Good morning. An interesting verse that we read
in a passage that I'm not focusing on, but in
the Matthew passage in verse 39, it says, 10
39 says, whoever finds his life will lose it
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find
it. There's a lot of interesting seeming contradictions
and it seems that this is one of the way God
likes to communicate is through these clever
and I think because they're seemingly contradictory
memorable things that sound like they mean one
thing but in truth as you dig into it it means
the opposite. We are not going to lose our lives
by losing our lives we're going to find our lives
by losing control over our lives and giving it
to him. And the reason I bring that up shall
become apparent in a moment because I want to
talk mainly today about the passage we read in
Romans 6. And I also at some point want to include
discussion of Psalm 86, which I think illustrates
largely the same point as the passage in Romans
6. Let's pray before we begin. Father, I thank
you for your word, and I pray that you will make
your message clear from your word. And I pray
this in the name of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit. Amen. It's important what we
are thinking about. It's important what we think
intentionally. And one of the things the Bible
tells us that we need to intentionally think
about is who we are as a result of the work of
Jesus. You are specifically supposed to consider
yourself to have the identity that Jesus has
purchased for you. You are not supposed to think
of yourself primarily in terms of the fact that
you disobey God. Primarily by the fact that you
are a sinner, but as a believer in Jesus, you
are commanded to think about yourself as righteous.
And that is something that Paul is going to tell
us. I find every time I drive here, we drive
largely the same path on the way to our church
on Sundays. And there's a place where the the
two paths diverge, and I should make sure to
be on 97 instead of on 332. And if I don't think
about it, as I did this morning, I had a huge
buffer of time, and I sat there thinking, I was
thinking about the sermon, and as I suddenly
looked up, I realized I was on the path to the
wrong church. And I thought, what a fitting thing.
The fact that what I really needed was to be
intentionally recognizing where I was going.
I should have been thinking about where I was
going. And Paul's going to say something very
similar. Where you are going is resurrection.
Where you are going is life. You may sin, but
you must think of yourself in terms of that resurrection.
We're going to see that. Have you ever wondered
how the psalmist speak so confidently about their
godliness? There's more than one psalmist. You
realize David, and Ethan, and Esraheit, and Solomon,
and Moses, and others that are unnamed. So the
psalmist speak confidently about their godliness.
We're familiar with Bible verses that teach us
that there is none righteous, no not one. and
that our righteousness is that of filthy rags.
But when we read the Psalms, the spirit -filled
authors who wrote the Psalms say things like
David says in Psalm 7 verse 8. Judge me, O Lord,
according to my righteousness and according to
the integrity that is in me. Psalm 18 verse 20,
we hear The Lord dealt with me according to my
righteousness, according to the cleanness of
my hands he has rewarded me. Is this the same
Bible that says that there is none righteous?
No, not one. That says in James, we all stumble
in many ways. That says, we all like sheep have
gone astray. Each of us has gone his own way.
Psalm 86, which I promised to mention here, says
something very similar. It says in verse 2, preserve
my life, for I am godly. Save your servant who
trusts in you, you are my God. There's confusion
for us in this because we have been taught theology
that tells us that we are definitely sinners,
and rightly so. But we also have confusion because
not just our thoughts not just our teaching but
because you live the experience of your life
you're though you look at yourself in the mirror
and you say I Know I don't even have to have
the Bible tell me to know that I'm a sinner.
I know that I'm a sinner and Yet here we are
in worship with a hymn book in the Psalter that
we are supposed not only to sing out of but also
to believe and to submit to because its words
are God's words and its thoughts are the truth
brought to us by the Holy Spirit. So we sing,
preserve me, preserve my life for I am godly.
And there are some keys in this passage that
help us with this. He calls on God to preserve
him because he is godly. Then he makes it clear
that he is a sinner in the same Psalm Under the
condition of God's grace mercy and forgiveness
verse 5 of Psalm 86 says for you Oh Lord are
good and forgiving. This is the condition. He's
saying preserve me for I'm godly But I will remind
you how this works God You Oh Lord are good and
forgiving Abounding in steadfast love to all
who call upon you Now, just so no one misunderstands,
the Bible calls on us to remind God of things.
