Coming Up: Sonday July 20, 2014
Slaves or Servants? - Romans 6
Read: Romans 6:1-4
The inclination to justify, legitimise or explain away our sin is something that comes naturally to every human being. People will use every excuse in the book to try to excuse their own sin and to continue to indulge. People will try use suffering, circumstances, stress, busyness, tiredness, happiness, excitement, anxiety and the influence of others to justify their actions. Even the good news of God’s grace shown to us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is used as an excuse for sin.
This, and the use of this idea to disprove the Gospel, is what Paul is addressing here in chapter 6. In chapter 5 Paul emphasised that God’s grace is always greater than sin. Even though sin had powerful, world changing effects the power and effects of God’s grace is even more powerful. He finished the chapter by concluding that no matter how much sin and it’s effects increased, God’s grace increased even more. God’s grace is always greater than sin.
It is clear how such a teaching could be used to justify and excuse sin. If God’s grace always increases to cover our sinfulness, and if we know that we are forgiven by God’s grace through the work of Jesus Christ, then why worry about sin anymore? If our sin is already covered then why not just do whatever we want? Why not ‘sin it up’?
Paul anticipates this reaction and gives his emphatic, passionate response to this idea in verse 2. Should we sin more because we have more grace? “By no means!” You can practically hear Paul yelling across the centuries, passionate that God’s grace should not be abused in this way.
Why? Because we died to sin. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ (Paul uses baptism here to indicate saving faith in Christ and the baptism that ought to accompany that faith) we have died with Him. Our sinful nature and all that accompanied it was crucified with Christ on the cross and no longer has power over us. By dying with Christ we are freed from its power forever. In the same way that someone who dies is released from prison, we have died with Christ and we are no longer prisoners of sin. We don’t have to be slaves to it anymore.
When we return to sin we are no longer merely slaves to its power, we are actively choosing to sin. This would be like going back to the prison and intentionally locking ourselves in. This is going back to our old slave owner and giving ourselves to him despite the fact that he has no power over us. It’s ridiculous!
This is why those who are in Christ cannot ‘sin it up’ or use God’s grace as an excuse to sin. We have been freed from its power forever. To go back is to deliberately choose to put ourselves in the very situation we have been freed from. Why would we go back?
Prayer:
Use the Bible passage from today and the reading notes to write down your prayer points before you pray.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
¥ Thank God that He has freed you forever from the power of sin over your life. Pray that God would be at work in your life to help you to grow in holiness and to avoid sin. Pray that He would grow in your heart a passion and desire for holiness.
To go back to sin after we are in Christ is to deliberately choose to enslave ourselves again to it. We bring upon ourselves all the results that sin brings into our lives. Why would we go back to that?
1. Why do you think people have a tendency to use God’s grace as an excuse for sin?
2. How would you explain to another believer that we have died with Christ?
3. How would you explain the implications of this from Romans 6?
Intro: It’s fun to play in the mud sometimes isn’t it! Sticky, oozey, gooey mud is fun between the toes and between the fingers.
Share: A time you got to play in the mud. How did it feel? What happened after you were finished?
Read: Romans 6:4. It’s fun sometimes to play in the mud but it gets everywhere doesn’t it! Sin is like mud except it is no fun at all. It makes us dirty and gross. We need someone to clean us up. Do you know who cleans us up? How did He do that? Romans 6 says we get to live a new life because of Jesus, a cleaned-up life!
Pray Together: Thank God that He made it possible for us to have a new life.
Intro: It’s fun to play in the mud sometimes isn’t it! Sticky, oozey, gooey mud is fun between the toes and between the fingers.
Share: A time you got to play in the mud. How did it feel? What happened after you were finished?
Read: Romans 6:4. It’s fun sometimes to play in the mud but it gets everywhere doesn’t it! Sin is like mud except it is no fun at all. It makes us dirty and gross. We need someone to clean us up. Do you know who cleans us up? How did He do that? Romans 6 says we get to live a new life because of Jesus, a cleaned-up life!
Pray Together: Thank God that He made it possible for us to have a new life.
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