
      • Such an encouragement to us as a church - why? A symbol of being united with Christ as we have done
    • Why, so that we can be free from sin's dominion (power over us) - Chapter 6:7 “anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”
    • v11 “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Jesus Christ” 
    • Once we were dead to sin - spiritually dead - but now we are alive in Christ - and we are free now to have a relationship with the living God
  • Paul then pivots at v14 - and this is a critical verse to our understanding this morning
    • In the first part of chapter 6 he explains how we are justified
      • It is fait accompli.
      • The last thing Jesus said on the cross is…
        • "It is finished" (John 19:30)
    • In v14 he now turns from that which is complete - and turns to how we are to live going forward
      • v14 “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”
    • Andrew focused on the first part of that verse last week
    • If we are dead to sin - we are freed from sins grasp - BUT this is not an invitation to do what we want - rather we willingly enter into a relationship where we offer ourselves to righteousness → leading to holiness (sanctification)
      • v22 “you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God”
  • Now I am a sucker for old says and quotes
    • If words matter then quotes - that have passed down and recorded over the centuries - are laced with wisdom & truths
    • An example of this is Napoleon Bonaparte
      • “Don’t interrupt your enemies while they are busy making mistakes”
    • One of all time favourites is attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt
      • "Happiness is a byproduct of a life well lived"
      • All too often as human beings we get caught up in our own self-gratification - not realising that happiness is a result of another process
  • This morning in the time we have we are going to focus on the second part of that verse - which Paul explains in greater detail what it is to be free from sin
  • The result of which is our - ‘holiness journey’ - and ‘bearing fruit for God’ - which are good things… but they are byproducts
    • Byproducts of what?? Byproducts of the - belonging - the marriage too the one who has been raised from the dead - a relationship with the living God
    • They are not conditions of the relationship
  • Eternal life - Holiness - our Happiness is a byproduct of a relationship with Christ Jesus

There are three lessons that we can draw from these scriptures

Stop trying to earn God’s favour (dead to the law)

  • In the first part of Roman 6, Paul carefully explains how we have died with Jesus and how we have also risen with Him - and because of this - we are now dead to sin.
  • AND it is because we are dead to sin that - we are also dead to the law 
    • v4 “you also have died to the law…”
  • If you have died to sin - then the logical progression is  that - you have also died to the law
  • The law no longer has dominion over you
  • The job of the law was to condemn us - to show us where we were going wrong
  • But - no matter how hard we tried - adherence to the law was unable to save us
  • We are unable to earn our way into heaven - we are unable to gain God’s favour by trying to be good - it will never meet His standard
  • The law condemns AND it is only by His grace that we are saved.
    • All the glory is given to God - none to us
  • In the same way - that you cannot be justified by the law - You cannot be sanctified by the law - in other words you cannot become more Christ-like - by following a set of rules.
  • The set of rules that condemned us has been replaced by a relationship with the living God
  • Now you might rightly be asking - who is claiming that - once saved - they still need to follow the law
  • Well this was a big issue for the early church - Paul isn’t just making this up he encountered it first hand - and it was this issue that lead to the first council in Jerusalem
  • As a bible study we have been working our way through the book of Acts - and a couple of weeks back we were studying Acts chapter 15
    • Paul and Barnabas are on their first missionary journey and they find themselves in the city of Antioch, and while they are there… 
      • “1 …some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
    • Paul and Barnabas - were no strangers to persecution and confrontation - they knew what it was to be opposed by the Jews and Greeks - and the authorities that despised them - but this was different.
    • These were believers - Jewish believers that had been saved - they knew that they needed to be saved by Grace - They had received the Holy Spirit - And yet, they had come to the belief that in order to live a holy life - in order to please God, they must continue to live by the Law.
    • This matter is taken seriously…
      • 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.”
    • v5
      • 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
    • This reveals that this was not merely a local dispute between Paul, Barnabas and the men from Antioch - but rather a belief that was pervasive across the early church
    • It was a matter that need to be dealt with immediately
    • After a lengthy debate, Peter and later James stand up and declare that adherence to the law is not a requirement - they reconfirm we are saved by Grace
    • But what is wrong with a bit of circumcision? - In the very next chapter Paul circumcises Timothy
    • It is not the act of circumcision but rather what it represents - a return to keeping the law of Moses - A returning to trying to earn your way into God’s favour
  • Now I must tell you that I am a pretty goooooood husband
    • I am up early in the morning and I drop the kids at school - I go to work every day and earn money for the family - I make delicious suppers most nights of the week…
    • Zena is pretty lucky - she hit the husband lottery
      • She should love me more!
      • But that is NOT how a relationship works
      • Marriages cannot be built on a give-get relationship
      • I should do these things because I love Zena and not the other way around
  • When we turn our relationship with Jesus into a conditional - give-get relationship two things happen
    • 1. We shut down the relationship with Him and insert into it a whole bunch of rules - check boxes - a transactional relationship - if I do this for you, then you do that for me - rather than one built on trust love and respect - we erode the relationship
    • 2. If we can claim that our holiness was dependent on our own efforts - then we rob God of Glory due his name
  • The question then is how do we treat our relationship with Him as a give-get relationship?
    • I come to church every week and I attend bible study - God should bless me because of this!
    • Look how good I am - I gave up chocolate for lent!
    • Every month I give 10% of everything I earn to the church - because of this God must bless me abundantly
    • Hey guys look how good I am - I wash the dishes every week
  • Now don’t get me wrong - these are all good things - but if we are doing them to gain God’s favour - to get something out of the relationship - then our attitudes are wrong
  • We should do these things because of what he has done for us - out of gratitude
  • Stop trying to gain God’s favour - you rob him of the Glory due his name
    • This is at the heart of the sinful nature

