The Gospel: Week 3

[00:00:00] Good morning, church. It's good to see you today. [00:00:03] I missed you last week. We had a great vacation with the fam. [00:00:08] And I want to say a thank you to the apostle Reverend Minister of the fourth Archangel, Jovan. Did I get all his titles right? Jovan Anderson. But no, thank him for bringing a great word. And it's always a blessing to have him here, isn't it? [00:00:28] And it was a. Yeah. Amen. [00:00:30] I won't tell them about that golf clap you just did, but glad to be back with you. And we're gonna continue through the book of Romans. I hope that you're enjoying this series. [00:00:45] I love this. And there is so much for us to learn and to take into our lives. So let's ask for God's help, and then we will. We'll get into it. [00:00:54] Father, we love you and we are just so humbled by your goodness. To us, Lord, thank you for the gospel, the good news. [00:01:03] Thank you that through the gospel, we are united with you in your death and in your resurrection. [00:01:11] And thank you, Lord, that that means a new life for us. [00:01:16] Help us, Lord, to live in the power and the freedom of that. [00:01:21] Father, I pray specifically today, where sin is reigning in our lives. I pray for your grace to show us a better way forward. [00:01:32] And I pray we could present our lives to you first and foremost. [00:01:37] Help us to do that, Lord, because we can't do it without you. [00:01:41] We ask all this in the great name of Jesus. [00:01:45] Amen. [00:01:48] Well, one guy that I like a lot, I've listened to tons of his podcasts, read some of his books. It's this guy named Jocko Willink. Anybody know this guy? He's so cool. And his background is he's a former Navy seal, which he looks like one. Amen. You're like, if you think of a Navy seal, that's what they should look like. Amen. Like, that dude just looks like it. And he retired out of the Navy SEAL teams and has become, like, a leadership consultant and an author and podcaster and does a lot of different things. But he talks about how when people, like, hire him out to do leadership consulting with a business or a company, all the people expect him to come in like a Navy seal, like, guns blazing. And he said these business leaders will always say to him, like, hey, I can't wait to have you so you can whip my people into shape, you know? And you look at this guy and you're like, yeah, he could do that. [00:02:52] He could do it. I actually got to meet him one time, and, yeah, it Was awesome. [00:02:57] And we're friends. He doesn't know that, but I know that, and that's all that counts. You got any friends like that? Like, they don't know it, but, you know, it's. That's how it is. [00:03:10] So it's a distant friendship, but anyway. But I met him. He has a jujitsu school, and I went and signed up for a class, and he was there, and he had an injury. He's like, well, sorry, I can't roll today. I'm like, well, actually, no need to apologize for that, because I don't want to die. [00:03:30] So I did it. So it was good. [00:03:32] But when he comes in, people expect that the way he's going to bring change is like being this intense drill sergeant. Threatening, demanding, harassing, intimidating, all that kind of thing. But what he says is actually the most important quality in leadership is humility. [00:03:53] And he said, actually, the best thing you can often do is just really listen to people. [00:04:00] And so he's this big, tough Navy seal, but he doesn't come in like that. And the reason is, is because he's found people don't change when you bring that perspective. [00:04:12] See, so many times we think like, oh, what they need is to be chewed out. [00:04:17] Well, think about your own life. [00:04:19] Have you ever been chewed out into change? [00:04:22] Yeah, yeah, yeah, There you go. Not at all. Right. What do you do? You get resentful. You get more resistant to it. Maybe it works for a moment, but it doesn't last. You with me on this? And it's hard to understand how we change, isn't it? And it's. And it's hard to see real change sometimes in our life. And what we're going to see today is that the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans, is he's going to show us how the gospel, the good news of Jesus, changes us. [00:04:57] And it doesn't always change us in the way that we expect and the way that, like, people who invite Jaco in expect. It changes us by first helping us to see what it means and what Jesus did for us when he died and rose again. [00:05:15] And what Paul's gonna say is, until you really understand that, you won't actually experience real change in your life. And he's gonna show us how, if we do understand it and respond to, will bring real freedom to our life, which I think we all want, we all need. And so we're gonna look today in Romans, chapter six. And I'm gonna read to you these first 14 verses of Romans six. So I just have to Read all of these to you because I want you to see the gist and the whole argument here. So I know that you are thoroughly caffeinated and awake and you're rearing to go. So I need you to stay with me on this and follow these verses. Because these verses, they really are life changing. So let me read them to you. It says this. What shall we say then? And just notice that it opens with a few questions. