This morning, go ahead and turn,
if you would, to the book of Romans, chapter 6, and our study
is going to involve verse 17 and 18. This morning, we're going to attempt again
to tell you something about the God that we worship, the Christ
that we worship, a God that's a just God and a Savior, A Christ
that, from the beginning, was a surety of a people. A people
that God the Father gave him. A people that called God's elect,
God's sheep, throughout scripture. A people that, as Christ represented
them, had been their surety to come in time and pay a debt.
A sin debt that they owed. A debt incurred by Father Adam,
As he fell, as we fell under condemnation in him, and Christ
came in time representing those individuals. And as he went to
the cross, he went to the cross, not for sins he committed. He
was without spot of blemish, perfect in every way. But he
went to the cross for the sins of those that the father gave
him from eternity. And we went to the cross, suffered,
bled, and died, and paid the debt for those he represented. And as throughout scripture we're
told, God the Father chose not to charge us, but rather charge
his Son with those sins. And by what he did on the cross,
justified us before a holy God. Wherein now we're able to be
stand before them without blame, not based on what we do or don't
do, but based on what Christ did in our place as surety, substitute,
and representative. This morning, we're going to
begin by reading verse 16 of Romans 6. Title of the message is going
to be Servants of Righteousness. We're going to talk a little
bit about being a servant of sin what it is to be a servant
of sin and a servant of righteousness. In Romans 6.16 here, it says,
know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,
his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death
or of obedience unto righteousness. I'm going to give you a little
mental exercise this morning. If you can, think back on the
time before God brought you to the gospel that is preached here
at this place. Try to remember what you were
thinking and what you were doing in the religion that you were
in. If you're like me, and I know most of you were, you were steeped
in a religion of work salvation. In other words, you were like
the Apostle Paul before God saved him. You were going about to
establish a righteousness of your own. You were in touch-not,
taste-not, handle-not religion, and those were the main things
that were on your mind at that time. And all the time, I thought
that I was pleasing God. I thought that I was pleasing
God. But all the time, I was ignorant of God's righteousness
and going about to establish one of my own. We were in a state
of bondage to our own sinful nature, and it showed itself
in that attempting to keep God's law in order to be accepted before
him. Look at Galatians 4, beginning at verse 8. This is Paul speaking
to the Galatians here. How be it then, when you knew
not God, you did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that you have
known God, and rather are known of God, how turn you again to
the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto you desire again to
be in bondage? They revealed themselves as Paul
had went and preached gospel to this church at Galatia, made
it clear that they were justified by Christ alone, based on his
work on the cross. And then he left, and then he
wrote them this letter again back because they had been, they'd
got caught up in all of these things here that, that, that,
that observing days of months and times and years, touch not,
handle not, and all these things. And he says, where into you desire
again to be in bondage, in bondage, going about trying to keep the
law the best you could, But all along, all along, you were ignorant
of the righteousness by which God saves a sinner. And so automatically
you were going about to establish one of your own as you were doing
these things. And folks, all that time before,
before God brought us to see how he saves a sinner, we were
servants of sin and we didn't even know it. Now I want you
to think back on what happened when God brought you to Christ
alone for all of salvation, when God was pleased to come to you
in the power of his Holy Spirit and show you that your law keeping
was just not going to meet up to his holy and his righteous
standard, and pointing you to the only righteousness that God
would be pleased with. and the only righteousness that
would meet God's holy and righteous standard, which is Christ's righteousness
alone. Look at Acts 17, 31, and we'll
see that standard of judgment. Because he hath appointed a day
in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance to all
men in that he hath raised him from the dead. That's God's standard
of judgment. Christ's righteousness alone.
It's perfect, it's perfect in every way. This shows us that
Christ alone is that standard of judgment, not the best that
you can do, not your faith and not anything else that you do
or that's done in you. Thank God by his Holy Spirit,
he convinces his elect to rest in Christ's righteousness alone,
freely impute it and charge to our account. When God causes
his elect to stop going about to establish a righteousness
of our own and to rest in Christ, this is when they experience
the last part of the verse that we will begin with this morning. This is when they obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which delivered you. Friends,
you're either servants of sin, and that will only lead to death,
or you're servants of righteousness, which will lead to eternal life.