You are not lawless (belong to another)

  • We refer to the West as the ‘Free’ World
    • Our constitution entitles us to:
      • Freedom of movement, Freedom of trade, Freedom of religion, Freedom of association
      • In political matters - you have freedom to make the choice that I want you to make.
  • Scarborough story (2 min)
    • The world's concept of freedom is the ability to do our own thing - to make our own decisions - to follow our own desires
    • The world’s idea of freedom is that we are not answerable to anyone - that there are no consequences for our actions - we have no responsibilities - carefree
      • What Paul is telling us here - is that that kind of freedom does not exist in reality
  • v4 “so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.”
  • Being free from the Law does not mean freedom to do as we please
  • We do not now have a free licence to continue sinning guilt free
  • It is here that Paul uses the marriage example to bring home the point he has been building to in this chapter
    • Just like a woman whose husband has died is no longer bound by that marriage and free to marry a new husband - we have died to the law we are no longer bound by the law and we are now free to enter into another marriage relationship
  • We are free from our responsibility to the law of Moses and we are free to belong to someone else
  • BUT we are either bound to the Law OR we are bound to Christ
    • We are either bound to a set of rules - or the bound to the one that saved us
    • Those are the two options
  • As Christians we now belong to Christ - and are free to serve Him
    • We have a new identity in Him - we now exist to bear fruit for God.
  • This death to law and resurrection to Christ has created for us a new purpose.
  • No longer do we follow a set of rules - rather we have entered into a relationship with Him
  • And it is in this marriage relationship with Christ that we have fulfilment and freedom

Focus on the union (serve in a new way)

  • The old way - the written code - involved a cycle of repetitive Rituals - Festivals - Observances
    • designed to point toward a coming Messiah - a "shadow" of the reality that was eventually found in Christ
  • In these final two verses from our passage this morning Paul provides us with a contrast between the old and the new.
  • 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
  • The first is this v5: While we were living in the flesh
    • Now Paul uses this term a number of times during his writing, sometimes to refer to the natural body, but in this case he is referring to a time when we were “controlled by the sinful nature”
    • While we were under the law, we did not bear fruit to God - instead we bore fruit to death
    • It was not that there was no fruit - rather the fruit that was borne resulted in our spiritual death
      • Is it a good thing to give to the poor? YES
      • As Christians should we be generous with our possessions? YES
      • BUT the muslims give to the poor - so do those that do not believe in God
      • The fruit is the same…
      • The difference is the reason for the fruit.
      • Giving to the poor - although a very good thing - will not earn you a place in heaven
      • We should give to the poor because all people matter to God and because we love him he stirs up a desire to care for others
      • Without the relationship - all fruit has the same result destruction
    • The law was meant to point to God - BUT rather it stirred up inside of us our rebellious natures - It stimulated our innate rebelliousness against God
    • Good fruit is a result of healthy soil - ample water - deep roots and strong & healthy branches - and a relationship with the gardener
    • This "fruit" represents actions, behaviors, and attitudes that lead to spiritual death and eternal separation from God
  • The contrast here and the key to a fruitful Christian life is not "doing better” - it is not a legalistic approach to our faith
    • Legalism looks like fruit, but it is often rooted in pride & fear rather than in love of Christ
  • The secret to bear good fruit for God - is to stay connected to the risen husband
  • If we spend time on building a relationship with Him - by reading His word - by spending time in prayer with him - by serving him and his people - by putting others needs before our own - by thinking of ourselves less - then we will bear good fruit for Him
  • The law does not justify us; it does not make us right with God. The law does not sanctify us; it does not take us deeper with God and make us more holy before Him
  • Our freedom is not given so that we can stop serving God but so that we can serve Him better
  • This is the ‘new way of the Spirit’

Conclusion

  • How well do you serve in the newness of the Spirit?
    • Or is your spiritual life a laundry list of items you need to check off.
  • Do you feel like you truly belong to Christ—the One raised from the dead—or do you still feel like a "slave to the law"?
  • When you look at the fruit in your life - is it a result of your exhausted efforts - or is it naturally growing from your connection to Christ? A byproduct of a healthy relationship with him.