Shall we continue in sin – Romans 6

[0:00] Good morning. A little bit nervous this morning. And I'm not sure if I'm the only one. I'm wondering if Rick, when he came up, if he was nervous reading Scripture as well.

[0:17] What makes us nervous? Or why am I nervous right now? I was thinking of that while I was sitting there. And I'm going to attempt today to do something totally different.

[0:28] So I'm wearing this mic which is stretching me already. And on top of that, I'm going to try to draw on the board. And how many of you have actually shared your testimony in public, have actually come up and actually shared your testimony?

[0:43] Raise it. That's quite a bit. Pretty nerve-wracking, right? Today I'm going to attempt to draw my testimony. And we'll kind of use that as examples.

[0:54] And notice at the top there, I have pride. Pride. And that is a list of sins that I was involved with before I was converted and before I accepted Jesus Christ as Lord.

[1:07] Notice the top one is pride. Why? So when I was sitting there, I was nervous. And the bottom line is it's because of my pride. It is because I am nervous I'm going to mess this up.

[1:19] And that is what's making me nervous. It's not the fact that I'm afraid that I'm going to mishandle the Word of God, which is that is what I should be nervous about, is to make sure that I divide the Word of God properly.

[1:34] And it's interesting how that isn't making me nervous, but the nervous part is the fact that I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of you guys. And so that is pride. So I am still dealing with pride.

[1:46] So our scripture this morning is in chapter 6, verses 1 through 4. And we're going through Romans, and we're preaching right through it.

[1:58] The last message that I did in Romans was in Romans 3, verses 1 through 20. And the beauty of going through an entire book is I myself would never in my life pick that portion of scripture, chapter 3, verses 1 through 20.

[2:12] I just, I would not. That is the message of death. That is just not something that I would preach on. And that is the beauty of going through an entire book, because now we don't get to pick and choose to preach on.

[2:25] We just preach right through it. And I want to thank you guys for being an absolute great church. Henry and myself are learning into this ministry.

[2:38] So two Sundays ago, Henry had a message on Romans chapter 5, the last half of it. And he did a good job of the example of the first and the last Adam.

[2:50] And I thought he had done something quite, he executed it quite well. But he's still learning. So, and we could tell that he was still learning, because it was a little bit more rough.

[3:01] Just like I'm still a little bit more rough. Now last Sunday, we had, and Henry's laughing back there, because he knows exactly how I feel right now. But now last Sunday, we had George here.

[3:13] He's also just now learning. And you guys are patiently sitting and listening. And now today, you have another rookie in front of you. And you guys are here, patiently sitting and listening.

[3:25] And I'm trying to do something new. And so it might not go quite as smoothly as it could. But Lord willing, we'll get through it together. So I just want to thank you guys for what you're doing.

[3:37] And you guys are allowing us this opportunity to learn. It is really good. So let's get into it here. Let's open in a word of prayer, and then we'll get started.

[3:48] Father, we come before you this morning. We just want to thank you for this group of believers. Lord, they have been such an encouragement to me. I ask now that you would just give me wisdom. You would give me courage and strength to bring forth this portion of Scripture, that we would be able to be enlightened and encouraged, and that we would be able to go home and just be filled with your word as well.

[4:11] We just want to thank you and praise you for this time that we get to come together so freely and worship. Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so he starts off chapter 6, and he asks four questions.

[4:26] Between the first three verses, there's four questions that he asks. And he starts off, and he says, What shall we say then? Shall we sin that grace may abound? And then he answers that question, and he says, Certainly not.

[4:41] How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Now, for those of us that weren't here two Sundays ago, when Henry had the message of the first and the last Adam, we now need to go back, and we need to take a look at at least verse 20 and 21, for us to understand why would Paul be asking these questions?

[5:04] Like, what motivated him to ask this question? So I'm going to start off in verse 20 there, and he says there, Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.

[5:19] Now, this is coming on the heels of where Paul was proving about the first Adam and the last Adam. The first Adam committed a sin on the tree. The last Adam paid for all the sin on a tree.

[5:31] And so he had this whole series of proving what the first and the last Adam stood for. And then he says, the law entered that offense might abound.

