Free From Sin
Romans 6

Intro.
1. We have seen the doctrine of justification by faith in Romans 5.
It is a doctrine that is glorious but is capable of mis-representation,and misuse. The most logical thing is to say: “if God's grace so abounded over sin, why should we not go on sinning so as to give His grace the opportunity to abound the more? This is not idle question. There are many who have adopted this as a way of life.

The most notable historical instance may be seen in the Russian monk Rasputin, the evil genius of the Romanov family in its last years of power. Rasputin taught and exemplified the doctrine of salvation through repeated experiences of sin and repentance; he held that, as those who sin most require most forgiveness, a sinner who continues to sin with abandon enjoys, each time he repents, more of God's
forgiving grace than any ordinary sinner."! (B. 134.)

There is much logic in this position but it is not the conclusion of Paul. "Not long ago the warden of a prison in Germany disclosed that of the 300 inmates,40 per cent had an average of 18 previous convictions, that is to say, they had been sent back to prison eighteen times, one of them having even reached the 70 mark. When you change the scene and speak of backsliding of the Christian, we do not speak of 50 per cent of the people back sliding, nor do we stop with making a total of 18 times of back sliding, but 70 times 70. What are we to say about all of this?

2. Is there a way out of the endless hold of sin. You can see the assurance that comes in justification by faith wherein God forgives
us. But is the Christian life to be one continual sin after another? In the early years of the growth of Christianity it was customary to wait for Baptism in some cases so that the sins of youth might be
forgiven. The implication was that once baptism had been completed, there would be no more sinning. Is this the word of Paul? Does Paul set forth a doctrine of sinless perfection Which means that the
Christian does not sin mmm once he had become a Christian?

3. Paul in Romans raises the question: "How can we who died to sin still live in it? What are the implications of this statement?

I. We are freed from the power of Sin thru Christ's death v 14.

1. What is this freedom from sin? Paul is not supporting the idea that the Christian never sins. He does make the statement however that the Christ is free from sin. Some have said that the Christian is free from the guilt of sin but not its power. This is not what Paul means. In Paul's view to be free from sin is to be free from the power of sin. He does not say that we ought to be free from sin, but we are free from the power of sin. We commonly think of sin as missteps here and there. This is not Paul means in this passage. For Paul, sin is a power under whose bondage man lives. Freedom from sin is a fruit of the work of Christ; it is by Him that sin is cast down and vanquished. He who believes in Christ no longer lives under the dominion of sin. Sin is therefore a power, a ruler, and this ruler and power has been destroyed. Sin is a tyrant and we have been released from his tyranny Sin not longer has dominion and rule over us. The power of sin has been broken.

2. How does this become a reality to us?

1) Baptism is one answer.
The power expressed in baptism over the power of sin is this: it signifies that one has repented and that the Spirit of Christ dwells within the heart of the believer. It signifies that in our repentance we have turned away from sin and are alive in Christ. The man who is immersed and then raised up in baptism has gone thru the same movement as Christ who was killed and buried and rose again.

We stand as people at a funeral grave side. We look down on the grave, turn our backs to it and hurry away. In baptism we see ourselves dead, having repented, and we see ourselves coming
out of the grave, have been given the Spirit of righteousness in our lives.

2)Another fact of this reality is expressed in that we are crucified with Christ.

3) The basic point of baptism and being crucified with Christ in relation to being free from sin is this:. Sin can have no hold over a dead man. All of the attractions of our glittery world has no appeal to a dead man. Is this not a true picture? Recall to your mind someone who is newly converted to Christ. Do you not see a picture of a person
who wants to give himself completely to Christ? Is that not a person who wants to make a clean break with ungodly living? A new convert is one willing to go all the way in whatever he is asked to do. One can see the deliberate change that takes place when the power of sin is thrown off. I have seen this many times in new Christians. Then, what happens? After a while the new Christian notices that all the Christians are not as exuberant as they should be. The new Christian sees that everyone is not as welling to share in the work of Christ as
he ought to be. He becomes calculating. He arrives at the conclusion that he will do what is his share and let it go at that. He begins to copy the compromises of the other Christians. He concludes that it is not necessary to throw off all the old habits of the world. He settles down to mediocrity. But the beginngin is the important point.
The Christian is freed from the power of sin thru Christ's death.

11. We are to fight sin v. 12.

1. We have said that the Christian is freed from the power of sin. This does not mean that the Christian does not sin. But in Christ, our new Lord, and Master, “Sin begins to feel hot and uncomfortable. Sin begins to be choked, swallowed up and drowned. The old sinner is like the arm of a river that has been cut off; it is still there, but it si drying up; or like a_vein which has been drained and is being allowed to wither; it is still there, but the blood does not flow thru it any more. Sin has been reduced to starvation and is like a fish on dry land. So when a man has been justified and the power of sin broken, although he is not sinless, things do not merely remain as they were before.

