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'm thankful that you could join us for this message as I preach
it from the Book of Romans, Chapter 6. The message is entitled, The
Power of God's Grace. The Power of God's Grace. For
the past several weeks, I've been preaching on this subject,
The Power of God's Grace. This is Part 5. What I'm doing
is I'm going through the Book of Romans, Chapter 6. to talk
about the subject of how salvation in every aspect of it is all
of God's grace, the free gift, unearned, undeserved, based upon
the righteousness, the blood, the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ and not upon the sinner's efforts or the sinner's
works or the sinner's will. In other words, salvation at
its very foundation attaining it, maintaining it, is all of
grace and conditioned on Christ who for his people fulfilled
those conditions and not upon you or me or any sinner. If it's
conditioned on us, it's a failure. And so it boils down to the question
that I've been dealing with concerning the eternal security of the saved,
the eternal security of the believer. Answering this question, if a
person is truly saved by the grace of God, can that person
ever be lost again? Can they lose that salvation?
And the biblical answer is no. In fact, I made this statement
a few weeks back that I believe one of Satan's greatest deceptions
in these last days is people believing that you
can be saved one day and lost another. Lost after that. And
the reason I believe that's such a great deception is because
it makes salvation by the works or the wills of men rather than
by the work and will of God. Salvations of the Lord. The reason
people believe you can lose it is because they believe you can
gain it by your works or even by your faith. Now faith is necessary,
but not to attain or maintain salvation. Faith is necessary,
but not as the condition you must meet in order to empower
God's grace or empower the blood of Christ. Faith is the fruit,
the effect of God's grace. Now last week in the book of
Romans chapter 6, I showed the power of God's grace, which is
the power of Christ crucified in the justification of a sinner.
Verse 7 of Romans 6, look it says, for he that is dead is
freed from sin. Talking about those who are saved
by the grace of God, they're dead to sin in this sense. Sin
cannot be charged to them. Sin cannot condemn them. And
they are justified. That word freed there in Romans
6-7 means justified. It means to be made right with
God. It means to be made righteous. before God. You see, that's the
issue of the gospel. God is a merciful, loving God. But He cannot show mercy, grace,
or love apart from justice being satisfied. So how can God look
at a sinner like me and not give me what I deserve and still be
just and right in doing so? God always judges according to
truth, the scripture says. He must be both a just God and
a Savior. I put it this way quite often
when I deal with this subject. God must be a righteous judge
as well as a loving Father in the salvation of His people.
How can He be both? How can He be just and justified? The answer is by grace through
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how. God saves his people not based
on their works or efforts which are sinful in his sight, but
based upon the work of Christ. So the power of God's grace is
the power of Christ crucified and those who are dead to sin
are dead because Christ died for them and was buried and rose
again the third day and they're justified. Now, if salvation
in all of its aspects including its continuation, its preservation,
is all of grace, then where is the motive to serve God, to fight
sin? You know, I mentioned this last
week, how people come up with these objections. They say, well,
once saved, always saved. That just gives you an excuse
to sin. Or if I believed that, I'd just go out and sin as much
as I want. That's not a believer. That's a lost person talking.
That's a person who does not understand grace and the power
of it, does not understand the gospel, does not understand the
power of the cross, which is Christ crucified. Well, listen
to what Paul said here. Paul says that if, and he's inspired
by the Holy Spirit, that if a sinner is dead to sin in justification,
is saved by the grace of God, kept by the grace of God, that
sinner, in verse 4 of Romans 6, walks in newness of life. Newness of life. What does that
mean? Well, the Bible teaches that
we fell in Adam. When Adam sinned, his sin affected
the whole human race, all of his posterity, all of his descendants. And some, you know, I've had
people tell me, say, well, that's not fair. Well, that's the way
God set it up. That's the way God would have
it. Romans 5.12 speaks of that. Over here, since we're close
to that, in Romans 5.12, it says, wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned, or literally, all sinned. Adam
was the representative of the whole human family. Now that's
God's sovereign appointment. And so when Adam fell, we all
fell, ruined by the fall. Now some people call that original
sin. A lot of people believe, well
that just put me into the point to where I have the potential
to sin. In fact, you know, I was talking
to a false preacher on this subject. He argued with me on it. And
he was talking about it. He said, well, we don't become,
you know, we're not born spiritually dead, born sinners. We, we become
sinners when we make that first choice. And I asked him, I said,
well, has there ever been anybody in the history of the whole human
race who didn't make the choice to sin? And the answer is no. And of course, somebody might
say, well, Christ did. Well, Christ was born of the
Holy Spirit. His humanity was perfectly sinless.