God doesn't need to be reminded, but liturgically
God has designed us to call on God to remember
things. So we tell back to him, you are good
and forgiving, verse 15, but you, O Lord, are
a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
So the psalmist is not saying I am godly because
I am great It says I am godly because you are
forgiving and merciful and It also illustrates
the fact that the life of the singer who is first
the psalmist and then also us as we sing this
we say this The grace of God has changed us in
our hearts It isn't just a label that you're
godly, but His grace actually changes you. It
says in verse 12, I give thanks to you, O Lord
my God, with my whole heart. And I will glorify
your name forever. For great is your steadfast
love to me. You have delivered my soul from the
depths of Sheol. An interesting thing, an interesting
theme in this psalm is his identity of himself.
Four times in this psalm, the psalmist calls
himself the slave of God. In verse two, he says,
preserve my life for I am godly. Save your slave
who trusts in you. You are my God. In verse four,
gladden the soul of your slave for to you, O
Lord, do I lift up my soul. if you're reading
yours and it says servant yes it's the same word
there's no difference in hebrew between the word
servant slave sometimes our english says servant
sometimes it says slave it's the same word in
verse verse 16 it says it twice turn to me and
be gracious to me give your strength to your
slave the son of your maid servant the son of
your maid servant it amplifies that first i'm
a slave the son of a slave so the identity of
the singer is I your slave come to you with a
joyful heart Reminding you of your grace and
forgiveness and now declaring because of all
that Because you have said so I am godly and
because I am godly Answer me. That's a much surer
footing when you come to God in prayer Often
when you come to God in prayer after your sin
after your failures, in need of great power from
God's directing hand. What is the foundation
upon which you stand? What credit do you have
before Him to say these things? But the Bible
tells us because of His work, you do have the
credit to stand. It's not your work. It's not
your work, but you do own it. You didn't produce
it, but it is yours. So not only do you have
it, not only do you have the right to access
this credit, you have the responsibility to tell
yourself, this is what I have. Let's look over
at Romans 6. Romans 6 says to us, What shall
we say then are we to continue in sin that grace
may abound? By no means how can we? Pardon me.
I had one last thing I had meant to say about
this song this song David is saying I'm on the
run. I've got I need you to preserve my life
Physically, I'm in physical danger But in order
to pray for that he says you have saved my life
from shale already You've saved my life from
death through grace and forgiveness." So he says,
you have saved me spiritually, so therefore I
have grounds to enter before your throne and
say to you, please save my life physically. But
that makes it one of the patterns or motifs of
that Psalm to be life and death. So taking all
of that into account in Psalm 86, life and death,
slavery, the joyful heart. and the one who can
call himself godly even though he is actually
a sinner. All of those things show up in Romans
6. What shall we say then? Are we to continue
in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How
can we who have died to sin still live in it?