[5:45] And I thought, you know, we often read through that, and we just read through it, and we never really pay close attention to it. So I thought I would kind of draw, or at least attempt to draw, part of my testimony as to how I came to know the Lord.

[6:03] And then that might give us a better understanding as to how the law entered and that how sin then abounded. So here's, oh, this board moves quite a bit.

[6:16] And some of you guys might not be able to see very well. 2011. So that is in the spring, in June of 2011 is when I accepted the Lord. There was in my life a whole lot of sin.

[6:28] Lots and lots. I've listed three here, and they were all over my life. They, like pride, influenced my whole life. It was a part of my whole life. Alcohol did the same thing.

[6:41] It influenced, and it was a part of each one of my life. I'm going to mark that off a bit. We will get back to that. Selfishness was there as well. It was everywhere. My wife would attest to that, that selfishness was there.

[6:56] We won't talk about that. But two generally came together very well. And so how did I come to know the Lord? I, we were attending the, this, this church body at that time.

[7:12] We were meeting in Claremont. And Tina was already a born-again believer. She wanted to go to church. I wanted to know the last thing about it.

[7:23] Tina wanted our children to be a part of Sunday school. I didn't really like Sunday school. I, because a Sunday school at that time was a little bit more difficult. I think Mr. Tiker was better at putting people on the spot than I am.

[7:35] Right now, when I was teaching Sunday school, we would, I would be up the front, and then there was people sitting all the way in the back. When I started out, that wasn't, we were sitting in a tiny little circle.

[7:46] It seemed like just the smallest little circle. And that's where we were going through Matthew. And we were, we were teaching, he was teaching through, through Matthew. And it seemed like, I didn't like going there. I wanted nothing to do with it.

[7:58] But because of time change in the fall, I ended up going sometimes accidentally. I didn't really want to. And then, and sometimes, Tina would take the kids to Sunday school and I would go off golfing.

[8:11] I, I just, I did not want to be a part of Sunday school. And it seemed like every Sunday, when Mr. Tiker was preaching, he was preaching on salvation.

[8:22] You must be born again. It was, it seemed like it kept coming up and kept coming up. I don't think that that's the only thing that he was preaching on. I never fully understood it. He kept preaching it and, but I, I wasn't getting it.

[8:34] I knew there was something that was missing in my life because of all the sin that was there. There was something missing and he was preaching it and I just didn't understand. Then one day, he shared his testimony while he was doing a message.

[8:49] He started, he, he shared how, and Mr. Tiker, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I, I believe he was about 17 years old and sin was convicting him as well.

[8:59] It was, he was feeling convicted and he went into an equipment shed and behind some old equipment, he knelt down and he prayed and he shared that story. Am I correct? Is that roughly what happened?

[9:11] Yeah. He says bang on. So that's, that's pretty good. So he, he shared his testimony in a very simple way. It wasn't dramatic or anything like that, but all of a sudden, a little light bulb went on in my head.

[9:24] It, all of a sudden, I realized that it was not about works. It was not about what I had done, but it was about the heart. There was a heart issue. He knelt down and he prayed and he asked Jesus to come into his heart.

[9:37] It was about the heart. And then I started, I didn't right away accept Jesus at that time, but it was the beginning of starting to understand. And so it's important for you guys, no matter what your, your testimony is, as plain Jane as it might be, share it because you never know.

[9:55] Because it helped me greatly to, and it simply allowed me to see that it was a heart issue. It was not about works. And so that is, that is how I came to know the Lord.

[10:06] So now, looking at verse 20, it says, Now the law entered that the offense might abound. So with the law entering, did that create more sin?

[10:19] It did not. You see, the children of Israel, they had the law and they had the Ten Commandments. And my parents and school taught me the Ten Commandments.

[10:30] So when I would look at my sin and compare them to the Ten Commandments, I knew I was way out. I was way out. I didn't nearly match up.

[10:41] So that law, so when he says, Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. It simply shone the offense. It does not create more. There's also one other law that, that is there.

[10:54] And it is the one that is written on our hearts. Let's turn to Romans chapter 2, verses 12 through 16. Romans 2, 12 through 16.

