GRACE IS NOT A LICENSE TO SIN
ROM 6:1-14
The prophet Isaiah penned these words at the beginning of his letter about the ruin of God’s people because of their rebellious hearts. “Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.” Isaiah 1:4-6
This describes all hearts apart from the grace of God. All men by nature are under the power of a mortal disease. As David wrote, “For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.” Psalm 38:4. There is a plague far greater than any plague, and that is the plague upon the heart of mankind.
Which if not
healed, will surely bring
them to
eternal death.
Sin cannot be covered up. Sin cannot be justified. We cannot be oblivious to our own sin. This is where we stand in our fallen state because of Adam. In the opening of this letter we see Condemnation…..the bad news for all people. Romans 1:28-3:20
But Here Is Our Hope! Then Paul spends a great amount of time explaining justification. Romans 3:21-5:21. And now Paul continues as he bridges these two truths together as we cross the bridge into sanctification. Romans 6, 7, 8.
Sanctification …..Its root word in the Greek has the same meaning for “holy or “saint” it can be explained as “to separate” Our sanctification involved cutting something into two halves or “set apart from something unto something.”
We have been set apart from…..
The Power Of Sin…….we are no longer in bondage to sin and death.
This Evil World System…..anything that is anti-God, anything that goes against the family, anything that hinders our worship and so on.
The Devil, Himself…….we were once held captive but now we are free from his bondage of sin, and death.
Sanctification
makes the break or has made a radical break
from the flesh, the world, and the Devil.
This is the negative side of what we have been set apart from through His abundance of grace. The positive side of the two sided coin of our sanctification is that…. We have been set apart unto God, unto Christ. We have been set apart to holiness and Christian living. We have been set apart to increase more and more like Christ Steve Lawson said, “Sanctification is not just a makeover, but a takeover.” We are no longer servants of sin but of Christ in His grace.
This is the
bridge that connects
these
chapters together.
Justification…. is our
legal standing before God
Sanctification…. is my daily
walk with the Lord. (my affections, desires, and my will).
Justification…. is
righteous imputed.
Sanctification…. is
righteousness imparted an effect that
is transforming me.
Justification….. is one time
act.
Sanctification…. is an
ongoing process in the life of the believer.
Justification…. is “monergistic” (God acted alone)
Sanctification…. is “synergistic” God and man active in
sanctification; we bare an increasable amount of responsibility in our daily
Christian life.
Justification…. is a
heavenly courtroom scene.
Sanctification…. is an
earthly scene where you live out your Christian faith (Where the rubber meets the road).
Justification…. is an
immediate pronouncement.
Sanctification…. is a
lifelong pursuit.
Justification…. is same for
all who are in Christ, we all receive perfect righteousness.
Sanctification…. will be
different from one believer to the next.
Jesus said, “As for
what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands
it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in
one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." Matt
13:23
Believers in Christ will deal and face: temptation, discipline differently as they grow in grace. Some might coast along collecting sea shells, and others might exceed beyond comparison. The true believer will grow, though it might look differently than yours, as we pursue holiness in this life. Paul in this text sparks lots of conversations in the modern church age. Before salvation, sin cannot be anything but the established way of life. So! Does this mean the presence of God’s wonderful grace is our out, a freedom to keep sinning? The Law was increased as we saw in the previous text; the more men rebelled, the more it revealed that they were sinners.
So! If sin
magnifies His grace!
Why not….. keep sinning?
Sin can’t be
all that bad if it makes God’s
grace abound all the more?
What does Paul say? “By no means”, this translation in my ESV doesn’t express the caution that Paul is addressing here. The better translation of this phrase would be “God forbid”. (6:15, 7:7,13; 9:14; 11:1, 11) It cares the sense of outrage that an idea like this could ever be true. This shows the force of Paul’s denial that sin and too deliberately sin to make God’s grace evident….was repulsive and inconceivable. To suggest that sin could in any way please and glorify God was disgusting to Paul; and it should be to you and me as well. How could you and I say “It’s good to sin, so that God’s grace would abound all the more?” Especially knowing what Christ did once and for all on our behalf. John Macarthur said, “The believer who has a new life and is indwelt by God’s own Spirit, has no excuse to continue habitually in sin. Can he then live in the same submissive relationship to sin that he had before salvation? Can a person receive a new life and continue in his old way of living? Does the divine transaction of redemption have no continuing and sustaining power in those who are redeemed? May we say with the Apostle Paul to these questions that John MacArthur asks in his quote, “By no means, God forbid” This is where our sanctification comes into play, when we live out the new life through Christ.
