WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.400 Let's turn to Romans 6 on page 1132. 00:00:17.400 --> 00:00:27.800 ! Okay, dead to sin, alive in Christ. What shall we say then? Shall we go on sin so that grace may increase? By no means. 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:27.800 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:38.280 We are those who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:52.340 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was risen from the dead, through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 00:00:52.340 --> 00:01:00.900 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:13.340 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 00:01:13.340 --> 00:01:26.280 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that, since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again. Death no longer has mastery over him. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:33.460 The death he died, he died to sin once and for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 00:01:33.459 --> 00:01:39.399 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:01:40.639 --> 00:01:45.979 Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:56.719 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, 00:01:57.399 --> 00:02:01.139 and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 00:02:01.140 --> 00:02:08.199 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. Amen. 00:02:10.340 --> 00:02:14.360 Thanks so much, Jamal, for reading for us. Keep that Bible open in front of you. 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:19.219 We're going to be working our way through that passage, and I'm going to pray for us as we come to God's word. Let me pray. 00:02:20.659 --> 00:02:23.599 Father, we do want to ask for your help this morning. 00:02:24.780 --> 00:02:30.740 We do want to pray that you would be present with us by your spirit at work through your word in our hearts. 00:02:31.139 --> 00:02:39.219 Lord, if this is just me imparting information from my brain into the brain of other people, that is a totally wasted task. 00:02:40.339 --> 00:02:42.659 Lord, what we want to do is hear from you in your word. 00:02:43.339 --> 00:02:48.079 We want you to be at work transforming us and changing us and moulding us into Christ-likeness. 00:02:48.239 --> 00:02:50.079 So be at work for the sake of your glory. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:53.560 As we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:02:55.880 --> 00:03:01.700 Now, I want you to imagine as we start that you are 17 years old and you are studying for your A-levels. 00:03:02.060 --> 00:03:07.020 For some of you, that is going to take more imagination than others, as it was such a long time ago. 00:03:07.100 --> 00:03:10.060 But for others of you, it might be your present situation. 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:15.759 And there is your sweating it out in the library doing your maths homework. 00:03:16.259 --> 00:03:24.319 A stranger walks up to you and presents you with four A-star A-level certificates. 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:26.500 It's totally legit. 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:28.920 They've got your name on the top of them. 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:32.860 They're embossed with the examiner's stamp. 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:42.940 They are yours for you to have right now, 17 in the library, not sat a single exam yet. 00:03:43.160 --> 00:03:46.120 A gift of kindness to you. 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:48.520 A perfect set of exam results. 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:49.180 It's amazing. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.380 It is utterly mind-blowing. 00:03:53.200 --> 00:03:54.920 You call your friends. 00:03:55.200 --> 00:03:56.380 You say, look what I've got. 00:03:56.460 --> 00:03:58.860 I've got four A-star A-level certificates. 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:00.440 I have got my grades already. 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.060 I've not sat an exam, but I am already qualified. 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:03.819 It's amazing. 00:04:04.579 --> 00:04:05.840 You hug the stranger. 00:04:06.079 --> 00:04:08.620 You put a post on Instagram to be a little bit smug. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:10.979 And then the dust starts to settle. 00:04:12.419 --> 00:04:14.759 And then you sort of think, well, this is brilliant. 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:17.439 But what now? 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:20.220 What do I do now? 00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:22.480 Am I supposed to keep going to my lessons? 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:27.319 Do I still try and get my head around differentiation, which I've never really understood? 00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:32.620 Am I going to still hand in homework and continue to get E's and U's, which I've been getting all along? 00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:38.339 Am I going to put any effort into my English coursework or into my philosophy essay? 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:44.759 Now, Romans 6 is basically that question asked by a Christian. 00:04:45.259 --> 00:04:49.199 Not about their A-levels, but about faith in Christ. 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:56.339 Justification by faith, remember, is similar to the receipt of those exam grades ahead of the exams. 00:04:57.659 --> 00:05:01.819 Justification by faith, which Paul has been talking about all the way through Romans so far, 00:05:01.899 --> 00:05:10.120 has been seen to be this verdict of not guilty for judgment day held in the present now by the Christian. 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:18.759 It's the personal declaration by God through the merits of Jesus Christ and his cross that an individual is righteous before him. 00:05:20.220 --> 00:05:22.879 It's a declaration that they've received not by their own works. 00:05:22.939 --> 00:05:24.160 They didn't earn it. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:26.079 They don't deserve it in that way. 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:31.459 They haven't received it either by an emotional experience or by intellectual pursuit that's kind of figured it out. 00:05:31.459 --> 00:05:33.560 No, they've received it by faith. 00:05:34.259 --> 00:05:40.939 An empty hand, the kind of newborn cry of, I believe, of someone who's been born again. 00:05:41.979 --> 00:05:43.379 And so they have nothing to fear. 00:05:43.799 --> 00:05:44.699 Glory awaits them. 