[11:10] It says, For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.

[11:31] For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are law to themselves.

[11:43] Now, how, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing them witness, and between themselves, accusing or else excusing them.

[12:03] In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. You see, it wasn't only the Ten Commandments that were showing me that I was way out, that I was guilty.

[12:19] It was also in my heart. I knew what I was doing was wrong. So it was also, it wasn't the fact that I was just taught. I knew, and I knew from little on. I remember Joey and Aaron fighting at one point in time when they were just, just toddlers.

[12:34] And Aaron took a, one of those large Lego blocks away from Joey. And then Joey grabbed another block and just cracked him over the head with it. I didn't have to tell Joey that he did anything wrong.

[12:46] He knew what he did was wrong. You know, just by the look on his face, he knew he was guilty. He, he knew. And I didn't know that, but he knew what he did was wrong. It is written in their heart. So then going into verse 21, it says, So that as sin reigned in death in the first Adam, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[13:19] Now that is a very good verse to close that whole section up with the first and the last Adam. Because in the last part there, it says, grace might reign through righteousness.

[13:33] And that part, I did not understand right off the get-go. So, you see, when, when I accepted the Lord, I thought that now I was going to be absolutely sinless from there on in.

[13:46] I was not going to, there was no more sin going to be in my life. None whatsoever. I very soon found out, I didn't notice pride very quickly. I'm sure I had it. But I didn't notice it.

[13:58] But it would have been in my life. Because I just admitted this morning that I was struggling with being nervous. I'm still there. I'm still dealing with it. This one, however, continued on as well.

[14:13] And so I had accepted the Lord. And yet, I was still sinning. I was still in sin. Or at least in part, taking part of it.

[14:26] And so then all of a sudden I realized, well, I'm still sinning. What do I do? You know, because in my mind I thought it was going to be absolutely sinless. We were all going to be perfect. And that was just the way that it was.

[14:38] I did not have full understanding. I did not understand this verse. It says, You see, I thought it was my righteousness that was going to reign.

[14:56] It was my doing, no sin. That's what was going to reign. And it is not my righteousness. It is not your righteousness. It is Jesus. Because it says, Grace might abound through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ.

[15:13] So it is through Jesus Christ that we have this righteousness. It is not through us. Alcohol one part there, I dealt with very quickly. A week or two later, I ended up connecting with some of my old friends.

[15:26] And whatever happened, we were in alcohol before, it kind of started again. So then I prayed to God how I might be able to get over this.

[15:39] And what God did was he took those friends away. All of a sudden I didn't have those friends anymore. So the desire for alcohol left as well. So sometimes when God helps us, he actually takes things away.

[15:52] And that's what happened there. And so that then left. But there is still other areas in my life. And if I was honest, this whole area would just be black.

[16:04] I'm just doing this. But there was many other sins that were still going on. Alcohol was now taken care of. So my brother Abe, when he accepted the Lord, struggled with the very same thing.

[16:18] I was still on that side of the spectrum when he accepted the Lord. And I remember him coming over. And he said he lost his salvation. He said, I was born again, but I've lost my salvation because him and I and a couple of our friends were sitting around drinking.

[16:32] And he said, well, I've lost my salvation. So he didn't have it very clear. So later on, and I talked to him about it this week, whether or not I could share this or not, or how accurate it would be. And he said, yeah, that's how it was.

[16:44] But he said, you know, he didn't lose his salvation, but he definitely felt that he needed to be born again. So it was kind of like pushing thought at the beginning of his salvation that he had to keep pushing, you know, being reborn again and reborn again as he was not being able to deal with all of the sin or still having some sin connected in his life.

[17:05] So, because he too did not understand that it was Jesus' righteousness, not his. So then we get to verse 1.

[17:16] And he says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Now, grace is a good thing. Grace is an incredibly good thing.

[17:26] Grace covered all of this. All of the sin. Jesus, or God, through his grace, sent Jesus to die for my sins. And it covered all of that.

[17:37] So grace is an incredibly good thing. Grace also covered this. So grace is a very good thing. So what Paul here is asking is, what shall we say then?

