Romans chapter 6 verse 15.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means.
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.
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.
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
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.
When you are slaves to sin, you are free from the control of righteousness.
What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?
Those things result in death.
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.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thank you, Peter.
Well, please keep your Bibles open.
If you haven't got a Bible, I encourage you to get one.
There's one at the back.
And you can follow along and make sure that everything that we're saying and talking about does come from God's Word.
That's most important.
We don't want to be hearing my thoughts or ideas, but what God has to say.
There's also a sheet.
There's one left if anybody wants it.
Take notes.
Feel free to come up and get it.
I'll leave it here.
It won't burn.
Well, let's pray together.
Our Father, thank you for your goodness to us.
Thank you for your Word.
Thank you for this book of Romans that we have been able to study and look at together.
We pray that what we read and think through now would be words from you that change us,
words that bring life, words that shape how we live and how we should serve.
We pray that we would be encouraged through this morning,
that you would challenge us where we need to be challenged,
and that we would put right in our lives the areas that need to be put right.
But we want to do all of this under your grace.
not our performance,
but recognizing that all this is only possible because of what Jesus has done for us.
So please help us.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, I have a new rule for everyone.
From now on,
there's only going to be one rule.
And here's the rule.
You ready?
There are no rules.
Do you like that?
Because that's exactly what I said.
From now on,
we're not going to have any more rules.
Do you remember that list Joy was talking about at the beginning?
About rotas for helping out and serving?
Tear it up.
No more rules.
But you say,
how can we do that?
If there were no more rules,
we would descend into absolute chaos.
People would do whatever they wanted.
They would arrive whenever they wanted,
which people do anyway.
We need rules to keep us right.
We need to make sure that we do the right thing.
No more rules.
That would be absolute madness.
It would seem very strange, wouldn't it,
for somebody to say,
there are no more rules.
But that's exactly what Paul seems to be saying to the church
and to us.
Look at verse 14 of chapter 6.
He says,
sin shall not be your master
because you are not under law
but under grace.
It's very clear, isn't it?
No more rules.
We're not under law.
We're under grace.
Verse 15.
What then?
Shall we sin because we are not under law
but under grace?
You could imagine them reading this
and thinking to themselves,
has Paul gone mad?
Has this gospel thing gone to his head?
How can you say,
we are not under law but under grace?
If we're under grace,
that means we can do whatever we like
and God is going to forgive us.
Look at the rest of verse 15.
By no means.
No, he says,
that's not what I am saying.
I do say,
there are no more rules
but that does not mean
we can live however we want.
If you are a Christian,
if you are somebody who trusts in Jesus,
you live under the rule of grace
and that radically changes
your whole life
and as we will see,
it radically changes
your whole attitude to serving.
You see,
there were those in this church
that are being written to
who were concerned about right behaviour
and I think we're all kinds of people
who are concerned about right behaviour.
that things are done well.
And in this church,
there were two groups of people.
You had the Jews
who were from a religious background
and they were concerned
about the Gentiles.
They were people
who were from a non-religious background
and they were concerned
that they would take this grace thing
too far.
In other words,
a licence to sin.
Those people,
they'll just behave
however they want.
They'll say,
God will forgive us.
It doesn't matter what time we come.
It doesn't matter what we do.
God will forgive us.
So the way in which
to keep order in their church
was to slap on lots of rules.
Let's have lots of rules
and everybody will keep things right.
But as he explained
back in chapter 5 verse 20,
have a look at 5 verse 20,
he said the law,
talking about the law of Moses,
the first five books,
was added
so that the trespass
might increase.
Now the principle
was very clear.
Rules or law
only tell you
what the right thing is.
They can't make you
do the right thing.
Laws and rules
have no power.
The only power they have
is to punish you.
They can't free you.
They can't make you
do the right thing.
No, he's saying,
rules are no good.
We must live under grace.
And by teaching them
all about grace,
he is bringing
these two dividing groups together.
He's getting the religious bunch
on the one hand
who want to control grace
and say,
let's not dish out
too much grace here.
