Chain Breaker
Romans Series
CCCAG July 19th, 2020
Scripture- Romans 6
Rom 6
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We 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.
5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer
A little preface to this chapter-
One of the keys to understanding the Apostle Paul’s writings is that he is assuming that the reader has at least a general understanding of Old Testament history and law.
If you were here in Sunday school last week, we learned that the church in Rome church had gone through a pretty big upheaval. Roman Emperors Tiberius and Claudius had issued an edict that said all Jews must leave the city. Upon Claudius’ death in 54 AD, that edict was lifted and Jews returned to Rome, and rejoined the church that had become largely gentile during that time. The Gentiles only knew the Gospel and had a very limited understanding of the Old Testament and how it fit in with Jesus’s life, ministry, death, and resurrection.
Roman’s was written soon after the Jews returned. If they hadn’t been able to return, Roman’s would have to be a much longer book as Paul would have had to do a considerable amount of teaching to blend the Old Testament and the New Testament together as one cohesive bible.
Paul would have had to give the Gentiles all the background necessary to understand many of the hard truths he is trying to explain to them. However, with the return of the Jews, Paul knows that the Jews could explain to the Gentiles why what he is talking about in the book of Romans is so important.
I say all of that because we are in a similar situation today- the amount of bible knowledge, even in my generation, is seriously lacking, so when people my age or younger read a book like Romans, particularly chapters 2-7 they have no idea what Paul is trying to say here.
So if some of what I’m teaching is a little repetitive to some, that is why.
The other reason- reference the cartoon- a church in every home.
So we are going to break it down this morning. As with many things in the bible, we have to go back to the beginning and look at what was meant to be to discover and unlock the truth that Paul is trying to convey here.
I. Created Nature of Humans
Paul talks a lot about death in this chapter and the need to die to actually come to life.
Why is that? It seems very paradoxical and illogical when you don’t understand the bibles backstory, and in particular God’s created order.
Let’s look at Genesis 2 that explains the creation of humanity
Gen 2:7
The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
NIV
I want to focus on the phrase “breath of life”. That word for breath is the Hebrew word ne-shamah. This word means to literally impart divine essence.
In other words, when God created humanity, He imparted some of what makes Him God into us. I emphasis the word “some” because there are those who can take that idea too far in that we share in God’s divinity also- that’s not the case. The part of Himself He placed within us that makes us different that every other created being be it animal, bird, insect, fish, or plant is that we have the ability to think and use reason, logic, and prior learned knowledge to make decisions.
When God breathed that breath into Adam, He imparted wisdom, knowledge, language, reasoning, and the higher emotions. Adam is was created and completely pre-programed to function immediately in his role as ruler or regent of earth. God did the same with Eve upon her creation.
God also clothed Adam and Eve in power. The breath of life brought with it the Holy Spirit, so God’s presence and power were always with them.
The bible then has an interesting verse-
Gen 2:25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
That’s an interesting point for the bible to make. It almost seems parenthetical or just an offhand comment that really doesn’t mean anything. However, I don’t believe a single word in scripture is there by accident.
So why does that matter?
Historically, We’ve always looked at this as just a physical nakedness- they were innocent, and therefore the naked physical form would not cause any embarrassment. And, they were married and anyone who has been married for any length of time is no longer self conscious looking at their spouse when they get out of the shower.
But then tragedy strikes.
There is a rebellion in heaven. A spiritual being named Lucifer attempts a coup on God and loses and is cast down to earth. The bible strongly indicates in Ezekiel 24 that he was actually the guardian cherub over Eden, so his presence there would not be unusual. Lucifer deceives Eve, and then Adam with lies about a forbidden fruit- the one thing God told them they could not eat of, and they both eat of it and spiritually die.
The bible then says
Gen 3:7
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
NIV
So what changed from Genesis 2:25 where they were both naked and unashamed to Genesis 3:7 where they were now so ashamed of their nakedness that they immediately hid from God and tried to cover themselves?
The Holy Spirit left them. They no longer saw through spiritual eyes, but only physical.
Where do I get that?
Let’s consider Genesis 3 in the light of the entire bible text.
Throughout the Old Testament, when someone needed to see truth, what would the prayer be?
