Turn with me back to Romans chapter six. Romans six, look at verse, beginning with verse one. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein.

There was a woman in John 8, and she had been taken in the very act of adultery. If you remember that story. And at the end of that, our Lord looked at her and he said, where are thine accusers? And she said, none, Lord, none. And our Lord looked at her and he said, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.

Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? If you look back in Romans 5, just in the previous chapter, look at verse 19. Romans 5, just a few verses back, verse 19. We read, for as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That as sin reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Here we read where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And truly, there's no question about that, sin has abounded. It's abounded in human nature. It's all around. We are all, Scripture says this, we are all by nature the children of wrath. Sin's abounded in every individual. Each and every one of us. We read that all have sinned. and come short of the glory of God.

But listen, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. It greatly abounded. It abounded much more in the same nature being assumed by the Son of God, by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Scripture says this, the Word was made flesh. Almighty God was made flesh and He dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full, full of grace and truth.

Sin has abounded in all the powers and faculties of the soul. It's abounded in our understanding, in our will, in our affections. It's abounded in fallen man. But in regeneration, the making of a new man, the grace of God much more abounds. Isn't that so? Isn't that what Scripture says?

And you know, we don't have to look for too many examples in God's Word. We don't have to look far, but just listen to a few of these. Look with these with me this morning. Turn to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19. Look at verse one, Luke 19, verse one.

Consider this man Zacchaeus for just a moment. Luke 19, one, it says, Jesus entered and he passed through Jericho and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And Zacchaeus, he sought to see Jesus who he was. And he could not because of the press, because he was small of stature. He was little of stature. And he ran before, and he climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and he saw him. And he said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. For today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste and he came down. And he received him joyfully.

And when they saw it, Who's they? When the Pharisees, when they saw it, they didn't rejoice. They murmured. They murmured, saying that he was going to be guest with a man that is a sinner. Listen, Zacchaeus is a sinner. That's clear, isn't it? Publicans. Everybody in town knew this man was a sinner. Why else would they make that comment? Our Lord had went to be a guest in a man's house who was a sinner. Wouldn't we be delighted if he'd continue to do that? Publicans, they were tax collectors. They were described as men with infamous character. Sinners of the worst sort. They were often placed in the same category as murderers and thieves. The Pharisees, the self-righteous Pharisees, they believed it was unlawful to even talk to them, let alone have one come into your house, the Lord go into their house to eat or to drink with them.

And they said, they said, this man is going to be guessed with a man that's a sinner. That was true. There was nothing untrue about that statement. But listen, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. What was the impact of the grace of God on this man Zacchaeus? What did he do to his heart? What happened when the Lord was pleased to cross his path? What happened when salvation came to his house?

Look at verse 8. Zacchaeus stood and he said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore unto him fourfold." The Lord looked at him. He looked at Zacchaeus and he said, this day, this very day is salvation come. to this house for so much as he is a son of Abraham, where sin abounded, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

God's grace, his free, his sovereign grace, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. There was a Gadarene man. You remember the account of that Gadarene man? Turn to Mark chapter 5. Mark 5. Look at verse 1. Mark 5, verse 1. And they came over onto the other side of the sea into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, when our Lord was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit.

This man had his dwelling among the tombs. and no man could bind him. No, not with chains. He had often been bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him. And the fetters broke in pieces. Neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones.

Did sin abound in this man? Did sin abound in this Gadarene man? Listen again to his description. He dwelt in the tombs. Listen, that's where you find dead men, is in the tombs. That's a description of us. We're dead, dead in trespasses and sin. He couldn't be bound. He could not be bound, not with strong ropes, chains. He could not be bound. He plucked them asunder. This world tries to control men with the law. Self-righteousness does. It tries to bind a man. That's what false religion does, try to bind a man with the law. The law can't bind a man.