And then he's wanting
to bring the other group,
the non-religious group
who seem to be abusing grace
and doing whatever they want.
And he brings them together
and he says,
I want you to live under grace.
You will have a different
kind of life
under grace.
You will no longer
be serving self,
your own needs
and your own wants.
Instead,
in grateful response
to God's amazing salvation,
you will serve God
and you will serve each other
and you will serve
your church well
because of the grace
you have received.
We could change
what I said at the beginning
a little bit.
There's only one rule
and it's the rule of grace.
Because if we live under grace,
we won't need rules,
we won't need rotas,
we won't need anything like that
because
our lives will be
so radically changed,
we will be serving
in ways we never thought possible.
That, I think,
is what Paul is going
to be getting to
at the rest of chapter 6.
So let's unpack this
a little bit more,
this whole idea
of grace
enabling us to serve.
The first thing
we want to notice
is that everyone
serves someone.
Every one of us here
serves someone.
Look at 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 slaves to obedience,
which leads to righteousness.
You see,
we all serve
somebody.
And the way
to find out
who it is
that we're serving
is by asking,
who do I obey?
Because if we look closely
at verse 16,
it says,
you are slaves
to the one
that you obey.
So that's a good question
for us all to ask.
Who do we obey?
Well,
it seems like
we have two choices.
In verse 16,
we are either
slaves to sin.
In other words,
we obey self.
We obey what I want.
Or,
we are slaves
to obedience.
That's slaves to Christ.
In other words,
we obey God.
What he wants.
And because we're all here
in church together
this morning,
and we've got our Bibles open,
we'd all like to think
we're in the second category,
that we obey God.
But look at verse 20.
He says,
when you were slaves
to sin,
you were free
from the control
or the restraint
of righteousness.
Yes,
he said,
you did have a freedom,
but it was only
a freedom
to obey self.
You couldn't
obey righteousness.
Let me explain it.
It's a little bit
like addictions.
Addicts
don't want
to be
addicts.
They want to be able
to break free
from its control
and break free
from its hold
in their lives.
And addicts
are free
to make that choice
every single day.
but they still
obey
their body's
cravings.
And in the same way,
it's saying
without Christ,
we are addicts
to obey
what we want,
not what God wants.
We obey
our cravings.
We obey
what our desires are,
not God's desires.
sinners.
So back to verse 16,
if we are given
the choice,
will you obey God
or will you obey
self?
Well,
self wins
every single time.
In fact,
the painful truth is,
without Christ,
we don't have a choice
to do what is right.
We are natural born
sinners.
We can't help
but do the wrong thing.
That's who we are.
That is our nature.
And when we're talking
about sin,
let's not just think
about breaking rules,
things we don't do
or things we should do.
It's a lifestyle.
Sin is a lifestyle.
It's our nature.
It's a life
that desperately
tries to live
outside of God.
In other words,
we are always living
to serve our own needs
and our own wants.
Rather than obey God
who gives us
everything that we need,
we will obey
anything
and anyone
that gives us
what we want.
So,
if I wanted
to have sex
with someone else,
I would have an affair.
I would obey
that hunger
inside of me.
If I want a job,
I will tell lies
in my CV
and I'll write down
anything I want to
because I obey
the desire
that's in me.
If I want
more control
over somebody
or over a situation,
then I will begin
to bully
because I obey me.
It's something
that I want.
It's something
that I desire
and I will do
anything to get it.
So,
sin is always
living outside of God.
That's the way
it expresses itself.
It's a life
that serves me.
It puts me
at the center
rather than God.
God.
Or as one writer
put it like this,
we de-God
God.
We take away
God's right
and we give it
to ourselves
and say,
you choose
what you want
to do.
But the seriousness
of that problem
is that we
cannot help
but serve
me
all of the time.
So,
we all serve
someone
and the truth
is we serve
ourselves.
but thankfully
we can be set
free from that
kind of lifestyle.
We can be set
free to serve
God
and it's grace
that sets us
free.
Look at verse 17.
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.
You have been
set free
from sin.
