Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program. Today
I want to talk to you about a very important subject. The title
of this message is Fruit Unto God. Fruit Unto God. And I'll be speaking to you on
scriptures from the book of Romans, chapter 7, where the Apostle
Paul, having talked about the believer's union with Christ,
And he's continuing that. The believer's union with Christ,
which is the salvation of sinners by the sovereign mercy and grace
of God, all based on the work of Christ, His obedience unto
death, His blood. When we talk about the blood
of Christ, we sing hymns about the blood. What can wash away
my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
That blood, the blood of the Lamb of God, that blood indicates,
symbolizes, or gives the reality, the actual physical blood of
the God-man, Jesus Christ, means He died. That's what it's talking
about, His suffering unto death. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. The reason Jesus Christ did that
was to pay for the sins of his people. And his people are those
whom God gave him before the foundation of the world. They're
called the elect of God. They're the redeemed of the Lord.
God chose them before the foundation of the world. The scripture says
their names were written in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb
that was slain, and their names were written there since the
foundation of the world. In other words, it's been there
all along. And Christ was sent into the world to redeem them
by His death. That's why He was born. That's
why He became incarnate, as the theologians say. That's why the
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, John 1 and verse 14. So Christ, who He is, He's God
in human flesh. He's the second person of the
Trinity. God-man, and He's every bit God
in every attribute of His nature of deity, and He's every bit
human in every attribute of His nature as man, yet without sin. So He wasn't born in sin like
you and I were born, all of humanity, because we fell in Adam. He was
born of the Virgin Mary, conceived in the womb of the Virgin by
the Holy Spirit. But he had to have a human body.
And the reason is, is because he had to die for the sins of
his people. The wages of sin is death. Now
the way God tells us about that, as far as his justice and his
mercy, how in the world could God, how could he punish Christ,
who in himself is holy? Perfect, sinless, never had a
thought or a motive of sin. Within himself, he is the perfection
of righteousness. So how could God justly punish
him? Well, the answer in the scripture
is substitution. Christ took the place of his
people and he became the surety of his people, which means that
God charged him with the debt and the penalty of the sins of
his people. And Christ willingly took that
debt upon himself. He laid down his life. You see,
he didn't, no man takes it from him. He lay it down. The scripture
says in John 13 one, he loved his own until the end, the finishing
of the work. And in return, what we who are
saved receive is righteousness. Now, we're not righteous in ourselves.
Just like Christ was not sinful in Himself, but sin was charged,
the Word is imputed to Him. We who are saved are righteous,
but not within ourselves as far as perfection. We have the Holy
Spirit within us. We have a new heart, new spirit,
new life, but we're still imperfect within ourselves. We're contaminated
with sin. I'll talk about that in messages
later on. But we have righteousness. Now how did we get it? God charged
us with the righteousness of Christ. And so what Paul is describing
here, that's what he's been describing up to this point, And he says
that that means two things. It means we're dead to the law
and we're dead to sin. Now he uses the law of marriage
to illustrate that in Romans 7. And let me say at the outset,
now Paul is not using this illustration to teach us a lesson on marriage
and divorce. That's another message altogether.
That's another passage altogether. What Paul is describing here
is he's using the law of marriage in its strictness to show how
a believer, a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is saved by
the grace of God. And he says in verse one, know
you not brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how
that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. For
the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband
so long as he liveth, but if the husband be dead, she's loose
from the law of her husband, that marriage contract. We say
it in the marriage vows, till death do us part. And so legally,
according to the strictness of the law, they're bound to one
another by law. And if they divorce, then they're
both, and remarry, they're both adulterers. Now, like I said,
we're not talking about what the Bible says about divorce
and remarriage. Those who are forgiven are forgiven
of all sin, and we could talk about that. But listen, verse
three. So then if while her husband liveth, she be married to another
man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she's
free from that law, that law of marriage, so that she is no
adulteress, though she be married to another man, till death do
us part. So what the point of this passage
is this, it is death that frees a person from that law. Now how
is that applied to Paul's subject here about the believer's union
with Christ? and this bringing forth fruit
unto God. Well, listen to what he says in verse four. He says,
wherefore, or for this reason, my brethren, you also are become
dead to the law. Dead to the law. Paul had already
mentioned that over in Romans chapter six. He talked about
being freed from sin in Romans six and verse seven. That word
freed there means justified. That means this, that means you're
not guilty. That means you have righteousness.
