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. I'd like to welcome you to our
program today. I'm glad you could join us. And
if you'd like to follow along in your Bibles in today's message,
I'm going to be preaching from the book of Romans, chapter 7,
and I'm going to focus mainly on verse 6, Romans, chapter 7,
and verse 6. And the title of the message
is Serving in Newness of Life. serving in newness of life. And
of course, what we're talking about is serving God in newness
of life. In Romans chapter seven and verse
six, the apostle Paul was inspired by God the Holy Spirit to write
these words. He writes, but now we are delivered
from the law. That being dead wherein we were
held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in
the oldness of the letter. And that's the title, newness
of life. The word spirit there is life. It's the word for life. And of
course what he's talking about there is spiritual life that
is given to God's people in the new birth. The Holy Spirit is
the sovereign agent sent forth from the Father and the Son to
impart life, spiritual life, to sinners who are by nature
spiritually dead. And you need to understand that.
The issue of life and death. You know, back in the Garden
of Eden when God gave commandment to Adam in Genesis chapter two. He showed him the garden. He
said, of all the trees of this garden, you can eat thereof,
but of this one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, you're forbidden to eat. And he said, in the day that
you eat thereof, you shall surely die. And literally, if you go
back to the Hebrew language, the original Hebrew language
that it was written in, it would sound something like this, in
the day that you eat of that fruit, that forbidden fruit,
and we don't know what kind of fruit it was, it doesn't matter,
it was forbidden. In the day that you eat thereof,
dying thou shalt. Dying you shall die. And so,
that's when death was brought into the world. Romans chapter
five and verse 12 speaks of that. When it talks about for as in
Adam, that by one man's disobedience, death came. to all who Adam represented,
and that's the whole human race. He brought sin and death into
the human race. Wherefore, as by one man's sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, because the wages of
sin is death, and the day you eat thereof, and the day you
disobey God, and sin, dying you shall die. And he says in Romans
5.12, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,
or literally all sinned. Now, how could it be said that
I sinned when Adam sinned? Because I wasn't even born yet,
I wasn't there personally. Adam was my representative. The old writers, the old reformers
used to call Adam was the federal head. And so he represented me. And he represented you. So much
so, and this was by God's sovereign appointment. Somebody told me
one time, said, well, I didn't choose Adam to represent me.
No, you didn't. God did. And God created you. And God is sovereign. So you
don't have that right. You see, somebody said, well,
God takes away my choice. Listen, let me tell you something.
People need to understand today that man is not the center of
the universe. This thing of salvation, the
Bible, it's not all about you and me and everything revolving
around me. It's all about God and his glory. And that's why He created this
world. That's why He created man and woman and put us here
on this earth. To glorify Him, to honor Him, to serve Him, to
love Him. You see, that's what it's all
about. Most people who call themselves Christians today are no more
than humanist. And that's what, it's all about
you. It's all conditioned on you.
It's what you do for Him. No, read your Bible. And that's
what we need to see. Well, when Adam fell, he fell
as the representative of the whole human family. And he plunged
us all into sin and death. So that you don't become a sinner
by the first sinful choice you make, you're born spiritually
dead. That is the absence of spiritual
life. Ephesians 2.1 speaks of those
whom God has quickened, meaning given life, And it says something
like this in Ephesians chapter two and verse one, and you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now death
takes many forms. Now certainly there's physical
death, which we will all experience. The Bible says there's a point
in the man wants to die. And after that, the judgment.
Now Adam, when he sinned back in Genesis chapter three, he
did not immediately physically die. You see, he still had breath
in him. And incidentally, that word spirit
is the word for breath. Breathing. So Adam did not immediately
physically die, but the process of physical death began. That's
when Adam, that's when the process of sickness and deterioration
of the body, old age, that's when it all began. Now, granted
back then they lived a lot longer in years than what we do today,
but that's the digression of sin as we approach the end of
it all. That's the deterioration. It's
a process of dying. And Adam did eventually die physically.
But what happened to Adam spiritually is he died immediately spiritually. He lost spiritual life. And so
he was spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. And all who are born
of Adam are spiritually dead. Now what is spiritual death?
