Sermon – Romans 6 – Freedom In Christ / Freedom From Sin

  • Read Romans 6:1-14

  • Does the world take God seriously? … sadly, NO.

  • Do (all) Christians take God seriously? … again, sadly, NO.

  • We all need to take God seriously, and that means everything He has said.  Too many – even those who claim to be Christians – refuse to read, study, and obey the Word. 

  • Sin separates us from God; and for some it is an ongoing issue, which will separate them for all eternity.  Those who are slaves to sin prefer the perceived pleasures it can offer now, but they will suffer for them in the next life.

  • Many do know better, but they refuse to repent and make Jesus the Lord of their life.  Many don’t know, which means we must do more and do better at sharing the Gospel and showing them a better way to live and love.

  • In verse 1, Paul asks a question, “shall we go on sinning?”  But who was he writing to?  He was writing to Christians, so, his question really is, “shall we go on sinning now that we are in Christ?”

  • Paul answers the question in 3 ways.
    • 1 – say no to sin because we died to sin.
    • 2 – say no to sin because we live with Christ.
    • 3 – say no to sin because we are free from sin.

  • There is a catch to sin.  You can do whatever you want, say whatever you want, think whatever you want; but you can’t outrun it.  Well, you can’t do that on your own – you need the Lord Jesus Christ – He is the only escape.

  • The end of chapter 6 clearly states this fact.

  • Even after finding Christ or accepting Him or getting saved – however we word it … sin is still there … temptation is still there … and sadly, people give in to those temptations and desires.

  • C.S. Lewis Quote: “If conversion to Christianity makes no improvement in a man’s outward actions – if he continues to be just as snobbish or spiteful or envious or ambitious as he was before – then I think we must suspect that his ‘conversion’ was largely imaginary.”

  • Once we “get saved,” we have two options … we can grow in Christ or we can fade away.  Both of which take time, but both take effort and our intentions matter – our priorities matter.

  • If you are growing – keep it up – even if the progress seems slow … keep on that upward trajectory and get even closer to God … but, if you’re on the other side of the mountain, it isn’t too late to reverse course – to repent (again) – and head towards God.
  • There should be no compromise to sin … we should always say “no” to sin, because we died to it.

  • We died to sin in baptism.  When we said “yes” to Jesus, that meant we should obey Him, in everything.  Just like marriage vows – that have to be taken seriously – or the marriage will end – and will end badly. 

  • We must fight sin – we must resist temptation – as long as we live.  Sin and temptation will keep coming after us … but with the Lord, we have grace and mercy that enable us to say NO … we are not forced to say to NO … we are even told to flee – to run away if needed … we must seek the Lord out – and us the resources we have – prayer – Bible – your church family to overcome.

  • 2 – Say “no” to sin because we live with Christ.

  • Examples of those who LIVED it … WALKED it … TAUGHT it …

  • Read Hebrews 12:1-3

  • Because of who Jesus is and what He did in life and death, we are better than we could be in life – by ourselves.  He has saved us, taught us, lead us, and has come to live in us through the Holy Spirit.

  • Because we live with Christ – each day – we are able to say “no” to sin.

  • 3 – Say “no” to sin because we are liberated.

  • We’ve all been caught in sin – even if man didn’t see it.  If we are honest with ourselves, we have to know that God sees everything.  Since that is the case, our sin had us in trouble with God.  He is hoy and pure – and that is what He desires.  He wants us to be better – to be the best we can be – to be like Him.

  • Read 1st Peter 1:13-16

  • That sounds tough.  To be holy in all you do – but that is a command found in scripture … it may take time, but the first step is “getting saved” … being freed from the power of sin; and then growing into who God wants us to be; and serving Him and doing the good works He has planned.

  • Read 2nd Corinthians 5:21

  • Read Romans 6:17-18

  • We’ve been set free from the penalty of sin and the power of sin.  We don’t have to sin because Jesus has set us free and empowered us with His strength to overcome.  It’s all a matter of understanding this and living this and applying these truths.  We must lean on God to live right.

  • We may struggle with sin and temptation, but we must live like saints.  This can only happen if we live in Christ.  We must walk with Him and grow daily to be like Him, love others, and serve.