[17:50] Shall we continue in sin? Shall that side continue on that side so that grace might abound, so that we might have more grace? Because when Abigail is cooking or baking cookies in the kitchen, I'll generally sneak in there and I'll grab one cookie and I'll give it a quick taste test.

[18:09] And if it's good, I'll grab two more. And by that time, she says, hey, and she starts coming at me with a spatula and I make a swift exit out of the kitchen. But so something is good.

[18:20] You want more. And so that is what Paul is asking here is, what shall we say? Shall we continue in sin? Because grace is a good thing. Then grace, we get more of that, right?

[18:32] And he answers that in verse 2 and he says, certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live in it any longer? And it is an interesting thing how when we choose to live in sin, that there is consequences that come along with it.

[18:57] We'll look at that a little bit later. Does sin bring glory to God? Absolutely not. Sin does not bring glory to God.

[19:08] God's grace does not give us a license to sin. God has lots of grace. At the beginning of this message, I forgot to. I was going to ask two questions.

[19:21] The first question was, how big is God's grace? So hopefully at the end of the message, we can answer that. We should be able to answer that already. How big is God's grace?

[19:31] Second question was, is there a limit to God's grace? Is there a limit to God's grace? Not that God ever runs out, but does he sometimes limit it?

[19:43] So hopefully by the end of this message, we can answer that. So, sin does not bring glory to God. God's grace does not give us a license to sin. Let's turn to Galatians 5, verse 13.

[20:03] Galatians 5, verse 13. It says, For you, brethren, have been called to liberty. Only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

[20:16] So as Christians, you have been given liberty. You have been given freedom from sin. You have been set free. This does not give us the freedom then to continue to indulge in it.

[20:30] It is just because we've been set free and God's grace covers it does not mean that we need to continue indulging ourselves in it. Also, in Jude, you could call it chapter 4 or verse 4.

[20:44] It has all of one chapter. So Jude 4, it says, For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

[21:08] So when we take an advantage, we say, well, God's grace is just going to cover all of our sins. We're actually turning God's grace into lewdness. And it is something that I believe we have to be very careful of, that when we see these things in our lives, that we actually deal with them.

[21:26] So then in verse 2, going back to Romans, it says, How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

[21:52] Is there a difference between sinning and living in sin? Is there a difference there? I think there absolutely is. We're going to look at two individuals in Scripture who, one, sinned and the consequences thereof, and then one who tried to live in sin and the consequences thereof.

[22:14] They're a little bit longer of a read, so just be patient as I read through it. I might be fumbling and stumbling a little bit as I go. But I think it's worth it to read through the whole thing and just take notice of the consequence of each one.

[22:27] Each one of them sinned, but the consequence of the first and the last. So the first one, we're going to turn to Luke 1, verses 5-20. That is with Zacharias.

[22:42] So Luke 1, 5-20. And it says, Notice this.

[23:18] They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.

[23:34] So it was that while he was priest before God, in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, pardon me, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord, and the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.

[23:58] Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

[24:11] But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

[24:23] You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.

[24:36] He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

[24:49] He will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers of the children and disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared.

[25:06] And Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this? Listen to that. How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.

[25:18] And the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.

[25:32] Behold, you will be mute and not be able to speak until the day these things take place because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.

[25:46] So, Zacharias was righteous. He made a mistake, and he committed the sin of unbelief. And he paid the penalty. He was mute until the day that were fulfilled.

[26:00] Once John was born, and he named John John, that's when his tongue was loosed again. So, that was a sin that he committed. So, now let's look at, so that was a simple sin that he committed.

[26:12] Now, let's look at a situation where an individual tried to live in sin and how that worked out for him. Listen to Samuel chapter 12, verses 1 through 20. I think most of you probably already know who this individual is.

[26:31] 2 Samuel chapter 12, 1 through 20. And it says, Then David sent Nathan.

[26:43] Now, this is after he has lain with Bathsheba, and he has already gotten the message that she is with child. And then this is where this takes off, and he says, Then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said to him, There were two men in one city, one rich and another poor.

[27:06] The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished, and it grew up together with him and with his children.

[27:22] It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler, the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfair man who had come to him.