by Christ our Lord. God tells us through the Apostle
Paul here in Galatians 5 beginning with verse 1. Stand fast, again
talking to the Galatians, therefore in the liberty wherein Christ
hath made us free. And be not entangled again with
the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you,
that if you be circumcised, and you can put anything in the place
of that word circumcised, anything that you do, that you think that
will be somehow pleasing to God or recommend yourself to God,
your faith, any kind of work or anything, put it in the place
of that circumcised. Paul said, Paul saying to you
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For
I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he
is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ has become of no effect
unto you. Whosoever you are, whosoever
of you are justified by the law, you're fallen from grace. Now,
let's go ahead and begin at verse 17 of Romans 6. It reads, but
God be thanked that you were the servants of sin, but you
have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered
to you. But God be thanked, Paul here has been and will continue
writing of the power of God in salvation. by his free and his
sovereign grace in Christ Jesus. It is the power to redeem us
from condemnation as Christ took our place and suffered unto death
under the justice of God, paying the full penalty for all our
sins. We who are in Christ are justified
by his blood, his righteousness, freely imputed and charged to
our account. It is also power to give us spiritual life in
the new birth and implant the grace and love of Christ in our
hearts by which we're motivated to fight sin and obey God is
we're inspired by grace, love, and gratitude once again, not
by any legal constraints or legal works where we fear God, the
fear he's gonna damage if we don't do this and different things
like that. Well, whom do you thank for all
of this? We thank God alone. for all of salvation is of the
Lord. And that's what he's doing here,
but God be thanked when he talks about this in verse 17. And then it says that you were
the servants of sin. A servant of sin is a slave to
sin. This is the state of every unregenerate,
unbelieving person, even the elect before regeneration and
conversion. They may appear righteous unto
men, but as long as they're spiritually dead and in unbelief, all that
they are and all that they do in the eyes of God is sin. A servant of sin can be one who
is highly motivated and zealous to obey the law, to treat his
neighbor right, and to be religious and sincere, but his motivation
is not grace and gratitude, It has to be legalism or self-righteous
and mercenary promises of earned reward. Therefore, all he can
bring forth is fruit unto death. Romans 7.5 says this, for when
we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law,
did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. And that's
where we were before God called us by his grace. Regenerate us
and give us his Holy Spirit. And then it says, but you have
obeyed from the heart. This is the obedience of faith
in Christ and repentance of dead works that comes by sovereign
power of the Holy Spirit in the new birth. The heart is the mind,
affections, and the will, the very center being of a person.
This obedience is more than intellectual knowledge and outward form. As the heart is the center of
the personality, the intellect, the motives, the emotions, and
the will, no outward obedience, is of the slightest value in
glorifying God and exalting Christ, unless the heart turns to God
in Christ. Proverbs 23, 26 says, my son,
give thine heart and let thine eyes observe my ways. And in Matthew 15, eight says,
this people draw of nine to me with their mouth and honor me
with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Godly obedience
is obedience from the heart in opposition to obedience by legal
constraints. Any attempt of obedience by an
unconverted person is an obedience produced by some motive of fear,
of self-interest, or legal constraint, not by the heart established
with God's love and grace in Christ. Nothing can be more convincing
evidence of the truth of the power and grace than the change
it produces in the heart and in the mind of the believer that
has been brought to see who this God is and who this Christ is
and how he saves a sinner based on the righteousness of Christ
alone. Flee to Christ for all of salvation. We see this in
2 Corinthians 5.14 where it says, for the love of Christ constraineth
us because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're
all dead. This is also a good verse that
should disprove the notion of universal atonement or that Christ
died for all without exception. If Christ died for all, then
all would be eternally saved. And we know from God's testimony
that that's just not the case. Multitudes will suffer eternal
punishment because they still owe a debt to God's law and justice. So if Christ died for all and
paid the debt for all, then all would be saved eternally. If,
in fact, his blood was effectual at all, if it accomplished anything
at all, all that Christ represented, all that he shed his precious
blood for on the cross of Calvary shall be saved. Their sin dead
has been fully paid by Christ, his suffering, bleeding, and
his death on the cross. They shall not come into condemnation.
Look at John 5, 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but
is passed from life into death. Also look at Romans 8.1. There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Also, as
we said in our last study, our hearing, and our believing and
our walk does not have anything to do with our being saved. It only gives evidence that we
are children of God and saved by his grace. The next part of
verse 17, the last part, you have obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine. Form here refers to a mold or
a pattern. into which clay or wax was pressed
so that it would take the exact form or pattern. It also means
a stamp, a mark that has been indelibly imprinted upon their
hearts. The point is that the gospel
and its teaching to which they had by the power of God yielded
themselves had stamped its own impress upon them. It was not
only doctrine or teaching heard with the physical ear but doctrine
heard, understood, believed, and loved, and followed as they
were led by Christ. The last part of this verse again,
17b, which was delivered to you, as this is translated in the
King James Version, we could well say that it means the doctrine
which was preached unto you. The original and literal translation
would be more like the following. that form of doctrine unto which
you were delivered or handed over. This shows us clearly that
believing the gospel was not something we bring ourselves
to as if we of our own wills would believe it. We know that
if left to ourselves, we would never believe the gospel. God
has to come to us in his power. He has to make us willing in
the day of his power. But God brings all of his people
to the truth of Christ and salvation by him alone. Believers have
been handed over by God to the great truths. Not only that our
sin was put away at the cross, but that we died with Christ
and are now risen with him. Salvation is more than simply
preaching and believing doctrine, but if anyone were to imagine
that doctrine is not necessary in salvation, then he should
refer to verses like this that we just read. Our last verse
here in verse 18 that we'll deal with this morning reads, being
then made free from sin. And just remember what we just
got through reading in verse 17 about that doctrine that was
believed on from the heart. Being then made free from sin,
you became the servants of righteousness. Being then made free from sin
or having been set free from sin, when God the Holy Spirit
brings a sinner to see his sinfulness and drives him to Christ for
all of salvation, then that sinner is made free from sin, liberated
from the power of sin to keep him in darkness and in unbelief. Free here means liberated from
the domination of sin. not liberated from the legal
condemnation. That work was completed at the
cross of Calvary by Christ alone. The elect's sin was charged to
Christ in eternity as he stood as the surety for their debt.
