to turn back in your Bibles to
Romans chapter 5, if you will. Romans chapter 5. And you can
follow me in your pastor's commentary. You're going to have to put your
thinking caps on today because we are going to be laying a foundation,
a framework, a structure for the next two chapters which are
going to require some preliminary information and reflection and
thought in terms of why is the Apostle inclined to use this
approach to continue to develop what we have been discussing
for several weeks, and that is the work of justification. And
as the apostle now begins to turn the corner, there's a real
hinge pin here in verse 1 of chapter 6, of which it will have
sort of a blooming or a developmental echo in Romans chapter 8, verse
15 and I want you to hear that as we lay a foundation for these
two chapters which are going to require again some thinking
to understand what his urgency and his exhortation is as he
says over in chapter 8 verse 13 not verse 15 but verse 13
Romans 8 13 for if you live after the flesh you shall die But if you through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." Now
I hope to help us see that there is a unbroken line of conversation
and exhortation by the Apostle from chapters 6 all the way through
chapter 8 and whereas chapter 8 verse 13 and 14 have laid out
for us very clear note of the dire consequences of living after
the flesh and the benefits of and manifestation of our sonship
for those who are living or walking in the spirit those two paths
those two avenues are what the Apostle has already been addressing
as he has been speaking to us about the federal headship of
Adam one and the federal headship of of the last Adam, Jesus Christ. As we are developing the doctrine
of justification, what he would have us to understand is this
standing warning in Romans 8, 13. If we live after the flesh,
we will die. But if we walk after the Spirit
and therefore mortify the deeds of the body, we shall live. That verse can no more be understood
or comprehended than about eight verses that are in Romans chapter
six unless we lay a foundation. Nevertheless, that standing warning
is clear and it has been given by the apostle to people who
obviously fail to understand the purpose of justification
by faith in Christ apart from works. And I want to stress that
point. The people to whom the apostle
is going to be largely speaking are men and women who do not
understand the purpose of what it means to be justified freely
by the grace of God in Jesus Christ apart from words. It does
not mean that they don't understand the doctrine of justification. What they are not getting is
the purpose and aim for which God has done this magnificent
work of what we have begun to entitle the unbelievable gospel. This indescribable act on the
part of God to give His Son as a substitute for sinners that
they should be made so right with God that they stand on the
same grounds as Jesus Christ Himself. That unbelievable message
of redemption and salvation and standing of grace on the part
of God to sinners to justify them freely by his grace. Some
people apparently don't understand the purpose of it. And as such,
they draw wrong conclusions as to the meaning of things like
grace, the meaning of things like liberty, even the meaning
of things like justification or even law, which is the arduous
work that Paul is going to deal with in chapters six through
chapters eight, that men and women are to understand that
God justifies his people for a purpose. And that purpose must
be comprehended. He also warns us in the counterpart
to Romans chapter eight, verse 15 is in first Corinthians 15,
22. 1 Corinthians 15, 22, and we've been talking about this
over the last couple of weeks as we've been dealing with federal
headship, is this. In Adam, all what? But in Christ, all shall what?
Be made alive. Ladies and gentlemen, those two
statements, which are attached to one another, are parallel
courses, parallel journeys, parallel roads that lead to two destinies. to ultimate and eternal destinies
which have their origin in the mind of God before the world
began in his eternal decree to have a people for himself for
all eternity and to allow masses of men and women who reject his
gospel to perish under the wrath of God. Do you see the line in
those verses? In Adam all die. That's an inexorable
truth that cannot be changed. In Adam, all die. In Christ, all shall be made
alive. That proposition started in eternity
past and it will culminate in eternity future with those who
will perish under the wrath of God in hell and others who will
experience the bliss of glory in heaven. The question that
we will have to address is who are you in? Are you in Adam? Or are you in Christ? Because
this is the basis for the eternal destiny of every man of which
this is where the apostle largely is going to help you and me and
those for whom he has targeted his conversation. This theme
that the apostle is addressing in Romans 6 that leads to this
two-pronged consideration will be the full development that
he will have in chapter 6. And in chapter 6, he will help
us to understand what it means to be justified freely by his
grace. And in fact, the question that
is emerging in Romans chapter 6 verse 1 goes like this. What
shall we say then, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Now I've already told you that
often when Paul is developing his argument and presenting his
case and dealing with certain people as to explaining the gospel,
he is one of those very acute teachers who knows his audience.
If you're gonna be a good teacher, you better know your audience.
Even if you know your doctrine but do not know your audience,
you will not make an impact on your audience if you don't know
how your audience thinks. If you don't know the mentality,
or the background, or the culture, or the mindset, or the tendencies
of your audience, you can set forth truth and it can be accurate,
but because you are not targeting their contextual thoughts and
their contextual behavior, you may very well be speaking over
their heads. So again, because you and I are
not living in 1st century Rome, we don't know why Paul would
open up in chapter 6 verse 1 with this statement. What shall we
say then? Well, what he's doing is giving a conclusion to his
argument. And then he says, well, are we going to say, shall we
sin that grace may abound? Now, it would seem like if we
don't have a context in which that statement is given, that
Paul is running off on a tangent. But he's not. He's addressing
a real issue that was occurring back then. And it's a real issue
that occurs today, of which I want to simply lay a foundation and
a framework around our discussion. Again, what he is teaching is
very clearly laid out in his last verse of chapter 6 and you
have heard this verse before but I want this to be forced
into your thinking as part of 1st Corinthians 15 22 Which we've
just heard right in Adam all what in Christ all shall what? Romans 6 23 says for the wages
of sin is what I But the gift of god is what eternal life how
through jesus christ our lord Do you see the connection between
this verse first corinthians chapter 15 22? And I tell you
that paul's thoughts are clear. They are cogent. They are comprehensive
He knows where he's going and he knows to whom he is speaking
and you and I want to get these axioms in our soul because we
want to make sure that in terms of this great blessing of being
the children of the living God under the auspices of His free
grace and partakers of this gift of justification. And by the
way, let me just allude to verse 23. It's gorgeous. If I can use
that about a Bible verse. It's gorgeous. The wages of sin
is death. That first line has to do with
law. It has to do with consequences
of sin. It has to do with a man or a woman being rewarded for
their rebellion against God. The last line says, but the gift
of God, which makes a radical distinction between those who
go to hell and those who go to heaven. For those who go to hell,
they are being rewarded according to their works. For those who
go to heaven, they are being bestowed upon by a grace of God
of which they did not deserve called a gift. A gift. Heaven bound sinners are men
and women who are gifted to heaven. You don't get there by something
you do. You get there by something he
did. I addressed this last night in our men's meeting where people
