Sixth Sunday after Easter (A)
May 5, 2002
Groping After God
Acts 17, 22-21
Through the ages, people have invested great amounts of energy in trying to prove, or disprove, the existence of God. Paul seems to understand that this is really not the most important question. We all live in some kind of a relationship with that which is beyond us. Whether or not we know it, whether or not we know or choose to call that to which we are related "God," we all live in some kind of a basic relationship that amounts to a relationship with God. The really important question is, "What is God like?" The answer we discover, or choose, for that question will shape our lives.
It would be hard to over estimate the importance of Athens as an intellectual and cultural center in the ancient world. Its influence is still with us. But when Paul spoke to the sophisticated intellectual leaders of the city, he started with the assumption that they were already "very religious people." Picture him standing before a gathering of philosophers on an open terrace somewhere on the slopes of Mars Hill, with the Acropolis, the Parthenon, and the cluster of other shrines, above them and the market place and the seaport below. He began by referring to the shrine dedicated to an unknown God. Then he told them about the God who was made known through Jesus Christ.
I. Do you know yourself as one who lives in a relationship with God?
Quite honestly, some will answer, "No." If we look for the near end of a relationship with a God who is a particular separate person who lives in heaven, some of us will have to say that we have no real experience of that.
But look rather at that bigger relationship, that most basic of all relationships that is your relationship with life. Look at those experiences that you are referring to when you say things like: "Life has been good to me" or "Life can be tough." Can you visualize God as one who is present and interacting with you everywhere that life touches you, either from without or from within? Can you visualize God as that greater reality "... in whom we live and move and have our being?"
II. If you have a consciousness of God, do you know what God is like?
Again, some will answer, "No." Even some, who are familiar with the Christian teachings about God may never have thought of those teachings as having to do with that awesome greater reality that we bump up against every day in life.
Some of us experience God as a mysterious other, like a presence we are aware of in the darkness -- or maybe like one with whom we are dancing or wrestling -- in the darkness, one whose actions impact our lives but whose face we cannot see.
Many of us do indeed "grope after God" in the hope of finding Him and knowing Him.
III. Paul tells us that God can be known through Jesus Christ.
Realizing who God is will immediately require us to enlarge our concept of God. We can no longer think of God in terms of the little images we have created in our own likeness to justify certain things about ourselves or as a manageable little genie whom we can bribe through our practices of piety to make him do what we want done.
The God who is God is one who created all things and who gives us life. Knowing that we live daily in relationship with such a God will give each day of our lives a dimension of reverent awe.
But God has also made Himself known to us in our daily lives as one who loves us and is at work every day to save us unto wholeness and fullness of life.
In one of his own favorite hymns, "Come O Thou Traveler Unknown," Charles Wesley described himself as one who, like Jacob, wrestled with God in the darkness. He knew well that someone was there, but he didn't know who. His great question was, "Tell me thy name." At last he receives his answer, and it changes everything. "Tis love. Tis love. Thou diedst for me.... Thy nature and thy name is love."
What difference could it make in your life to know that the awesome other who relates to you in every moment of your life is one who loves you" (Jim Killen)
Ascension Sunday (A)
May 12, 2002
Ever Present, Always Happening
Acts 1:6-14
It seems that we Christians are always either preoccupied with thoughts about the end of time or forgetting about it all together. Recently, twenty-eight million people have read fictional novels based on one particular interpretation of the book of Revelation. That, combined with some cataclysmic events in our history, have provoked another time of preoccupation.
It may be that the disciples were suffering from a similar preoccupation when they came to the day of the ascension. When they saw the risen Christ for the last time, they asked, "Is this the time?" He said, "It is not for you to know the time." Maybe He was saying, "Forget about that. I have something important for you to do." Then He gave them a promise, "You shall receive power ..." and a mission, "You shall be my witnesses ..." and He was taken up out of their sight.