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin, that grace may abound? [00:06:22] By no means. [00:06:24] Now that that phrase right there is like the most intense. No, you could by no means kind of that maybe doesn't sound as tense as it really is. It's like, no, may this never be remotely possible. So Paul's asking these questions and he's saying like, absolutely not in the most intense way he can. And here's his answer. How can we who died to sin still live in it? [00:06:54] Do you not know that all of us who've been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [00:07:00] We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death. In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of Father, we too might walk in newness of life. [00:07:13] For if we've been united with him in a death like this, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like this. [00:07:20] We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing. [00:07:28] So that we, you and me, would no longer be enslaved to sin. [00:07:36] For one who has died has been. Say it with me, set free from sin. Now, if we've died with Christ, we believe we'll also live with Him. [00:07:47] We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once and for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God. So you talking to us, Church, must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. [00:08:06] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. [00:08:13] Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who've been brought from death to life. [00:08:21] Your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you're not under law, but under grace. These are beautiful verses, aren't they, Church? And there's so much in these to unpack. [00:08:39] And so I'm gonna. I probably got two hours in me. The way that I think I Was off a Sunday. So I get that back. Is that. Yeah. Amen. [00:08:48] Thank you, Jordan. [00:08:50] All I need is one amen on that. The Lord can say by many or by few. [00:08:55] But today, I wanna break these down. I want you to see the argument of these. Now, these all begin with a question. [00:09:03] And this question is called. [00:09:07] It's often called the antinomian question. [00:09:10] And that's kind of a fancy word, but here's what it means. [00:09:13] In these first four to five chapters of the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul has been saying how God in Christ freely and completely forgives us. [00:09:27] And he has been laboring this point. [00:09:30] He has been just making it so clear. And what he's also been showing is that you and I, we don't add a lick to our salvation. [00:09:40] It's absolutely free. [00:09:43] It's all because of Christ. It's by his mercy. And Paul says, the only thing you do is you receive it, you believe it. You say, yes, I want that. I need that. What Christ did is true and beautiful. [00:09:58] And you respond by faith. But Paul's been saying, look, it doesn't matter who you are, doesn't matter how religious, how irreligious you are. You. It doesn't matter what your past is, what you're doing now, that in Christ, all of your sins are completely forgiven. [00:10:17] And not only that, because of what Christ has done for you, you will stand before God as if you were perfectly righteous like him, that because of the gospel, God will forever treat you as if you are Jesus Christ. [00:10:35] Now, church, that is really, really good news. [00:10:38] That is the best news that you could ever come across. But then Paul says. He says, but I know that's gonna bring questions into your mind. [00:10:47] Have you ever noticed in life, like, some situations just bring about some natural questions? [00:10:55] Like sometimes I'll see my kid's jaw moving. [00:10:58] I'm like, what did you eat? [00:11:01] More importantly, where did you get it? You know, like, it's. The situation demands these questions that come you with me on this. [00:11:09] And that's how life is, right? Like, you see someone you don't know stand in your driveway, you're gonna be. It's gonna. A question's gonna rise. What are you doing here? You know, it's just how it goes. And so here's what Paul says. He says, if you really understand the Gospel, then