And I want to begin by reading
the verses, and in my Bible I've taken my pen and I've drawn a
circle around every time I see the word death or life. And it'll be very obvious to
you what this passage is about because you'll see the word death
and the word life mentioned multiple times, and you'll see the word
crucified. So this is all about a matter
of life. And I think you'll see why. So
beginning in verse 1, Romans chapter 6, what shall we say
then? Are we to continue in sin so
that grace may increase? May it never be. How shall we
who died to sin still live in it? Or, verse 3, do you not know
that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have
been baptized into His death? We have been buried with Him
through baptism into death so that as Christ was raised from
the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk
in newness of life. For if we have become united
with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also
be in the likeness of His resurrection. knowing this, that our old self
was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be
done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is freed
from sin. Now admittedly, just even in
my reading of these verses, it's a little hard to follow the argument
that Paul is making. But what we learn here is that
the start of your Christian life was a matter of life and death. The moment you became a Christian,
you died. And the moment you became a Christian,
you came alive. You were both put into the grave
and you came out of the grave. The moment you became a Christian,
every single one of us who is a Christian tonight, a born-again
believer, there was a crucifixion and there was a resurrection
that took place in your life. And the moment you became a Christian,
you died. You died to your old life. You
died to who and what you once were. And you were so dead to
your old life that God buried you. That old life has been buried
and concrete has been poured over your dead soul and you are
buried and there's no going back to being the person you once
were. That's in the rearview mirror.
That's ancient. history. That life that you once
lived and who you once were, it's totally over. Those were
your B.C. days, before Christ. And so, the day you became a
Christian, you could have had a funeral because you died that
day. And that very same split second,
that very same moment, there was also a resurrection. And
you were raised to live a new life. And you became a new person. And Paul will say later in 2
Corinthians 5 and verse 17, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creature. And the old things have passed
away. And behold, new things have come. So you need to know tonight that
you are no longer the person you once were. Now, you still
look the same and you still have the same social security number
and you still have the same address, same parents, but on the inside,
You're a totally different person. And that's what happens when
you are born again. Where this finds itself in the
book of Romans, this is the third major section of the book of
Romans. And it would really be worth
me taking just a second for you to see this building argument
that Paul is making. I'm going to give it to you in
one word for each of these. The first section we would call
condemnation. In chapters 1 through 3, Paul
says, the whole world, the entire human race has been weighed in
the balances by God. and has been found wanting and
has fallen short of the glory of God, and the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness
of men." It's the condemnation of every single person who has
ever lived because of sin. And a holy God must react against
sin and holy God's wrath is bearing down this very moment upon everyone
who is outside of Christ. And when they die, they will
be cast into hell forever. And Christ Himself will be the
inflictor of their torment. and they will suffer in the lake
of fire and brimstone." That's the first major section of Romans,
condemnation. Second major section is justification. First section was the bad news,
the second section is the good news. And in chapters 3 through
5, Paul addresses how we who are under
the wrath of God, we who are the objects of His vengeance
are made acceptable in His sight. And it is when we put our faith
in Jesus Christ, He declares us to be what we in reality are
He declares us to be the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ,
and He clothes us with the perfect righteousness of Christ from
the top of our head to the bottom of our feet, and now as we stand
before God, God does not see our sin, God sees only the perfect
righteousness of Christ. And we who were spiritually bankrupt
and had no spiritual capital whatsoever to commend ourselves
to God, God has taken all of the riches of the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and has deposited it into our empty accounts. And we have been made righteous
and acceptable to God. Not because of anything about
us, it's really in spite of us. It's all because of the Lord
Jesus Christ. So that's the second major section,
condemnation, justification. Now in chapter 6, Paul begins
the third major section, and it is sanctification. And sanctification
is the entirety of our Christian life. From the moment we believe
in Christ until the moment we enter into heaven, everything
in between is sanctification. And the word sanctification very
simply means the lifelong process of becoming increasingly more
holy and becoming more like Jesus Christ. And it takes place throughout
the entirety of our Christian life. So in Romans 6, and beginning
in verse 1, Paul now begins to lay the foundation for us to
understand our Christian life. So, Sinclair Ferguson, who's
probably the most eminent theologian in Scotland, once told me, about