Two angels standing there said, in effect, "Don't just stand there gazing into heaven. Jesus will come again when the time is right. Now you have something important to do."
The things that happened next helped the disciples to put many things, including their concern about the last days, into perspective. Maybe they can do that for us too. They returned to the upper room where they could recover their memories of Jesus.
In the upper room, the disciples must have remembered Jesus feeding them and washing their feet and praying for them and saying to them things like, "I will always be with you. Abide in your relationship with Me. Love one another. If you love Me, keep My commandments. Now I am sending you into the world as the Father sent Me, to do His work" Understanding must have finally come. Understanding of the meaning of the ascension must finally have come also.
The ascension meant that Jesus went to be with God. We tend to visualize Jesus sitting beside God the Father in some distant Heaven. But God is really everywhere -- and so is Jesus. God and Jesus are always right here with us in every moment of our lives and in every day of human history, not just watching, but actively involved in what is going on.
On the day of Pentecost, the disciples became even more aware of God's active involvement in their lives.
Yes, God is moving our lives and our history toward some future fulfillment. But, in a real sense, Jesus comes into our lives every day, always offering us the possibility of fullness of life, always calling us to commit ourselves to the loving work that God is doing in our world, always enabling us to do what He calls us to do.
The future is in the hands of God. But the living God who was made known to us through the life of Jesus Christ is ever present. And the saving work of God is always happening.
What can all of that mean to us?
We can know that the coming "day of the Lord" is not just a catastrophe that is about to overtake us. It is a saving work that is always breaking in upon us, bringing new possibilities for us and for our world.
Instead of sinking into a fatalistic attitude that casts us in the role of helpless victims in a history controlled by evil powers, we can see ourselves as decisive participants in the work of a loving God who will ultimately be victorious.
The book of Revelation, far from being something meant to scare us, is a book meant to give hope and encouragement.
Let us not stand gazing into the heavens, either trembling in fear or despairing, wondering about the end times. Let us rather claim the promise of a living God who is ever present and whose saving work is always happening, and we should live daily in decisive service to God's purpose, confident of the victory. (Jim Killen)
Pentecost Sunday (A)
May 19, 2002
Daybreak
John 20:19-23
It was now evening of the most incredible day that any of them had ever experienced. Huddled behind locked doors, Jesus' disciples might understandably have felt like disembodied actors in a tragedy called "City of Insomniacs." But as night fell on a third day of sequestration, their emotional exhaustion was being replaced by unexpected energy and excitement.
"Is it true? Could it be?," they wondered aloud while puzzling over the day's events. The resurrection report of the women at dawn had piqued the concern and curiosity of Peter and John, prompting them to take an early morning run to the tomb. The men discovered, just as the women described, that the tomb was empty. Then there was Mary Magdalene's bold claim that she had actually talked to the Risen Lord, and that He had sent her to tell them that He was alive.
Now, late afternoon brought word from Cleopas that he and another disciple had also encountered the Risen Lord on the way to Emmaus. "But is it really true?" they wondered.
Anxious and fearful, with adrenaline flowing, the disciples' query was suddenly quelled. The Risen Lord came and stood among His disciples giving them, and giving each of us, His peace, His purpose, and His power.
"Peace be with you!" (v. 19). In extending His peace (eirene, meaning "wholeness, well-being") Christ offers both the peace of God and peace with God. First, the Risen Lord shares the peace of God through His words of reassurance, not rebuke; words of compassion, not condemnation. He then demonstrates how peace with God has been made by showing His wounds which are identifying marks of the suffering He endured and the salvation He has secured for all who believe and receive Him as Savior and Lord (v. 20). At this, the disciples are overjoyed.
"... A am sending you" (v. 21). Along with this new peace comes a new purpose. Just as God the Father sent His Son into the world, the Risen Christ now calls and commissions His disciples to go into all the world with the Good News. Just as Jesus did not remain in the glory of heaven and minister from afar, but humbled Himself and became a servant, so He calls us to grow to know and love those we seek to serve and witness to in His name.