these questions will come to your mind. And here's what the question is. Well, if God has so freely forgiven me, why should I try to live in a different way if God just completely forgives me? And Think about it this way. You remember the game Monopoly? [00:11:47] I know some people hate that game. I love that game. [00:11:50] I will play all eight and a half hours of it. You know, I think it's. But you remember in Monopoly there's this thing called a get out of jail free card. Remember that? And what Paul's saying, he's saying when you understand the gospel, you understand that you have the ultimate get out of jail free card, that you are covered in forgiveness and grace. So Paul says, so you might ask yourself, then, why should I do anything different with my life? [00:12:18] Why should I try to live in a different way? Why don't I just do whatever I want and not try to be more of who God wants me to be or honor his word or honor his ways? If he's just going to forgive me anyway, why does any of that matter? [00:12:37] And that's what the question that this whole chapter is about, which I think is an important question. Now, just one thing I want to point out about that is that question comes up only when we really understand how free the Gospel is, how absolutely built on sheer grace and mercy it is. And so what Paul does, then, he takes this question and he's now transitioning us to think about our lives in a different way. [00:13:09] See, if we were to look at these first four to five chapters, we could say that they primarily are teaching us about salvation, about how God forgives and redeems broken sinners like us. [00:13:27] And that's primarily what those first four and five chapters about. Now, as we come into this chapter and up until about chapter eight, we're going to deal with a little bit different topic. It's connected, but it's distinct. And it's a topic of what we call sanctification. [00:13:43] And this is a topic that is about. All right, now, how does God change us? Because, Church, God forgives you, but he doesn't want to keep you the same person. [00:13:56] He doesn't want us to still go around living our lives as if we didn't have a relationship with Him. That has changed everything. You with me? [00:14:05] And so sanctification is the process where God is at work in our lives to make us more like Jesus Christ. [00:14:17] And that's what these chapters are helping us to understand. [00:14:21] And what Paul is going to say to us, he's going to say, if we are going to join in this process of sanctification, then we have to understand how the Gospel has changed us in some really, really important ways. You with me so far, Church? And so now let's dig into How? Paul shows us how God begins to change our lives. And notice, his first line of argument is, he says, how can you who died to sin still live in it? [00:14:58] Now, here's his first answer. [00:15:00] He's saying, as you received Christ, it fundamentally changed your relationship with all the ways of living before you knew Christ that were not pleasing to God. [00:15:17] And here's what he means. [00:15:19] If you're a Christian today and you try to keep habits and actions and thoughts in your life that you know are dishonoring to God, you will drive yourself crazy. [00:15:34] You will make. You will be so miserable. [00:15:39] You're like, well, before I could go down these roads. [00:15:43] You could before, but now you've died with Christ. This is what Paul's saying. [00:15:49] There's a fundamental difference. And if you try to. [00:15:52] To bring your old life into your new life, it doesn't work. Church, you with me on this? [00:15:59] And Paul says, look, you need to know that. [00:16:02] That this doesn't work anymore. See, in all of our lives, if you have committed your life to Christ, you know that experience where things you thought, things you said before, things you did before, now you do them, and all of a sudden your conscience is going crazy. [00:16:22] All of a sudden you have this weight on your chest from God's spirit. [00:16:28] That's like, son, daughter, this don't work anymore. You with me. [00:16:32] And believe it or not, that is a great thing. [00:16:36] That is a blessing, because that is evidence that you've died with Christ. You with me on this. [00:16:44] And so bringing the old life into the new life is not gonna work because God has brought me to a different place. I remember a couple years ago, Allie and I, it was like January or February. [00:16:57] It was the heart of a Cleveland winter. You ever been through one of those before? [00:17:03] And we were gonna fly out of town, and we were flying to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and we showed up at the airport and it was like a terrible winter