He wasn't born like you and me. He wasn't conceived like you
and me. We were conceived in sin. That's not the sex act.
What that is, that means that we're born spiritually dead.
And so everybody sins. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Why? Because we make bad choices? Well, we do make bad choices.
but we make bad choices because it's our nature to do so. And
so we were ruined by the fall and we're born spiritually dead,
not physically dead, not still born physically, but spiritually
dead. What that means is that we don't
have spiritual eyes to see the glory and the value of spiritual
things that glorify God. We don't have spiritual ears.
We don't have a heart for God. The natural heart, the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither
can he know them, they're spiritually discerned. The heart is deceitful,
desperately wicked, who can know? That's not just talking about
some immoral segment of society, that's all of us by nature. There's
none righteous, no not one. There's none that seek after
God, no not one. There's none that doeth good,
no not one. Good in God's sight now. Romans 3. So we're born. If we're going to be saved, we
have to be, number one, justified before God. Our sins must be
taken care of. Our sins must be paid for. And
that's what Paul's talking about in the death of Christ. We're
buried with him by baptism unto death. Verse four, that like
as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father. Christ died to pay the penalty of the sins of all of
God's elect, His people, His sheep, His church, His brethren,
the seed of Abraham. That's who He died for. Not all
without exception now, but all of God's elect. He said, all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh
to me I will unknowwise cast out. But salvation doesn't stop
there. That's the ground of salvation.
That's the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. His
righteousness is, the sins of God's chosen people were charged
to Christ, the debt of that sin, the guilt of that sin, and the
righteousness of Christ, the merits of his obedience unto
death is charged to their account, imputed to them. That's the ground
of salvation. Now, the power of God's grace
lies in that justification, which is the power of the cross. But
the power of God's grace also comes in regeneration, which
is the power of the cross. And that's the newness of life.
Now, Christ said it this way in John chapter 3. He said, you
must be born again or you cannot see or enter the kingdom of heaven.
You've got to be born from above. born spiritually. And once a
sinner is born spiritually, they walk in newness of life. Now,
all those things that are new, some people are very confused
about that issue, but look here. He says in verse 10, look at
Romans six and verse 10. It says, now he's talking about
the death of Christ. Let's go back up to verse eight, Romans
six, eight. Now, if we be dead with Christ,
if we're justified, by His blood. If we're not guilty, if we're
righteous in Him, we believe that we shall also what? Live
with Him. Not sin as much as we want to.
Oh, we're still sinners, but we live with Him. The resurrection
life of Christ is given to His people. And that comes by means
of the word of life empowered by the Holy Spirit. Romans 1
16 says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that what? believeth. It doesn't matter
if you're Jew or Gentile. And why? Because there in verse
17 the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith
as it is written the justified shall what? Live by faith. So you see, that's the power
of God's grace, not only to justify a person, but also to regenerate
and bring a person to faith in Christ. Now this walking in newness
of life and living with Him mainly has to do with walking by faith
in Christ, looking unto Him. Hebrews 12 too says, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. But go back to
Romans 6, look at verse 9. Knowing that Christ, being raised
from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over
him, doesn't have any dominion, Christ will not die. Verse 10,
for in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he
liveth, he liveth unto God. Now look at verse 11. Here's
the power of God's grace. Here's the power of preservation.