often develop illogical syllogisms to some of these paradoxical
statements. People in our present church
age, because we live so very selfishly and so very narcissistically
and are bent on sort of our own autonomy, would argue with God
because He predestines some to eternal salvation. I'm not arguing
with God for anything that He does. What I know about God is
that he's right and he's right in whatever he does and if he
has chosen There you go. If he has chosen to predestine
some to eternal life. I'm good with that But don't
make the argument that therefore because he has predestined some
to eternal life that he also therefore predestined some to
eternal damnation that would be a faulty syllogism You and
I must be rooted and grounded in the Word of God. Romans 6
23 clarifies that. We go to hell for our sins, not
because God didn't choose us, not because God didn't predestine
us, but because we rebelled against his law and in rebellion against
his law, the wages of sin is what? And if we are in Adam one,
we are going to hell. The only way a sinner makes it
to heaven is by the grace and gift and mercy of God. And what
I love about Romans 5, as you and I've been dealing with the
two federal heads, in Adam all sin, in Christ all shall be made
alive, Adam brought condemnation, did he not? Christ brought justification. Adam brought judgment, did he
not? Christ brought life. Adam brought the wrath of God
down upon the whole human race. Christ brought, watch this now,
the gift. of the grace of free justification
to sinners by his work alone. These two paths, while parallel,
are radically distinct, are they not? One is a full-fledged gift. The other one is the consequence
of our own sinful doing. And it's important for us to
work it through now because there's a category of people who are
listening to Paul, they're tracking with him, They're tracking with
him in the Roman church. They're following him and they
have just been gloriously informed about the excellency of Jesus
Christ, watch this, over and through and by the law of God. And they have come to understand,
whoa, you mean people can be saved? Eternally saved apart
from works? If that's the case, the question
is raised, then what's the purpose of keeping the law? Doesn't that
make sense? Yes, it does. It's the most logical
question that proceeds from what we call the outrageous gift of
justification. It makes all the sense in the
world if you are a person who can think through what the propositions
of the gospel are in terms of how God can save sinners. How
God can save sinners freely by his grace who are nothing but
rebels. Hill-bound rebels, disobedient, gangsting, hostile to God. And
then when you see the manner in which he does it, he simply
freely bestows upon them a work that his son accomplished for
them, and they don't get to claim any of it on the basis of what
they've done. That conclusion draws out the
question that we are forced to contemplate in Romans chapter
six, verse one, wherein now I must have you and I to think it through. What his auditors are asking,
as they think through the outrageous claims of verse 21 of Romans
chapter 5, which says, in Romans chapter 5 verse 21, let me start
back at verse 20, moreover the law entered that the offense
might abound. But where sin abounded, what? Grace did much more abound. This
is Paul's argument about the two paths. The path of Adam 1,
the path of the last Adam. In the path of Adam 1, sin abounds. In the path of the last Adam,
grace doth much more abound. And we're going to be able to
demonstrate that here historically in a moment. But the auditors
are listening to him going, wait a minute, this is an amazing
concept that leads to certain conclusions that we're not so
ready to embrace. Verse 21, that as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness,
and that is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, leading to eternal
life through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is upon these two verses that
verse one of chapter six now is considered. What shall we
say to these things? We're in a world filled with
sin. The whole human race rebels against God, lives like hell.
God still is saving the people for himself. to the eternal praise
of his grace, who are going to enjoy the blisses of heaven for
all eternity. It appears like God still wins.
What shall we say then to that? And the apostle says, I know
where you're going, so let me raise the question. Shall we
sin since grace abounds? Now, I want you to stay with
me, ladies and gentlemen, you guys are smart people and on some
days you're honest. I want you to be honest today.
I want you to be honest today, because we're getting ready to
deal with some truth that's going to hit you smack between your
eyes. Is it true that Christians actually say, if not in word,
deeds? Let us sin that grace may abound. I'm going to hit you square between
your eyes. See, because I've heard the arguments by theologians,
I've heard the arguments by pastors, both contemporary and dead. God
forbid we don't ever talk like that. We don't ever act like
that. Christians never position themselves
to actually sin against God and then kind of hope the grace is
going to come through. And I ask the question, what sinners do
you know? What Christians do you know? Because the Christians
I know do it frequently. Actually, I'm going to deal with
that in one of our points. But I want to nail you to the
wall today and find out where you stand with the doctrine of
grace and the area of justification. Does the fact that you feel as
if God has justified you and saved you and put away all your
sins. Don't we love that? Don't we love those doctrines?
God has cast our sins behind his back into the sea of forgetfulness
as the east is far away from the west. So far has God removed
our transgression from us. We go to shouting hallelujah
and jumping and thanking God. And we ought to. We ought to. But what does it lead to in terms
of your attitude and your conduct for so freely a grace that has
been laid out to you? Let me ask the question again
before I move into my points, because I know where Paul is
going. And unfortunately, because we are an expository Bible teaching
church, you are at least stuck for one hour right now to have
to face the scriptures. And after you leave, you don't
ever have to open your Bibles again. See, a Bible based Christian,
a Bible based Christian is forced to listen to his God explain
to us how sinful we are. And so To whom is the apostle
Paul addressing in verse one of chapter six, which is also
again in verse seven of chapter six. Look at verse seven of chapter
six. I'm sorry, not verse seven, but verse 14. I'm sorry, that's not the one
that I want. Let me leave that alone for a moment. I'll catch
up with it again. He's addressing the issue of
the question. Verse 15, that's it. Chapter
16, verse 15. Listen to it. What then? Here
he is raising the question again. What then? Shall we sin because
we are not under the law, but under grace? Now, I'm not going
to even respond for Paul or with Paul right now, because he uses
the radical and emphatic negative when he says, God forbid. But
that's not what I hear from most Christians. I don't hear most
Christians saying, God forbid. Now, the question is valid, is
it not? Is this a valid question? Can we talk about this a little
bit today? All right, the title of my message is this. The liberty
of grace. That is, the true grace of God
in Jesus Christ leads only to life in Jesus Christ and nowhere
else. The liberty of grace, that is
the true grace of God, what the Bible plainly teaches about who
God is and what Christ did and its merits to his people, the
liberty of true grace leads nowhere else but to life in Jesus Christ. Now you and I have to ask the
question, do we have and know the true grace of God? Because
the true grace of God is going to lead you somewhere. And according
to my proposition, which I'm ready to defend, it leads only
to one place, Christ and life in Jesus Christ. So you and I
are going to benefit over the next several weeks as we have
to go through the tough Terse terrain of these statements various
technical statements that Paul is laying out in the scriptures
in their design Once again, let me remind you as I deal with
my first point. They're designed to help you inform you Teach
you as to which path are you on? Are you on the path of Adam
one? Which is the path of the flesh?