Now that's
good news
because it's
telling us
that we've
been changed
from one kind
of lifestyle
to another
kind of lifestyle.
From serving
self
to serving
others
and to
serving God.
Well,
how does that
change happen?
Well,
there's two ways
this happens.
First,
it's through
obeying the
gospel.
Look at what
it says there
in verse 17.
It says,
you wholeheartedly
obeyed the
form of
teaching.
Now that's a
funny way of
putting that.
The form of
teaching
is saying
it's the
gospel.
That's what
the form of
teaching was
that they had
been taught.
And in
particular,
it is the
good news
that he has
begun explaining
all the way
through Romans
that Jesus
has put us
right with
God.
He's changed
our life
around.
The author
John Stott
explains it
well.
There's a
quote up
behind me.
Just follow
it as I
read about
the way in
which God
puts us
right.
This is a
summary of
the gospel.
Justification
is a legal
term borrowed
from the
law courts.
It is the
exact opposite
of condemnation.
To condemn
is to
declare someone
guilty.
To justify
is to
declare him
righteous
or put
right with
God.
In the
Bible,
it refers
to God's
act of
unmerited
favour,
his grace,
by which
he puts
the sinner
right with
himself,
not only
pardoning or
acquitting him,
but accepting
him and
treating him
as righteous.
That is the
form of
teaching.
That is the
gospel.
Jesus was
treated as
I deserve
to be
treated
so that
I can be
treated
as Jesus
deserves to
be treated.
And if we
obey this
gospel,
if we put
our faith
and trust
in this,
we are
saying,
I can't
help but
be a
sinner,
and I
need Jesus
to change
me.
And this
is what
sets us
free.
This is what
changes us
from being
so self
centred
to being
God
centred.
But there's
a second
part to
how this
change
comes about,
how this
freedom
comes.
Look at
what it
says there.
It says
this form
of teaching
to which
you were
entrusted.
Now if
you are
entrusted
to something,
that means
you are
under its
care or
protection.
If you
bring your
child to a
creche or
to a
school,
you are
placing
your
child or
entrusting
them to
their care
or protection.
And that's
exactly what
it is for
those who
have obeyed
the gospel.
We are
put under
the care
and under
the supervision
of the
gospel.
That means
we can
never be
taken back
by the
rule of
sin.
Nobody
can come
in and
take us
away.
We have
been set
free and
are now
under the
gospel's
care,
never to
be condemned
but always
accepted and
always treated
as righteous
no matter
what we've
done.
And maybe
you're sitting
here this
morning and
you're thinking
what I did
this week or
what I've been
thinking this
morning is
so outside
of God.
But yet if
we are trusting
in Jesus,
we are entrusted
under his
care,
under his
protection,
never to be
condemned
but always
accepted and
treated as
righteous.
So we
have been
set free
by grace
to live a
different way.
Not to do
like what we
want to do
but to live
a different
way,
to live a
life of
service because
grace sets
us free to
serve.
Look at the
rest of verse
18.
Well we'll
read all of
verse 18
into 19.
You have
been set
free from
sin,
so that's
the old
way,
and have
now become
slaves to
righteousness.
I put this
in human
terms or I
use a human
illustration
because you're
weak in your
natural selves.
He's being a
little bit rude
there isn't he?
He's saying
you're a bit
thick, you
can't get it
so I'm going
to use a
little illustration
to help
you.
Now we
probably
struggle with
this word
here of
slaves because
nobody wants
to be a
slave.
Slavery was
cruel,
slavery was
abolished many
years ago.
It breaks
people and
destroys
people.
So why is
he using it?
Well he's
using it here
to help us
to understand
our new
purpose in
life.
And that's
why he puts
it in a
strange way
in verse
19.
He says I
use this
in human
terms because
you're weak
in your
natural
selves.
I want to
use this
illustration
of slavery
to help
you grasp
our freedom.
It sounds
a contradiction
but I want
you to
grasp this.
He says
before you
were under
the control
of sin.
He was
our master
and we
were his
slaves.
We just
obeyed it.
We had
no way
about it.