However, John R. W. Stott observes that many Christians defer Christ's call. Stott notes, "Sometimes we are like people who shout advice to drowning persons from the safety of the seashore. We do not dive in to rescue them. We are afraid of getting wet." That first Easter night the Risen Christ called His disciples, past and present, to dive in and get wet. Their new purpose, and ours, must be to mirror the Incarnation, involved, in-person mission and ministry of Christ Himself.
"Receive the Holy Spirit" (v.22). Gifted with the Lord's peace and given His purpose, the disciples are now granted the power to proclaim the Good News of salvation and the forgiveness of sin through faith in Christ alone (v. 23). Interestingly, just as God the Father breathed life into Adam at the time of creation (Gen. 2:7), God the Son breathes the new life and power of God the Holy Spirit into His disciples on this night of new creation and new commissioning.
Medical experts report that premature infants often struggle with underdeveloped lungs. In one study, neonatal intensive care physicians found that filling the lungs of critically-ill premature infants with oxygen-rich liquid actually enabled babies to breathe. For the Lord's first disciples, and for us, we need the Spirit-rich breath of Christ to have life-giving power for His mission.
On that first Easter night the Spirit's power came by Christ's gentle breath, foreshadowing the mighty winds of the Spirit on Pentecost. On that first Easter night the Spirit's power enabled the disciples to unlock the doors, and to go forth boldly sharing the Savior's salvation without fear, foreshadowing the Spirit-filled lives of thousands on Pentecost.
Standing among them, the Risen Lord dispelled any doubt over "Is it true? Could it be?" That night He gave His disciples His peace, purpose, and power. They were overjoyed, for a new day had dawned. (Gary Bruland)
Trinity Sunday (A)
May 26, 2002
All Things Considered
Matthew 28:16-20
Excitement overcame exhaustion. Anticipation overtook anxiety. Given their rigorous 100K ultramarathon trek from Jerusalem to a mountainside in Galilee, we can hardly imagine the disciples' joy as they saw the Risen Lord on the distant horizon. Fueled by sheer exhilaration and determination, they variously sprinted and stumbled over winding trail and rocky path to fall before their Master in joyful, tearful worship.
Theirs was a flood of thoughts and feelings beyond words: "Christ is risen! The women were right! He is alive! There He stands, as real as my parched throat and my swollen, stone-bruised feet!" Yet, in the spirit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, some doubted (v. 17).
After Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address," a newspaper editor in Harrisburg was quite unimpressed. He opined, "We pass over the silly remarks of the President. For the credit of the nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion should be dropped over them."
Sometimes doubters stand in the presence of greatness and miss it. Such was the case for any doubting disciple(s) that day in Galilee.
In considering this Great Commission, we note four truths: First, Christ has been given all authority. Second, Christ calls us to go to all nations. Third, Christ commands us to teach all things. Fourth, Christ will be with us always.
"All authority in heaven and on earth" (v. 18). The Risen Lord states that He has been given all authority (exousia, meaning "divine authorization," "all ruling power"). John R.W. Stott calls the universal authority of Christ the basis of all Christian mission outreach. Given His victory over the evil one, Christ rules over all spiritual forces and powers in the heavenly realms. Given His victory over sin and death, Christ rules over all persons on earth who confess Him as Savior and Lord; and one day He will rule as the judge of all humankind. Stott notes, "Only because all authority on earth belongs to Christ dare we go to all nations. And only because all authority in heaven is His have we any hope of success."
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them" (v. 19). Now the Risen Lord sends His followers to make disciples of all nations (ethna, meaning "all humankind," "the whole world"). How? Through the preaching of God's Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Persons from all nations will turn from sin and turn to the Living Christ as Savior and Lord.
In obedience to the Great Commission, James Montgomery Boice writes, "If we are following Jesus, we will go to others for whom He died. But a disobedient church that does not evangelize, begins to dry up, or even die." Far from drying up, however, one evidence of evangelism and mission outreach, according to the Lord, is the celebration of baptism.