[27:43] But he took of the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die, and he shall restore fourfold for the lamb because he did this thing and because he had no pity.

[28:09] Then Nathan said to David, You are the man. Thus says the Lord, God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

[28:20] I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if too little, I also would have given you much more.

[28:36] Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do the evil in his sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with a sword, and you have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with a sword of the people of Ammon.

[28:56] Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from you, from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

[29:09] This says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up adversaries against you from your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this son.

[29:26] For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the son. So David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord, and Nathan said to David, The Lord also has put away, you shall not die.

[29:47] However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.

[30:00] Then Nathan departed to his house, and the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became ill. David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and laid all night on the ground.

[30:19] So the elders of his house arose and went to him to rise him up from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died, and the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead.

[30:43] Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do us do some harm.

[30:55] When David saw, his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore, David said to his servants, Is the child dead?

[31:07] And they said, He is dead. So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes, and he went into the house of the Lord and worshipped.

[31:22] Then he went to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. So here's an individual who committed, one committed sin, Zachariah committed a sin and paid the penalty, and then David committed a much grievous, a more grievous sin, but then tried to hide it, and then if you notice, the penalty that he received was much, much greater.

[31:50] And so I think we need to be very careful that when we want to abuse God's grace, and if we choose to live in sin, we need to understand that there's going to be consequences connected with that.

[32:04] Let's turn back to Romans. So continuing on, verse 2, certainly not.

[32:20] How shall we who die to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

[32:30] Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, also should walk in newness of life.

[32:43] What does it mean to be baptized into his death? So to be baptized into Christ's death. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13.

[33:07] It says, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek, whether slave or free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

[33:19] So we were all baptized into Christ. So when we were baptized, we were baptized into Christ. That includes his death. And that death represents dying to self.

[33:32] So as we go through our life, we need to be dying to our sins. Our sins need to be disappearing as we are going through life because we were baptized with Christ and we now identify with the last Adam, not with the first Adam.

[33:55] So then in verse, in going back to Romans, in verse 4 there, he talks about walking.

[34:08] I'll just read it again. Now, therefore, verse 4, therefore we were buried with him through baptism, so we identify with Christ into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life.

[34:25] So what does this new walk look like? Let's turn to Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. So this new walk, it says here, crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me.

[34:48] And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So the life that we are now living, we are living in Christ.

[35:01] So it is, we are now continually identifying with the last Adam, not the first Adam. And as long as we're identifying with the last Adam, the sin issue disappears very, very quickly.

[35:16] In closing, another portion of Scripture that has given me much encouragement to continue moving forward is Philippians chapter 3, verses 13 through 16.

[35:30] It says, Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

[35:47] Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

[36:03] Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

[36:14] So that is to continue to move forward. And so when I started off, I was going to ask two questions. How big is God's grace? God's grace is big enough for each one of us.

[36:26] Secondly, is there a limit to God's grace? If we continue to live in sin and we choose to live in sin, God will withhold his grace and then all of a sudden we will find ourselves in receiving the punishment of that grace.

[36:41] What we want our lives to look like after Christ, after we have received, is a general tapering down where we once were involved with many sins that we are starting to get those things under control.

[36:59] Now pride, selfishness, and things like that are maybe sins that we are going to have to work on because they are connected with the flesh and as long as we are in the flesh, those types of sins are always going to be there.

[37:12] So in Philippians, he says, brother, I do not count myself as having apprehended. So he is saying, I'm not sinless yet, but one thing I do, I forget the things in the past and I'm continuing to push forward.

[37:28] So I want to encourage you guys to keep going forward. Don't waste too much time looking into the past and saying, I should have done this or I should have done that and then feeling guilty about yourselves, about all the things that you have done.

[37:41] If you have brought them before the Lord and he has forgiven you for them, leave them there, continuing to, just look to Jesus and continuing to press forward. Let's close in prayer.

[37:53] Father, come before you again this morning. Just want to thank you again for this time that we got to look into your word. We ask now that you would just be with each one of us as we go home from the rest of the week that you would just bless us with safety and may we be a light to the people around us as well.

[38:09] In Jesus' precious name, Amen.