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:47.500 They're in Christ, not in Adam, as we were thinking about last week. 00:05:47.919 --> 00:05:51.199 And Romans 6 verse 1 says, that is brilliant, but what now? 00:05:51.919 --> 00:05:52.519 What now? 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:54.179 Have a look down at verse 1. 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:55.060 Let me read it to you. 00:05:55.579 --> 00:05:56.779 What shall we say then? 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:00.799 Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 00:06:01.859 --> 00:06:07.299 I think it's worth saying that I don't think Paul is imagining someone mocking justification by faith there. 00:06:07.799 --> 00:06:14.939 It's not I don't think that they believe justification by faith to be ridiculous because, you know, well, it doesn't teach people what to do. 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:18.759 Rather, I think it's the genuine question of a Christian. 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:20.419 This is brilliant. 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:23.199 I've got a verdict of judgment day. 00:06:23.259 --> 00:06:24.299 It's in my possession now. 00:06:24.359 --> 00:06:25.120 That is fantastic. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:29.279 I know I'm glory bound, but I know too that I'm not perfect. 00:06:30.099 --> 00:06:33.639 I know that I'm saved by grace, not by my works. 00:06:33.659 --> 00:06:35.579 But what am I going to work at? 00:06:35.659 --> 00:06:37.339 What are my works going to look like? 00:06:38.299 --> 00:06:40.519 You know, I know that I still struggle with sin. 00:06:41.159 --> 00:06:43.059 And I know I receive grace and mercy. 00:06:44.059 --> 00:06:44.939 But is that it? 00:06:45.219 --> 00:06:45.899 I sin. 00:06:46.339 --> 00:06:47.379 God gives more grace. 00:06:47.779 --> 00:06:48.659 I sin some more. 00:06:49.039 --> 00:06:50.000 God gives some more grace. 00:06:50.119 --> 00:06:51.039 Is that the Christian life? 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:53.200 And if that's the Christian life, what's the point? 00:06:54.900 --> 00:07:05.120 Let me suggest that if you've never asked the question like that, it's possible that you've never really understood justification by faith or maybe not experienced it because it is the obvious question. 00:07:05.260 --> 00:07:05.960 Think about it. 00:07:06.780 --> 00:07:09.080 If salvation is not by your works. 00:07:09.379 --> 00:07:10.740 It's been really clear, hasn't it? 00:07:10.740 --> 00:07:13.820 You don't earn salvation from God by what you do. 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.680 Well, then, if that's true, then what is the point of your works? 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:23.240 Is there any point in trying to be holy if I know that my salvation is not dependent on it? 00:07:24.659 --> 00:07:28.300 It's worth saying, I think, as well, that lots of Christians go terribly wrong here. 00:07:29.579 --> 00:07:32.539 Some Christians go wrong by saying, no, of course, it doesn't matter at all. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:38.039 There's a kind of Christian liberalism, which basically says, you know, don't worry too much. 00:07:38.500 --> 00:07:39.360 You're saved. 00:07:39.779 --> 00:07:41.159 And it's difficult, right? 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:42.899 And it's difficult to be different from the world. 00:07:42.899 --> 00:07:44.939 So just go with the flow. 00:07:45.739 --> 00:07:47.079 Just follow everybody else. 00:07:47.219 --> 00:07:52.859 Just make your life essentially indistinguishable from anybody around you because it doesn't matter anyway because you're going to be saved. 00:07:52.939 --> 00:07:54.859 You know you're going to be saved because you've got the verdict already. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:57.479 Maybe that's you this morning. 00:07:58.419 --> 00:08:03.959 Maybe you call yourself a Christian, but really there's very little impact on the life that you live. 00:08:05.139 --> 00:08:06.319 Now, Paul is not suggesting that. 00:08:06.379 --> 00:08:09.060 That is by no means the Christian life. 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:10.959 That's not the life of justification by faith. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:20.560 But nor is he suggesting what lots of other Christians end up with, which is something like salvation by grace and living by works. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:22.360 So justification by faith. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:24.939 Yeah, that's a good way for the Christian life to start. 00:08:24.939 --> 00:08:29.060 But, you know, you're going to need some rules to live by. 00:08:29.699 --> 00:08:35.460 And you're going to have to live by those rules because if you don't live by those rules, God might remove justification from you. 00:08:37.299 --> 00:08:39.399 Saved by grace and kept by works. 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:46.740 It's essentially like going, OK, here are the four A-star A-level certificates, but you better show to me that you deserve them. 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:50.919 And if you don't show me that you deserve them, I'm coming back and I'm taking them away from you. 00:08:52.059 --> 00:08:54.340 Now, lots of Christians teach something like that. 00:08:54.779 --> 00:08:57.860 That is essentially the official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. 00:08:58.419 --> 00:08:59.879 But it's not Paul's understanding. 00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:02.220 By no means, he says. 00:09:02.220 --> 00:09:09.139 Now, as you look at the passage, you'll see that Paul is very slow to say anything really more than by no means. 00:09:09.259 --> 00:09:15.440 In fact, you have to read all the way through the passage to verse 11 until you get a direct answer to the question, what now? 00:09:16.460 --> 00:09:21.379 And verse 11 contains the very first instruction in the whole book of Romans. 00:09:21.379 --> 00:09:24.660 This is the very first imperative, the first do this. 00:09:24.659 --> 00:09:25.959 It's there in verse 11. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:32.600 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:09:33.719 --> 00:09:34.879 Here is what we're to do. 00:09:35.439 --> 00:09:39.740 We're not to sin and not think it matters, nor are we to be held hostage by rules. 00:09:39.839 --> 00:09:41.980 Instead, he says, you're to learn to count. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:44.799 Not as in like one, two, three. 00:09:44.860 --> 00:09:45.799 I'm sure you've all got that mastered. 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:47.919 But rather as in consider. 