a Scottish Baptist preacher in the 19th century named Alexander
McLaren and he said he had the golden hammer. And McLaren could
just tap a passage of scripture and it would break out into three
perfect divisions, okay? So I've got the golden hammer
tonight, okay? Watch me now. Whomp. Did you see that? Whomp. And this passage now is going
to break out into three sections. And I want you to see this. I
want all the elect to write this down. Okay? So, in verse 1, it's the objection. At the beginning of verse 2,
the rejection. And the second half of verse
2 all the way through verse 7 is the explanation. Did you get
that? The objection, the rejection,
and the explanation. And when we get to the explanation,
I'm going to give you some subheadings, and it's going to be very easy
to follow tonight. The Apostle Paul is so brilliant. And the Apostle Paul, when he
lays out a case, he doesn't chase rabbits. He doesn't go off on
a wild goose chase. The Apostle Paul is very what
we call linear, 1 to 2 to 3 to 4, A to B to C to D. He gets in one lane on I-5 and
he never gets out, and he just drives a straight line as he
unfolds what he is teaching. So, I want us to follow now what
the Apostle Paul has to say about your Christian life. So, let's begin now in verse
1, and I want you to see the objection. Let's look at verse 1. What shall
we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? Here's what's going on, and then
I'm going to tell you what this means. Paul is anticipating what
his readers are thinking. And Paul is like a brilliant
lawyer who will bring up an objection before the other lawyer can bring
it up. So Paul, it's as if Paul is saying,
I know exactly what you're thinking. After I just taught you on justification
that God declares you to be righteous, not on the basis of any goodness
in you, simply because of His grace, Paul is thinking, I know what
you're thinking. Well then, it doesn't matter
how I live my Christian life. If grace covers it all, and if
grace forgives everything... But then it really doesn't matter
how I live my Christian life. In fact, I can just believe in
Jesus and keep on living like I used to live. I can just keep
on living like everyone else in the dorm. I can just keep
on living like everyone else in the sorority house or in the
fraternity house. It doesn't matter how I live.
And Paul is anticipating this objection in people's lives. In fact, some people, Paul knew,
were going so far as to say, well, if I sin more, that will
require more grace to forgive that sin, so I'm actually going
to sin more so there'll be more grace poured out on my life.
What a crazy way to think. And so, here's the issue. Can
a person who is justified not be sanctified? Can someone go
through the narrow gate but then walk the broad path? Can someone be forgiven of their
sins yet want to still live in their sins? Can someone be a
good tree and bear bad fruit? That's what's going on. Can I
say I'm a Christian and live like the world? Can I say that
I belong to God and live like the devil? Is that even possible? That's the objection. Now, at
the beginning of verse 2, Paul gives the rejection. And Paul
answers it bluntly, directly, pointedly. He says in verse 2,
may it never be. And what he is saying is, it
is absolutely impossible. for you to say you are a Christian
and your life not give the evidence thereof. It is impossible for
you to say, I have committed my life to Jesus Christ, but
you do not follow Christ. May it never be. In the Greek
language, this is the strongest negative denial that is possible
in that language. It is the strongest repudiation
of what he knows some people are thinking. Paul is answering it and saying,
listen, that is stinking thinking for you to think that you can
become a child of God and live like the devil. May it never
be. No believer, no genuine believer
in Jesus Christ can live in habitual sin as a lifestyle. Now, that does not mean that
there will not be individual acts of sin. We'll continue to
sin, we're just not going to swim in it. We're not going to
lap it up. We're not going to live for that
sin. In fact, when we do sin, we're
going to feel convicted. We're going to feel guilty. And we're going to confess that
sin and say, God, forgive me. I've sinned against You. And we're going to repent and
turn away from that sin and turn back to living in a way that
glorifies God. So that's the rejection. And
Paul says it is absolutely impossible for you to be truly under grace
and be living in the lap of sin, wide open sin. You'll still sin, but it won't
be a habitual lifestyle pattern of it. Now, Paul knows that needs
some explanation. And so, beginning in the middle
of verse 2 and extending through verse 7, I now want you to see
the explanation. And we need to hear the explanation
tonight. I need to hear myself walk through
this. You need to hear me walk through
this. And in reality, it's the Apostle
Paul who is teaching us, but in reality, it is God who is
teaching through the Apostle Paul. And what Paul will do under
the explanation is he will give us seven reasons why it is impossible. for a genuine Christian to continue to live like everyone
else in the world. And what he will say, beginning
in the middle of verse 2, he'll walk us through this, and I'm
going to give you seven reasons why. Paul is going to give us
seven reasons why. God is going to give us seven
reasons why. And if tonight you are a genuine
Christian, and by that I mean not just someone who comes to
Grace on campus, and by that I don't mean just, well, someone
who has prayed a prayer and joined a church. But, I mean, if you
have been genuinely born again by the Spirit of God from above,
then these seven things have happened in your life, and they
happened in your life the moment you believed in Jesus Christ.