Do you not know that all of us who have been
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into
his death? We were buried therefore with him
by baptism into death in order that Just as Christ
was raised from the dead by the glory of the
father we too may walk in newness of life Your
baptism declares you own it you own his death
you own his life Verse 5 for if we have been
united with him in a death like his we shall
certainly be united with him in a resurrection
like his How was that done verse 6 says? We know
that our old self was crucified with him in Order
that the body of sin might be brought to nothing
so that we could no longer be enslaved to sin
For one who has died has been set free from sin
We're not talking here about labeling ourselves
You know a thing you hear at the gym when you
feel like you can't go and and someone's telling
you you got it You've got to get with it. You've
got to believe in the process. You need to take
it till you make it, right? You've got to try,
and then you'll get there. That is not what Paul
is telling us. He is not saying, I know you feel
like a sinner, but I want you to pretend you're
righteous until it takes hold. He is telling
you, I know you're a sinner, but because of the
forgiveness of Christ, you Righteous It is not
a label that is Handed to you through imagination
It is a label that was purchased for you at the
cost of the life of Jesus and It was guaranteed
for you through the power Of it in Romans 6 it
says he was raised from the dead by the glory
of the father That glory from the father is so
powerful. It raised Jesus from the dead that
power that same power that could You just imagine
if you see in a film or something when there's
a bomb that explodes You see the rings rippling
outward as everything is knocked over that power
emanating that could raise Jesus from the dead
It also that power raises you from the dead It
is not cheap. It is not fake. It is not pretend
You own the resurrection of Jesus and the same
glory of God that raised him from the dead Raises
you from the dead so you don't have the idea
of of asking God to Think about me as righteous,
please God But you have the firm standing to
stand before God and say answer me because I'm
godly because you've forgiven my sins continuing
continuing down we get closer and closer I'm
trying to get to verse 11 which is one of my
favorite verses in the Bible in verse 10 I'll
skip down to verse 10 for death the death he
died he died to sin once for all but the life
he lives he lives to God and it says in verse
11 and this you'll hear why I keep saying what
I'm saying so you also must consider you must
consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to
God in Christ Jesus you know that verse in Romans
4 that says that Abraham believed God and it
was counted to him as righteousness, and it's
quoting from Genesis. That same word that God
counted it to him as righteousness is the same
word he says here where he says you have to count
yourselves as dead to sin and alive to Christ.
So our theology, if it works at all, that we
are counted as righteous for faith means you
also have to count yourself that way. It means
giving credit, but as I have said already, it's
not a mere mark on a ledger. It is a mark that
was purchased. It came with a price and it has
value. It is not an imagination, but it is your
reality. About 15 years ago, I was... I was working
as a grocery vendor, as a sales representative.
And this was kind of at the beginning of that,
for me, the beginning of learning that job. We
were supposed to dress with a uniform shirt and
wear company logos and have identification badge
on to make sure they knew who you were. It said
who I was. It said who I worked for. But I was
new to the job and I didn't understand my position.
And I remember being in a Mars grocery store
on a Saturday morning and asking one of the cashiers
where the restroom was. And seeing my company
logo on my shirt, she knew I was a vendor and
she said to go up the stair, the long flight
of stairs to the secret second floor place in
the grocery store and across the staff break
room and to find the restroom on the other side.
I was so scared to go up there. I got to the
top of the stairs and I saw a warning, staff
only beyond this point. I thought, I don't work
for this grocery store. So you may not have trouble
obeying or disobeying signs. I'm sure some of
you don't. Ken, I'm looking at you. But at that
time, I was very nervous about getting caught
sneaking where I didn't belong or being questioned
about who I was. Now a few years later by comparison,
I had really learned my position and I knew where
I had a right to go and what I had a right to
access in the store. I felt like I owned the
stores I was in. I would go where I pleased and
I feared no one. Even though supposedly we were
to wear these badges telling our name, and who
we worked for. I didn't even wear my identification
badge for the last four years I worked for the
company because it was irritating to me and I
didn't need it. I knew who I was and I had a
right to be in all the parts of the store and
I belonged there and I needed to act confident
in that fact. People didn't question, this is
just a fact, people don't question you when you
walk confidently into a place. You can walk into
the back room of anywhere confidently and no
one will stop you. On the rare occasion that
someone does ask who I was, why I was in their
space, I would just tell them the truth. I work
for this vendor. I have product here. Now notice
I said if you are confident, you can get into
anywhere. But the confidence is not based on
self -determination. It's based on the fact of
who I was. I didn't have to pretend that I was
allowed, I had to recognize the truth about who
I was and that handed me the power that was already
mine. Romans tells us who we already are. We
have been unified with Jesus in his death. Are
we who died to sin still to live in it? It doesn't
say We who might appropriate the death of Jesus
somehow if we try hard enough. If you were baptized
into Christ, you've been included with him in
his death. One who has died has been set free
from sin. You must consider yourselves dead to
sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. It's really
important to recognize the teaching of the Bible
that the resurrection is not a mere metaphor
It's a frequent metaphor Hebrew says Abraham's
body was as good as dead, but he had Isaac Isaac
was sent to slaughter, but he was substituted
by the the ram Joseph was thrown into a pit and
called dead by his brothers, but then he was
brought back out to Potiphar's house. And then
he was put back down into Pharaoh's dungeon,
but then he was raised up to be the king. The
metaphors go on and on. This is just a few samples.