00:09:48.899 --> 00:09:50.860 As in reckon yourself. 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:53.019 See yourself as. 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:57.139 And what is it that you are to reckon yourself or consider yourself as? 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:01.559 Well, we are to see that we are dead to sin and alive to God. 00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:07.639 I'm going to pause here just for a moment and slow down a little bit just to make sure that we've got this. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:12.600 This is really, I think, the most important concept that we're going to try and deal with this morning. 00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:15.000 This is what Paul wants you to understand. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:30.000 He wants you to know that how you live the Christian life or knowing how to live the Christian life is directly connected to your willingness or ability to or desire to reflect on what happened to make you a Christian. 00:10:30.340 --> 00:10:30.460 Right. 00:10:30.460 --> 00:10:36.460 How to live the Christian life is a direct relationship to how you became a Christian. 00:10:37.040 --> 00:10:51.400 The ongoing quality of your Christian life, your sense of joy and purpose in knowing what you're about as a Christian depends on your repeated, not just one time, but a repeated grasp of the magnitude of the change that happened when you came to Christ. 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:57.500 As we put it with the kids, knowing what to do comes from knowing who you are. 00:10:58.620 --> 00:11:00.000 This is crucial, right? 00:11:00.419 --> 00:11:05.120 Notice that Christian living starts not so much with good moral actions. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.079 Christian living starts with good Christian truth. 00:11:10.139 --> 00:11:17.539 Told yourself over and over, bit by bit, as you begin to grasp what God in Christ has done for you. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:18.840 So you learn to count, right? 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:20.519 Number one, I died. 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:22.720 Number two, I will live. 00:11:23.199 --> 00:11:23.519 Okay, ready? 00:11:23.939 --> 00:11:25.699 Number one, I died. 00:11:25.779 --> 00:11:26.360 Brilliant, praise the Lord. 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:28.240 Number two, I will live. 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:29.319 Great. 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:30.779 Right, we're going to see those things. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:32.240 And every time I do that, you can repeat it. 00:11:32.319 --> 00:11:35.899 Just remind me that you are actually listening and are counting those things. 00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:37.279 Okay, firstly, number one. 00:11:38.419 --> 00:11:38.819 Great. 00:11:39.199 --> 00:11:42.079 This is Paul's radical description of the Christian life. 00:11:42.500 --> 00:11:44.360 It's not just that the Christian has been born again. 00:11:44.439 --> 00:11:45.500 We'll come to that in a moment. 00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:49.240 But the starting point is that an old life dies. 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:51.700 Now notice just how dominant that theme is. 00:11:51.860 --> 00:11:52.779 Look down at your passage. 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:54.299 Let me read these out to you. 00:11:54.419 --> 00:11:58.980 Verse two, we are those who have died to sin. 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:03.980 Verse three, we were baptized into his death. 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:07.300 Verse four, we were buried with him. 00:12:07.500 --> 00:12:12.379 Verse five, we have been united with him in a death like his. 00:12:12.920 --> 00:12:16.379 Verse six, our old self was crucified. 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:20.159 Verse eight, we died with Christ. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:21.100 Here it is then. 00:12:21.100 --> 00:12:26.940 Becoming a Christian is, says Paul, dying with Christ. 00:12:27.220 --> 00:12:34.759 So that the old live for yourself, glory be to me, self-interested you, that you, if you're a Christian this morning, that you is dead. 00:12:34.920 --> 00:12:37.659 Because it died with Christ on the cross. 00:12:39.040 --> 00:12:47.480 What we'll discover when we get to Romans seven next year is that in a sense, we are still carrying around this dead man until Christ returns. 00:12:47.480 --> 00:12:49.779 This isn't a claim to Christian perfectionism. 00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:52.960 But still the fundamental shift has happened. 00:12:53.580 --> 00:12:59.180 The break with the old man has happened as faith in Christ involves killing the old you. 00:12:59.960 --> 00:13:04.019 So just notice the tense of all of those died and deaths and baptized. 00:13:04.500 --> 00:13:05.379 You have died. 00:13:05.500 --> 00:13:06.279 You were baptized. 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:07.259 You were buried. 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:08.480 You have been united. 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:10.100 Was crucified. 00:13:10.100 --> 00:13:16.139 Perhaps we can go to the 17 year old receiving the A-level results as a gift. 00:13:16.259 --> 00:13:19.560 And I warn you this morning that we are going to push that to its absolute maximum. 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:20.200 Right. 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:26.240 Perhaps you knew as you received those four A-star A-level grades that you were cruising for ease and use. 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:28.480 You maybe know what that feels like. 00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:28.720 Right. 00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:32.040 You know that desperation where you know that you're going to fail. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:32.720 Right. 00:13:33.180 --> 00:13:35.519 That in your own strength, you're about to crash and burn. 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:42.639 But what's happening here is that at the moment of receiving the four A-star A-level grades, 00:13:42.779 --> 00:13:47.419 at that same moment, the stranger, by some kind of means that you don't really understand, 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:54.639 is reaching deep inside of you and killing the you that would get the E's and the U's. 00:13:55.439 --> 00:13:58.919 Obviously, it's absolutely impossible, isn't it, in exam terms. 