But! There is a false doctrine/teaching in the church that many are embracing today, because it’s all about grace and not about the Law.
We call this Hyper-grace
“The term hyper-grace has been used to describe a new wave of teaching that emphasizes the grace of God to the exclusion of other vital teachings such as repentance and confession of sin. Hyper-grace teachers maintain that all sin, past, present, and future, has already been forgiven, so there is no need for a believer to ever confess it. Hyper-grace teaching says that, when God looks at us, He sees only a holy and righteous people. The conclusion of hyper-grace teaching is that we are not bound by Jesus’ teaching, even as we are not under the Law; that believers are not responsible for their sin; and that anyone who disagrees is a pharisaical legalist.
Scripture debunks this false teaching of hyper-grace! Revelation 2:4 states this about the church of Ephesus, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” They loved doctrine, and keeping the sacraments, discipleship and disciplining of the saints. But they forgot this “Their love for the saints to God, and Christ, and one another.” Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Mark 13:31. Jesus also said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26
He will teach all things pertaining to life and godliness through the Written Word. To counter this argument, hyper-grace preachers deny that John’s letters were written to believers. But John’s letters clearly says they are! 1 John 2:1 begins with this. “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” John is clearly writing to believers whom he personally knew. He indicates that his believing friends may indeed sin, and that, when they do, they need to confess it. 1 John 1:6-10
Hyper-grace
teaching is a good example of
mixing truth with error.
To emphasis on the beauty and power of God’s grace is good. But some teachers are neglecting what Paul called the “whole counsel of God” Acts 20:27. This means that Hyper-grace teachers “pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality” Jude 1:4 and flirts with antinomianism.”
Law should result in our living our
lives in obedience to the law of Christ. “And by this we know that we have
come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says "I know
him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in
him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By
this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to
walk in the same way in which he walked. Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment,
but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is
the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I
am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is
passing away and the true light is already shining.” 1 John 2:3-8
Antinomianism….. is contrary to everything the Bible teaches. God expects us to live a life of morality, obedience, integrity, and love. Jesus Christ unrestrained us from the heavy commands of the Old Testament Law, but that is not a license to sin. Rather, it is a covenant of grace. We are to strive to overcome sin and cultivate righteousness, depending on the Holy Spirit to help us. We do not have freedom to sin, but we do have freedom to live in godliness and holiness.
We are responsible for our own sin. We do not treat sin as some sickness that we have. Why? Sickness is something people have no control over, while sin implies responsibility and accountability. If I get the flu, Julie isn’t going to get the elders to call me to repentance. She might call me a “wuss” but it’s not a sin to have the flu because it’s something I have no control over. Now! How I respond to my sickness is a different story, because that could lead me to sin and repentance.
We have to understand that sin and God are mutual exclusive masters. What do I mean? We cannot be a slave to both (v16) Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” Matt 6:24 & Luke 16:13. You’re either a slave to sin and death or you’re a slave to obedience, which begins at the moment of your salvation.
We obey God by believing His Word.
A slave to death is a person who is a slave to sin and they are on the way to death. “For the wages of sin is death” (v23) Every True Christian Struggles With Sin On Daily Basis. Paul gives us some very helpful tools to grow in grace through our sanctification, that grace is not a license to sin.
He Says Walk In Newness Of Life. (v4)
By nature we are born into this world “DOA” dead on arrival, spiritually and biologically. No interests in the things of God, no passions, no love towards the things of God. We are dead! This refers to newness of quality and character, which refers merely to newness in point of time. (your conversion) Just as sin characterized our old life, our new life begins to characterize righteousness. In other words it’s a pattern of life that is different from the previous one.
Through our sanctification we will undoubtedly display habits and behaviors that are in accord with this new life.This new life is characterized by walking in love, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Eph 5:1-2
The bible says we receive at the point of conversion…..