God preserves His people. Here's the power of perseverance,
which is the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts, the minds,
the affections, the will, the consciences of God's people.
He says, likewise, or in the same way, reckon or count you
also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, I'm justified in Christ. I'm not guilty. I cannot be condemned. Sin cannot be charged to me.
I'm righteous in God's sight by His merits, by His work, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. I've been made
alive unto God. I look to Christ. I've been brought
by the Holy Spirit to be born again. He's given me a new heart.
He's given me a new mind. He's given me new eyes, eyes
to see, ears to hear. He's given me new desires. Now
that doesn't mean all the old sinful desires are gone, completely
eradicated. But it does mean that I have
a spirit, I have the Holy Spirit who indwells me and I have in
myself, created by God, a new spirit to fight those desires,
to fight sin. That brings me to repentance
of those things. That brings me to godly sorrow
over those things. That's what it means. So he says
in verse 12, Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that
you should obey it in the lust thereof. In other words, if I
believe that I'm eternally secure in Christ, does that give me
leave to sin all I want with abandon? No, he says, don't yield
your, don't let sin reign, rule in
your mortal body, that is this fleshly body that's dying, You
see, that's what that means. And he says, don't let sin reign
in your mortal body. Fight it. War against that you
should obey it in the lust, the unlawful desires that you still
have, thereof. Verse 13, neither yield you your
members. Now the members refers to your
body, your hands, your legs, your eyes, your ears, your tongue,
He says, neither yield you your members as instruments or arms
or weapons of unrighteousness unto sin. In other words, what
he's saying there is you're to fight it, war against it, not
in order to be saved, but because you already are saved by the
grace of God. Not in order to make yourself
righteous. Listen, a true believer will
war against the flesh, And sometimes he will feel like he's gained
a victory. Sometimes he believes he's a
failure. He knows he is. When we gain a victory, when
a believer gains a victory, he knows that that's not his righteousness
before God. Christ is. But he takes pleasure
in honoring God, thanking God, showing his love, however pitiful
it is to God. And when he fails, he knows he
cannot be condemned. He's like David, Psalm 32. Blessed
is the man to whom whose sins are covered, whose transgression
is forgiven. And verse two, blessed is the
man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit
there is no guile. I know I'm a sinner, but I know
that because I stand before God in Christ, he cannot and will
not charge me with sin. How do I know that? Is that a
boast or is that a brag? No. Who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. If I'm
looking to Christ as the author and finisher of my faith, if
I believe in him and rest in him for my whole salvation, that's
the evidence that I cannot be charged with sin. I have righteousness
imputed to me. So he says, verse 13, but yield
yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead.
and your members as instruments or arms or weapons of righteousness
unto God. Obey. That's what he's saying.
Fight sin. Don't promote it. Don't encourage
it. He says in verse 14, he says,
for sin shall not have dominion over you. Sin cannot condemn
you. Why? Because you're not under
the law. You're under grace, the power of God's grace. The
law of God. You know the reason that sin
brings condemnation? It's because the law of God must
demand justice. You see, God's law is not like
man's law. Man's law will let a criminal
go free. We see that all the time and
we're appalled at it. But God's law cannot cannot let
a sinner go free without justice being satisfied. Somebody's got
to die the death. Either you must die in eternal
damnation and separation from God, or someone must do it for
you. And that someone must be, number
one, appointed by God, and number two, he must be willing to take
the place of sinners, and number three, he must be able to do
what's required. And the only person who meets
that bill is the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity,
God the Son, who by His own blood redeemed His people from their
sins, so that He is able not only to save me to the uttermost,
but to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. That's
what He's able to do. You're not under the law because
the law cannot condemn you if you're in Christ. If you're washed
in his blood, if you're clothed in his righteousness, if he died
for you, was buried and raised again, you're under grace. Verse
15 of Romans 6, look at this. What then? Shall we sin because
we're not under the law, but under grace? Well now, does that