00:13:58.980 --> 00:14:00.960 But in Christian theology, that is essential. 00:14:01.899 --> 00:14:03.460 These two things are indivisible. 00:14:03.460 --> 00:14:04.659 You cannot separate them. 00:14:04.659 --> 00:14:12.779 To put it theologically, you can't have faith that receives justification without also having regeneration to new life. 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:19.019 And you can't have regeneration to new life without also experiencing the death of your old life in Christ. 00:14:19.779 --> 00:14:22.579 All of those things, you can distinguish them from one another. 00:14:22.860 --> 00:14:29.019 The death of the old life, the resurrection to a new life, the receipt of righteousness by faith from Christ. 00:14:29.019 --> 00:14:35.879 But you cannot separate them out and have one without another because they all come in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:39.840 That's why Paul talks about baptism here. 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:44.519 This is what baptism symbolizes, our union with Christ. 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:51.139 We are entering down into the water where you cannot breathe. 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:54.360 And then you rise up to gasp air again. 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:59.159 It's like going down into death and coming up to new life. 00:14:59.159 --> 00:15:06.799 Our sins are washed away at the same time as we die in Christ and are resurrected to new life in him. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:13.679 Perhaps you're not a Christian this morning and you're thinking about what is a Christian. 00:15:13.859 --> 00:15:15.479 You know, I've heard people talk about it. 00:15:15.579 --> 00:15:17.740 You know, people talk about Jesus dying for them. 00:15:18.219 --> 00:15:19.199 Maybe that's a Christian. 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:22.280 Now, in a way, that is that's absolutely right, isn't it? 00:15:22.300 --> 00:15:26.520 But the picture here is richer than Jesus dying for them in some kind of abstract way. 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:31.740 Actually, what's happening here is that Paul is saying, because by faith we are united with Jesus, 00:15:31.860 --> 00:15:38.300 the old self-interested, self-glorifying, Steve-obsessed self died with Christ. 00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:44.520 It's not so much that Jesus just died for me, but that he took me with him and I died in him. 00:15:45.900 --> 00:15:46.960 Crucified with him. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:52.500 Now, in the rest of the chapter, which we're going to pick up in the new year, 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:55.360 Paul will go on to explain the significance of this death. 00:15:55.660 --> 00:15:57.680 But he hints at it here in verses 6 and 7. 00:15:57.900 --> 00:15:59.660 Let me read verses 6 and 7 to you. 00:15:59.700 --> 00:16:00.540 Look down at them. 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:05.180 For we know that our old self was crucified with him, 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:10.879 so that, here it is, the body ruled by sin might be done away with, 00:16:11.259 --> 00:16:13.900 that we should no longer be slaves to sin, 00:16:13.899 --> 00:16:17.779 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 00:16:18.819 --> 00:16:19.299 Here it is. 00:16:19.500 --> 00:16:24.220 Death is essential to the Christian life because death is liberation, he says. 00:16:24.939 --> 00:16:26.419 Sin ruled us. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:30.459 We were captives to Adam, slaves to sin, bound by our own desires, 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:37.299 and death liberates us from slavery as the slave dies and the free man lives. 00:16:37.299 --> 00:16:42.019 And says Paul, Christian living starts by counting that to be true. 00:16:42.699 --> 00:16:44.359 Thinking of yourself as dead. 00:16:44.939 --> 00:16:45.379 Counting. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:45.979 One. 00:16:47.299 --> 00:16:48.399 See, I knew you'd miss it. 00:16:48.779 --> 00:16:49.159 One. 00:16:49.459 --> 00:16:50.279 I died. 00:16:50.659 --> 00:16:51.039 Two. 00:16:51.219 --> 00:16:52.139 I will live. 00:16:53.019 --> 00:16:54.399 So let's consider number two. 00:16:54.500 --> 00:16:55.219 I will live. 00:16:55.439 --> 00:16:57.139 Again, just scan through the passage with me. 00:16:57.219 --> 00:16:58.319 Let me read the verses to you. 00:16:58.359 --> 00:16:58.939 Verse 4. 00:16:58.940 --> 00:17:03.400 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, 00:17:03.900 --> 00:17:08.160 just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, 00:17:08.380 --> 00:17:11.120 we too may live a new life. 00:17:11.580 --> 00:17:12.519 Verse 5. 00:17:13.019 --> 00:17:15.420 For we have been united with him in a death like his, 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:20.620 we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:21.680 Verse 8. 00:17:22.080 --> 00:17:26.019 Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:30.240 Now, it's worth noting, isn't it, that although the death was in the past tense, 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:31.980 the life is in the future tense. 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:35.779 So there is a sense in which we both have and don't have this life. 00:17:36.099 --> 00:17:38.700 We are spiritually made alive by the Spirit, 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:43.160 but we are not yet possessors of the resurrection body like the Lord Jesus. 00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:44.879 So verse 5. 00:17:44.980 --> 00:17:47.680 We will be resurrected to a resurrection like Jesus, 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:49.819 but we haven't quite yet got there. 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:54.639 But still, verse 11, we are to count ourselves in the present as alive. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:58.240 So we are to see ourselves in light of our future. 00:17:58.780 --> 00:18:01.259 We are to reckon with our death in Christ 00:18:01.259 --> 00:18:04.280 and the new spiritual life that is ours in part 00:18:04.280 --> 00:18:08.060 and promised to us in a physical resurrection like Christ's. 