We talked about that this morning It's the path of law. It's the
path of works. It's the path of self versus
the path of grace and justification based on the merits of Christ
and being in Christ. That's the whole issue right
now. That's the whole issue. So my first point is this, the
people from whom the question proceeds, and that is, shall
we sin that grace may abound, are the Jews. are the Jews. Remember I told you there are
two categories of people in his audience in the Roman church,
right? Jews and what? Gentiles. Get this into your
head. This is going to help you too.
Every epistle in the New Testament that's written is written to
churches. And in those churches, they were
almost always a conglomerate of two categories of people,
Jews and Gentiles. And where Paul knew that the
Jews were there, he would often make sure in his dissertation
that he would address their thinking because Jews had a biblical worldview
different than the pagans. And as we have already seen in
the book of Romans, as Paul opened up his treaties on the gospel
in Romans 1 and 2, he quickly turned to his Jewish brethren
and said, now you who call yourself a Jew, and boast in God and rest
in the law. Now he takes chapter two and
runs all the way through chapters three, verse 25 to deal with
the thinking of the Jews. You remember that? Well, now,
as he lays out justification through the federal headship
of Jesus Christ, which excludes any of us who are believers from
anything that Jesus did, but rather imputed it to us freely,
he is now going to talk to his Jewish brethren who know the
law about a question that was emerging in their mind as he
was triumphantly setting forth Christ. And this law would emerge
in our minds, if not in an explicit way, by inference. If the grace
of God has demonstrated itself so powerful in the history of
the church, and I'm going to show you that it has, what's
the purpose of keeping the law? If the grace of God is so absolutely
indomitable to save God's people, even though they're hell-bound
sinners and we mess up all the time, why not just sin since
for those who are God's people, grace is going to rescue us?
Isn't that a good thought? It's a valid thought and it's
a right thought when you understand that justification actually puts
you in that kind of standing. When you properly understand
justification, here's what you know. You are absolutely and
totally free of any kind of condemnation whatsoever. See, it's the radical
freedom that comes out of justification that forces us to ask the question,
what do we do now? It's the radical freedom that
comes out of a biblical justification that informs the sinner that
God has paid the debt, the prison door is open, you're free to
go. It's the radical freedom of justification that asks the
question. Now that you're out of prison, some of my brothers
will get the analogy, the rest of you won't. Now that you're
out of prison, what are you going to do? You're out now. This is the biblical doctrine
of liberty. That's Romans 6, verse 7. For he that has died
to sin is free. Look at Romans 6 verse 7. It's
very clear. For he that is dead is freed
from what? The Apostle Paul setting forth
there is a very clear argument of the total freedom of the believer
because of his relationship to Jesus Christ. So I want to stay
right there as we get ready to develop our points. I'm going
to run through these fairly quickly because I'm just building a framework
for today. Then we have to get into the
technicalities of the text. And they are forcing Christian
men and women to be honest with God and work through the arguments
that are there. Our first point then, as we stated,
dealing with three things under its category is the people from
whom the question proceeds are first the Jews who only knew
law as the grounds of their justification. Just imagine people growing up
under a system of theology that said you are saved by your obedience
to the law. Just imagine that for a moment.
Imagine the people who have had the glory of God revealed to
them at Mount Sinai and a law given to them, a whole covenant
system with very meticulous and fastidious rules to keep. And
God continually said under that works covenant, if you obey,
you shall live. In fact, Leviticus 18.5 says,
the man that continue within all things whatsoever the law
says shall live. but the man who doesn't will
be cursed. And some of you have remember reading Ezekiel chapter
18 where in the book of Ezekiel 18 verses 26 through 32 God is
dealing with his rebellious people once again saying this, if a
man sin all his days and then turn from his iniquity and then
start obeying God's law everything that he did wrong will be forgiven
His iniquities which he had committed in the past will not be imputed
to him. He will then stand righteous before God because he's put away
his sin and now he's doing the right thing. And then in that
same text it says, but the man who has lived all his days doing
the right things, going to church, reading his Bible, living for
the glory of God, but then one day wakes up saying, you know
what, I'm tired of reading my Bible. I'm tired of walking with
God. I'm tired of going to church.
I'm tired of pretending I'm going to just be me. Then what the law says, all of
his righteousnesses that he had performed all those days while
he was in church will not be remembered. He will die in his
iniquity. That's the way God frames the
argument, because remember, the objective for God with the Old
Testament church was to bridle them in with the law to lead
them somewhere. He was not giving them room while
as yet they were haughty and self-righteous and independent
and strong in themselves to be able to claim God's grace. Because
grace is really only for humble, dependent, broken, needy, desperate
sinners. But think about the law being
impressed upon your thinking like that, which tells you, you
got to work, work, work if you're going to obtain God's righteousness.