God has declared a person who is freed from sin, and literally
we could say freed from the law, is one who is justified from
sin, justified by the law. That is, even though I'm a sinner,
I'm not guilty. Even though I'm a sinner and
deserve condemnation, I'm not condemned. I have a righteousness
that answers the demands of God's law and justice. And so later
on down there, he says in verse 14 of Romans 6, he says, for
sin shall not have dominion over you. Sin will not rule from its
throne over you, for you're not under the law. You're not condemned
by the law. You have no obligation to the
law, now listen to me, you have no obligation to the law as to
attaining or maintaining a right relationship with God. You see,
a saved person, a truly saved person has a right relationship
with God. An unsaved person has a wrong
relationship with God. But now the same person who has
a right relationship with God, that right relationship is not
based on their law keeping, their obedience, or their works. It's
based upon the grace of God. Listen to what he says in Romans
6.50. What then? Shall we sin because we're not
under the law but under grace? God forbid. He said for sin shall
not have dominion over you. You're not under the law, you're
under grace. Here's the point. If I have a right relationship
with God, it is totally, 100% by God's grace. It's not based
upon what I do, or don't do, or try to do, or promise to do. It's not even, listen, it's not
even based upon my decision. You know, people talk about you
make a decision for Christ. Well, when God the Holy Spirit
brings a sinner, to salvation. That sinner does make a decision
for Christ, but his decision is not what brings a right relationship
with God. Now, how do we get a right relationship
with God? Well, look back at Romans 7 and
verse 4. He says, wherefore, my brethren, you also are become
dead to the law, and underscore this, by the body of Christ. That's how a sinner is brought
into a right relationship with God. That's how a sinner is justified
before God. That's how a sinner is brought
into reconciliation with God. It's by the body of Christ. Now
the body of Christ refers to his sinless humanity whereby
he offered himself without spot to God, the scripture says, as
the surety and substitute of his people, having all their
sins imputed, charged, accounted to him. And he died. That's what that body of Christ
means. My right relationship with God is based on the death
of Christ, or you could say the blood of Christ, or you could
say the righteousness of Christ imputed to me. It's not based
on my works. Now, it's totally by grace. Paul has been coming at that
every way that you can come at it. To describe it. To reinforce
it. To emphasize it. Salvation is
not by your works. Salvation is not by your will. You say, well, don't we have
to come to Christ and believe? Yes, my friend. But that's not
the ground of your salvation. That's not the cause of it. That's
not the source of it. You understand what I'm saying?
God makes his people willing in the day of his power. And
that day of his power is the day that he sends the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit, to operate in your life, to bring you under
the preaching of the gospel, the good news, wherein the righteousness
of God is revealed, Christ, and his obedience unto death, as
your only ground of salvation. I often emphasize it this way
to show that people where they may be deceived, and I don't
want you to be deceived. I was deceived for a long time. But we have to look at God's
word. And here's the thing, most people today, many of you may
think this. You think that, well, you know,
you say God loves everybody, Christ died for everybody, therefore,
if you do what your part by believing, or believing and repenting, or
believing and repenting and persevering, depending upon what denomination
you're in, then you're saved. In other words, you make the
difference. Well, my friend, that's not scriptural. God has
a people whom He loves. And Christ died for them. And
He will bring them to faith in Christ. And when sinners are
brought to faith in Christ, they'll see that Christ alone, by His
blood, His righteousness, makes the difference between saved
and lost. And that's what He's saying.