This outward and visible sign points to an inward and spiritual reality, and proclaims God's love for all baptized as Creator, Redeemer, and Counselor.
"Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (v. 20). Next the Risen Lord calls His disciples to teach all things (panta, meaning "completely," "fully," wholly") that He has commanded. This teaching (didasko, from which we derive the word "didactic") is to be based on the entire Word of God with the goal of making disciples (matheteuo, meaning "to disciple," "discipling" learners and apprentices).
Christ envisioned an ever-expanding number of disciples evangelizing and discipling new believers to obey His commands, and so carry out His Great Commission. Among the Lord's faithful disciples, John Wesley was one who inspired countless believers to obedient discipleship. Wesley proclaimed, "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can."
"And surely, I am with you always" (v. 20). The Risen Lord reached out to His beloved disciples who had journeyed with Him during three years of ministry, and had now just trekked 100K to gather with Him on that mountainside in Galilee. There He reminds His first disciples, and us, that He is always with us.
Seven centuries before Jesus' birth, Isaiah prophesied His coming as Immanuel (Mat. 1:23). Now, the Risen Lord Himself promises that He is with us. We have His never-ending presence and power as we seek to carry out His Great Commission. We are with Him together, forever. (Gary Bruland)
Proper 4 (A)
June 2, 2002
Just and the Justifier
Romans 3:21-31
The apostle leads up to our passage with a condemning statement: "... because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in [God's] sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin" (v. 20). There is no escaping the reality of God's wrath through the mustering up of good works. We stand condemned, and the Law of God points out our iniquity.
Martin Luther spent much of his life agonizing under the weight of this realization. He understood that God was righteous, and he was not. He knew there was no bridge of good works that he could possibly construct to cross the infinite chasm separating him from a just and holy God.
Let me emphasize that he was deathly accurate! And until his conversion, he bore the burden of that truth without realizing the good news -- God is also the justifier. After embracing the goodness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Luther would share: "As this truth dawned, I felt I was born again, and was entering in at the gates of paradise itself. There and then the whole face of scripture changed. Just as much as I had hated the phrase 'the righteousness of God,' I now loved it -- it seemed the sweetest and most joyous phrase ever written."1
I. Righteousness Apart from the Law (v.21)
In verse 21 we encounter: "But now ..." a phrase that sings peace to the anguished soul. "But now" points to a new era in redemptive history. In Christ the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law.
Like Luther, we are faced with the bitter reality that God is righteous, and we are not. And like Luther, we have the opportunity to cast off our burdens and lay them down at the feet of Jesus. Our justification is only possible in Him.
II. Righteousness without Distinction (vv. 22-24)
The text says "there is no distinction" (v. 22). ALL are in desperate need of justification. It doesn't matter what social class you're in, or what color you are, or what gender you are; "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"(v.23).
Justification comes by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus who bore the iniquity of the world and satisfied the requirement of justice for sin. There is no distinction as it relates to our depravity, and there is also no distinction as it relates to the free offer of justification. ALL who place there trust in Christ will be saved. What a blessed assurance for the tormented sinner!
III. Righteousness as a Demonstration (vv. 25-26)
Christ became a public display of the justifying power of a just God. Why did He do this? Primarily to demonstrate His righteousness -- that God is both just and the justifier. The chief end of the cross was the glory of God.
Secondarily, God graciously "passed over sins previously committed," and we who have placed our faith in Jesus benefit from His atoning sacrifice. This is a win/win situation. God is glorified, and we are justified.
Let us ponder the greatness and goodness of He who is both just and the justifier. And let us look deep into our souls and consider whether we are trying to earn righteousness and favor with God or are trusting Him for it. (Jonathan Kever)
1Mark Water, Compiler, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000) p. 890.