These seven things are not seven things that will happen in the
future. They're not seven things that are happening in the present.
These are seven things that happened in your past the moment you believed
in Christ. Can you remember where you were
when you committed your life to Jesus Christ? Maybe you were
at home in your bedroom. Maybe you were by yourself reading
your Bible and you knew you needed to commit your life to Christ.
Maybe your parents were with you. Maybe you were here at Grace
on campus and after Chris G. gave a message, maybe you went
outside and talked with a friend and as you were walking back
to the car, maybe that was when you walked through the narrow
gate and entered into the kingdom of heaven. Can you remember where
you were and when it was that you were born again? Because
if you're a Christian, there was such a time. Well, here's
what happened, seven things. This is what happened to you. Number one, you died to sin. Notice the end of verse 2, he
says, how can we who died to sin And when he says, still live
in it, he's talking about this is the direction of your life,
this is the purpose of your life, this is the appetite of your
life, this is the pursuit of your life, to live in sin. He says, how can we who died
to sin still live in it? It's a rhetorical question. The
answer is so obvious, he doesn't even have to bother to answer
it. And the answer is, it's impossible. If you have died to sin, it's
impossible for you to live in sin. Now, this is a statement
of fact at the beginning of this sentence in verse 2, how shall
we who died to sin? The we refers to all believers.
The we refers to only believers. The we does not refer to all
the world, and the we does not refer to everyone who comes to
a church or everyone who comes to a Bible study. The we refers
only to genuine believers in Jesus Christ, authentic believers
in Jesus Christ. How shall we who died to sin? That's a statement of fact. every
believer in their past at the time of their conversion died
to sin. Now let me tell you what this
does not mean and then I'm going to tell you what it does mean.
It does not mean that you and I will never commit an act of
sin again. It does not mean that. What it
does mean is that we have died to the reign
and the dominion of sin over our life. And you'll see that
at the end of the previous chapter in verse 21 of chapter 5, do
you see, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace would
reign You see, before we became a believer in Jesus Christ, sin
reigned in our life. I mean, sin was the master of
your life and my life before we were born again. No one is
in no man's land. No one is without a dominant
master over you. And before we became a Christian,
sin was pulling your chains. Sin had the steering wheel of
your life. Sin was in the engine of your
life and sin was driving your life. Whether it was open rebellion
against God or whether it was just passive indifference towards
God, you were under the reign, the government, the tyranny of
sin. And you could not do what you
wanted to do, spiritually speaking. You were in bondage to sin. But when you believed in Jesus
Christ, you can see it for yourself in verse 2, you died to sin. There was a death in your life
and you died to sin. Now, I want to just hit the pause
button for one second and I want to give you some one words that
will describe this death that took place in your life. Number one, it was spiritual. It was a spiritual death. It
wasn't a physical death. It was a spiritual death. You're
still alive right now. You didn't die physically, but
you did die spiritually to the reign of sin. Number two, past. It is something that took place
in your past. It took place the moment you
were birthed into the kingdom of God. It doesn't take place
in the present. It doesn't take place in the
future. It's already happened. Number three, immediate. It happened all at once. It happened
in a split second. You didn't die to sin over a
period of three months. You didn't die to sin over your
sophomore year at UCLA. You died to sin in the twinkling
of an eye, in a split second, the moment you committed your
life to Christ, you died to your old way of life. Fourth, comprehensive. It was a death to sin in every
area of your life, from the top of your head to the bottom of
your feet, your mind, your heart, your will, your affections, your
disposition, the entirety of who you are on the inside, it
immediately died to the reign of sin. Five, radical. It was a radical death. It was
a decisive death. Six, once. It was a once and
for all death to the reign of sin, never to be repeated again. You'll never die again to sin
as you did that split second when you were born again. Seven,
noticeable. Others can see the difference
in your life. When you look into the mirror
of the Word of God and see yourself as God sees you, you can see
the difference in your life. Your mind is different. Your
heart and affections are different. Your will is different. It was...it's
a noticeable death. Your friends, your parents can
see the difference in your life. Eighth, it's a permanent death. The reign of sin will never come
back in your life. It is never to be repeated. You will never again live for
sin the way you lived for sin before you believed in Jesus
Christ. You see, with justification, in a sense, that's simply paperwork
in heaven. That didn't change you at all.
