Sermon Notes - Romans 6:15-23 - Littleby Baptist Church - November 10, 2024

1.        Paul has been driving home some solid points that the church in Rome needed to hear and as well as each of us.

a.        As a believer in Jesus our old self is gone.

b.       Our old self was crucified with Christ.

c.        It is powerless over us.

d.       We are new creations.

e.        Creations that have been raised with Jesus.

f.          Given new life through Christ’s resurrection.

g.        We are no longer slaves to our sin.

h.        We have received grace from our Lord Jesus Christ.

i.          More Grace than we need.

j.          More than we can possibly ever use.

k.        It does not mean we should continue in our sin.

l.          We are to live as the new creation that we are.

m.     Seeking God and His will.

2.        Romans 6:15

a.        A question we answered last week.

b.       God has given us more grace than we can possibly use through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

c.        But that is no reason for us to continue to live in our sin.

d.       As a follower of Christ, we are to seek His will.

e.        Jesus tells us to deny ourselves.

f.          To not pursue our own desires but to follow Him instead.

g.        Our goal should be to not sin.

h.        We won’t be perfect at it, but our desire should be to draw near to our God.

i.          Not walk in the path that we walked before we met Christ.

j.          But to Pursue righteousness not sin.

3.        Romans 6:16

a.        Matthew 6:24

b.       We cannot live in our old sinful ways and serve God.

c.        That does not mean if we sin, we are not serving God.

d.       We are not perfect.

e.        But there is a difference between being the person we were before we met Christ and living the new life we have been given.

f.          We can be chained down by the drugs, alcohol, pornography, and other sins that hold us down.

g.        Or we can embrace the freedom we are given by being a forgiven and set free child of God.

h.        We cannot walk with one foot on each side of that line.

i.          It is an either-or type of thing.

j.          We are either living the new life our Lord has offered us.

k.        Or we are still holding on to our old lives.

l.          One leads to death, the other leads to righteousness.

4.        The only way to step away from our old ways is to talk to God about it.

a.        Repent.

b.       Ask Jesus for forgiveness.

c.        Ask the Holy Spirit to help us.

d.       Does not mean we won’t be tempted.

e.        But when we are, turn to God and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ instead of trying to handle it on our own.

5.        Romans 6:17-18

a.        Paul takes a moment to praise God here.

b.       Recognizing that his audience in Rome used to be sinners, slaves to sin.

c.        But they responded to the teaching they had heard.

d.       They obeyed from the heart, or in some translations they responded wholeheartedly…

e.        Put another way, they are all in for Jesus.

f.          They have been set free from their sin.

g.        They are not slaves to it any longer.

h.        Instead, they are slaves to righteousness.

i.          1 Timothy 6:11-12

j.          Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness…

k.        These things are to be a priority in our lives.

l.          They are to be part of our purpose.

m.     Part of being a child of God, a Christ Follower.

n.        The beginning of verse 12, says fight the good fight.

o.        Emphasizing, this won’t be a walk in the park.

p.       We don’t make a decision to follow Christ and flip a switch and all of a sudden all we desire pure things instead of sinful things.

q.       It is a fight.

r.          We have to choose to make this a priority each day.

s.        We have to submit to the work of the Holy Spirit.

t.          Which means pushing down our selfish desires.

u.       So that we can become slaves to righteousness.

v.        We will be slaves to one thing or another.

w.      It is better to be a slave to God than to sin.

6.        Romans 6:19

a.        First half of verse…Paul’s imagery of being a slave to righteousness or to God.

b.       Would not sound right to many.

c.        Does not sound right to most of us.

d.       When we picture slavery, it is not pretty.

e.        Especially when we think about slavery in this country’s history.

f.          A lot of slavery would instill similar images in people’s minds.

g.        How could a God who saved me want me to be His slave?

h.        To mistreat me? To beat me?

i.          It would not make sense.

j.          Paul was letting them know he was using human imagery to emphasize the need for believers to be in complete submission.

k.        We are to submit to our God.

l.          Not because God wants to mistreat us, but because of the Love He has for us.

m.     Second half of the verse…

n.        With the rest of the verse Paul is trying to encourage the Romans to give everything they had given to sin, to give to God.

o.        I am going out with the guys, I guess it is ok to do this sin since it is a one-time thing.

p.       Oh, it won’t be a problem as it is only something I do when I go out.

q.       As going out becomes more frequent as does the sinning.

r.          Then whatever that ‘it’ is turns into something that takes over someone’s life.

s.        It becomes a priority.

t.          When we give our life to Christ, we should be all in for Him.

u.       If we spent a couple of hours a day doing this or that before Jesus, why is it hard to spend 20-30 mins with Jesus each day?

v.        Why is it hard to read 3-4 chapters out of the Bible each day?

w.      Why is it hard to pray at more than mealtimes or bedtime?

x.         If those are things you struggle with, those are questions you need to answer.

y.        You need to be talking to God about them.

z.         If we are God’s, He should be a priority in our life.

aa.   If we are slaves to righteousness which results in Sanctification, it requires us to invest.

bb.  To be all in.

cc.   The challenge for each of us, are we giving God what we should be or are we holding back?

7.        Romans 6:20

a.        Before Christ.

b.       We were slaves to our sinful ways.

c.        Pursuing righteousness was not even a thought.

d.       It did not compete for our time or energy.

e.        As much as we may not want to admit it, sin had our full attention.

8.        Romans 6:21

a.        As a Christ follower when we talk about our past, we sometimes say we know our past makes us who we are, but we are not proud of the things we have done.

b.       There are sins, fruit, that we are ashamed of.

c.        That freedom we had that led to death.

9.        Romans 6:22

a.        But now… as a follower of Jesus Christ… things have changed!

b.       You are no longer a slave to sin.

c.        You are free from those chains.

d.       You have a new life.

e.        You have eternal hope.

f.          You are now a child of God.

g.        A servant of the most High!

h.        A slave to use Paul’s word.

i.          The fruit of the Gift we have been given is sanctification.

j.          The process of God molding us and shaping us into the people He created us to be.

k.        Those who Love Him with all that we are... and Love others as we would ourselves.

l.          As we become the people God created us to be, we would be desiring His will to be done in our lives.

m.     In the lives of people around us.

n.        We would want to be His witnesses.

o.        We would want to be discipled and to in turn make disciples.

p.       Simply put, we would want to be doing exactly what God wants us to be doing and where He wants us to do it.

q.       And as a child of God, we would get the best gift of all, to spend forever with our God.

10.   Romans 6:23

a.        It all comes down to this.

b.       The ‘wage’ of sin… the wage that we have earned and are owed for our sin is death.

c.        But our Lord is offering us an amazing gift.

d.       A gift we have not earned.

e.        One that we do not deserve.

f.          If we accept the gift that Jesus is offering, we will have eternal life with Him.

g.        We are going to be slaves to one thing or another.

h.        Be a slave to Christ not to your sin.

11.   If there is an area of your life you have been holding back, know that God hears your prayer and will help you lay it down.

12.   If you are ready to respond to His call to be a child of God, He is waiting to hear from you, and I would love to pray with you.

a.        It is time to repent and follow Jesus who died on that cross for you!

13.   If you are feeling led to step out in service to Him and others, pray about it and then let’s talk.

14.   The altar is open.