make it okay for me to go out and sin? Well, I am a sinner. That's what I am, a sinner saved
by grace. But is it okay for me just to
throw caution to the wind and go out and sin as much as I can
or want? God forbid. In other words, can
I excuse my sinfulness because I'm not under the law and cannot
be condemned and have a righteousness in Christ and under grace? God forbid, verse 16. No, you
not. that to whom you yield yourselves
servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey, whether
of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness." Now, what
he's simply saying there is the person who takes the act in light
of the power of God's grace, in light of the power of Christ
crucified, In light of all that God does for a sinner in salvation
through Christ, a person who takes the attitude, well, if
I'm eternally secure, if I'm always safe, then I can go sin
as much as I want to. Do you know what that is? That's
a lost person. That's a person who does not
understand Christ. That's a person who does not
understand God's grace or its power. But look at verse 17. but God be thanked that you were
the servants of sin. Now, a servant of sin there is
an unbeliever. One of the things that people
miss in the Bible is that when they read phrases like that,
servants of sin, the wicked, Back over, I quoted a little
bit of Jeremiah 17. The heart is deceitful, above
all things, desperately wicked. One of the things that people
miss in the Bible is when they read that, like you were servants
of sin. They think of a servant of sin as being someone who's
immoral, irreligious, something like that, or bowing down to
a wooden idol. Well, those are servants of sin.
They are servants of sin. But here's what you have to understand.
A servant of sin refers to all of us by nature. A servant of sin describes a
person sitting in a church somewhere calling themselves Christians
while listening to a false gospel. of salvation conditioned on the
works and the wills of men. A servant of sin in God's sight
is a person who's doing their dead level best to make themselves
righteous by their works. And so when he says you were
servants of sin, what he means is you were unbelievers. You
didn't know Christ. You were ignorant of or not submitted
to his righteousness as the only ground of salvation. But he says,
but you have obeyed from the heart. Now that obedient heart
is the new heart. God said, I'll give them a new
heart, put a new spirit within them. That's the regenerate heart. That's the penitent heart. That's
the heart that's broken and contrite over sin. It's a humble heart,
made humble by the grace of God. That heart is the product of
God's grace. It's the power of God's grace.
You've obeyed from the heart, and what have you obeyed? That
form of doctrine which was delivered you. That's the gospel of God's
grace. Literally, what that verse says
is that you've obeyed from the heart that doctrine, that teaching,
that set teaching that you've been delivered to. God's brought
you under the preaching of the gospel. and you obeyed it from
the heart. Now, where did that heart come
from? If you obeyed it, if I obeyed
it, it's not in me naturally. The natural heart is deceptive,
wicked, even in its religion and morality. So if there is
an obedience from the heart here, it's the work of God's grace.
It's the power of God's grace. And he says in verse 18, being
then made free from sin. you became the servants of righteousness.
Now, you remember back over in Romans 6, 7, it says, he that
is dead is freed from sin. Well, the word freed there means
justified. That's the legal standing a sinner
saved by grace has before God in Christ, washed in his blood,
clothed in his righteousness. But the word free over here in
verse 18, being then made free from sin means to be liberated.
And how is a sinner liberated from sin? He became the servant
of righteousness. He believes in the Lord Jesus
Christ and follows him. He rests in Christ. That's what
that means. Doesn't mean he stops being a
sinner because he still sins. He still comes short. You say,
well, now I love God. I can say that, but my love is
not perfect. The love that I have for God
is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit, but it comes
through me. And I'm a sinner. And it becomes corrupted, tainted
with sin. So therefore I have to fight
self-love all the time. Selfishness. I'm in a warfare. I'm told and commanded to love
God perfectly and love my neighbor as myself. That's the goal. God
can command nothing less. If my salvation or preservation
were dependent upon my love for God, you know what? I would be lost forever. Because
my love for God is not my salvation. His love for me in Christ is
my salvation and the fruit of that is my love for Him. however
pitiful it is. Somebody says, well, then how
can God accept your love for him? Washed in the blood of Jesus
Christ. He's my advocate, my intercessor. 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, 317-07. 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.