storm. [00:17:13] It was so bad that they. Everything was delayed and they had to de. Ice the plane. [00:17:19] And it took forever. [00:17:22] And then we finally made it down to Fort Lauderdale, and we got out and it was sunny, it was beautiful. You know, our first course of action is let's get to the beach as quick as we can, right? Cause January, my skin didn't even know what was happening. Like, what is this orb in the sky? [00:17:42] And we went and it was just, you know, just a perfect time to get away. But if we would have. If we would have showed up to Fort Lauderdale and in our minds and hearts said, oh, I think we're still in the winter storm. [00:17:58] And we would have showed up and we had, you know, beanies on and scarves and jackets and boots and, you know, all that kind of stuff. And we're like, yeah, like, could you do that? Yeah, but that would have been really dumb. Amen. It's like, what are you doing? [00:18:17] It doesn't work anymore, right? [00:18:20] In the new place, if we were gonna live like we were in the old place, it wouldn't make sense. This is what Paul's saying, saying, if you're a follower of Christ, sin doesn't make sense anymore. [00:18:32] You've died to it. Now, I wish died meant that it had no pole on us. [00:18:39] I wish that's what it meant. [00:18:41] I wish that there was no pole of pride and ego and jealousy and all these things. But it doesn't mean that, unfortunately. But it does mean your relationship with it is forever changed. You with me on this. [00:18:59] And God has done that. [00:19:02] Christ has done that. Your union with him is the foundation of all of it. Then the second thing he says is, not only have we died to it, but it no longer has power over us in the same way. [00:19:19] See, when we talk about salvation, we see how God pardons our sin through Christ. [00:19:26] When we talk about sanctification, we see how God subdues the power of sin in our life. You see the difference, Church? [00:19:37] One is about forgiveness, the other is about removing it from power. See, here's what the apostle Paul says. He says before Christ, we are under the tyranny of sin. [00:19:52] Now, this is a very bold and thing to say, and it's a very ugly truth to think about. [00:19:58] But here's what Paul says. He says before Christ that we just. We live following, being controlled by sin and dysfunction. [00:20:10] It's the main power and guide in our lives. And we can all maybe look back on our lives. We could be like, well, I wasn't a terrible person. I didn't do all these things. Yeah, but even if you did good things, why did you do it? Did you do it for the right reasons? Or was it selfish? Was it to look good? Was it to get an angle on some? See, what Paul would say is, even our best days before Christ, they're still being corrupted by the power of sin. You with me on this? [00:20:39] Here's what he says here, though. But in Christ, that power has been broken. [00:20:47] And that when we give into it, we're giving into it, but we don't have to. You with me on this? I think about it this way. You ever, like, maybe pay off some debt and you're used to paying it, like on the 1st or the 15th or the 25th or whatever. [00:21:07] And for years, maybe months, every month, you would send in this payment. [00:21:12] Well, imagine that one day that debt is completely paid. [00:21:18] And then imagine the next month, the 1st, the 15th, whatever comes up. And you're like, you know what? I'm gonna send them some of my money now. [00:21:28] My guess is they'll gladly take it, right? They'll be like, sure. Hey, thank you for this generous gift. [00:21:34] But the point is, you don't have to pay it. You with me on this? [00:21:39] This is what Paul is saying about the sin and brokenness in our life. We can still send that check, make that payment, but we're not doing it because we have to, but only cause we're choosing to, because Christ has set us free from the power of it. You with me on this? [00:22:04] And so all the struggles in our life, Church. And this is where I think it's so important, because sometimes we get discouraged and. And we get beat up and we get frustrated in life. And one of the things that evil loves to do is to make us think that we can never really change, that we can never get out of this stuck place, that we are these broken things in our life. [00:22:38] But here's what the gospel says. No, you're not. [00:22:42] Here's what the gospel says. No, no, no. [00:22:44] You don't know it, but there is more in you today than you think. [00:22:49] Because you are united with Christ. You with me on this church. [00:22:55] And he says, and because of that, all this can look different. And then Paul says, you're not only united with Christ in his death, but you're united with