It just simply, in God's bookkeeping, in heaven, you took the righteousness
of Christ and wrote it into your account in heaven. But you remained
the same person. Your heart was the same. Your
mind was the same. Your desires were the same. It is what we're talking about
here, sanctification that actually changes you from the inside. You see, you need more than forgiveness.
You need to become a new person. And that begins the moment you
were converted. So that's number one, you died
to sin. Number two, you were baptized
into Christ. Notice what he says in verse
3, or do you not know? Let me just stop right there.
The implication is Paul is saying, you know this. Everybody knows
this. This is Christianity 101. This
is kindergarten stuff. This is pre-kindergarten. If
you're breathing, you know this. For do you not know that all
of us, and the us refers to the same we in verse 1 and verse
2, so referring to all believers only believers? Or do you not
know that all of us have been baptized into Christ or in Christ
Jesus? Please note the verb tense here.
This has already happened. If you're a genuine Christian,
you have already been baptized into Christ Jesus. Now, what
is this baptism? This baptism is not water baptism. There's not a drop of water in
Romans 6. This baptism is Spirit baptism. The word baptism means to be
placed into something. Like water baptism, you're placed
into water. And in Spirit baptism, you are
placed into Jesus Christ. It means to be immersed into
Christ. It means to be plunged into Christ,
so much so that you are now identified with Jesus Christ and everything
that happened to Christ has happened to you. When Jesus died, because
you've been baptized into Christ, you died. And when Jesus was
buried, because you've been baptized into Christ Jesus, you have been
buried. And when Jesus was raised from
the dead, you have been raised from the dead. This has already
happened in your life. And in the mind of God, God took
you back two thousand years to Calvary and He placed you into Christ. And everything that happened
to Jesus happened to you the moment you believed in Jesus
Christ. Now, this is very personal. This is what's happened to you
if you're a real Christian. Look at verse 3 with me one more
time, have been baptized into Christ. The into means in the
mind of God, He placed you into Christ such that you are now
one with Jesus. You are in union with Jesus Christ. Now, this is one of the most
important truths that's taught in the entire Bible. It is called
union with Christ. union with Christ. And the great
Scottish theologian John Murray said that this is the central
truth of the whole doctrine of salvation. Everything about your
salvation is the result of being in Christ. The Bible says you
were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
It wasn't because of you, it was because of Christ. that you
are predestined in Christ, you have been redeemed in Christ,
you are forgiven in Christ, you have died with Christ, you've
been buried with Christ, you have been raised with Christ.