And in the fullness of time, Christ came and stood legally
condemned under God's law, not for sins he committed, but for
the sins of all those that the Father give him in the everlasting
covenant of grace, all those that he represented. Sin brought
all men under the sentence of condemnation. Christ had bore
the execution of this sentence in himself for his people. Therefore,
as considered in him, they are free from it. And such as are
born again have passed from death to life and shall never enter
into condemnation. Look at John 6, beginning with
verse 37. And this is the verse that I
use often in my study. It's so packed full, packed full. It reads here, all that the Father,
this is Christ speaking, all that the Father give me shall
come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will, which has sent me, that of all which
He hath given me, given me in that everlasting covenant of
grace, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the
last day. And this is the will of Him, speaking of the Father
that sent me. that everyone which seeth the
Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life. And I'll
raise him up at the last day. Looking back at the beginning
of Romans 6, 18, where it says, being then made free from sin,
let's look at Romans 6, 7. For he that is dead is free from
sin, it says. And then, of course, in our text
this morning, I'll read both verses together here. But God
bethanked that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you. Being
then made free from sin, you became servants of righteousness.
The verses we just read describe the fruits and effects of Romans
6, verses 4 through 7, which reads like this. Therefore, we
are buried with him, buried with Christ by baptism until his death. that like as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin, for that is dead is
free from sin. Those who have been liberated
from legal condemnation by the death of Christ on the cross
will be liberated from the domination of sin when we're brought out
of darkness and brought into light, the light as God regenerates
us and converts us and reveals Christ to us and how he saves
the sinner by his righteousness alone. This liberation from sin's
domination is not freedom from the remaining presence and influence
and contamination of sin in our lives as believers. We're not
delivered from a sinful nature, nor from a corrupt heart, nor
from vain thoughts, nor from sinful words, nor from sinful
actions altogether. But we are delivered from the
damning power of sin. Sin, there can be no charge against
God's elect. Christ represented him, he paid
the debt. Sin still plagues our lives with
the constant harassments that we go through. That is why we
must fight the warfare within, that war of the flesh and the
spirit. Look at Romans 7, 18. This is
Paul speaking, he says, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh,
dwelleth no good thing For the will is present with me, but
how to perform that which is good I find not. Believers are
not yet free from the presence of sin, but are liberated from
sin's dominion and power to keep us in utter darkness and to keep
us from fleeing to and believing on Christ for all of salvation. We are free from its total domination
of our motives and goals, whereas before our motives were evil
and self-righteous, the evil and self-righteous products of
unbelief. They are our motives of grace and love and gratitude,
products of faith in Christ, products of this grace and gratitude that
we have toward Christ and what he's done for us and saving us
by his grace. Whereas before our goals were
our own selfish and self-righteous ends, now our goals are the glory
of God in Christ and salvation of sinners and the good of our
brethren. The last part of verse 18 says
this, ye became servants of righteousness. Ye became servants of righteousness.
A servant of righteousness is a regenerate person, one who
looks to Christ for all of salvation. A servant of righteousness is
one who, like the Apostle Paul, who says in Philippians 3, beginning
at verse 7, this is what Paul says here, but what things were
gained to me, and he's talking about all those things that he
did prior to God saving him, all those things, the Pharisee
of Pharisees, touching the law blameless, those I counted lost
for Christ. Yeah, doubtless, I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but done that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the faithfulness of Christ,
the righteousness, which is of God by faith. A servant of righteousness
is a willing and he's a loving bond slave to Christ. He is one
who has been washed from all his sins in the blood of Christ
and justified from sin by the righteousness of Christ imputed
to him. He is one who fights sin and
seeks to obey God as motivated by grace, love, and gratitude
for what Christ has done for him. He is a servant of Christ
who brings forth fruit unto God rather than fruit unto death. And this he does by the power
of the Holy Spirit that has been given him. A servant of righteousness
is a follower, a disciple of Christ. The question that I ask
you this morning is, are you a servant of sin? Are you looking
to something that you do or that you are unable to do in order
to be saved? Or are you a servant of righteousness? Has God convinced you that there
is nothing that you can do to please a holy God in and of yourself? Has God caused you to flee to
Christ as your only hope of salvation? A salvation based entirely on
what Christ accomplished, what He accomplished, a salvation
that is based on Christ and His imputed righteousness alone.
his shed blood on Calvary's cross. Are you looking to a righteousness
that's within you or a righteousness outside of yourself that is now
seated on the right hand of the Father? A righteousness that
the Son of God himself produced and freely charges it to your
account. As for me, I want to, like in Philippians 3.9, I want
to be found in him. found in Christ, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Amen.