Well, that's the absence of spiritual life. Now this is why, and that's
the wages of sin. The wages of sin is death. The
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So sin
demands death. Now in order to be made spiritually
alive, literally raised from the dead spiritually, There must
be righteousness brought in. Sin demands death. Righteousness
demands life. And by nature, we have no righteousness. You see, Adam had a righteousness
before he fell, but it was a human righteousness and he lost it
when he sinned. We're born that way. without
spiritual life. And we have no righteousness.
That's why Paul wrote in Romans chapter three in verse 10, there
is none righteous, no not one. He said, there's none that doeth
good, no not one. You see what I'm saying? So we
don't have a righteousness that would answer the demands of God's
law and justice. And we don't have a righteousness
that would bring life. Because to have life, you've
got to have righteousness. The Bible says in Romans 5.21,
that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 8 and verse 10 says, if
Christ be in you, the body is dead, this physical body is dead
because of sin, But the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is life, gives
life because of righteousness. Now, where am I going to find
righteousness? Well, it's certainly not by my works. Even my best
works are not good enough. And that's what Paul had talked
about back up in Romans chapter 7 and verse 4. He talked about
it in Romans 6. Let's go back to Romans 7 and
verse 4. He says, wherefore my brethren,
you are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. Now you
see, the law has a charge against us because we're sinners. You
see, where sin is charged, the law demands death. That's the
penalty, capital punishment. You may not like that, but that's
the way it is. So to be dead to the law means
this. that the law is satisfied in
my case. If I'm dead to the law, the law
is satisfied. That means it's justice is satisfied. All right? The demand of the
law for my death is satisfied. It can demand no more. The law
cannot condemn me. The law cannot charge me with
sin. All right? Now, how did that
happen? Well, I made my decision for
Christ when I was 12 and then it happened. Oh no, that's not
what this book teaches. Somebody said, well, I'm just
trying to do my best and if I get close enough, God will weigh
my good works with my bad. No, if that's the case, you're
gone, you're dead. How did that come about for God's
people? Well, wherefore my brethren,
you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, by
the death of Christ. Christ died in my place. My sins
were laid to his account, charged to him. That's called imputation. That means they were reckoned
to him. My debt was put to his account. He willingly agreed
to be my surety before the foundation of the world, before I was even
born, before Adam fell. Christ was made my surety. That
means he said, I'll take his debt, put it on my account, I'll
pay it. And what was the payment? It
was his blood, the cross. That's why he had to be a ransom
for many. That's why he had to redeem his
people. That's why he had to pay the
price. And he went under the wrath of the law of God, for
the sins of his people, God's elect, charged to him. And he
died and satisfied that law. so that they are all dead to
the law. They are justified. That means
they are not guilty. That means they are righteous
in God's sight. As the sins of God's elect were
imputed to Christ, his righteousness is imputed, charged to them.
I do have a righteousness now that answers the demands of God's
law and justice. I didn't have anything to do
with it. I didn't work it. It's all Christ and what he did
on the cross as my surety and my substitute. Now, is that all
there is to salvation? No, that's the ground of salvation.
That's the ground of attaining and maintaining salvation. That's
the source of salvation. But as a result, as an effect
or as the fruit of my justification, based on Christ's righteousness
imputed. It says in Romans 7, 4, that
we're dead 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 fruit unto God. Now I showed last time, or a
couple of messages ago, how a believer is not the fruit or the result
or the product of his own free will. Because being spiritually
dead, even our wills are in bondage to sin. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians
2, 14, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God, neither can he know them, for they're spiritually discerned.
You see, if left to ourselves, we will not believe. We will
not come to Christ. We will not receive Him. No man
can come to me, the Bible says in John 6, verse 44, except the
Father which has sent me draw him. You see, that's what the
Bible teaches. And that's why he says in Romans
7 verse 5, when we were in the flesh, when we were unregenerate,
spiritually dead, the passions of sins which were by the law
did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. It could
have been the fruit of immorality or it could have been the fruit
of religion. Sincere, dedicated religion. What men call morality. But my friend, it doesn't equal
righteousness. And if it doesn't equal righteousness,
it's fruit unto death as far as our standing before God is
concerned. But now go to verse six. This
is our text. But now we're delivered from
the law. Now, how was I delivered from
the law? By the body of Christ. That's how. Wasn't by my decision. It wasn't by walking an aisle.