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:11.480 Come back to the 17-year-old. 00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:13.440 I think this might be the last time. 00:18:14.120 --> 00:18:16.340 What we are going to see, it's not just that they are given 00:18:16.340 --> 00:18:19.360 a set of four A-star A-level grades, 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:23.159 nor is it just that somehow the stranger reached into them 00:18:23.159 --> 00:18:26.439 and killed off the E and U grade deserving us, 00:18:26.740 --> 00:18:30.919 but that in addition to that, they receive a new life, 00:18:31.479 --> 00:18:35.879 the life of the kind of student who would get A-stars. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:39.919 Not so that they get them immediately or that they earn them immediately. 00:18:40.539 --> 00:18:41.579 They still struggle. 00:18:42.159 --> 00:18:44.500 You know, they still can't quite get their heads around differentiation. 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:47.240 They still make spelling errors in their English essay. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:50.240 But one day, all those things will be gone 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:54.640 because you see the old E and U deserving you is now dead 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:58.299 and a new spirit is alive in you, growing and flourishing. 00:18:59.019 --> 00:19:00.559 A spirit that wants to work. 00:19:00.660 --> 00:19:01.960 A spirit that wants to do well. 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:04.180 A spirit that's capable of learning and growing. 00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:06.940 A spirit that wants to spell rightly. 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:08.759 A spirit that's hungry for learning. 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:15.440 And so with the Christian, you're alive, regenerated by the spirit, 00:19:15.539 --> 00:19:16.940 which means you have a new life, 00:19:17.019 --> 00:19:19.539 a life the glory of which you are yet to see. 00:19:19.619 --> 00:19:21.039 You will see one day. 00:19:21.579 --> 00:19:24.660 And the quality and joy and glory of your Christian life now 00:19:24.660 --> 00:19:27.039 depends on your willingness to remind yourself, 00:19:27.539 --> 00:19:32.119 to count yourself over and over again, dead and alive. 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:35.619 Dead in Christ and will be alive in him. 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:38.379 So the Christian has new desires, don't they? 00:19:39.180 --> 00:19:40.500 New ambitions to feed. 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:42.379 New loves to pursue. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:45.339 New moral commitments to live by. 00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:47.940 Commitments that wouldn't come from your old nature. 00:19:48.059 --> 00:19:50.279 It would never have been capable of them. 00:19:51.379 --> 00:19:52.039 These are new. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:53.819 They're selfless, not selfish. 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:54.980 They're focused on others. 00:19:55.079 --> 00:19:56.279 They're focused on Christ. 00:19:56.700 --> 00:19:59.059 And the Christian finds they have this new hunger, 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:02.059 an inexplicable desire for God's word. 00:20:02.059 --> 00:20:03.759 A new desire to pray. 00:20:03.940 --> 00:20:06.240 A new longing to sing God's praises with his people. 00:20:06.619 --> 00:20:08.519 A new hunger to meet with his people. 00:20:09.559 --> 00:20:12.019 Not because they're working for anything, 00:20:12.140 --> 00:20:15.299 but because there's a new life bubbling away inside of them 00:20:15.299 --> 00:20:19.379 that is there spiritually and will one day be theirs physically. 00:20:19.380 --> 00:20:28.260 My first ministry job, I worked for a student organisation that worked with Christian unions 00:20:28.260 --> 00:20:30.080 and I was doing a patch in the Midlands. 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:34.899 So I had Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Worcester, Cheltenham was my little patch. 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:39.500 And we had this appointment to go and meet your new teammates. 00:20:39.879 --> 00:20:42.279 And I went and I met with my boss. 00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:45.619 And I said to Vanessa, who was with me at the time, 00:20:45.660 --> 00:20:46.980 that can't be my boss. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:49.619 Because I was at school with him and he wasn't a Christian. 00:20:50.579 --> 00:20:53.299 And it turned out it was him. 00:20:53.819 --> 00:20:55.399 He'd become a Christian at university 00:20:55.400 --> 00:20:58.560 and had just devoured the scriptures 00:20:58.560 --> 00:21:01.080 and grown and flourished as a Christian. 00:21:01.080 --> 00:21:03.580 And he was now leading a team in UCCF 00:21:03.580 --> 00:21:05.440 and I hadn't even seen him since school days. 00:21:06.019 --> 00:21:07.740 Because there's this new hunger, 00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:11.700 this new desire to learn and grow and be fed. 00:21:12.180 --> 00:21:15.220 It's not explained by you trying to tame this old nature, 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:18.740 but by a new spiritual life flourishing and bubbling away. 00:21:19.299 --> 00:21:21.700 One, I died. 00:21:21.940 --> 00:21:23.660 Two, I will live. 00:21:24.620 --> 00:21:26.299 Now really helpfully, Paul doesn't leave it there 00:21:26.299 --> 00:21:28.359 and gives you some practical outworkings of that. 00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:30.519 So if you take a look down at verses 11 to 14, 00:21:30.620 --> 00:21:31.400 you'll see them there. 00:21:32.259 --> 00:21:35.640 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:37.240 but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:38.880 Therefore, he says, 00:21:39.339 --> 00:21:41.940 do not let sin reign in your mortal body 00:21:41.940 --> 00:21:43.819 so that you obey its evil desires. 00:21:44.440 --> 00:21:47.019 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin 00:21:47.019 --> 00:21:48.400 as an instrument of wickedness, 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:50.660 but rather offer yourselves to God 00:21:50.660 --> 00:21:53.440 as those who have been brought from death to life 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:56.299 and offer every part of yourself to him 00:21:56.299 --> 00:21:58.220 as an instrument of righteousness. 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:01.039 For sin shall no longer be your master 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:03.400 because you are not under the law, but under grace. 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:04.859 Here it is then, 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:06.740 because you died and because you are alive 00:22:06.740 --> 00:22:08.819 and you are counting those things, 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:11.140 therefore you are not to let sin reign. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:13.839 You are not to offer yourself to sin 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:15.640 as an instrument for wickedness. 00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:17.740 You have been liberated from sin. 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:19.359 So why would you go back to sin and say, 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:21.880 hey sin, use me as whatever way you'd like to? 00:22:22.220 --> 00:22:23.460 Of course you're not going to say that. 00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:24.660 You have been liberated. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:25.380 You are free. 00:22:25.859 --> 00:22:28.480 So it's not so much just that you shouldn't sin, 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:31.319 nor is it that you're not going to feel tempted to sin. 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:32.819 It's not even that you won't, 00:22:33.059 --> 00:22:35.500 as a Christian, still sometimes fall into sin. 00:22:35.799 --> 00:22:39.119 Rather, the point is that you don't have to sin. 00:22:40.059 --> 00:22:41.759 It's not who you are anymore. 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:43.700 You're no longer under that rule. 00:22:44.019 --> 00:22:45.159 You have been liberated. 00:22:45.619 --> 00:22:47.579 You have died to self-interest. 00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:48.939 It's not what you do anymore. 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:52.220 It's an illustration that was given 00:22:52.220 --> 00:22:53.259 by an old London preacher 00:22:53.259 --> 00:22:54.639 who's long since with the Lord, 00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:56.200 so I'm sure he won't mind me stealing it. 00:22:56.200 --> 00:23:00.759 But he said that imagine two fields alongside each other, 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:04.500 and down the middle of the field is a road 00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:06.860 separating these two fields. 00:23:07.740 --> 00:23:10.960 And the field on the left is run by a tyrant. 00:23:12.120 --> 00:23:15.160 He's shouting orders and issuing brutal commands. 00:23:15.259 --> 00:23:17.519 The field is full of muck and mess, 00:23:17.580 --> 00:23:20.059 yet the people seem mostly unaware of it. 00:23:20.340 --> 00:23:23.519 And the field on the right is full of rich grass. 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:28.059 It's run by a kindly shepherd who leads on to life and joy. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.799 Now, he says that in becoming a Christian, 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:34.700 it is like being moved from the field on the left 00:23:34.700 --> 00:23:35.920 to the field on the right. 00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:40.660 We are moved from death to life, 00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:43.059 from the dominion of sin to the dominion of Christ. 00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:46.000 We have been plucked from here and put down here. 00:23:47.139 --> 00:23:49.660 Now, the thing is, in this field, 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:51.119 running parallel with that field, 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:53.019 you can still hear the voice of the tyrant. 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:55.799 He's ranting in the field on the left. 00:23:56.460 --> 00:23:58.000 And you might even find yourself, 00:23:58.160 --> 00:23:59.500 by habit or by ignorance, 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:00.920 following some of his commands. 00:24:01.639 --> 00:24:04.400 But what should be super clear from the illustration is, 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.460 you don't have to, 00:24:07.259 --> 00:24:10.660 because you're no longer resident in the place where he rules. 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:12.279 That's the point. 00:24:13.139 --> 00:24:14.920 And as loudly as he shouts, 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:17.379 and as appealing as some of his suggestions might be, 00:24:17.380 --> 00:24:18.960 the truth of the matter is, 00:24:19.060 --> 00:24:21.520 you don't have to listen to him, 00:24:22.020 --> 00:24:23.840 because he has no power over you. 00:24:24.540 --> 00:24:26.080 And that's the point here. 00:24:26.740 --> 00:24:28.040 In the face of temptation, 00:24:28.580 --> 00:24:32.220 when I feel the draw to offer my body as an instrument of wickedness, 00:24:32.280 --> 00:24:33.540 I remember to count. 00:24:33.539 --> 00:24:35.799 One, I died. 00:24:36.220 --> 00:24:37.659 Two, I will live. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:39.339 This is no longer who I am. 00:24:39.619 --> 00:24:40.659 This is not what I do. 00:24:41.180 --> 00:24:42.619 These desires are dead to me. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:44.000 I will seek to please the Lord. 00:24:44.099 --> 00:24:45.559 I will offer myself to him, 00:24:45.619 --> 00:24:46.240 verse 13, 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:47.619 as an instrument of righteousness. 00:24:48.159 --> 00:24:49.379 Here I am, Lord. 00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:50.460 I belong to you. 00:24:51.180 --> 00:24:53.039 You have purchased me by your grace. 00:24:53.099 --> 00:24:54.500 You have liberated me from sin. 00:24:54.879 --> 00:24:55.240 Now, Lord, 00:24:55.379 --> 00:24:57.500 do with me whatever you will, 00:24:57.659 --> 00:24:58.039 Lord. 00:24:58.940 --> 00:25:01.299 Energize me for whatever task you want to give me. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:03.480 Equip me with what I need to know. 00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:05.639 Every part of me is yours. 00:25:05.960 --> 00:25:06.539 My work, 00:25:06.639 --> 00:25:07.139 my family, 00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:07.799 my singleness, 00:25:07.980 --> 00:25:08.519 my money, 00:25:08.899 --> 00:25:09.519 my poverty, 00:25:09.859 --> 00:25:10.460 my time, 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:11.279 my lack of time. 00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:13.440 All of this belongs to you, 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:13.859 Lord, 00:25:13.940 --> 00:25:15.779 because I died and I will live. 00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:20.059 As we finish, 00:25:20.139 --> 00:25:24.819 let me just suggest to you three areas that this might land for us practically. 