You're dead to the law. The law cannot condemn you. If
you're in Christ, you're washed in His blood. You're clothed
in his righteousness. And it has absolutely nothing
to do with your works, your obedience, or your decision. Now, the objection
will always come to that kind of preaching. Well, then it doesn't
matter what I do, people will reason and say. Paul dealt with
that in Romans 5 and Romans 6. I can just go out and I can sin
all I want to. I can live like the devil. And
it doesn't matter. And the answer to that, biblically,
is absolutely not. And the reason is this. It's
because salvation involves not only what Christ has done for
his people, by his obedience unto death, based on his righteousness
imputed, salvation also involves what he sends the Holy Spirit
to do within his people. And we read about that over in
Romans 6 and verse 17. Listen to what it says again.
But God be thanked that you were the servants of sin. That is,
your life was a servant of sin. That's an unbeliever. Now listen
now. You may have been religious now,
but you were still a servant of sin. Because as long as you
don't believe in Jesus Christ, As long as you don't have faith
in Him, God-given faith, Holy Spirit-worked faith, it doesn't
matter what you do as far as relationship with God. It does
matter what you do in this plane here, in this world. But as far
as salvation goes, without Christ, we're nothing. So you were the
servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart, the mind,
the affections, the will. That's the new heart. God says,
I'll give him a new heart. That form of doctrine, that teaching
which was delivered you, being then made free from sin, liberated
from sin, you became the servants of righteousness. A servant of
righteousness is a believer who looks to Christ, who follows
Christ. You see, grace reigns through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. But
grace also empowers the sinner to see the light of Christ and
to follow Him as a sinner saved by grace. So look back at Romans
7 and verse 4. Wherefore, my brethren, you also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that you
should be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth, now here's the title,
fruit unto God. There it is. God saves his people
by grace. Not based on their obedience,
their will, even their faith. It's totally based upon what
Christ did. But He saves His people not to
leave them in their darkness, and in their rebellion, and in
their service to sin. He saves them to be vessels of
His glory, His mercy, and to bring forth fruit unto God. Now what is this fruit unto God?
It's the fruit of faith in Christ. It's the fruit of repentance
of dead works. It's the fruit of obedience of
love and grace. In other words, it's obedience
motivated by God's love, unconditional love towards me. It's obedience
motivated by grace and gratitude. It's not motivated by legal threats
of punishment. It's not motivated by mercenary
promises of earned reward. You see, a servant of God, A
servant of righteousness, a believer, is not a mercenary. We're not
in this to earn our rewards or earn our blessings from God.
We can't earn anything from God. We're sinners. Now, we're sinners
saved by grace if we're saved. But he did all this to glorify
himself in a people who come to Christ and follow Him and
seek to obey Him. This is the fruit of obedience.
It's the fruit of godly sorrow over sin. A servant of righteousness,
a believer, is one who is in a warfare within himself, the
warfare of the flesh and the spirit. That means he doesn't
give way or make provision for sin, he fights it. Now, nothing
he does is perfect. Everything I do is contaminated
with sin. And therefore my only hope now
and forever is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I'm free from
sin. I'm free from sin's condemnation.
I'm free from sin's deception. But I'm not free from sin's corruption
and contamination and influence. Paul talked about that later
on in Romans chapter seven. I'm just as much in need of Christ
and the grace of God in him for my whole salvation as I ever
was. And I've mentioned this on this
program so many times that here I am, I've preached the gospel
for over 30 years, and as far as my right relationship with
God, it still is totally dependent upon what Christ has accomplished
for me. And did you notice the phrase
here in Romans 7, for married to another? That refers to a
believer's marriage union with Christ. We were married to the
law in darkness and deception, trying to establish our own righteousness
before God or in abject rebellion, but now having been brought to
faith in Christ, we're married to him, married to Christ. Well, look at verse five of Romans
7. Paul writes, for when we were
in the flesh, Now to be in the flesh means to be unregenerate,
spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, an unbeliever. That's
what we are by nature. That's why Christ told Nicodemus,
and all of us in essence in John 3, that we must be born again. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That's all the flesh can produce.