him in his resurrection church. God's got big plans for your life. [00:23:13] Like unbelievably huge. [00:23:17] God, he doesn't want to just transform you in a small way. [00:23:22] Like, we all look at our lives and we're like, you know, I'd like to lose a little bit of weight, be a little more disciplined here. You know, be nicer on most days. And we kind of had. And that's good. Like, nothing wrong with that. But when you think about what God is doing in your life, it is not just small tweaks. [00:23:41] He wants to resurrect everything in you. He wants to change you completely and make it in a way that it is permanent. [00:23:54] I saw a documentary the other day about the show the Biggest Loser. [00:23:59] I've never watched that show, but the documentary was all about how on the show, because of the ratings and the money and all These incentives that a lot of the people who went through it did practices that were not really good for their health. And they lost a lot of weight, but then they gained it back. And I was watching this documentary, I was like, shocker. [00:24:23] We have to have a documentary. Like, is anybody surprised by this? [00:24:27] Millions of people watching all kinds of money. Like, yeah, people are gonna do questionable things to win. [00:24:33] And then they were encouraged to do so as well. And so what that showed was that for a lot of the people that went on it, that change didn't last. [00:24:42] And sometimes it came back even more. [00:24:46] And what I want you to know today is God is in the business of deep, deep change. Complete transformation in our lives. [00:24:56] And the good news is he will see to it that it lasts. [00:25:03] That it lasts not just today and tomorrow, but in eternity. [00:25:08] And what Paul is saying to us, he's saying, look, you need to see where God is taking you, because that transformation begins today. [00:25:19] It begins right now. [00:25:22] And in salvation, you don't add anything to it. [00:25:28] But in sanctification, you do add something to it. You with me. In sanctification and salvation, your effort is not a factor at all. But in sanctification, your effort is a factor. You see the difference. Don't confuse these things, but know the distinctus that we can. We. We can partner with God to get with him where he wants us to go quicker if we trust Him. We went on a. For vacation. We went to North Carolina on a family road trip. This is the first time we did all three kids on a family road trip. And, yeah, thank you. Thank you. Hey, I appreciate that. [00:26:15] And you all were not praying for me like you should have been. [00:26:19] Cause Teddy threw up three times in the first two hours. [00:26:23] So I don't know what you were doing, but you weren't praying for your pastor that much. I know. [00:26:29] And, yeah, but we got through it. [00:26:33] I literally had. I was like, I think I'm gonna turn around right now. [00:26:37] Vacation's canceled. [00:26:40] But kind of got through that bump. And then we made it okay. But the whole time there and back, the girls were like, this is boring. This is boring. [00:26:50] I'm like, yeah, it is boring. And it's good for you to be bored. [00:26:55] They don't receive that message. Well, I found. So I kind of. I kept saying the whole trip, I was like, listen, you can be bored now and have fun later, or we can stop a million times and have, like, a little bit of fun and just stretch this out and be even more bored. [00:27:14] I was like, look, there's not A lot of real cool stops between here and North Carolina. You got the Tamarack or whatever that is, and we already hit that. [00:27:24] So other than that, it's McDonald's and Starbucks, you know, so you can be. You can. We can make this go as quick as possible, and then we can enjoy, or we can drag it out and suffer. [00:27:38] And so we drug it out and suffered. Church. [00:27:42] No, we did. We did okay. But I think in. I think in so many ways, that's kind of what sanctification is. How hard do you want to make the journey? [00:27:53] Like, the power is there, the grace is there, that God. God's done all the heavy lifting. [00:28:02] Now he's looking at us. He's like, son or daughter. [00:28:05] Will you be a willing partner in this journey? You with me on this. [00:28:08] And it will be better. [00:28:10] It will be better because where I'm taking you is the place of real freedom, that what is broken about us doesn't have to control us. [00:28:23] The things that weigh on our lives says, no, you can be free from that, and you can be free to live your life and to serve me. [00:28:34] And so then Paul says, after we understand what Christ has done, then we need to not present ourselves to sin, but present ourselves to God. [00:28:48] That's our part in