In fact, you are even already now seated with Christ in heavenly
places. It's because of union with Christ. Christ lives in you and you live
in Christ. That's as intimate and personal
as it can possibly be. And in Colossians 3 verse 3 it
says, our life is hidden with Christ. We're just wrapped up
in Christ. In Colossians 3 verse 4 it says,
Christ is our life. In Galatians 2 verse 20 it says,
Christ lives in us. There is no explanation for your
salvation or for your Christian life except for the fact that
you are in Christ. You have been baptized into Christ. So that's the second truth. Number
one, you've died to self, excuse me, to sin. Number two, you've
been baptized into Christ. you were baptized into Jesus'
death. Look at the end of verse 3. He
says that all of us have been baptized into His death. This very simply means that Spirit
baptism has so identified us with Jesus and placed us in Jesus. that when He died, we died. When He died for sin, you died
to sin. And sin that once had a death
grip upon you and you were the prisoner of sin, the prisoner
of the reign of sin. Because you've been baptized
into Jesus' death, when He died, you died. And you have now died
to your old way of life. And you can't go back to it.
And you can't live the life that you once lived for this world,
for yourself, for the pleasures of sin. Oh, there can be individual
acts of sin, certainly. You're not going to be swimming
in it like you once did. Now, number four, not only were we baptized into
His death, but verse 4, the beginning of verse 4, notice it says, therefore
we have been buried with Him through baptism into death. Number
four is, you were buried with Jesus. Now you have been put
to death with Jesus, you have been buried with Jesus. Now what
is the point of this? Well, the answer to that is,
what was the point of Jesus' burial? Well the Bible emphasizes the
burial of Jesus to underscore the fact that He really died. He didn't simply go unconscious.
He didn't simply just go to sleep. He didn't swoon into an unconscious
state, He actually really died. He was actually crucified. They
actually put Him to death and was so real that they buried
His body and He was in the grave for three days. He really died. You really died. It was a real death to your former
loves, to your former desires, to your former manner of life.
You really died to the reign that sin once had upon your life. And the fact that Paul says at
the beginning of verse 4 that you are buried with Him is to
underscore the validity and the authenticity of your death. You really died and so did I
truly die to sin the moment I believed in Christ. Now, number five. You were resurrected with Jesus. We're still in verse 4 and we'll
look at verse 5, but while we're still in verse 4, Paul says,
we have been buried with Him through baptism into death so
that as Jesus was raised from the dead, He was resurrected. He wasn't asleep and they woke
Him up. He didn't go unconscious and
He was resuscitated. He was as dead as dead can be. Therefore, what He experienced
was a powerful resurrection from the grave. He was dead and He
came back to life. And it says in verse...in verse
4, You stop right there. So we too,
just as Jesus was raised from the dead, so you have been raised
from the dead, not physically but spiritually. You have been
raised to become a totally new person and now to walk a totally
new life. You cannot go back to that old
pattern of life. That person died. You are now
alive as a new person in Christ to live an entirely different
life. He says at the end of verse 4,
so we too might walk in newness of life. It's a whole new life. It's not your old life, your
old crummy sinful life now with a plus on it. that that life
is over. That life is dead. That life
has been buried. That life is over. There is an entirely, completely
new life that is inside of you. That's what the new birth is.
It is the life of God in the soul of a person. It is the life
of God now inside of you. I want to say it again. Justification
and forgiveness of sin, that's just paperwork. That doesn't
change you. That only changes your standing
before God. That only changes your status
before God. This is what actually changes
your character. This is what actually changes
your daily walk. This is what actually changes
your heart and your mind and who you are and what you are.
You need the whole salvation. And that's what God did the moment
you believed in Christ. So he says, at the end of verse
4, so we too might walk in newness of life. Now, this word new does not mean new in time. It means new in quality, new
in kind. It's a whole new life that you
now live as a believer because you have been raised from the
dead spiritually. I hope you're seeing it's a really
big deal to be saved. It's not just saying, Lord, Lord.