The resurrection metaphor happens a lot in the
Bible. Noah going to the death punishment of
the flood, only to come out again on the other
side. Shadrach in the fiery furnace. Daniel in
the lion's den. But all this is not in the Bible.
as a neat picture but rather because it is pointing
to the most important powerful thing the actual
physical death and the actual physical resurrection
of Jesus and that power provides us not only
with knowledge that we can access in a metaphorical
spiritual way But it provides us with the knowledge
that we are actually raised in the future Bodily
and we are raised presently spiritually you are
already dead to sin and alive to Christ if you
are a believer in Jesus if you have Repentant
and been baptized if you are then you know that
sign of baptism says you are dead and resurrected
So it's actually totally appropriate to tell
you that despite being a sinner, you must consider
yourselves as dead to sin and alive to Christ.
I want to say that the ideas in Romans can seem
very complex. Have you tried to read through
Romans? Have you tried to get your head around
Romans? I assume if you do, you will spend decades
doing it. If the ideas that Paul were teaching
were simple, it wouldn't have taken the brilliance
of Paul's 16 chapters to try to explain it to
us. It is crammed with information. Sometimes
we need to accept the fact of something before
we understand it. It's great to learn how a car
works. It's great to be able to fix a broken
car. It's great to be able to diagnose a troublesome
problem, a sound in your car before it gets to
the actual braking. It's great to be able to
describe its processes and its systems. But you
know what the most powerful interaction is you
can have with a car? Pick up the keys, get in
and drive it. And you can do that before... You
learn all the parts and mechanisms of the car,
and it doesn't prevent you from continuing to
learn the parts and mechanisms of the car after
you already drive it. But you can see that it
works, and you can get in and drive it now. And
I want you to pour over Romans, and I want you
to plumb the depths of the cave full of jewels
and to mine it for riches. But before you understand
all the pieces, the ways and the mechanisms of
how God has saved us I Want you to know that
you are saved I Want you to know that you are
not a slave to sin any longer Remember in psalm
86 we call ourselves God's slaves four times
and Romans 6 says the same thing After verse
11, it goes on to say, let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body. So this is the outworking.
If this is a fact, if this is a fact that you
are alive to Christ, then what is the conclusion?
What are the ways that you need to act because
of that? As my pastor growing up said, that was
the what, and here now is the so what. So what
if you are free from sin? Well, Paul says, let
not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to
make you obey its passions. Do not present your
members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness,
but present yourself to God as those who have
been brought from death to life, and your members
to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin
will have no dominion over you, since you are
not under law but under grace. What then are
we to sin because we are not under law but under
grace by no means? Do not know that if you present
yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves you are
slaves of the one whom you obey either to sin
Which leads to death or of obedience which leads
to righteousness? But thanks be to God That you
who were once slaves of sin have become obedient
from the heart To the standard of the teaching
to which you were committed and have been set
free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness
so while Paul gives us the instruction I Want
you to take this truth of your resurrection and
go out and sin no more Right I say as Jesus says
to the woman caught in adultery go and sin no
more Go live in freedom He goes on to say Act
in righteousness because you are already a slave
of righteousness He describes that whoever submits
to the master of one or submits to the master
of another is the slave either of sin or of Righteousness,
but he doesn't say the fact that you sin daily
Means you are a slave to sin he says you have
already passed from being a slave of sin and
you are already a slave of righteousness he says
you have submitted to God joyfully from the heart
the way that Psalm 86 says the same thing I worship
you with my whole heart do you notice that that
can happen at the same time that you can still
be a sinner so you can't say well not me I'm
not joyfully obedient to God from the heart because
I sin that's not the that's not the test The
test is not whether you sin, but whether you
worship God. I heard this as a good illustration
years ago, probably from Doug Wilson, that said