And then you hear Paul with this revolutionary gospel, this scandalous
message of freedom by the grace of God, the free gift of the
grace of justification by somebody else's obedience. And then that
merits for you not only the forgiveness of your sins, but eternal life
to wit. Just one thing to have your sins
forgiven, And then you have to work out your salvation from
that day forward, hoping that you never sin again. You know
you're a goner if you do that. But then to have eternal life
given to you, guaranteeing that you're going to glory, on no
grounds of anything that you have to do. Isn't that a wonderful
message? You better suck that in. I hope
you're not that brain dead. Get it? Free grace is absolutely
astonishing to me. The challenge comes in, what
then is the purpose of God liberating me? See, because justification
is the grounds of liberation. That's why we heard it in the
Old Testament. We heard it. God told Moses to go tell Pharaoh,
let my people go. That's liberation. But they couldn't
get out until God killed all the idols, put the blood on the
doorposts, and opened up the Red Sea. All of that is symbolic
of the death of Jesus Christ and the impact of the gospel
opening your eyes to idolatry? Opening your eyes to the need
of a judgment and substitute for your sins and opening your
eyes to the water the waters of baptism Which leads you out
into a relationship with God you guys see that all of that's
gospel to those people It's all gospel by the time God said let's
go They had heard God preach the gospel for a year with power
destroying all the idols in the land They backed up and said
man. This is an awesome God. Look, what are you doing? Oh
This God coming in and delivering us out of our bondage and he's
actually doing it now. They're walking out Here they
are in the wilderness free That's where we are now. So now what
do we do? Here's my point God has a purpose
for letting you out of prison and you better get in on that
purpose Because if you miss the purpose you might still really
be in prison And so under our first point, the Jews who only
knew the law as their grounds of justification are the ones
to whom they're talking. And they raised the question,
what purpose then was the law? See, the question was raised
by the Jews in Galatians chapter 3, verse 19. You don't have to
go there, but Paul writing to the Galatians is dealing with
that too. Because in the book of Galatians, what does he set
forth? Justification by faith alone in Christ alone apart from
words. saying to Abraham, in your seed
shall all the Gentiles of the earth be blessed. And then here
come the Jews. Well, then what did Moses have to do with anything?
What did the law have to do with anything? And in verse nine of
Galatians chapter three, what Paul says, well, the law was
plopped down on the Jews because of sin to reign them in until
Jesus came. It was to restrain them. until
Jesus came. That's what Galatians 3 19 says. And remember what Jesus said
in Matthew chapter 5 verse 17? Because I want to make sure this
point gets in to your thinking. Matthew 5 17. Jesus is speaking
on the Sermon on the Mount, and he is clearly aware of the thinking
of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees and of the leaders of the church.
And he knows in their mind, they are thinking that he's an antinomian,
an individual that despises the law, because he's calling sinners
to himself. And here's what he says, do not
think that I am come to do what? Destroy the law. And I want you
to get that too. See, if your theology of grace
is deficient, it will amount to you believing that the law
of God is destroyed. He gives the conclusion at the
end, however, do not think that I am come to destroy the law
or the prophets. I am not come to destroy them,
but to what? The operative word for you is
the word fulfill. The area of learning that you
want to embrace is the area of fulfillment. What does it mean
that Jesus has fulfilled the law for us? And how does it relate
to us in relationship to our walk with Christ, right? Because
if you and I somehow think, here's the thinking that I hear with
Christians, I'm done with the law. It has absolutely no application
in my life whatsoever. I'm free from the law. God's
not going to judge me based upon law anymore. And the implication
is that there is no kind of moral standard, no set of axioms or
principles by which we operate in relationship with God. For
a person to think that is for them to fail to understand what
the new covenant promises. What is that, pastor? You are
no longer under the law, but the law is in your heart. by
the Spirit of the living God who has taken that stony heart
out, put in a heart of flesh, and wrote his laws on your hearts
and mind. And not only his law, but himself
is in the heart, as it were, exciting the truth of God in
order for you and him to have a relationship by which you follow
him in communion and obedience. Am I making some sense? It's
very important for you to get this because that's where we're
going in our outline. So under the first point, the
people from whom the question arises are the people themselves
who are struggling with, well, what do I do now that I'm throwing
away the law? And they've properly obtained
a right conclusion, which moves us to point number two. And I'll
quickly go through this as we have already begun to consider
it. A right conclusion that leads to the question. The question
that came in verse one is, shall we sin that grace may abound?
chapter 5 verse 21 tells us that grace will abound and the reason
why that that question is raised are threefold first a radical
justification of which I've just talked to you about a radical
justification being freely justified by the merits of Jesus. One verse
to pop up is Galatians 2.16. Pull that up. I want the saints
to see it, although you've heard it before. Is this not radically
good news? Galatians 2.16. Knowing that
a man is not justified by the what of the law? The works of
the law. But by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed
in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of
the law shall no flesh be what? You guys believe that, don't
you? You guys trust that. Go with me now to Acts chapter
13, around verse 39. I want you to see one more glorious
liberation of this doctrine. Acts 13, 38. Watch this, start
at back 38. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man, this man is Jesus,
through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.
The forgiveness of sins are only obtained by Jesus Christ. Verse 39. Here it is. And by
him, that is Christ, all that believe are justified. Will you
watch this last line? From all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. Isn't that good?
It's absolutely fabulous. When you and I think about justification,
it gives us such a joy in our soul. that the whole of God's
law is both satisfied and there's no room of condemnation or the
imputation of our sins again. That's what justification means.
You are just as righteous as Christ is, a great, great, great
doctrinal truth that merits our rejoicing. Point number B in
our second point, a right conclusion that leads to the question, because
of a radical justification which liberates us from the yoke of
the law, and because we have in the scriptures an historic
argument for it. And the reason why I say historic
argument for it is when you read your Bible, and we suggest to
people who are going to be serious about the gospel, read your Bible
a lot. You know, God talks a little bit, right? Read your Bible a
lot. And if you read your Bible carefully,
the two-pronged principle of law and grace of works and faith
of Adam one and the last Adam run all the way through the scriptures.
When you read your Bible with what we call bifocals, the bifocals
of the gospel, see one focal, unifocal, all you're going to
see is the law. All you're going to see is the flesh. All you're
going to see is works. All you're going to see are human
beings. You're not going to see Jesus.
It takes the second set of eyes to see Jesus. See, but when you
see Jesus in the scriptures, what you see is sin abounding
and then grace much more abounding. In Genesis chapter 3, Adam and
Eve sinned. Chapters 3 verses 1 through 8.
By the time we get to chapter 3 verse 19, they've been clothed
in the righteousness of God in Christ from the neck down, blood
has been shed, and they are now on their way. God has forgiven
them, God has cleansed them, and he has given them their evangelical
purpose. And then we go to chapter six,
where the human race in Adam are still clowning. Well, we're
not surprised because in Adam, what? All died. And so by the
time we get to chapter six, the whole world is living in abject
rebellion against God. Well, what is God going to do?
Because the wages of sin is what? Death. God's going to judge the
sons of Adam. But don't fear because in the
midst of him judging the sons of Adam, guess what he's doing?