In Luke's account, it says of this man that he wore no clothes. He had no covering. We can follow that all the way back to the garden, can't we? Wasn't that Adam? Adam had nothing to cover him until the Lord was pleased to do so. Naked, no cover, where sin abounded.

But when we read on, it says, when he saw Jesus, when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ afar off, he ran. Some urgency there, he ran and he worshipped him. Look at verse 15. I'll skip a few verses here, but look at verse 15. After the Lord had called that evil spirit out of this man, they came to Jesus. And they see him that was possessed with the devil, was possessed with the devil, and had the legion. How is he now? seated, clothed, in his right mind. And the people, when they saw this, they didn't even, they didn't know how to react. Never seen anything like this. They were sore, afraid. Where sin abounded, grace, grace did much more abound.

Let me give you one more example in scriptures. Turn to Acts chapter 9. Acts 9. Acts 9. Verse 1, and Saul, Saul, and Saul was a religious, he was a religious man, but he was lost. Look, Acts 9 verse 1, Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and he desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, What would you have me to do?

This man was a sinner. He referred to himself as the chief, the chief of sinners. Look down to verse 11. The Lord speaks to one of his disciples, Ananias, and the Lord said to him, he said, arise and go into the street which is called straight and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he prayeth. And he hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight.

And Ananias answered, he said, Lord, I've heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on thy name. I believe what he's saying. Lord, you're sending me? You're sending me to preach to this man? This man that has the ability to cast me into prison?

Paul saw here, he knew he was a sinner. That had been revealed to him. The man the Lord sent to Paul to preach to him, he knew. He was a sinner. This man had done, he said, he's done much evil to thy saints. Ananias questioned the Lord. He questioned the Lord in sending him to preach to this fella.

Look at verse 15. The Lord said, go thy way. For he is a chosen vessel unto me. Ananias, think what you want. This man is mine. He's one of my sheep. You know, it's not up to us. It's not up to you and me to determine who the Lord is going to save and who the Lord's not going to save. Known unto God are all his ways.

John Newton, he wrote, he said, there's going to be, he said, three wonders, three wonders in heaven. He said, the first is this. He said, there are going to be many there that I never expected to see. And he said, second, he said, there's going to be many I'm going to miss. There's going to be many that I expected to see there that aren't. And fourth, he said, this is the greatest wonder of them all. to find myself there.

My friends, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

Now quickly, let's go to our text here in Romans 6, verse 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? This is a common objection by men to the free and sovereign grace of Almighty God in Christ. They say this, if you're justified by grace alone, if you're justified apart from any works, What would keep you from continuing in sin? If where our sin is the worst and our guilt is the greatest, God's grace still abounds in us and is glorified. Wouldn't that just cause us to sin more and more that the grace of God would be glorified? They say preaching the grace of God just encourages men to sin. Can you ever think of a time when you had to be encouraged to sin? We don't need any encouragement in that area, do we? Sin is not the cause of glorifying God's grace. There's nothing in sin that glorifies God. And if you doubt that, just look to the cross. Look at what God did to His only begotten Son when sin was found on Him. When the sins of his people were found on his son, God killed him. Our sin is what separates us from God. Scripture says, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. Sin is the cause of wrath and judgment. It's not the cause of grace, but God's been pleased to magnify His grace in the pardon of sinners.

It's not by the committing of sin that grace is glorified, but in the forgiveness of sin. Grace is glorified by putting a stop to the reign of sin. not by encouraging it. Grace enables a man to hate sin, to be done with sin rather than to love it and pursue it. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Look at Romans 6, look at verse 2. God forbid. That's pretty strong, isn't it? God forbid. Paul uses this expression 10 or 11 times in the New Testament. It's used to express shock and abhorrence to a thought like that.