It wasn't even by confessing Christ. I do confess Christ from
my heart. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, with the mouth confession is made. But
that's not what made me dead to the law. The death of Christ
on the cross made me dead to the law. The death of Christ
on the cross made me righteous before God. Hebrews 10 and verse
14, for by one offering, Christ's offering, he, Christ, hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified, set apart by God. That's how
it goes. And he says in Romans 7, 6, but
now we're delivered from the law, that is we're justified,
that is God's elect. And how do you know who they
are? Somebody says, well, that's everybody. Oh no, my friend,
if that's everybody, then I guarantee you, then nobody's going to perish
eternally. If you're dead to the law by
the body of Christ, you cannot remain lost. You will be saved. Do you understand that? That's
what the Bible teaches. There's not going to be any one
for whom Christ died and obeyed and made righteous enter into
hell. No, sir. So here's, and you say,
well, then it doesn't matter what I do. Now, hold on. You
don't live in that realm. That's God's realm. You live
in the human realm. And the Bible says in Deuteronomy
29 and verse 29, the secret things belong to God. The revealed things
belong to us. And what's revealed? Well, the
Bible says, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be
saved. There's no doubt about that.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Now, by nature, none of us will call upon Him, but that's, listen,
that's God's business. And He gives life to whom He
will. The Bible says that. He said,
I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious, I'll be merciful
to whom I'll be merciful. It's not of him that runneth,
nor of him that willeth, but of God that showeth mercy. God's
sovereign. But what is your responsibility?
What is my responsibility? To seek the Lord. climb into
his word and pray, God, reveal yourself to me, if you'd be pleased
to do so. So he says, but now we are delivered
from the law, that being dead wherein we were held. We are
dead to that which held us captive. And so it no longer holds us
captive. Now, how do we know that? Look
at it. That we should serve in newness
of spirit. Serving in newness of life. That's what that is. And not
in oldness of the letter. Now, first of all, what is the
oldness of the letter? Well, the oldness of the letter
basically describes the written law, okay? The written law that
is brought down upon a rebellious, disobedient people. In other
words, it's like a forced slavery. Now let me show you what I'm
talking about. Over in the book of Jeremiah chapter 31, I read
this a while back when we were talking about the Old Covenant,
the Old Testament, and the New Testament. In Jeremiah 31 and
verse 31, Jeremiah gives a prophecy of
the new covenant. And the new covenant is the time
of Christ. And he says in verse 31 of Jeremiah
31, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah. Now, the house of Israel and the house of Judah there
refers to spiritual Israel. And I don't have time to go into
all the scripture, but you need to understand that. When Jeremiah
prophesied, the nation Israel, the northern, remember the kingdom
was divided. It was the northern kingdom,
which consisted of 10 tribes, and that was called Israel. And
then the southern kingdom, which consisted of two tribes, mainly
the tribe of Judah, was called Judah. So it was a divided kingdom. And so what he's saying under
the new covenant, it's not going to be divided. It's not going
to be destroyed. It's not going to be held captive.
But it's going to be a new covenant with the house of Israel. The
word Israel means prevailing with God. Those who have prevailed
with God. Well, how does a sinner prevail
with God? run to Christ, believe in Christ, bring the blood of
Christ, plead his righteousness, you'll prevail. And Judah, that
means, that's the prince, you know. Praise is what it means,
the name Judah. And of course, what he's saying
is those who prevail with God will praise God through Christ.
And he says, and look at verse 32 of Jeremiah 31. "'Not according
to the covenant that I made with their fathers "'in the day that
I took them by the hand "'to bring them out of the land of
Egypt, "'which my covenant they broke, "'although I wasn't husband
unto them, saith the Lord.'" They broke the covenant. Why?
