WILLFUL SIN OR SERVICE
Text: Romans 6:3-14, 20-23
When I used to be a sales clerk at Spencers (now closed) at Outlet Marketplace adjacent to Carowinds in Fort Mill, S.C. I used to get into disagreements with my fellow employees. Most of them had what I like to call an "inoculation theology" wherein you can sin now and seek forgiveness later. When one receives a shot for measles, rubella, polio (now in drops), mumps, hepatitis b, chicken pox, tetanus and even the annual flu shot, one has been inoculated against getting those diseases. There are some people who use that type of thinking when it comes to sinning. Again, they think that they can go out sinning now and then seek forgiveness for it later. The missing element in this picture is repentance. To repent means that one is truly sorry for having done wrong and that one is not likely to be a repeat offender.
In Romans 6, Paul is informing us about the role of baptism. Paul seems to emphasize the gift of life, the attitude of gratitude and the journey of sanctification.
I. THE GIFT OF LIFE
A: Baptism illustrates the death of the old way of life to sin and the new way of life through
Jesus Christ.
Baptism is not an inoculation or fire insurance. Baptism means that our sins have been washed clean in the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Leviticus 17:11 illustrates the understanding that there is life in the blood of sacrificial animals which was why they Jews were forbidden from eating the blood. When we were baptized, we were baptized into the likeness of Jesus Romans 6:4-5 puts it this way, "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised form the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection" (NIV).
B: The traditional definition of "baptism ..." is that it "... is an outward sign of an inward
and spiritual grace".
Being baptized means that we are born again (John 3:3). Jesus explained this concept to Nicodemus. Nicodemus misunderstood and thought that he was talking about a second physical birth. Then Jesus clarified what Nicodemus had misunderstood: "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit" (John 3:5-6). William Barclay notes that water is a "symbol of cleansing" and that Spirit is a "symbol of power" (The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel Of John. Volume 1. Revised Edition. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 129). That new power is more than a symbol it is the reality of the Holy Spirit’s presence which enters into a believer’s life so that her /she may begin life as new creatures in Christ---a "new creation" (Second Corinthians 2:16). Consider also First Peter 1:23: "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God" (NIV).
It has been said that "God has given us the gift of life and what we make of that life is our gift back to God". That fact is certainly true concerning the gift of having a new life in Christ, having been baptized into His likeness (Romans 6:4-5).
II. THE ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
A: God wants us to be grateful for the grace that He has given us through His only Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Those with an "inoculation theology take God’s grace for granted. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German, Lutheran priest who resisted Hitler’s demand for a "state church" called this type of thinking about the grace of God, "cheap grace". (William p. Barker. ed. Tarbell’s Teacher’s Guide. 89th Annual Volume. Elgin: David C. Cook Publishing Co., 1993, p. 197). But, the truth of the matter is that God’s grace is not "cheap" by any means.
Those with the "inoculation theology" want "to sow to the flesh and reap from the spirit" (Galatians 6:8-9 out of context/ eisogesis). But, the Bible tells us in Galatians 6:8-9 that "the one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life" (NIV). And to live any other way as a baptized believer would be to "cheapen God’s grace" and be ungrateful. We should therefore remember "that we were bought with a price" (First Corinthians 7:23a).
My fellow employees at Spencers back in 1989 argued their viewpoint of this "innoculation theology" concerning drinking binges and promiscuity. I proceeded to remind them that their arguments were Biblically illiterate for three reasons. First, the "innoculation theology" "cheapens" God’s grace. When the grace of God was not cheap by any means because secondly, "we were bought with a price" (First Corinthians 7:23a). Thirdly, it is impossible to sow to the flesh and reap from the Spirit (Galatians 6:8-9). Christians are supposed to "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance" (Matthew 3:8 NIV).
B: Having been given the gift of God’s grace our attitude should be one of gratitude.
To illustrate this point, I want to share the following story. "Planting flowers on a recent grave in a little cemetery in the far West, a young man seemed overcome with emotion. A stranger passing, thought to comfort him by speaking a kind word, and as he drew near he observed a small cross at the top of the grave on which the words, "He died for me" were inscribed. The story briefly told was, that during the war, this young man, who was an only son was called to the front. His parents were well-nigh frantic with grief. A cousin, who was an orphan, volunteered to take his place, and in the first battle was slain. That young man lived because his substitute died, and he loved to own and confess it". (John Ritchie. 500 Gospel Sermon Illustrations. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1987, pp. 15-16).
III. THE JOURNEY OF SANCTIFICATION
A: Our baptismal journey is one that lasts a lifetime.
The journey that accompanies our baptism into the body of Christ is a journey toward wholeness. It is only our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who can make us whole. Therefore, we need to seek to follow Christ every day of our lives. In other words, we must allow Jesus to be our Lord as well as our Savior. It is Jesus who adds the missing flavor to life for which the world hungers. It is also only Jesus that can give us the gift of salvation in the here and now and eternal life in glory with Him in the hereafter.
The Complete Bible Commentary argues that sanctification is found in three steps which are "(1), know (vs. 3); (2) reckon [KJV] (vs. 11); and (3) yield (vs. 13)". (Edward G. Dobson et. al. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999, p. 1417). To know is a reminder that in baptism, we renounced sin as our master that we once served. Warren W. Wiersbe mentions that reckon is used forty-one times in the New Testament and nineteen of those in the book of Romans alone (The Bible Exposition Commentary. Volume 1. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989, p. 532). Wiersbe points out that the Greek meaning of this word is "to take into account, to calculate, to estimate, to put into one’s account" (p. 532). He said that "Reckoning is a matter of faith that issues in action" (p. 532). He continues further using the metaphor of a check. We endorse a check, because we believe that the money is in the bank (p. 532). According to Wiersbe, yield means "to place at one’s disposal, to present, to offer as sacrifice" (p. 532). In short, we must "know in mind" (Wiersbe, p. 532), "reckon in heart" (p. 532) and "yield" in body. All three of these things are and act of the will.
B : Sanctification is a journey and not a destination.
We must daily "know in mind", "reckon in heart" and "yield" in body as a "a spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1). We therefore never arrive because we are always on the way and "press[ing] on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me [us] heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philipians 3:14 NIV).
An onlooker once Micheal Angelo what he was doing as he carved and chiseled on a mass of marble, to that question he responded, "I am letting the angel out of this stone" (Tarbell’s Teachers Guide, 89th Annual Vloume. Elgin: David C. Cook Publishing Company, 1993, p. 196). Having been set free of bondage to sin we must now become slaves of "... righteousness leading to holiness" (Romans 6:19 NIV). We cannot lead others to the ways of freedom in Christ when we seek to gratify the desires of the sinful nature when God has called us to live as new creatures because in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior we have been "created" anew (Second Corinthians 5:17). We are called to sow seed that will be pleasing to the Spirit (Galatians 6:8b NIV) in accordance with this "new nature." Otherwise, we unlike the angel that Micheal Angelo set free will return to the old "stone" nature of the flesh. AMEN.