Proper 5 (A)
June 9, 2002
The Great Physician
Matthew 9:9-13
For those of us who placed our trust in Christ at an early age, it's sometimes difficult to recall just how great a miracle our salvation actually is. We quickly refer to those outside the fold as "those sinners," forgetting that it was only by the grace of God that there is any distinction between us and them.
It does our hearts a great good to ponder how close we were to, and how deserving we are of God's wrath. We were sick unto death -- eternal death -- and in desperate need of the Great Physician.
In his sermon entitled "A Man Named Matthew" Charles Spurgeon paints a picture of what it must've been like for Matthew as he paused to write our text today: "I can fancy him, with his pen in his hand, writing all the rest of this Gospel; but I can imagine that, when he came to this very personal passage, he laid the pen down a minute, and wiped his eyes. He was coming to a most memorable and pathetic incident in his own life, and he recorded it with tremulous emotion."
The Lord Jesus did not come into this world to heal the healthy but to call sinners -- sinners like you and I and the author of these verses, sinners with no where else to turn but to the mercy and grace and forgiveness of God.
I. Jesus Chooses Sinners (v. 9)
The first observation I'd like to make is that Jesus chooses sinners. Though tax-collecting may not strike contemporary hearers as a very scandalous and beguiling occupation, it was in Jesus day. Nobody likes a visit from the IRS, but these guys weren't just collecting what was due, they were adding their own personal tax and making themselves wealthy at the expense of others.
I can only imagine the shock on the face of Matthew when Jesus called him. He was someone the religious leaders in his community despised, yet this rabbi saw something of value in Matthew, and He called him to follow Him.
I think we often consider our sins, or the sins of someone else too big for God to forgive. How dare we make little of the power of God to forgive us and save us. Matthew didn't even give himself time to question Jesus or wallow in self-pity. The text says that he got up from his place of employment and left with Jesus.
II. Jesus Fellowships with Sinners (v. 10)
Matthew and his fellow tax-collectors didn't make the most popular list among the Jews. The Pharisees especially hated these guys. And for Jesus to be seen eating at their table was a most dishonorable thing in the eyes of the Pharisees.
Our Lord wasn't, and isn't, known to be concerned with external appearances. He always does what glorifies the Father, and spending time with sinners in need of a savior glorifies the Father.
We often turn our heads and scoff at the wickedness of those around us. I wonder ... if Jesus were here living among us today, where, and with whom would we find Him?
III. Jesus Heals Sinners (vv. 11-13)
When the Pharisees questioned the validity of Jesus' ministry, He answer: with His usual perfection. Jesus responds by questioning the teachers of the Law about the Law. This would have deeply insulted them.
Let me make it clear that Jesus wasn't declaring the Pharisees righteous with His question; He was simply pointing out what any teacher of the Law should have known -- it's not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.
Jesus came to heal sinners, to seek and save that which was lost. Those of us who have placed our trust in Christ should know better than any the truth of Jesus words. For we were once sick and have been made well. Let us spread the news with earnestness and great delight that the Great Physician is still choosing sinners; He's still fellowshipping with them, and He's still healing them. (Jonathan Kever)
Proper 6 (A)
June 16, 2002
How Sweet It Is! The Joy of Justification
Romans 5:1-8
John Wendel and his six sisters received a huge inheritance from their parents. They did all they could to keep their wealth for themselves. John went so far as to refuse to marry and convinced five of his sisters to do the same. They lived reclusively in the same house in New York City for 50 years. They never had a telephone, electricity, or an automobile. When the last sister died in 1931, the estate was worth more than $100,000,000 (that would be about 1.15 billion in today's dollars)! This sister had only one dress; she had made it herself and had worn it for 25 years!
Truly, wealth was wasted on the Wendels. They had it, but by refusing to use and enjoy their riches, they lived in self-imposed poverty. Many Christians are doing the same thing. They have received God's grace, but they continue to live as though life depended on merit. Consequently, there's not much joy in their lives, and not much visible difference between them and the spiritually impoverished.