Causing grace to abound. What does he do? He picks up
one family called the family of Noah, of whom the text says,
and Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, right? So where
sin abounded, what? Grace did much more abound. All
right, we get on down the line. We can get to Abraham. We can
go all the way down to Moses in the days of the children of
Israel. Their rebelliousness is massive. And God should have
destroyed them over and over and over again. But as Isaiah
put it, except the Lord had saved a remnant. Except we had been
like Sodom and Gomorrah if God hadn't saved a remnant of sinners.
This is what you see running all the way through the Scriptures.
Law and grace. The free work of Jesus Christ
and the justification of his people on the merits of what
he's done over against The condemnation of the law and that's this is
going to help you keep your bible balance as you read it In the
old testament particularly, but it's true in the new too. You
see a lot of god's judgment, don't you? Because judgment is
an aspect of god's glory God's a holy god And he must punish
sin Now child of god if you're going to have a right relationship
with your god, you got to own that attribute of god You can't
simply go around telling people god loves everybody And God's
never angry with anyone anymore. You have no Bible verse for that
anywhere. He's still angry with the wicked
every day. He still hates all workers of
iniquity. That's a Bible verse. It's still
true that the wages of sin is death. It's still true that the
soul that sinneth, it shall die. It's still true there's a day
wherein God will judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom he's raised from the dead. It's still true that it is appointed
unto men once to die. And after this is just still
true, even though grace is true, it's still true. These are the
two beams. Do you guys get that clearly? The two pathways as
Proverbs says, there's a way that seems right unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of what that's probably 1625. But in Proverbs chapter 15, around
verse 27, you know what it says? The way of the righteous is above.
that they might escape from hell below. Isn't that good? The path
of those who do things that seem right in their own eyes is death. That's Proverbs 16, 25. I want
you to get that now because I want you to struggle with what God
is calling you to struggle with. A determination as to whether
or not you know what grace is. Proverbs 16 25 there's a way
that seems right on to a man But the end there are of are
certainly the ways of death now watch Proverbs 15 verse 24 Proverbs
15 24 here it is It's very very clear the way of life Is what
stop right there what that means is it's in Christ see the New
Testament commentary to that is Colossians chapter 3 verse
1 and 2 and If then you be risen with Christ, seek those things
that are above where Christ is. The way of life is above where
Christ is. So when you meet people that
say they have life, the question is, do they demonstrate an affection
for Jesus on the highest level? Do they get their ethic from
heaven or from the earth? Are they living out of a position
of being seated with Jesus Christ in heavenly places in him so
that your life down here reflects your relationship with him up
there? Am I making some sense? This is very, very important.
The way of life is above to the wise that he might depart from
hell beneath. I love this because I can go
back to the eternal counsel of God, the eternal decree of God,
because this proposition tells me that God had prepared eternal
life for me. Jesus Christ before the world
began in order to help me escape hell See, this is a free grace
verse here that shows me my election in Christ my predestination in
Christ my security in Christ because God loved me with an
everlasting love he placed me in Christ in Order that I might
obtain eternal life. That's the way we frame it when
we preach the gospel see you don't get into Christ by something
you do you get into Christ by something he did and And you
were placed in Christ, not in time, but in eternity. Are you
hearing what I'm saying? God had already provided a plan
by which the people that he would have for himself were already
set on a course of eternal life because they were part of the
last Adam, the second man from heaven, not the first Adam. Profound
doctrine around the whole principle of federal headship, is it not?
The whole principle of federal headship is that your daddy is
responsible for your destiny. I like that. Don't you? We've been learning that as we've
been dealing with paterology in our men's theology class,
teaching the proper characteristics and attributes of God, the Godhead.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. And the
Bible says that fathers ought to provide for their children,
not the children for their parents. Now you young people don't take
that too literally. But it's still true to a certain
extent. And if God the Father hadn't provided for us, a way
of escape, we'd be in hell because we're all rebellious sons. Is
that true? And so this path that I'm talking
about, I want you to contemplate with me for several weeks because
you want to know whether or not you have a proper understanding
of justification. And you want to know whether
or not you are walking the course of life that justification demands,
or are you deceived by a false grace? I don't want you deceived
by a false grace. Is that okay? So under that first
point again, or that second point that we're dealing with, we'll
move quickly through it. A right conclusion that leads
to the question, such a radical justification leads to our freedom. There's a historical argument
for it. We've just established that. And then, The unqualified
promise of success one more time isaiah chapter 54 verse 17. This
ought to excite you again Here's what god says about his people
who have to make it through this world In the heat of conflict
in the heat of persecution in the heat of temptation And all
that is stuff that we have to face. Is that not true? Just
because you you came to know the lord jesus christ. Your trouble
is not over with Some of us, our troubles began when we came
to know Christ. It started getting worse. Is
that true? Well, Isaiah 54, 17 is the father
telling you he knew it. The father said, now I knew you
were going to have more trouble when I brought you to myself,
but I want you to know it's going to work out all right. Here it
is. No weapon that is what? Formed against you. Stop. Lord,
Why don't you just clear out all my enemies so I can have
a free course to glory? This first line says that God's
letting you out of prison, but you've got all kinds of weapons
aimed at you. Do you know what that means?
You're going to have to depend upon the same God to let you
out to get you to glory. This is amazing. The weapons
that are formed against you shall not prosper. and every tongue
that shall rise against you in judgment, you shall condemn. As joyful and as triumphant as
those statements are, the inherent inference is that you've got
to fight every day against adversaries, both without and within. The
adversaries of the world, the adversaries of the devil, and
the adversaries of your own flesh. Am I making some sense? And so
he closes out, this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.
It's the heritage of the servants of the Lord, not professors,
possessors. And their righteousness is of
me. Do you see it? This is what God says. You can
accuse them, you can condemn them, you can persecute them,
you can kill them, but they are mine. and their righteousness
is from me. And when the smoke clears, they
will stand before me justified on the last day, no matter what
you say and no matter what you do. Do you guys see that? Do you see that? Stay with me
for a moment now. Stay with me for a moment. Therefore, with
this kind of outrageous grace of a God who justifies you the
way he does, how are you going to make it to glory? How are
you getting there? Because you're out now, you are
free. What is your course of life from
the time of justification to glory going to look like? And
what will be your argument for the choices that you make? Will
they be biblical? Will they be rooted in the knowledge
of God? Or will you choose your own course? Someone raised the
question, pastor, how can we tell if we are operating out
of the true grace of God versus the false grace? How can we tell
whether or not we are trying to do this thing by our own good
works, or are we really operating by that grace which God gives
us in Jesus Christ? Here's how you can answer. I'm
going to answer that for you right quick, and we'll go to our last two
points. You can tell whether or not you are operating on the
true grace of God versus a false grace, and that false grace has
two prongs, legalism and license, of which we're going to be addressing.