But now
he says
you've been
set free.
You're under
the control
of grace.
God is
your master
and now
you're his
slaves.
But these
slaveries
are completely
opposite.
The way
in which
we serve
is completely
different.
these ways
are contrasted
in verse
19.
First,
slavery to
sin
is a
downward
spiral
into
chaos.
If you
were to
serve
self,
if that's
your option,
well,
it's just
going to
end in
chaos.
Look at
verse 19.
He says,
just as
you used
to offer
the parts
of your
body,
your life
in slavery
to impurity
and to
ever
increasing
wickedness.
It's a
downward
spiral.
When I
was at
school,
we were
always given
a packed
lunch,
sandwiches,
which I
never really
liked.
And I
had to
eat them.
That was
the rule.
Except for
I came
home one
day with
the
sandwiches
in my
box and
I didn't
want to
get into
trouble so
I threw
them in
the garden.
And I
was asked
when I
came in,
as mum
looked at
the empty
lunchbox,
did you
eat your
sandwiches?
Yes.
Sat down,
had dinner
that night
and in
came the
dog.
And he
dropped a
sandwich in
the kitchen
floor.
Are these
your
sandwiches?
No.
they are
your
sandwiches,
aren't
they?
Yes,
they are.
Yes,
yes.
When did
you put
them there?
Oh,
I can't
remember.
Ages
ago.
Jonathan,
they're
still
fresh.
I'd
been caught
rotten,
hadn't I?
But that's
the point
here.
That sin
always leads
to more
sin.
Ever
increasing
wickedness.
just a
downward
spiral.
The little
tiny mess
of just
throwing a
little
sandwich
away
ended up
to being
grounded
and a
big mess
for me.
But that's
just a
tiny little
picture of
the choices
that we
make in
our lives.
Tiny
little sins,
tiny little
choices that
people make,
obeying
self,
wanting to
please
themselves,
it destroys
their lives
and it
begins to
destroy
others.
Ever
increasing
wickedness.
Slavery
to sin.
It is
slavery.
It isn't
a freedom.
It's a
downward
spiral
into
chaos.
But grace
saves us
from all
of that.
It gives
us a
new way
to serve.
Slavery
to God
is a
growing
spiral
into
holiness.
Look
at the
rest of
verse
19.
He
says,
so now
offer
your body,
offer
yourselves
in
slavery
to
righteousness
which
leads
to
holiness.
As we
give
ourselves
now to
God
because
we're
able
to,
we
become
more
like
Christ.
His
character
becomes
like
our
character.
Slowly
we
begin
to be
transformed
where
we
no
longer
want
to
serve
self
but
we
want
to
serve
God.
And this
is the
amazing
transformation
that the
gospel
brings
into
our
lives.
Once
we
had
no
choice
but
now
we
have
a
brand
new
freedom
to
give
ourselves
completely
to
God.
But
let's
not
misunderstand
this
slavery
to
God.
God
is not
a cruel
dictator
who
orders
us
around
as an
exercise
of his
power
just to
show
how
strong
he
is.
He's
not
a
tyrant
who
waves
a
big
stick
at
us
in
temper.
