Since God Forgives, Can We Sin As Much As We Want?

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Romans 6:15-23

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 
 

THREE THINGS!

  1. We have readings this weekend. Normally, we take off Saturdays and Sundays, but I have assigned us readings this weekend only, so as to finish Romans Part 1 before October begins.

  2. Our new Romans books are in! Pick one up at Asbury, or email Sandie and she can mail you one.

  3. All-Church Bible Study Wednesday (10/2), 6:30-8:00 PM. We’ll be looking at what is arguably the greatest chapter in the Bible—Romans 8. Please make every effort to attend—it’s important.

 
 

Paul has previously made the point that Christians are no longer under (Old Testament) Law but are now under grace. Does that mean that they can sin as much as they want? NO. And he goes on to explain why.

Paul’s point is NOT that Christians are now completely free from control. No, they are not completely free from control; rather, they are now controlled by Christ. Christians are still slaves, but now they are “slaves to righteousness.” Because they are slaves to righteousness, it makes no sense that they would continue to serve sin.

You gotta serve somebody.

As Douglas Moo puts it:

Those who are joined to Christ by faith live in the new age where grace, not the law of Moses, reigns. This being the case, believers’ conduct is not directly regulated by the law. Under Jewish premises, such a “law-less” situation would be assumed to foster sin….But Paul sees in God’s grace not only a liberating power but a constraining one as well: the constraint of a willing obedience that comes from a renewed heart and mind and, ultimately… the impulse and leading of God’s Spirit. — from The Letter to the Romans, by Douglas Moo

Paul admits that the slavery metaphor isn’t perfect, but he’s trying to make his point in language they understand. He goes on to ask what good came from their slavery to sin, compared with their current slavery to Christ. Sin leads to death, but Christ gives life.

For Paul—and for us!—the point is clear: you gotta serve somebody, and it’s better to serve the One who gives life than the power that leads to death.

 

Is Sin Good Because It Shows God's Grace?

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Romans 6:1-14

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 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 might walk in newness of life. 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. 6 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 would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

 
 

Paul has hit this question previously in Romans. If God’s grace shows up wherever sin is present, and if the greater the sin means the greater the grace, then why don’t we just sin more so there is more grace?

Paul emphatically answers the question from the previous verse: NO WAY. We don’t sin to “increase” God’s grace because that would imply we are still under the slavery of sin. But, in fact, in a mystical way, we have been united with Christ through faith, and our old sinful self has been crucified with Christ. What this means is that there is no reason whatsoever that Christians must continue to sin. It’s like we’ve been let out of prison—there is no reason to walk back inside the prison walls. Or, to use the biblical example: once the Israelites have been delivered from Egypt, it would be insane to walk right back into slavery.

I find this passage really encouraging and convicting: there is no reason for me to be tolerant of sin in my life, because Christ has set me free from sin. This means there is nothing inevitable about my sin—through the work of the Holy Spirit, I can shut the door on past practices and live as a new man.

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. [6:14]

What do you need to walk away from today?

 

I'm the Problem (Not Other People) - Psalm 51

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Psalm 51

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
    O God of my salvation,
    and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
    you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

 
 

We like to blame other people for the world’s problems.   But one of the problems with finger-pointing is that I always place myself in the company of the righteous and good while I tell other people they are the problem.  True confession, however, is only about me and only about us.  This is why the 51st Psalm is such a powerful psalm of confession. In the psalm, David makes it clear:

 I am the problem!

(The superscription gives us the context for the psalm: it was after David slept with Bathsheba—who was not his wife—and then had her husband Uriah killed to cover up the pregnancy.)

 
 

 

The Problem With Pointing Fingers [Psalm 51]

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Racism is evil; Jesus died for the whole world, and he invites all people into his church.

Here’s the problem:

When I say that kind of thing in church, everyone nods and agrees. We want to believe that those nasty racists over there are the problem.

One of the problems with finger-pointing is that I always place myself in the company of the righteous and good while I tell other people they are the problem.

True confession, however, is only about me and only about us.

This is why the 51st Psalm is such a powerful psalm of confession. In the psalm, David makes it clear:

I am the problem!

 
 

Provided to YouTube by catapultdistribution Psalm 51 (Wisdom in the Secret Heart) · Shane & Shane Psalms, Vol. 2 ℗ 2015 WellHouse Records Released on: 2015-1...

 
 

Psalm 51

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

The superscription gives us the background to this psalm: David’s adultery with Bathsheba. When the prophet Nathan confronts him, to his credit David immediately takes responsibility for his actions.

How can you and I take responsibility for our actions today?

 
 

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.

Note that David asks for “mercy.” Mercy—by definition—isn’t owed; rather, mercy is unmerited favor. But, David asks for it because he knows that God is merciful by nature.

We don’t deserve it, but we need it—pray for mercy today.

 
 

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

David doesn’t just want to be forgiven, he wants to be CLEAN.

God doesn’t just forgive sinners, but he makes them into saints.

Too many of us accept the first part of the gospel—forgiveness—but reject the second—sanctification.

Pray for God to remake your character today.

 
 

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.

See, this is the truth about sin: all sin is ultimately against God.

 
 

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.

No excuses here, just the truth:

David admits that he has been sinful since the beginning.

Can you imagine if we admitted the same thing today? It’s not anyone else—I am the sinner.

 
 

6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

I love this verse and often pray it over my own life:

“Lord, make me truthful from the inside out, and make me wise.”

 
 

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Hyssop is a plant, and among its other uses, the Israelites used it to smear blood on their doorframes in preparation for the Passover. (See Exodus 12:21-23.)

 
 

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

David wants God to remake him from the inside out, and he desperately wants God to stay close. Hell is separation from God, and for God to remove his Spirit would be like dying before you die.

 
 

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
    O God of my salvation,
    and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
    you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

God doesn’t want sacrifices but honesty from us, and honestly requires that we own our sin, confess it, and ask for mercy.

Don’t point the finger at someone else today.

YOU are the problem.

Or, to be more accurate:

I am.

"Go and Sin No More"

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Jesus’s words to the woman caught in the act of adultery remind me of John 3:17:

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Jesus knows that if the woman persists in sin, it will go badly for her, and his desire is that she would have eternal life.

He wants the same thing for you, which is why he also wants you to turn away from sin and toward him.

What sin can you turn aside from today?

 

Today’s Scripture

John 7:53-8:11