False grace will tell you you get to God by keeping the law. But also there's a false grace
that will tell you that you're so free to do whatever you want
to, you don't have to do anything, you're fine, you're headed to
glory. Your salvation is sealed. That particular conclusion, the
last one, is what we call a carnal Christian doctrine, where you
basically accepted Jesus, you got your card in your pocket,
and you're good to go to heaven. You're still living like hell.
You're still living like hell. You have absolutely no walk with
God, but you go to church every now and then. But because you
got baptized or because you said the sinner's prayer or went through
some religious mode, now you think you're free to go. And
most of the time, Christians aren't even able to challenge
that proposition because virtually everybody accepts that, don't
they? Oh, he's a Christian, she's a Christian. Why? Because they
said so. you're Christian because you
said so. Not because of the evidence within and the fruits of justification
and the work of God subsequent to justify you, but simply because
you said you are a Christian. The false grace doctrine can
be underscored this way. If you are in control of your
life, you do not know what justification by faith is. amounts to this. Do you run your
life or does God run your life? Whether you are a legalist and
trying to get right with God by good works going to church,
which is still self-effort, or whether you are a rank heathen
out there running the streets, living like hell, absorbed in
a narcissistic lifestyle, telling men and women you love Jesus,
you're still at the helm of the wheel. You're still controlling
your destiny. You're still making choices every
day about your life. You're not giving your life to
Jesus and saying, Lord, you bought me, you own me, tell me what
to do. Listen, that's how you can know
you're under the true grace of God versus a false grace. Did
I help you right there? It's very simple to understand
now you and I have to simply work through it Let me go on
then to my third point so that we can begin to wrap up today's
thoughts third point the scandalous truth is The scandalous truth
is that some will abuse this freedom The scandalous truth
is this There will be some people who will abuse the doctrine of
justification by grace. And my observation after 30 years
plus, 35 years of being a Christian in Western Christianity, 21st
century and 20th century, there are a lot of people who abuse
this doctrine. And I can demonstrate that my
observation of people who say they are Christians, but abuse
the doctrine of the grace of God in Christ, by the Scriptures.
But I want to establish three fundamental arguments before
I deal with point two and point three. First of all, let me say
this. To sin that grace may abound
is theologically impossible. To sin that grace may abound
is theologically impossible. That's what we're going to demonstrate
when we work through Romans carefully. that the man or the woman who
thinks that they can actually be justified by Christ's death,
then can walk out of prison and do whatever they want to, is
theologically impossible. That's the first argument I raised.
Secondly, for the person who actually just lives their life
any way they want to, regardless of what God has called you to
as a redeemed child of God, spiritually destructive I'm gonna demonstrate
that as we go through the book see Paul's argument is if you
walk in the flesh if you live in the flesh you're gonna die
are you guys following me if you live in the flesh you are
going to die now so Ladies and gentlemen, those of you who are
serious about your walk with God and you meet people and you
know people with whom you have real concerns about their behavior
and conduct, and you understand the scriptures, you're not blinded
by some syrupy interpretation of scripture, please understand
that the fruits of death always work in the life of those who
live after the flesh. the fruits of death. These are
inviolable principles. They're going to work themselves
out. It's not possible for you to wake up every day, make your
own choices and decisions as to what you're going to do. And
they amount to you simply living your own goals, your own plans,
your own agenda. It's going to be death. It's
just going to be death. It's going to be the subtle death
of no fellowship with God, a diminishing interest in the word of God,
and ignorance of the gospel of God and a powerlessness to serve
God. You're going to gradually diminish
in your aspiration for the things of God. And ultimately, the only
kind of fruit you're going to have are the fruits of death. That's why to be carnally minded
is death. I'm telling you what Paul is
laying out as a warning for those who misunderstand justification.
Are you guys following me? Very good. I'm so thankful that
you are, because I actually want you to escape this massive delusion
that multitudes of people are under, that they can live any
kind of way they want and it won't have consequences. It will. It will. So there are three things
that we're going to be dealing with over the next several weeks.
Theologically, it's impossible. Spiritually, it's destructive.
But factually, it's true and evident. What are you saying,
Pastor, as I said it before? I used to hear theologians, some
dead and some living, who would say, Christians don't live like
that. And I say, Christians do live
like that. No Christians I know live like
that, they would say. And I say, well, you must not
be around a lot of Christians. I'm around a lot of Christians.
They would say, well, you don't see any justification for that.
I say, it's all in the Bible. It's all in the Bible. Every
time a Christian in the Bible, whether Old Testament or New
Testament, chose a course of operating in the flesh, death
was the consequence. Am I telling the truth? Every
time a believer chose a path of flesh, death was the consequence. I mean, we have rejoiced in the
imputation of Christ's righteousness and the justification of King
David, but David walked in the flesh largely, and death followed
him everywhere. His house was tore up. And even
before he heard those glorious words by Nathan, your sins are
pardoned. God said, but when I'm getting
ready to do what you did in secret, I'm doing publicly. I'm going
to take all your women and lay them out on the housetop. All
the women that shouldn't have been your wives because you were
operating in the flesh. I'm going to have your sons rape
them in the public just because you thought you could sin that
grace may abound. Because you thought you could
take another man's wife and enter into her and despise my name
I'm gonna show you that I'm holy even with my elect and Your children
will suffer the law of God Are you hearing me and David held
his feet because he knew God was right and what he was doing
David didn't argue with God. He didn't say God, but I'm under
grace. I Said yeah, I just forgot I forgave you for you. You're
not going to hell. I But you're going to suffer for living contrary
to my name. In these verses that I'm sharing
with you, we will work through them technically in the book
of Romans 6 and 7 so that you understand that these are not
cherry-picking analogies or anecdotes that I'm giving you. I'm sharing
with you the two courses of which Paul is saying. If you live after
the flesh, you will see no fruit unto God. If you walk in the
Spirit, there will then be the evidence of God's grace operating
in the life of free men and women who love God and are wanting
to serve God. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Very important for you to capture that concept. So under the scandalous
truth is that some will abuse this freedom while it's theologically
impossible, while it's spiritually destructive. It's factually true
and evident. And the warning is in every epistle. How many of you guys know your
Bibles real well? Don't raise your hand. I like a rhetorical
question. So now, is this not true? You can't read anywhere in the
epistles of Paul or of John or of Jude or of James where they
do not warn Christians to live right before God. You can't read
it anywhere. So the assumption is that we
naturally live right as Christians is a flawed assumption based
upon no evidence whatsoever. Paul put so much labor into warning
the church at Corinth. They have this faulty doctrine.