this. [00:28:50] We got to offer our members our heads, our hands, our hearts to God, not to the brokenness of this world. You with me on this? [00:29:02] And that's our role. And the more that we present ourselves to God, the better that journey goes. And I just want you to think today, in your life and my life, where are we presenting ourselves to the wrong things? [00:29:20] I think so much, so much of it is about our minds and what we're putting in there and what we're thinking about. I think one of the great things we need to think about again and again today, that most of our lives today is being discipled by algorithms, not God. [00:29:39] And so we're. And hey, by the way, those things are designed to just reaffirm what you think, whether it's good or bad, right or wrong. [00:29:49] And they're designed to make you angry, because the angrier you get, the more money they make. [00:29:55] Here's the point. Church. Don't present yourself to that. [00:29:59] Don't let that be the leading thing in your mind, in your heart. [00:30:05] Fill your mind with the truth of God in Scripture. [00:30:09] Fill your mind with good things. [00:30:12] Present your mind to that. When we were driving, I got in the last couple hours, and I was, like, out of podcasts because I had, like, headphones in, you know, I was. [00:30:25] And everybody was kind of starting to start to sleep, and so I. I found a true crime podcast, and I listened to it for, like, several hours. [00:30:38] And I don't know, again, I have no idea why that's interesting to me, but it is. [00:30:44] And then when I was done, I was like, dude, you just filled your mind for hours with absolute garbage. You with me? And guess what? It did me no good. [00:30:55] I came home, I was paranoid for, like, two days. [00:30:59] I was like, you know, my neighbor does some really weird things. I don't. [00:31:03] That was a big trash bag that he brought, you know, I was like, stop. I had to. [00:31:09] I had to just, like, shake it out of my head. And this is what Paul's saying. He's like, what are you presenting your mind to? [00:31:16] What are you filling it with? Because that's gonna aid or stall out the sanctification process. [00:31:24] And that goes for everything, you know, our head, our hands, our heart. So he says, stop. Stop doing that. [00:31:31] But then he says, but offer your lives to God. [00:31:35] Offer your lives to God. [00:31:38] See, the more that you fully submit to God, the freer you are. [00:31:44] That's the big paradox of it. [00:31:46] No, freedom's outside God. No, freedom is with God. [00:31:51] Freedom is only through him. [00:31:54] I had a friend years ago. He grew up in Slavic Village in Cleveland, and he became a very successful drug dealer, and he actually, like, made tons of money and was deep into that life, and he ended up coming to Christ and being a completely transformed guy. [00:32:20] And he went back to that same community, back to Slavic Village, and he started a church there. [00:32:28] And he said, I used to come here, and I would sell poison, and now I'm coming back with the living water and giving that. And I'll tell you what church that was not easy ministry. [00:32:40] And he's still doing it. [00:32:43] That was a complete example of these verses right here. [00:32:49] No, no. I'm a new creation in Christ now. In the same way that I offered my life to these things, I'm now presenting them to God, and what a powerful thing. [00:33:03] And Paul is saying, that's our journey, too. What does it look like in your life and my life to just fully offer, Paul says, the members of our body to God to present all of our being to him and say, lord, I want to know you. I want to serve you. I want to live for you. [00:33:25] I want to honor you. [00:33:27] Let's do that in our hearts right now. Father, we pray for your help in all of this. [00:33:36] Father, I pray we could see how. [00:33:41] How the gospel does set us free. [00:33:46] That this isn't about willpower. [00:33:51] This isn't about tightening the screws in our life. [00:33:56] But this is about our union with Christ. [00:34:00] Help us to understand it. [00:34:03] Help us to see that, Lord, we are new creations. [00:34:08] Though there's still a battle to fight, we have the upper hand because we are with you, Father. Help us then to look each at our own lives and, Lord, where we're just inviting destruction in. [00:34:27] Help us to stop. Close those doors. [00:34:31] And, Father, help us then to get on offense. [00:34:35] Help us to serve you. To offer our lives, our minds, our hearts to you. [00:34:41] Bless us in this, Lord. We cannot do it without you or apart from you. [00:34:47] But, Lord, you are the source of it all. So we pray for your help in all this. In Jesus good name, amen.