God forbid. How shall we who are dead to sin continue to live in sin? The believer is said to be dead to sin. Now listen, we're not dead to its influence. Paul said, he said, the good that I would do, I don't, I don't do it. The evil which I would not, I still do it. Now if I do what I would not, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. We're not yet free from the presence of sin. David wrote that back in the Psalms. He said, I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is it's ever before me. We're not free from the effects of sin. Not on this earth. That's why we experience sorrow and sickness, pain and death. And the effects of sin will stay with us as long as we dwell on this earth. Our Lord taught his disciples, he teaches us to pray, forgive us of our sins, forgive us.

But the believer is free from the penalty of sin, free from the guilt of sin. Sin can no longer condemn us. Turn over to Romans chapter 8. Just a page. Romans chapter 8. Look at verse 33. Romans 8, 33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Sin's no longer the master that rules over us. Who rules over the Lord? Christ our Lord. We're dead to sin as a matter of life. Sin shouldn't be, we shouldn't look upon sin anymore as a friend, but rather as an enemy. How shall we, who have this attitude toward sin, continue to live in sin?

Persons are said to live in sin when they continually give themselves up to it, when they're bent upon it, when sin becomes their pleasure and their delight, when we no longer offer any resistance to it. Living in sin, trying to justify our sin, Contrary to the Word of God. That's contrary to the Spirit of God. Listen to these words from 1 John 2. It says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, that's not of the Father, but it is of this world.

Turn with me to one more passage of Scripture. First Peter. First Peter chapter two. 1 Peter 2, look beginning with verse 21. 1 Peter 2. Look at verse 21. For even here unto where you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps, who did no sin. Neither was God found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously.

Verse 24, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, Being what? Dead to sins. Should live under righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. Christ bore our sins in his body on the cross that we might be justified, that we might be pardoned. that we might be redeemed before God, and that we, being dead to this world, should live righteously and godly.

Shall we, shall we continue in sin? In Luke 15, Luke 15, it's commonly referred to as the account of the prodigal son. Remember that there was a man and he had two sons, had two boys. And the youngest one said to his father, he said, give me my inheritance. Give me what is mine. And he gathered up everything he had together and he took a journey. into a far country. And in that far country, he wasted his substance with riotous living. And he spent everything he had. Everything he had, everything his father had given him. And when that was all gone, there arose a great famine. And we read that he began to be in want.

So he went, he tried to fix this on his own. He went and he joined himself to a citizen of that country who sent him to feed swine, to feed pigs. And we read that no man gave to him. He went from having everything there in his father's house to having nothing. That's a picture of sin. That's a picture of our rebellion. And it's against someone in particular. That sin and rebellion was against the father. He'd sinned and rebelled against his father.

But in time, in time, Scripture says he came to himself. He came to himself. I was thinking about this driving down today. I can remember when maybe this has happened to you. Have you ever found yourself in like a yellow jackets nest? And it takes you a little bit of time to figure out what's going on. Maybe you get stung two or three times and all of a sudden you realize, I am in a terrible place that I need to be out of quickly. He came to himself. The Lord revealed that to him. And he arose. He didn't stay there any longer, did he? He arose and he came to his father. And when he was a great way off, Guess who's seen him all along? His father. His father saw him, and he had compassion. And he ran, and he fell on his neck, and he kissed him. And the son said, father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and I am no more worthy. I'm not worthy to be called a son.

The father didn't have any part of that, did he? He said, bring forth the best robe. And you put it on him. And you put a ring on his hand. You put shoes on his feet. And bring hither the fatted calf and kill it. and let us eat and let us be merry. For my son was dead, but no more. He was dead, yet he is alive again. He was lost, but now he's found. And they began to be merry. Can you imagine the rejoicing in that house? Again, again, it's not by me committing sin that his grace is glorified. Any more than that father in that parable was glorified when his son was out there wasting away his life with riotous spending his inheritance The grace of God is glorified when he puts a stop to the reign of sin, not by encouraging it.

Shall we, Romans 6 verse 1, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Shall we? God forbid, God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? I pray the Lord bless his word. Isaac, come lead us in a closing song.