You know what kind of doctrine they have? They have the doctrine
that all things were lawful to them. They could do whatever
they wanted to. Paul heard that in the wind.
He said, no wonder your church all jacked up. With that kind
of doctrine, anything is lawful. There's no way for you and I
to be born again, regenerated minds, minds that think God's
thoughts after them and assume that anything we do is lawful.
Even while we are not under law. So what Paul said in 1 Corinthians
chapter 7 was, all things are lawful to me, but all things
are not profitable. And I'm not going to let anything
bring me into bondage but Jesus. Now that's a great ethic. That's
a great ethic. It's in that same chapter where
he says, what? Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of
the living God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Why then
would you yield your bodies to fornication as a harlot? He dealing
with a church that thought it was cool to sleep around, commit
a fornication and adultery. One cat was sitting right up
front. This is not you guys, I'm just pointing, okay. One
cat sitting up front with his father's wife. See, this is what happens when
you have a false grace doctrine that does not understand the
purpose of justification. And you're under the notion that
you're free to sin. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? Am I being clear right now? Because I want you to be
blessed by this because I want you to escape the judgment that's
falling upon a lot of people who are willing, who are not
willing to go deep in God's word and get right with God. Because
there's a lot of people who don't want to be right with God. They
want to be saved. but they don't want to be right.
So the warnings are in 1 Corinthians 7, 12, Galatians 6, 13 through
16, Titus 1, 16. You know what Titus said? Paul
told Titus, now I need you to get over to the island of Crete,
man, because those cats on Crete, they love partying. They love
getting drunk. They love getting high. They
love fighting. They love arguing. Sound like
folks from Oakland and San Francisco, don't it? Right. And they all
go to church. Watch this. They all go to church.
He says, Titus, I need you to get over there and establish
elders in those churches. Now he's not getting rid of the
church. He's not getting rid of the church, but he's going
to bring government into the church. Are you hearing me? Stay
with me for a moment. Stay with me. He's getting ready
to bring government into the church so that the church can
be the kind of church that weed out, weed out people who are
not serious about God. And watch this now. The elders
are not going to do it. The gospel is going to do it.
The gospel is going to separate the wheat from the tares, the
chaff from the wheat. The gospel is going to drive
people away who are not serious about the glory of God. So Titus
chapter 1 verse 1 says this, before we look at verse 16. Titus
chapter 1 verse 1 says this. Here's what it says. I know I
jumped on you Deb, I'm sorry. But I want verse 1. Paul, a servant
of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith
of God's what? All right, so now I want you
to mark this. When he says the faith of God's
elect, he's talking about the qualitative nature, the qualitative
nature of saving faith. Because you and I know that in
our churches today, all kind of folks have all kind of ideas
about faith. This statement is going to address
the quality and character of faith it pertains to God's elect
God's elect do not have a faith that amounts to all things are
lawful to me let us sin that grace may abound I'm free to
do whatever I want the faith of God's elect watch this it
acknowledges the truth do you get that Oh, that's good. The
faith of God's elect acknowledges the truth. See, that's inherent
in the DNA of the faith of God's elect. See, when God saved you,
one of the things you were remarkably surprised about, if you're really
saved, is that truth now was right to you. See, before you
were saved, you didn't like truth. You avoided it. You shunned it. You ran from it. You suppressed
it. You distorted it. But once you were born again,
truth makes so much sense. You delight in truth. That's
one of the evidences of the true faith of God, the faith of God's
elect. Are you following me so far? Watch this. So not only
do we come to church because we want to hear the truth, but
we want that truth to impact our life. The end result of truth
penetrating the soul is a life of godliness. Do you see it?
Do you see? The faith of God's elect acknowledges
the truth of the gospel, which power inherent in the gospel
changes our life. It puts us on a trajectory of
godliness. You got that? Mark it down. Now look at verse
16. These are the folks that's actually in the church. This
is Paul's insignia of what he does in preaching the gospel.
But in the church, they profess that they know God. Do you see
it? You hardly go anywhere. where
people don't profess to know God. And almost all your churches,
they say, I know God, don't they? You're not gonna meet Christians
who don't say they know God. But in works, they what? Deny
God. There it is. See, they deny him. So there's a faulty grace that
says, I know God, but the lifestyle denies it. You got to sit down. Now, this is not passages. I've
been hearing these people after the sermon. They come to me and
say, Pastor, you say it. I said, no, I didn't say the
scripture said this. The book said it. No, Pastor
did not hear, you know, you did not hear me say you heard me
quote. They profess that they know God,
but in worse, they deny him being abominable and disobedient. Watch this. And unto every good
work, what? That's a bad place to be. That's
a bad... When God looks at your conduct
and says you are a reprobate, you are in bad shape. You're
in bad shape. In bad shape. The burden of our message is
to let you and I know that the liberty that grace produces only
leads to life in Christ. And there is a qualitative nature
to that life that you and I want to affirm. Is that not true? We want to affirm that. So under,
again, the scandalous truth is that some will abuse this freedom,
is that the apostle warns in every epistle. And my final point
for the argument that is theologically impossible, spiritually destructive,
is that the tree is known by its fruit. Now I want you to
hear how our Lord said this in Luke's gospel chapter 7 verse
43 through 45. Now Luke in Luke's gospel as
it is in Matthew's gospel as well the Lord Jesus Christ is
speaking to the rulers and at this point he's a little frustrated
with them because he knows as he's preaching to them they're
not receiving his words. So in Luke's Gospel, chapter
7, verse 43, he begins to lay down what we would call an axiomatic
truth. And I want you to see the logic
here. I'm almost done. He says, Simon... You're in the
wrong verse there. Let me see which one is that.