Open their eyes. An example-
When Elisha is surrounded by his enemies, and his servant is having a panic attack and breathing into a paper bag…well, a papyrus bag, what did Elisha pray?
“God, open his eyes that he might see”
Conversely, how are people who can’t or won’t see truth described in the bible?
As blind.
How did Jesus describe the religious leaders of His Day?
Blind- refusing to see the truth.
All of this to point out what Paul is getting at in the early chapters of Romans and particularly the chapter we are are looking at this morning- Chapter 6.
Since the fall of humanity in the garden of Eden, we have all started from a place of spiritual death, in spiritual chains and enslaved to our sinful fleshly nature.
Not only that, but we are plugged into a power source we were never intended to operate from. A power source that is harmful and destructive, and actually chains us into a self-destructive pattern of living that produces only death in life and in the next life.
We are born in chains and enslaved to sin. That is now our natural state.
This is why we have to be born again.
Romans 6:3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We 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.
Paul uses the example of baptism to show the spiritual truth behind being born again.
When we chose to obey Jesus and be baptized, we are saying to the world that we are dying to our old way of life, and rising with Jesus as our new source of spiritual strength, vitality, and power. Jesus breaks the chains of sin and death and declares freedom to those who were previously held captive to their lifestyles of sin and death.
That’s incredible truth found here in Romans. Listen to these verses now with a greater appreciation of what Jesus has done for you and see why we place our hope in HIM!
Romans 6:5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
What Paul is telling us here is that sin is no longer the default action of a person who is born again. If you are a disciple and follower of Jesus, sin can only happen through willful action.
It means you have to decide now to sin. Sin is no longer a reflex action that naturally comes out, it’s a choice you make.
Sometimes, if not mostly, Believers in Jesus sin simply because of spiritual immaturity- you haven’t grown enough in Jesus to allow HIM through the Holy Spirit to change that part of you.
An example-
Maybe it’s a bad temper- your first reaction prior to salvation was flying off the handle and yelling at everyone around you. As you continue to walk with Jesus, He will, if you let HIM, begin to change that within you and give you a greater sense of self control, and perhaps empathy to see other’s points of view, or realize they are struggling with many of the same issue you have or do struggle with.
Maybe you have an addiction to something. Through bad choices, you have rewired your brain to think the only way you can have happiness is through indulging in whatever sinful practice we are talking about.
It’s not just the obvious ones- sexual sin or pornography, but the more subtle ones like gossip or “little white lies” that make you look better than someone else or to save you from looking bad.
All of these lead to the same place- spiritual death. “All sin is equal in the eyes of God” as it all has the same punishment- eternal separation from God in hell.
That’s why Paul says:
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
It's a choice.
Sometimes we tend to think of grace (unmerited and undeserved favor) as just a “get out of hell free card”. It definitely is that, but that’s just the surface of what grace is meant to be.
Grace is an invitation to God’s presence, His Power, His strength, and His favor.
Grace says you don’t need to pick up the chains of sin again to feel fulfilled in life.
Grace is the cord that binds us together with Christ- he is now our source of everything Godly.
Not only that, but verse
16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Here is a critically important fact that you need to understand, graps, and live out-
When we willfully choose to sin, we grab the grace that binds us together with Jesus and cast it down under our feet. That’s why the bible warns us about trying to play both sides.
When I started walking away from the church as a teenager and hanging out with people who were not good for me in any sense of the word, my grandparents were very concerned and my grandfather called me and told me something that has stuck with me to this day- You can’t hug a pig who is rolling in the mud and expect not to stink.
Sin always leaves a stain. Too many Christians want to roll with pigs but don’t want the consequences- spiritual death.
And then they wonder why their lives, their friendships, their marriages, their finances and their children are all going to hell.
That’s why Paul emphatically states at the end of this chapter, and this is a great memory verse for all of us-
Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD.”
We can’t expect to be able to play with sin and not have it’s effects.
It’s like drinking a little poison every day and feeling just a little sicker with each sip, and thinking, “This isn’t so bad”
That’s why Paul gives us the answer- you need to die to that sin, so Jesus can raise you to life.
Let Jesus be your chain breaker this morning.
Surrender fully to Him, and He will bring you life, and life abundantly.
Altar Call