It's not just signing a card and parroting a prayer. It is for God to crucify your
old life, and it is for God to resurrect a brand-new life. So, verse 5 follows up on this
fifth sub-point, you were resurrected with Jesus. Look now. At verse
5, for if we, again the we refers to believers only, the word if
could be translated and should be translated since, for since
we as believers have become united with Him in the likeness of His
death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection. We were put to death with Jesus.
we have now also been resurrected with Jesus. Now, I want you to notice the
sixth thing. Paul continues to give this explanation
of why a true believer cannot continue to live for sin. So, number six, you were crucified
with Jesus. So, notice verse 6. Knowing this,
and the word knowing here means more than you just know this
in your head, but that you know this by personal experience. You have experienced this in
your own life. Knowing this, that our old self,
and the word self is really the word man or person. It's a Greek word anthropos,
we derive anthropology from it. And that old man, that old woman
that you just...that you once were, he says, was crucified
with Jesus. Now, you remember when they crucified
Jesus as He came to Golgotha, as He came to Mount Calvary? They took the cross beam and
they laid it on the ground and they took Jesus. and they laid
Him on the crossbeam, and they had attached the central beam
to the crossbeam, and they took both hands, and they stretched
it out on the crossbeam, and they took nails, and they nailed
each palm there at the wrist into the crossbeam, and they
drove a spike through His two legs, and they hoisted Him up
to be crucified upon that cross that when they spread Jesus out
on that crossbeam, what Paul is saying here, He took your
life and laid you out on top of Jesus. So that when they crucified
Jesus, you were laying on top of Jesus, as it were, and they
crucified you on top of Jesus. And then they hoisted that crossbeam
up into the air and you were hoisted up with Jesus and you
were nailed to that cross. And when He died, you died with
Him upon that cross. And as He died, He was dying
for your sins. And you were dying to sin. And you were dying to your sins.
And the reign of sin was broken in your life and you no longer
live to sin. You no longer wake up in the
morning and are dreaming about sin. You no longer go out into
the weekend and are looking for sin. You've died. You were crucified
with Jesus. A very famous pastor from years
ago was a man named R.G. Lee. He pastored one of the biggest
churches in America. And when I was first called into
the ministry, A precious woman set up a meeting for me to have
with R.G. Lee. And he was like 90 years
old at the time. And I went over to his house
and met with him. And he was used by God to help
lead me into the ministry. And R.G. Lee tells the story
the first time he went to the Holy Land. He took a tour group
of people from this church. I was a member of this church.
I was called into the ministry out of this church. Years before
I even ever went to that church, he led a tour group to Jerusalem. And they went to Calvary. They
went to Golgotha where Jesus was crucified. And R.G. Lee had already told
the tour group leader, this is my first trip to the Holy Land. So as they came to that place
where Jesus was crucified, the tour guide said, how many of
you have ever been here before? And R.G. Lee raised up his hand,
he said, I've been here. And the tour guide said, now
wait a minute, you said this is your first trip to the Holy
Land, and he said, oh it is. Bodily. But I was here 2,000
years ago. And when they crucified Jesus,
I was crucified with Jesus. And when he died, I died. That's a good answer. And that's
what's happened in the life of every genuine Christian. You've been to Calvary two thousand
years ago and the nails were driven into
you just like they were driven into Jesus. And when He died,
you died. So knowing this, verse 6, that
our old self was crucified with Him. In order that our body of
sin might be done away with, and that verb done away with
means to be nullified, to be broken of its power such that sin no longer has the
power over you that it once had. It still has power and it can still deceive you.
And it can still lure you, and it can still bring great havoc
to your life, but it no longer has the death grip upon you where
you must obey sin. Now the last thing that I want
you to see, and we'll wrap this up, we're under the explanation
And not only were you crucified with Jesus and buried with Jesus
and raised with Jesus, the final thing in verse 6, at the end
of verse 6, you were freed from sin. Notice at the end of verse
6, he says, so that we, referring to all believers, you and me
here tonight who have been born again, so that we would no longer
be slaves the sin. Verse 7, for he who has died,
and that's true of every Christian, every believer, for he who has
died is freed from sin. We've certainly been saved from
the penalty of sin, that's justification. But we have also been saved from
the power of sin, that is sanctification. And one day, we will be saved
from the presence of sin. That is glorification. And right now, we're in that
in-between state between justification and glorification, between becoming
a Christian and going to be with Christ. And during our entire
Christian life, this says that we are no longer slaves to sin.