Maybe it's Luke 6, 43. That's a good verse too. That's not
the one I want. Luke chapter 6, 43 and 44. Yeah, Luke chapter
6. Here it is. Now watch this. He
says, for a good tree does not bring forth corrupt fruit. Do
you see that? Neither doth a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit. Now, when he gives that analogy,
he's giving that analogy in the face of the hypocrisy of the
Pharisees and the Sadducees. And what he's telling you and
me is that every seed bearing herb bears fruit of its own kind.
And that you and I don't have the freedom to put together,
conflate an ideology that says, I am born of the good seed of
the gospel, but can bear bad fruit. That that is impossible,
incongruent, it's wrong. So you and I need to let the
law of every seed-bearing herb bearing its own fruit have its
way. So he says, a good tree does
not bring forth corrupt fruit, neither does a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit. Watch the next verse. For every
tree is known by its what? Now ladies and gentlemen, this
is going to be the truth on Judgment Day. On Judgment Day it's fruit
that's going to be examined. Do you understand that? For of thorns men do not gather
figs, nor of bramble bushes do they gather grapes. This is incongruent.
So it's argument around, shall we sin that grace may abound,
is theologically impossible, spiritually destructive, even
though it's fatally true. What doctrine is Jesus teaching
here in Luke chapter 7 verse 43 through 45 when he teaches
about the fruit of a tree? It's the doctrine of union. The
doctrine of union. What he's teaching is, if you
are in the tree of life, which is Jesus Christ, you cannot be
but good fruit. But if you're still in the tree
of Adam 1, the only fruit that can be born is bad fruit. See,
we're still going back to the core of the issue, are we not?
We're starting back with the fundamentals. In Adam all what?
In Christ all shall be what? The wages of sin is what? But
the gift of God is what? See, and so you can judge everything
by its fruit. And when you judge it by its
fruit, you can determine its origin. Do you think that Jesus
Christ would have a body of believers who are the direct product of
union with Christ? that would be bearing the fruits
that underscore the claims that we are addressing? Let us sin
that grace may abound. I'm free from the law to do whatever
I want to do. I can live like hell and I'm still going to glory.
That would be incongruent with the analogy of the union between
Christ and the church, would it not? So here's my last point.
I'm going to close it here. Time is up. When you and I go
through the book of Romans, he's going to give us two large analogies. Two large analogies, because
he understands you and I are Americans. We survive only on
soundbites. We can't handle long dissertations.
Unfortunately, that's what you get when you come to me. Two
major analogies you guys are going to be dealing with, for
which he's going to demonstrate is spiritually or theologically
impossible for you to sin, that grace may abound. The first major
analogy is going to be baptism. Romans 6 is about the analogy
of baptism. Know ye not, as many of us as
were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death. Are
you hearing me? And he's going to work through
the analogy of baptism. And the next major analogy that
he's going to work through in Romans 7 is the analogy of marriage. Now, both of those doctrines
teach union. Because when a man comes to Christ,
when a woman comes to Christ, they are united with Christ and
then they die with Christ. And then they rise with Christ,
do they not? And when you enter into the marriage
debate, that's Romans 7, 1-5, Paul says it there in Romans
7, verse 1, I'm talking to you who know the law, that a man
and a woman are married, and that woman is married to that
man as long as the law says. As long as he's alive, she's
remaining married to him. But if he dies, she's free to
marry another. Now marriage is a doctrine of
union. And what Paul is going to teach
us and what the Word of God is going to explain to us is that
when Christ saved you by his work of justification, he didn't
set you free to just run the world by yourself. He brought
you into union with him. And that union is designed to
bring forth a kind of fruit that affirms your justification. Are
you guys hearing what I'm saying? And I want you to see the aim.
I'm done here. I want you to see the aim. I
thank you for your patience. Watch what Romans chapter 7 verses
1 through 5 says. Romans 7, 1 through 5. Mark it
with me now. We're not developing an argument
for whether or not people can get divorced. That's a whole
other subject. He's using it as an analogy. Here it is. And
I want you to see the aim in verse 4. No, you're not brethren
for I speak to them that know the law how that the law hath
dominion over a man as long as he lives For the woman which
hath and husband is bound by the law to her husband so long
as he lives, but if he be dead She is loose from the law of
her husband see verse 2. That's an analogy of justification
by faith in Christ We were bound by the law But when Christ died
on Calvary Street, we were liberated by that law through the death
of Christ. But we are now not just a woman running around doing
whatever she wants to do. She was liberated from her first
husband, Adam, which would send her to hell so that she might
be married to another, even Jesus Christ. And in being married
to Christ, The aim and objective and goal is fruit unto the glory
of God. Listen to the language. Verse
3, So then, if while her husband lives she be married to another,
she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though
she be married to another. See, do you understand? Freedom
does not disassociate you with union. You are still bound to
somebody. If you call yourself a Christian,
you're bound to Christ. And here's the aim and objective
of it. I'll close here. Wherefore, my brethren, you are
also become what? That's Paul's argument in Romans
6, verses 1, 2, and 3. You are dead. That's the reason
why you can't sin. Because you're dead. That's the reason why you can't
sin. You're dead with Christ. I know
I'm blasting all of your reference points right now. I got folks
all over the church saying, Pastor, what you talking about? Can't
sin. I've always said it. Not dead. You have to follow the logic
of the argument. This is what you have to think
as Christians. And if you don't, you will have a false grace. By faith, I died with Christ
2,000 years ago. And by the work of the Spirit
of God, I died in Christ when he brought the gospel to me in
power. And by the work of the Spirit of God, he raised me again
from the dead, so I walk in newness of life. I have ever since I've
been born again. There is a part of me that is
factually and judicially dead to the law. It's also dead to
sin by the body of Christ. And now as a child of God in
union with Jesus Christ, when I came up out of that water,
my life was not a lie. And as some of you are going
to be baptized in several weeks, we're going to plunge you in.
And when we plunge you in, you're going to be saying to the world,
you are in union with Jesus and you are in union with Jesus in
his death. And when we put you in the water,
you're going to be telling the whole world you died. with Christ
to the sin that you were bound to in Adam. And when we raise
you up out of that water and that water drips down off your
body, you're going to be saying to the whole church, hallelujah,
I'm a new creature in Christ. Old things have passed away.
Behold, all things have become new. Now I am living with Christ. Now I am living by Christ. Now
I am living for Christ, because that's the purpose for which
he saved my wretched soul. that he might bring me into union
with him so that he could bring forth fruit in my life because
I'm married to him now. Am I making some sense, saints?
I'm married to him now. All right, I'm done.