In this passage, Paul encourages us to take stock of our situation. He wants us to count our spiritual cash so that we can maximize its use and our enjoyment of it. Being rich is no good if you don't know it. Paul points us to three aspects of our justification.
I. Peace with God (v.1)
Jonathan Edwards said, "You have offended [God] infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but His hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell last night; that you were suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up."
That sort of preaching is not popular, but it is absolutely biblical. We sinners can only reasonably expect one thing from God: His absolute wrath! BUT, "having been justified by faith, we have peace with God." In Christ, we can raise the white flag of surrender and find mercy and warm fellowship with God Himself.
II. Sure Standing (v.2a)
Allow me to paraphrase: Christ has also brought us into a position of favor in the eyes of God which is firmly and permanently established. The verbs in this sentence are in the perfect tense. Our introduction into grace has been accomplished. Our standing in grace has been fixed. This is intrinsic to the whole concept of grace. "Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus." When looking upon His redeemed people, God is always pleased -- not because they are good, but because they are a demonstration of His grace (see Eph. 1:5-6).
III. Persistent Optimism (vv.2b-5)
Our justification by faith also produces in us a confident expectation of future glory. Anyone who really understands the gospel can always exult in the future God has planned for us! Take a look at Ephesians 2:7. Our redemption will be the fireworks show of heaven, displaying "the surpassing riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."
Now, some might say that heaven is too distant to provide cause for exultation when life is hard. Not Paul. In fact, he claims that our exultation is only intensified under pressure. The Holy Spirit has put the loving character of Christ into us -- in our very hearts. In hard times, that character is refined and revealed in such a way that our hope is reassured, not disillusioned.
If all of this seems too good to be true, just remember where it all comes from. Jesus' death is our proof of grace (vv. 6-8). Eugene Peterson puts it like this, "God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to Him."
Passages like this make me wonder why we Christians aren't walking around with giddy grins on our faces all the time. The only explanation is that we are spiritual Wendels, either forgetting or ignoring the balance of our spiritual account. Go to Romans 5 and count your cash. (Doug Searle)
Proper 7 (A)
June 23, 2002
Can We Jump Back in the River Then?
Romans 6:1-11
"Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" According to Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, "The true preaching of the gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of this charge being brought against it. There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it ... to mean that ... you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace" (quoted in Swindoll, Grace Awakening, 41). Although there is a certain logic to the argument, it also has a fatal flaw, so Paul strikes swiftly to dispel it. "Don't be stupid!" is not a bad paraphrase of his opening shot.
I. We Died to Sin
To deal with this hypothetical objection, Paul continues to describe all that has taken place in a person's conversion. He wants the reader to adopt an accurate self-concept: you were not only justified, you were re-created. Baptism provides the outward picture of an inward reality. By the work of the Holy Spirit, you are so immersed into Christ, that you are a full participant in His death and resurrection. That makes a new way of living available to us - like Christ's, devoid of sin.
In fact, you are so united with Christ in the mind of God that your old sinner self was literally crucified with Christ. The whole purpose of that was to deliver you from the grip of sin, "that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin."
Don't let anyone tell you that you can't quit sinning. One way of describing the whole Christian life is by the progressive elimination of sin. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation," "created in Christ Jesus unto good works." That transformation is the point of our conversion.
In other words, God's grace is so great that it is able to justify, sanctify, and transform even the worst of sinners; that's what we mean when we say "grace abounds all the more."
II. Do Your Bookkeeping
The proper response to these facts is a paradigm shift: "consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Typically, we use the phrase "consider yourself to be" to talk about something that's not actually true, like "consider yourself one of us." That means, you're not really one of us, but go ahead and pretend you are. That is NOT the correct understanding of what Paul has written here.