00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:26.319 I want to show you, 00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:26.859 if I can, 00:25:26.859 --> 00:25:32.539 why understanding this link between dead and alive and Christian living is so important to us. 00:25:33.019 --> 00:25:36.379 Let me just draw attention to three quick applications. 00:25:36.879 --> 00:25:38.459 The first is about our witness, 00:25:38.659 --> 00:25:38.799 right? 00:25:38.899 --> 00:25:39.439 Our witness. 00:25:40.479 --> 00:25:42.500 I would guess that most people in our city, 00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:43.679 if you ask them on the bus, 00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:43.959 right? 00:25:44.679 --> 00:25:45.959 What do you think a Christian is? 00:25:46.379 --> 00:25:48.099 I think they'll probably say something to you like, 00:25:48.219 --> 00:25:49.279 a Christian is a good person. 00:25:50.099 --> 00:25:54.319 A Christian believes that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell, 00:25:54.379 --> 00:25:55.419 or some version of that. 00:25:55.420 --> 00:25:56.880 Now, 00:25:56.920 --> 00:25:58.320 let me ask you why they believe that. 00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:00.060 Why do they believe that? 00:26:00.900 --> 00:26:01.180 Well, 00:26:01.320 --> 00:26:06.880 let me suggest that one reason could be that that's how Christians around them live and speak. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:10.860 Their Christian friends and neighbors do not explain, 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:12.180 or cannot explain, 00:26:12.320 --> 00:26:17.860 or do not understand the link between free justification and holy living. 00:26:17.859 --> 00:26:22.500 And because they don't understand it in some kind of weird and twisted way, 00:26:23.019 --> 00:26:27.899 the desire for holy living points to their own righteousness and not to the Lord Jesus's. 00:26:27.900 --> 00:26:30.280 But that shouldn't be. 00:26:31.280 --> 00:26:35.259 Holy living starts by receiving a new life by the Spirit, 00:26:35.780 --> 00:26:36.740 dying and rising, 00:26:36.900 --> 00:26:37.960 and it flows from there. 00:26:38.040 --> 00:26:38.940 It's energized by that. 00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:41.040 That is what's on offer in the gospel. 00:26:41.540 --> 00:26:43.060 That's what we should be talking about. 00:26:43.160 --> 00:26:44.460 That's what we should be explaining. 00:26:44.460 --> 00:26:45.920 Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:46.940 This is not me. 00:26:47.779 --> 00:26:50.600 I've been totally changed by Jesus. 00:26:51.460 --> 00:26:53.840 The things that I did want, I no longer want. 00:26:54.259 --> 00:26:55.860 This is not me being better than you. 00:26:55.940 --> 00:26:57.640 This is me being changed by Jesus. 00:26:58.360 --> 00:27:01.400 This is his life in me, bubbling out from me. 00:27:01.880 --> 00:27:03.299 There's a new spirit in me. 00:27:04.299 --> 00:27:06.299 And so, listen, unbelieving friends, 00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:10.859 please don't feel like you have to clean your life up before you come to church. 00:27:11.259 --> 00:27:12.359 Please don't do that. 00:27:12.639 --> 00:27:14.519 Please don't feel any obligation to do that, 00:27:14.579 --> 00:27:15.419 because you know what? 00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:16.440 God has got that covered. 00:27:17.139 --> 00:27:18.059 When you get there, 00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:20.039 when you hear the good news about Jesus 00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:21.960 and the forgiveness that is yours in him, 00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:23.700 that you can receive by faith in him, 00:27:23.980 --> 00:27:25.180 he will sort your life out. 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:25.720 Don't you worry. 00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:28.259 He will give you a new spirit 00:27:28.259 --> 00:27:30.240 and energize you for a new life. 00:27:31.139 --> 00:27:31.779 Secondly, though, 00:27:31.819 --> 00:27:33.279 it's essential for our perseverance. 00:27:34.200 --> 00:27:36.039 I think if you don't see this link 00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:37.980 between dying and living in the Christian life, 00:27:38.379 --> 00:27:40.240 you will end up either exhausting yourself 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:41.619 with a version of the Christian life 00:27:41.619 --> 00:27:43.159 where you end up giving up, 00:27:43.259 --> 00:27:44.919 growing bitter and letting yourself down, 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:49.559 or you'll end up not really taking holy living at all seriously, 00:27:50.099 --> 00:27:51.680 and it won't make any difference to you. 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:54.759 The gospel will just not make any impact on your life. 00:27:55.980 --> 00:27:57.480 But Paul's telling you here, isn't he, 00:27:57.500 --> 00:28:00.159 that the definitive work has been done, right? 00:28:00.419 --> 00:28:02.379 The break with sin has been made. 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:05.660 Death no longer holds a stick over the risen Christ. 00:28:05.760 --> 00:28:07.820 He died to sin once for all. 00:28:08.220 --> 00:28:09.060 And so for us, 00:28:09.160 --> 00:28:10.920 there is a sense in which it is impossible 00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:12.760 for you to go back on this. 00:28:14.700 --> 00:28:16.300 The old life is dead. 00:28:16.299 --> 00:28:20.440 We cannot but change, right? 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:23.059 Because we are being made alive. 00:28:23.059 --> 00:28:26.259 As the book of Romans carries on, 00:28:26.339 --> 00:28:27.960 it basically suggests that there are essentially, 00:28:28.099 --> 00:28:28.259 I guess, 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:29.980 two tasks that the Christian is given 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:31.039 in the light of all of this. 00:28:31.419 --> 00:28:32.379 Don't make it really simple. 00:28:33.139 --> 00:28:34.799 If you jump over a page in your Bibles 00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:36.159 to chapter 8, verse 13, 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:37.079 if you turn to it, 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:38.279 let me read it to you. 00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:39.319 Chapter 8, verse 13. 00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:40.879 We are going to get here eventually, 00:28:41.659 --> 00:28:41.939 but you know, 00:28:41.980 --> 00:28:42.679 it's nearly Christmas 00:28:42.679 --> 00:28:45.460 and our Christmas Sunday series starts next week. 