Sermon Series: The Romans Road – Part 3
Scripture: Romans 6
Speaker: Rev. Dr. Ted Tham
Sermon Outline
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
How can we have REAL LIFE on this earth and in the next?
We are to…
(1) Die to Sin (vs. 1-4)
Radical Amputation
Sin will take you farther than you want to go,
Keep you longer than you want to stay,
And cost you more than you want to pay.
Where do you need to die to sin?
(2) Live in Christ (vs. 5-11)
Consistent Dependence
John 15
1 “I [Jesus] am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Being alive in Christ is to “remain or abide” by staying connected to the vine.
Permanently, Consistently Day after day, week after week, year after year Simply rest in that position, allowing the sap of the vine to flow freely through you. Vines exert no effort of their own. The fruit actually comes from the life-giving sap within. Abiding consistently means total, constant dependence on Christ and His Spirit within
In what areas of your life are you acting independently of the Vine?
Hint: I can usually determine these areas by just checking my prayer life and noting the items I HAVE NOT PRAYED ABOUT.
People and problems,
Relationships and responsibilities,
Activities and attitudes,
Schedules and stress,
Entertainment and exercise,
Pleasures and pastimes,
Decisions and dreams,
Anything and everything.
(3) Be God’s Servant & Instrument (vs. 12-23)
Complete Obedience
Is there any area of your life where you have refused to be obedient to Christ?
Have you ever said to God what Peter said to God in the book of Acts, when God gave him a vision of clean and unclean animals and commanded Peter to kill and eat them?
Peter responded with the oxymoron, “Not so, Lord!” (Acts 10:14)
We can’t say “Lord” and “Not so” to His clear commands, in the same sentence!
Romans 6 (NIV)
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,6:6 Or be rendered powerless that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Slaves to Righteousness
15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16Don’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? 17But 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. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
19I 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. 20When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22But 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. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in6:23 Or through Christ Jesus our Lord.