Because they were rebellious people. Now don't get proud and
puffed up. If we'd have been there with
them, we'd do the same thing. We're all sinners. He says, but
this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my law in
their inward parts, that's in their heart, and write it in
their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Over in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 36, the Lord speaks of
a people whom he says he will give, in verse 26, a new heart,
also will I give you, and a new spirit, new life, will I put
within you. And I'll take away the stony
heart, that's the hard heart, the unregenerate heart, out of
your flesh, and I will give you in heart of flesh, verse 27,
I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes
and you shall keep my judgments and do that. Now what God is
saying there, going back to Romans 7, he said, I'm gonna put a new
heart. This is the new birth, friend.
This is a regenerate heart, a willing heart. My people shall be willing
in the day of my power. That's what God says. He'll put
a desire within them, a new life, and not in oldness of the letter,
not in a legal system of works beating down upon a people, a
rebellious people, not a mercenary promise of earned reward, but
he'll put a spirit of grace a spirit of gratitude, a spirit of love. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5,
he said, the love of Christ constrains me, motivates me, moves me. And that's what he's talking
about, serving in newness of life. It's serving God through
the Lord Jesus Christ, not in order to be saved, but because
you already are. It's serving God in Christ, not
in order to make yourself righteous and acceptable with God, but
because you already are in Christ by the grace of God. It's expressing
gratitude to the God of all grace who has blessed me with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, knowing, knowing
that if God were to ever give me what I've earned and what
I deserve, it would be eternal death and damnation. The psalmist
wrote in Psalm 130 verse three, Lord, oh Lord, if thou, Lord,
shouldest mark iniquities, Who would stand? Not me. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. See, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died, yea, rather is risen again. You see, salvation by
grace does not discourage obedience. Salvation by God's grace through
Christ based on His righteousness alone is the only godly motive
of obedience. Obedience aimed at glorifying
God. Obedience aimed at exalting Christ. You see what I'm saying? It's
not earning my rewards. It's not earning my salvation.
It's not earning my blessing. It's receiving all blessings
from him because of his grace and his mercy towards me, a sinner
saved by grace. That's the newness of life. That's
the serving and newness of life, serving and newness of the Spirit. Being made servants of righteousness. What does that mean? That means
a servant of Christ. And again, with the motives of
grace and love and gratitude, not legalism, not, I've heard
preachers talk about giving, they want people to give more,
and they'd say, well, you hold on to that money, God'll take
it out of the back of the church in a pine box, like he's gonna
kill you or something like that. My friend, God's people are to
give out of love. You know everything that we have
is a gift of God, even the next breath we take. The land that
you own, you really don't own it. You want me to prove it to
you? What happens when you die? And
then your children die. Oh, you say, well, I can keep
it in the family for years to come. Maybe if God allows that,
but God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. We're just stewards of
it. Now we're either gonna use it
for his glory or we're gonna use it for our own selfishness.
Well, what are we gonna do? Well, those who are dead to the
law, Those who are married to Christ, those who are delivered
from the law, they serve in newness of spirit, newness of life, not
in oldness of the letter. We're not legalists, you see.
We're willing, loving, bond servants of Christ. That's what the Bible
calls God's true people, who are justified. by God's grace,
based on the righteousness of Christ, who have been born again
by the Spirit, raised from the dead spiritually, given this
newness of spirit, this newness of life. They have ears to hear
and eyes to see. They have a new heart, a new
spirit, new life, new motives. New desires, new goals. Now that
doesn't mean we're still not sinners. That doesn't mean that
we still don't have the old sinful desires. That's the warfare of
the flesh and the spirit. I'm gonna talk about that when
we get on later into the book of Romans chapter seven. But
you see, we serve in newness of life, spiritual life given
by God. And listen to me, the righteousness
of Christ imputed to his people is the ground of our justification,
and it's the source and the power of this new life, so that we
can serve God in newness of life, that we can walk by his grace. It's the life of grace, the life
of truth, the life of the spirit, the life of love, grace, and
gratitude. And that's the motive. That's
why God's people seek to obey Him and serve Him and fight sin. 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.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.