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:46.500 It should have started this week, 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:48.899 but I was desperate to preach Romans 6 this morning, 00:28:48.899 --> 00:28:49.419 so it didn't. 00:28:49.779 --> 00:28:51.099 So we're going to start it next week 00:28:51.099 --> 00:28:53.099 and we're going to come back to Romans in the new year. 00:28:53.460 --> 00:28:55.740 But Romans chapter 8, verse 13 says this, 00:28:55.740 --> 00:28:58.160 For if you live according to the flesh, 00:28:58.180 --> 00:28:59.559 that's the old sinful nature, 00:28:59.740 --> 00:29:01.200 you will die. 00:29:01.620 --> 00:29:03.660 But if by the Spirit you put to death 00:29:03.660 --> 00:29:05.039 the misdeeds of the body, 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:06.920 you will live. 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:10.960 Here then are basically the two tasks of Christian living. 00:29:11.420 --> 00:29:13.700 One, put to death the misdeeds of the body. 00:29:14.359 --> 00:29:17.200 The old word that used for that was mortification, 00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:19.660 like killing the dead you, right? 00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:23.279 That Jesus has killed you off, right? 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:25.380 That you have died with him. 00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:29.039 But still you carry around that old sinful nature. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:31.660 And your task now is to mortify it, 00:29:31.940 --> 00:29:33.700 to keep killing the dead nature. 00:29:34.579 --> 00:29:36.640 It cut off its supply, says Paul, basically. 00:29:37.099 --> 00:29:39.740 Don't feed the lusts and temptations 00:29:39.740 --> 00:29:41.339 of the old you of the world. 00:29:42.279 --> 00:29:46.380 And the second task is essentially called vivification, right? 00:29:46.539 --> 00:29:49.380 That's feeding a new life. 00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:52.420 So we kill a dead life by mortification 00:29:52.420 --> 00:29:55.440 and we encourage a new life by vivification. 00:29:56.039 --> 00:29:57.279 Because notice in that verse, 00:29:57.380 --> 00:30:00.039 it's by the Spirit that we kill the old nature. 00:30:00.519 --> 00:30:02.039 In other words, it's a new life 00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:04.779 that is doing the work of putting to death the old life. 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:08.400 And that new life needs what it has to flourish. 00:30:08.519 --> 00:30:10.240 It needs to hear God's Word. 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:13.819 It needs to listen to God's Word being read and preached and taught. 00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:17.400 It needs the food of Christian fellowship, regular, rich and deep. 00:30:17.460 --> 00:30:19.059 It needs the energy of praying together. 00:30:19.160 --> 00:30:23.000 It needs to allow to breathe the fresh air of Christian worship. 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:25.880 It needs exercise in the sharing of the gospel. 00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:28.640 And those are all things that we can do. 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:31.920 Because God has enabled us to do them. 00:30:32.680 --> 00:30:34.420 We can put to death the sinful nature. 00:30:35.080 --> 00:30:38.440 And we can vivify, energize, enliven our new nature 00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:40.140 by what God has given us. 00:30:40.520 --> 00:30:43.720 Which means that the Christian life can be a life of joy. 00:30:44.280 --> 00:30:44.540 Joy. 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:49.560 Brothers and sisters, the Christian life is possible. 00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:49.759 Joyful. 00:30:50.579 --> 00:30:50.819 Right? 00:30:51.419 --> 00:30:53.639 And the Christian life is joyful. 00:30:54.200 --> 00:30:57.579 Because it's empowered by the Spirit who gives this new life. 00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:00.519 I'm not saying that you won't stumble and fall. 00:31:00.679 --> 00:31:03.240 I'm not saying that you won't struggle with sin. 00:31:03.679 --> 00:31:04.339 You will. 00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:05.200 I do. 00:31:05.960 --> 00:31:07.279 We do suffer. 00:31:07.859 --> 00:31:09.279 We will one day die. 00:31:10.019 --> 00:31:12.139 But all the way along, we have the confidence 00:31:12.139 --> 00:31:14.220 that the essential work has been done. 00:31:14.619 --> 00:31:16.940 I will live and not die. 00:31:17.419 --> 00:31:19.440 What God has started, he will finish. 00:31:19.919 --> 00:31:22.619 That battle with sin that's hard and it's bloody. 00:31:22.779 --> 00:31:24.579 It will be won one day. 00:31:25.399 --> 00:31:27.819 Change and growth is possible in the Christian life. 00:31:27.899 --> 00:31:29.919 You are not stuck where you are. 00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:34.119 You don't have to repeat the dying over and over again. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:36.679 It's been done in Christ. 00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:37.319 It's happened. 00:31:38.099 --> 00:31:40.700 And God will make you into the person 00:31:40.700 --> 00:31:44.159 that you already are by justification, by faith. 00:31:44.779 --> 00:31:45.819 What joy. 00:31:46.799 --> 00:31:49.019 What hope is ours in him. 00:31:49.559 --> 00:31:50.359 Let me pray. 00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:53.539 And then we'll come and share the Lord's Supper together. 00:31:53.539 --> 00:31:53.940 Amen. 00:31:53.940 --> 00:31:54.539 Amen. 00:31:54.539 --> 00:32:09.639 Heavenly Father, thank you so much 00:32:09.639 --> 00:32:12.480 that in Christ we died 00:32:12.480 --> 00:32:15.700 and in Christ we will live. 00:32:15.700 --> 00:32:20.480 Thank you that the separation of our old nature has been done. 00:32:21.360 --> 00:32:23.220 We have been liberated from sin. 00:32:24.039 --> 00:32:25.440 And though we still struggle, 00:32:26.039 --> 00:32:28.240 though we still stumble and we still fall, 00:32:28.660 --> 00:32:32.420 yet we have great confidence that one day we will be with you, 00:32:33.420 --> 00:32:36.660 enjoying resurrection bodies and eternal life with you. 00:32:37.660 --> 00:32:40.259 Oh, Lord, keep us going until that day, we pray. 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:42.140 Keep us persevering. 00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:43.600 Keep us joyful. 00:32:45.100 --> 00:32:46.960 Energize us by your spirit, we ask, 00:32:47.460 --> 00:32:48.740 as we pray in Jesus' name. 00:32:48.740 --> 00:32:49.820 Amen.