that consider a man and a fish. Both of them
can go in the water and both of them can go on
the land. But if you take a fish out of water,
it starts to panic and it longs to get thrown
back into the water. You can dive deep down under
the water, But you have to come up for air now
imagine you were a fish and a miracle has happened
and you've been turned into a man You could get
back in that water But you can't stay under it
and This is this is the difference there are
people who are unrighteous They are not godly
they do not know the Lord and they can obey some
laws of God outwardly But they are ruled by their
nature Now Christians, you too can sin. You too
can do things that are unrighteous, but that's
like returning to the water. You can't stay there
because your heart pulls you to repent. You know
inside you, I shouldn't have done that. I am
sorry. I want God's forgiveness. That is the
indication. You have to go back to... Back to
the land and breathe the water of the gospel
number be the water breathe the oxygen of the
gospel that says you are forgiven I I want to
I want to illustrate a Positivity to the idea
of the being a slave slave to God as a positive
thing That's what we are called to. And because
of that, I wanted to read a poem that I think
illustrates something of this. And it maybe is
a bit oblique to read this. But I thought of,
this is one of my favorite poems, is John Donne's
poem, The Bait. So you know how far we're walking.
It's just this one page here. And this is, this
is, old -timey language, but it's about a man
saying he's going fishing with the woman he loves,
and he's not gonna take nets and hooks and those
things, and he's not gonna need the sun or the
moon, because she'll provide the light and the
fish will swim right to her. He says, come live
with me and be my love, and we will some new
pleasures prove. of golden sands and crystal
brooks, with silken lines and silvery hooks.
There will the river whispering run, warmed by
thy eyes more than the sun. And there the enamored
fish will stay, begging themselves they may betray.
When thou wilt swim in that live bath, each fish
which every channel hath will amorously to thee
swim. Gladder to catch thee than thou him. If
thou be so seen be sloth, By sun or moon thou
darkenest them both. And if myself have leave
to see, I need not their light having thee. Let
others freeze with angling reeds, And cut their
legs with shells and weeds, Or treasurously poor
fish beset With strangling snare or windowy net.
Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest the bedded
fish in banks outrest of curious traders sleeve
silk flies Be which poor fishes wandering eyes
For thee thou needs no such deceit for thou thyself
art thine own bait The fish that is not catch
thereby alas is wiser far than I So The reason
I read this is I love the language and the cleverness
of saying I Want to take you fishing with me
to prove to you how? Wonderful you are because
every fish in that stream will swim Straight
to you longing to betray himself to you longing
to hand himself to you Because any fish that
could get away from you is smarter than me I
long to betray myself to you just the same. And
that funny play of words, that funny reversal,
I would betray myself to you, is to say I would
deliver myself by giving myself to you. The Bible
over and over uses phrases like this, where God
says that His law sets us free. The law of the
Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. It says,
but because I have followed your law, you have
set my heart free. I am bound by your law. I
am bound to be free. I want to access the life
of Christ and I will do it by knowing I am dead.
I am dead to sin. Want to be liberated from sin
so I will know that I am certainly a slave I
am a slave of Jesus and that language is distasteful
to us But the truth is if you knew the glory
of Jesus if you could see it you would long to
be his slave You would long to come to him and
say Whatever you say whatever you say Lord that
I will do. And the way that you can access the
love for him is recognizing what he did for you
out of love for you that has certainly put you
in a position to come before him and not only
say, please help me, you have made me godly.
And I long, because you have made me godly, I
long to be godly. So I have come to deliver myself
to you. let's pray father we would be your slaves
we would take on the death that you would include
us in and we thank you that you have already
done this for us as we are those who trust in
you you have given us new life instead of death
you have given us freedom by giving us your law
But we don't have to sustain this on our own.
We don't have to make this happen It is the work
of Jesus on the cross and is the power of God
that raises him to life That we have been given
father. Thank you Please keep this ever on our
mind and draw us draw us ever toward you in Jesus
name. I pray