If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed. You
are now under new management. You now have a new master. You
are a slave of Jesus Christ. And everyone in this room tonight
is a slave. No one is not a slave. Everyone
here tonight is a slave. You are either a slave of sin
or you're a slave of Jesus Christ. You're either a slave of unrighteousness
or you're a slave of righteousness. You're either obeying sin or
you are obeying Jesus Christ. And the moment you believed in
Jesus Christ, you were freed from the reign of sin. now to be a slave of Jesus Christ. And that is what you are and
that is what I am. And a slave is one who obeys his master,
her master. So, this is what happened to
you. There's no ifs, ands or buts
about it. There's no could be, should be, would be, this is
a statement fact. Your old life and your old person
has been crucified and now a brand new life and a brand new person
has been raised from the dead. This is the biggest thing that
could ever happen to your life. So as I conclude this, I Let
me just tell you three things. I like lists. I want to tell
you three things. I used to have a professor in
my doctoral program who said, I'm going to come hear you men
preach one time, and I'm going to sit right here on the front
row, and halfway into your sermon, I'm going to hold up a big sign
right at you. And it's only going to have two
words on it. It's going to say, so what? So what? So what for my life? I'm going
to tell you three things, the so what of what we've looked
at. Number one, praise. You ought to give praise to God
tonight for the extraordinary change that He has brought about
in your life. You should give praise to God
that He has given you more than fire insurance. He's given you
more than forgiveness of sin. You should give praise to God
that you're not the person you used to be and that He has now
crucified that old life. And He has now raised and resurrected
a brand new life inside of you. You could have never stopped
being the person you used to be. And you could have never
become the person you are now apart from the grace of God at
work in your life. There is no explanation for the
change in your life apart from God. So give praise to God tonight. When you leave here, let there
be an anthem of praise for what God has done in your life. He
has radically, dramatically changed you from the inside out. And
He has just killed the old person you once were. And you're now
a new person in Christ. That's number one. Number two,
prayer. You need to pray to God that
this life change would become more and more and more evident
in your life because it's progressive and you are becoming more and
more like Christ. You need to pray that God will
accelerate your spiritual growth, that God will more fully develop
you into Christlikeness. and that this person that God
has now resurrected from the dead, this new...this new person
that you are, that this new person would grow in the grace and knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And now, third and finally, proof. As someone looks at your life,
Can they see the proof, the evidence that you have died to sin and
that you now are alive unto God? Can people see the fruit in your
life? Can people see this new life
that is surging in you? And more than that, as you look
at your own life tonight. How do you know you're a Christian?
How do you know you're a real Christian? Because a lot of people
pray a prayer and go straight to hell. A lot of people can
even pray a prayer, save me, and not mean it. How do you know
that you're really born again? I'm going to give you the answer. Because you have died to sin
and because you've been crucified with Christ and you have been
buried with Christ and there is now a new life that has been
resurrected in you and you're not the person you were before,
you're a new person in Christ. You could have never done that
on your own. That is a work of grace inside
of you. And as you see the evidences
of grace in your life, it is a stamp of authentication that
brings assurance of salvation that you are the real deal. You are a genuine Christian and
not a Judas. among the twelve. So if you've
never seen your life be crucified and be resurrected, then tonight
I urge you to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, to seek the
Lord while He may be found, to call upon Him while He is near,
to turn away from your sin and to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ
and to throw yourself upon His mercy. This Jesus who was crucified
for sinners, this Jesus who was buried and who has been raised
from the dead offers to you salvation tonight. And if you will deny
yourself and take up a cross and become a follower of Jesus
Christ, what we have talked about tonight will be the reality of
your life. So if you've never called upon
the name of the Lord, I would urge you to do so tonight, and
may God bring about this change once and for all. Let us pray. Father in heaven, it is amazing
what You have done in us, that You have just totally transformed us from the inside
out. And Father, we are so grateful
that You have put to death the old person that we once were
and that You have now resurrected a new person who lives inside
of us. Only You, by Your grace, could
bring about such a change. And Father, for those here tonight
who are just going through the motions of being a Christian
but who really are not a Christian. Lord, may tonight be that time
when they would die to sin and when they would be alive unto
Jesus Christ. May it be so, in Jesus' name. Amen.