The term he uses is a bookkeeping word for counting. Every month, you get a statement from your bank that tells you exactly how much money you have in your account. When you reconcile your records with the bank's, you are considering yourself to have a certain number of dollars in the bank. You are bringing your thinking in line with actual fact.
That is what you are to do with the reality of your conversion. The actual fact is you are dead to sin and alive to God because of your identification with Christ and with His death and resurrection. The commandment here is that you consistently bear that fact in mind. Your old relationship with sin is broken.
III. What Are You Thinking?
Imagine a young woman who had fallen through the ice while skating. Her husband, at great personal risk, dives into the cold water and rescues her. As they recover by the warm fire, she expresses her gratitude, and he replies, "My love for you is so great that no matter how deeply you sank, I would still have come into the river to save you."
Now imagine that young woman rising from her warm place by the fire and saying, "Well then, I shall jump back into the river and dive deeper this time, so that you can prove your love even more."
If we remember the true nature of sin, and that we are no longer bound to it, we recognize a new opportunity, not to sin that grace may abound, but to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do according to His good purpose." Why would you even think of engaging in the very thing you had to be rescued from? (Doug Searle)
Proper 8 (A)
June 30, 2002
Living in Freedom
Romans 6:11-23
Paul's letter to the Romans has rightly been called the Constitution of the Christian Faith. Martin Luther wrote, "This Epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament and the very purist Gospel, and is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is dealt with the more precious it becomes, and the better it tastes."
Having elaborated the basic nature of the gospel in chapters 1-5, the apostle begins in chapter 6 to outline the practical implications of the gospel for those who believe. In the first half of the chapter, we learned that because of our spiritual union with Christ, sin is utterly inconsistent with who we are. Building on that, we turn now to some guidelines for day to day living in freedom from sin.
I. Understand Your New Citizenship
The beginning point in progressively eliminating sin from our experience is to get our thinking straight. "We died to sin." John Murray wrote, "If we view sin as a realm or sphere, then the believer no longer lives in that realm or sphere. And just as it is true with reference to life in the sphere of this world that the person who has died, 'passed away, and lo, he was not; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found' (Ps. 37:36), so it is with the sphere of sin; the believer is no longer there because he has died to sin .... The believer died to sin once, and he has be translated to another realm" (The New International Commentary on the New Testament, 213).
Our passage repeatedly reminds us to keep this change in mind (vv. 11, 14, 17-18). The fact that sin is not our master is the basis of our resistance. "Therefore," Paul writes, "do not let sin reign."
II. Reporting for Duty
You will notice the repetition of an important phrase in this passage: "present yourselves." Since you are no longer a citizen of sin, you no longer have to show up for work at sin headquarters. Now you have a choice about where to report for duty. "Do not go on presenting [yourselves] to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead ... as instruments of righteousness."
The issue is availability. Since you are no longer a slave of sin, quit being available to sin. Instead, show up before God and make yourself available to do His work. Busy-ness in serving God is one of the keys to resisting sin's appeal. The old saying about idle hands is true.
III. Choose Life
Paul uses the rest of the chapter to draw a stark motivational contrast. When Christians show up for work at the sin office, they fall back into an unnecessary slavery to impurity, to lawlessness, to the very way of death. "What is the benefit?" Paul asks in verse 21, "The outcome of those things is death."
On the other hand, when you make yourself available to God, you are participating in the life Christ provided for you on the cross. "You derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life."
Now we come to that famous verse, Romans 6:23. This verse is most often applied evangelistically, but that's not really the context of Romans 6. Primarily it's a reminder to believers. The old sinning way is the old dying way. Don't go back there. Instead, because you are in Christ, you have an opportunity to experience day by day intimacy with the living God - eternal life. This decision is a no-brainer.
Where will you report for duty? (Doug Searle)
Sermon briefs in this issue provided by Jim Killen, Beaumont, TX; Gary Bruland, First Baptist Church, Howell, MI; Jonathan Kever, Preaching; Doug Searle, Community Bible Church, Nashville, TN.