Now what he's talking about here is sinful human nature as ruined
by the fall in Adam. Paul described it in Ephesians
chapter two when he talked about the quickening power of the Holy
Spirit. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. You see, spiritual death is the
absence of spiritual life. And in order for a sinner to
come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that sinner has to be
given spiritual life. He has to be regenerated and
converted. He has to be born again from
above. Now the new birth is the fruit
of Christ's death. He said that in John chapter
12. He said, and I, if I be lifted up, will draw all unto me. The
lifting up of Christ is his lifting up on the cross, his death. But
out of his death comes life that draws all of his people to him
in faith. That's the new birth. Sometimes
it's called the circumcision of the heart, the cutting away
of the filth of the flesh, But Paul writes here in Romans 7,
5, for when we were in the flesh, when we were unregenerate, when
we were unbelievers, when we were not born again, the motions
of sins, which were by the law, now that word motions there,
you may have a concordance in your Bible, and it says passions,
and that's a good word for it. The passions of sins, which were
by the law. Now, how in the world could we
say the passions of sins were by the law? Well, hold on, I'll
explain that to you. He says, when we were in the
flesh, the passions of sins which were by the law did work in our
members, the members being our physical body, the hands, the
ears, the eyes, the tongue. In other words, when we were
in the flesh, the passions of sins showed themselves, manifest
themselves by what we said, what we saw, what we reached for,
how we walked. That's the members. And he said
in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death. Now what is
that talking about? Well, first of all, the passions
of sins which were by the law. It shows itself in one of two
ways. In the natural man. in spiritually
dead men and women. Now again, let me, I want you
to understand that by nature, we are all spiritually dead.
If I believe, listen, if I believe the gospel today, it's because
I've been born again from above. That's what the scripture teaches.
The first evidence of the new birth is belief in Christ. That's
why I tell people all the time, you say, well, then I just need
to sit around and wait for the Holy Spirit to give me life.
No. No, that's not your business. You don't operate in that realm.
You're not God. Your business is to flee to cry. You're a sinner. I'm telling
you right now, and I'm speaking to myself now when I say this.
Without Christ, I have no hope of salvation. That's you too.
You're a sinner. You cannot be saved. You cannot
be washed clean from your sins. You cannot be made righteous
by your works, your efforts, your will, or anything. You say,
well, where's there any hope for me? In Christ. Now you flee
to Christ. Listen to what I'm telling you.
Now, if you hear what I'm saying with a spiritual ear, you know
what that means? That means you've been born again. That's what
Christ told the disciples in Matthew 13. Blessed are your
eyes for they see. Blessed are your ears for they
hear. And so, you believe, you reach for Christ. But before
we're born again, all we can do is bring forth fruit unto
death. Now that manifests itself in one of two ways in an unregenerate
person. It will either manifest itself
in what we could describe as abject rebellion, immorality,
and we know our world is full of it. Listen, people calling
good evil and evil good in the ways of human morality. immoral behavior, a lifestyle
that is totally rebellious against the law of God. But that fruit
unto death, the passions of sins, which are by the law, can also,
and often does, manifest itself in false, self-righteous, works-based
religion. Do you know that if you're seeking
salvation based on anything but the obedience unto death of Jesus
Christ, His righteousness imputed alone, if you're seeking salvation
by your works, that is a sinful thing? That is a passion. It's a passion of sins, which
is by the law. People look at the law of God.
whether it's the Ten Commandments or whatever, the summation of
the law, love God perfectly, love your neighbor as yourself.
And they determine in their unregenerate mind, well now, if I do my best,
if I try to establish my own righteousness before God, then
I'll be okay. And they're passionate about
it in their religion, trying to work their way to heaven.
But that's a passion of sin. And let me tell you something,
just like the immoral person who has no regard for law of
God or the laws of society, that's fruit, you would agree, that's
fruit unto death. Well, my friend, that religious
person who's seeking to establish their own righteousness before
God, that's fruit unto death also. There is only, only salvation
in Jesus Christ. You want to bring forth fruit
unto God? Look to Christ and look to Him alone. I hope you'll
join us next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, 31707. contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.