We are told to fight sin. This statement requires ahe preceding fact of our being freed from the power of sin, or lordship of sin. How could a man fight against sin, as long as he is the slave of sin and bound in its service? Only after he is freed by Christ from his captivity can he belong to the army whose mission it is to fight sin. All of this is pointed up in our verses: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life,. and your membefs to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."

Since Christ is our Lord, sin is no longer to have lordship over us. But there is also an assurance here What about the possibilities of being recaptured by the power of sin. The answer of Paul is that sin will not have dominion over you again for the simple reason that you are no longer under the law. As long as one lives under the law, there is
no freedom, but thru Christ we have departed from the law and we are under his grace.

3. How can you fight sin? 1) Because of God's spirit in your life understand that sin has lost its rule over you. Consider yourselves dead and when temptation comes along ask God to make it true for you that you are dead unto temptation and sin and alive unto him. 2) Do not yield yourselves to sin. There are certain temptations to different people. You know what your weakness is. Don't let that entrance be open to sin. Close it up and never put yourself in the place where that temptation can bother you. 3) Fulfill your servitude to Christ. You are his servant. 4) Instruct yourself daily from holy Scripture. The ignorance of the Bible that abounds inspite of our Sunday Schools shows that we are falling down. You must pursue daily devotions for your soul's welfare. 5) Seek God's presence every day. Ask him to make his word real to you. 6) Stand for righteousness wherever you are given the chance. 7) Follow thru in your work in Christ's kingdom.

III. We have been enslaved to righteousness v. 18.

1. Some people take the phrase, free from the law, or free from the power of sin, and conclude that once being set free we are no longer bothered about moral standards, we oan do what we want to do.
The great gospel of justification By faith does not promote an attitude of laxity. You see this faced in v. 15. "What then?: Are we to sin beoause we are not under law but under grace?; By no means!"
We cannot stop at the phrase "free from sin. There is more: That is too negative. If gross misuse is to be avoided we must go to the positive complement." The Christian is free from the power of sin to serve righteousness. There is no freedom in the absolute sense. The strange thing is that man is always enslaved to something: either of sin or of righteouesness. It is quite characteristic of bondage to Sin, that he who lives in it thinks himself free and his own master. If freedom from sin means nothing but just freedom, the end result is a
slavery worst than the first. Remember the words of Jesus, "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes thru waterless places seeking rest, but he finds none. Then he says, I will return to my house from which I am.! When he comes he finds it empty, swept and put in order. Then he goes and brings with him seven other spirits more evil than himself and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. (Mt 12:43-45) An empty, unqualified freedom gives sin its best chance to get man under its dominion.

2. In a real sense one does not have freedom until one is enslaved to righteousness; a paradox no doubt true. The freedom that enslavement to righteousness brings can be summed up in the words, "Love God and do as you please." This seems like a dangerous statement to make. It can be misused. But it simply means that if one truly loves God and the Spirit of love is within one’s heart, he will do only those things that please God.

3. The end result of this enslave is not death but sanctification, or growth in godliness and Christlikeness. v.21-23. Grace as a master can be a sharp acid that eats away sin. It can be like the warm south wind to the snow and the ice. Sanctification means that Christ takes us to himself and transforms us after his own image.

In an Italian book, "The Seed Beneath the Snow, the author, Ignazio Silone, relates of a poor village that decided to set up a wooden cross on the hill which dominates the village. The village carpenter, Utimio, is commissioned to do the work. But it so happens that the bishop is prevented for some considerable time from celebrating the erection of the cross, and the cross, varnished, and polished, stands for a few weeks in the corner of the carpenter's shop. Master Utimio is no paragon of virtue. Indeed he was surpised to be given the job at all. His workshop has known-nothing but lewd and blasphemous language for years. Curses and profanities come readily to his lips. His wife, a quiet, patient woman, suffers from his wickedness. And his honesty towards his customers is not all that it might be. But now, something quite unexpected happens. Since the completed wooden cross has been standing in the corner of his worship, Master Utimio has felt
awkward and embarrassed. When he enters his place of work in the morning it feels as if something has changed. When friends come in with their blasphemous talk Master Utimio’s glance often steals timidly over to the corner, as if he wanted to beg forgiveness. In the evenings, he feels as if he ought to say "Good Night." His wife, who has noticed the changed, but does not know the reason for it yet, thinks at first that her husband is sickening for something." We can only comment that if such a transforming influence can be exerted by a piece of wood in the corner of a workshop, how much greater must be the influence of the living Christ, who once hung on this piece of wood, but now no longer hangs there and who, since His resurrection, is with us daily and hourly. That is sanctification: living in the presence of the risen Christ and it is the result of being
a slave of a new master who has freed us from the lordship of Sin.
Concl:

1. Many years ago in Chicago there was a new big building going up. There was a fence around the area with peep holes for people to see how things were going. Over the peep hole was a sign: “Building under construction–do not pass judgement until it is finished.”

What a great comment for us living in a relationship to Jesus. We are not perfect and we may sin, but we are under construction. Jesus is working in our lives to make us the kind of people we were meant to be.