A
new heart….. Eze 36:26
A
new spirit…… Eze 18:31
A
new song…… Psalm 40:3
A
new name….. Rev 2;17
We
are called new creations….. 2 Cor 5:17
New
creatures…… Gal 6:15
New self……. Eph 4:24
We have been
freed from the grasp of sin and death,
but not free to sin as we once did and loved.
We Have Been United With Christ In Death
And Life. (v5)
Preach the gospel to yourself daily, not to get saved again but to remind yourself of His divine love to fallen sinners like you and me. We are united in Christ’s resurrection right now… so we live out this truth in our lives. “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Col 3:1-3
“United” indicates a personal intimate connection in that we died with Christ; and that we are raised in the likeness of His resurrection. We have received reconciliation that we may walk not away from God, but with Him because the gospel unites us to Him as sons and daughters. Being united with Christ also speaks of a future event we await the consummation of this grace later. “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” Phil 3:20-21. We cannot….overcome death on our own; our assurance is based on this truth that is before us this morning. We have been united with Him in a resurrection like His. This is why we don’t fear death in this life, because we have been untied with Christ now, and we will be with Him in the future.
Our Old Self Has Been Crucified With
Christ. (v6)
“Old self” or “Old man” is everything we are in the fallen Adam, it’s our old nature, committed to and enslaved by our sinful tendencies. These are no longer holding us down, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24. Our former human nature, the nature that we brought into this world where we were dead in sin, is no longer holding us captive. We can boldly proclaim that “We are dead to sin because we have been crucified with Christ.” Justification cannot be separated from sanctification….only those who died in Christ are righteous, and are no longer slaves to sin.
Sin Is No Longer Your Master. (v9-v11)
This is a powerful statement because what this reveals is that we can no longer say to God, “I cannot help it I am dominated by the power of sin.” If we are still in a condition of slavery to sin, then we are unregenerate. Now it’s impossible to live perfect and sinless as our standing declares us. But we are free from sin because we have been set free from the master of sin. “Once for all” or “Done away with” indicates to make ineffective or powerless. This word describes the devil over our lives. He is powerless over us. “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” Heb 2:14-15
Paul told the church, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Gal 5:24. Now! Every Christians will struggle with sin and confession of sin daily. Don’t be discouraged by this because this is a prime indication of one’s conversion. In the Christian life! Some believers find it easy to repent immediately and others it can be a battle because they simply beat themselves up every time they sin. “I did it again, how could God love a person like me?” A person that is sensitive to their sin, is a whole lot better than being unconcerned about one’s sin. If there is no conflict or chastening in one’s life; there is a good indication they do not understand the gospel. We have a new life and a new nature on the inside, but our outside will always be in conflict with the inside. Paul explains to the church of Galatia, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Gal 3:1-15
We
Are To Live As An Example Of The Abundance Grace Of God. (v12-v14)
We want to obey Christ so we will pursue, strive; persevere to live for Christ, because we know what it will produce. Romans 5:3-5. This is a call to action that we go to war with sin and not peace with sin. (v13) John Owen said in his “Mortification OF Sin” book. “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you. The gospel reminds us of our victory over sin, but it also reminds us of the daily battle we have with our sin. The gospel reminds of the abundance of grace that He has given; and the abundance of grace He continually gives every day as we live.
Gil Rugh said, “In grace, God took us to the cross with Christ and nailed us there. He then buried our wretched selves and raised us up as new people. He now empowers us to live for Him….a change nature is the solution for sin.”
Paul says we are to living, not dead sacrifices for His glory to be seen in the world. This is what the church is set apart to do. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Rom 12:1-2
The law exposes what grace abundantly covers; but the two are not exclusive of one another. And we are not free to sin whenever we want to and claim “I’m under grace” We are saved by grace….. the Law pronounces us guilty, but it also keeps us in check when we fall into sin daily.
Remind yourself this truth as a child of the Living God!
As
we live in Christ we have the power not to let sin reign.
The
tyranny of sin has been broken.
We
walk and obey God and not let sin reign over us.
And we never live as if we have a license to sin.
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