No
he
is
the
loving
God
you
remember
who
came
to
serve
us
who
gave
his
life
for
us
who
would
die
for
us
that
is
the
kind
of
master
he
is
he
would
lay
down
his
life
for
us
he
gave
us
everything
so
that
in
grateful
response
we
owe
him
everything
that's
what
it
is
to
be
a
slave
we
owe
him
everything
because
he
gave
us
his
everything
so
we
have
been
given
a
brand
new
way
to
serve
but
let's
face
it
we
all
know
that
this
is
extremely
hard
it's
fine
in
theory
it's
fine
written
down
on
these
pages
and
talking
about
it
but
we
still
struggle
every
single
day
to
make
the
right
choice
and
as
we
begin
to
put
into
practice
this
whole
idea
of
serving
on
a
Sunday
morning
and
being
here
being
early
and
going
home
late
making
that
choice
is
going
to
be
hard
and
difficult
for
us
well
the
only
way
we're
going
to
make
the
right
choices
is
not
more
rules
we
could
have
10,000
rules
up on
the
board
telling
you
what
time
you
have
to
be
here
what
time
you
have
to
go
home
at
when
to
drink
your
tea
when
to
sit
down
he
can
have
all
of
these
sorts
of
things
but it's
not going to make anybody do anything
we need to be motivated by grace
each day
look at verse 21 to 22
they're written in contrast to each other
in other words he's saying look at what the life of sin brings
and look at what the life of grace brings
look at the benefits and the results of each
verse 21 this is what this is what a life of serving self brings
verse 21
what benefit
did you reap at the time from the things that you are now ashamed of
so when you were serving self and it was just going down and down and
down
what were the benefits of that
well absolutely nothing
those things result in death
complete separation from god
and eternity from him
is that the way you want to live he says
well here's another way
here's another way to be motivated
verse 22
but now that you've been set free from sin
and have become slaves to god
the benefit you reap
leads to holiness
and the result
is eternal life
complete contrast
if i want my son ethan to do his homework
i can sit him down at the table
i can shout at him and roar at him and tell him to hurry up
i can give off to him when his sums are wrong
i can tell him he's not doing good enough and he should do better
well the outcome would be absolutely disastrous
the work is never going to get done
it's going to end in tears
he's not going to like his homework
and he's not going to like me either
it'd be an absolute disaster
but if i were to sit down with ethan
and show him what to do
to go through it with him
and then to tell him
look when we're finished
whether you get it right or wrong
we're going to go to the cinema
now rather than fight homework
he's going to want to do it isn't he
now don't tell him i said that
because i don't want to bring him to the cinema every day
but there's an illustration there isn't it
that in the same way when we look at the benefits
and the results of grace
when we look at what's to come
the result is eternal life
the new heaven and the new earth
we will want to serve god more and more
because of what's to come
we'll want to do it
not as a way of earning these things
but because they belong to us already
look at verse 22
and look at how it's all past tense
but now that you have been set free
we're not working to set ourselves free
it's past it's been done by jesus
you have become slaves to god
it's not something we have to try and earn or work towards
it's been done
and now the benefits today
will be christ's likeness holiness
it will be eternal life
you see we need more grace
not more rules
if we're to serve god well
we need to see everything that god has done for us
all that is ours today
all that is ours to come
and it will change us to be people who serve
so the question we all need to be clear on is this
who are we going to serve
who is going to be the boss of your life
will it be self
or will it be christ
the outcomes are very different
verse 23
the wages of sin is death
the payment
if you live for self
all the work of living for yourself
sin is going to pay you
and he will pay you with death
but the gift of god
if we live to serve christ
the gift
not because of what we've done
but because of his generosity
will be eternal life
you see a community of believers
such as us here this morning
if we live under the rule of grace
we will have the lord jesus as our boss
and in response to this liberating grace
we will want to serve him in our lives
and in the world
and in our church
and it won't matter whether we're on a rota
for this week or next week
we'll just be serving all the time
any time
because it's really true
what we said at the beginning
we are not under grace
or sorry
we are under grace
there are no more rules
grace is the only rule
and grace that changes us
will turn lives that turn from self
to serving god
and serving those around us
may god help us to be a community
who live under his grace
and his goodness
let's pray together
our father god
we thank you
that you are the great servant
although you are creator
and lord of this world
you came to serve us
by giving your life for us
to set us free
from one kind of life
to bring us into another kind of life
help us to live
under your grace
each and every day
to be generous
with your grace
to one another
forgiving one another
supporting one another
caring for one another
help us not to abuse your grace
or to misunderstand it
as a license
to do what we want
but may it so transform us
and change us
that we are the kind of people
that serve you
so please help us
as your people
please help us as a church
we thank you for everybody
represented here
we thank you for all of their gifts
and abilities
we thank you for all those
who have served us today
in setting up
in tea and coffee
in welcoming
we thank you for everybody
and for all that they do
and we pray that we would
encourage each other
more and more
to do this well
in Jesus name
Amen