Freedom
From Sin Scripture Reading: Romans 6:15-23.
Memory Verse: "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins" (Isaiah 43:25).
Introduction: Years ago, in the midst of a Latin-American
revolution, an American citizen was captured and sentenced to death. But
an American officer rushed before the firing squad and draped a large American
flag entirely around the victim. "If you shoot this man," he cried, "you
will fire through the American flag and incur the wrath of a whole nation!"
The revolutionary in charge released the prisoner at once. In much the
same way, we are shielded by the Lord Jesus Christ, nothing can touch us
without passing through Him.--Donald Grey Barnhouse, God's Freedom,
Vol. 3, (Romans 6:1-7:25), p. 118.
John MacArthur, in his commentary on Romans, characterizes
sin with this list: sin is rebellious; sin is ungrateful; sin is incurable
by man's own efforts and power; sin is overpowering; sin brings satanic
control; sin promises satisfaction but brings misery, frustration and hopelessness;
and sin damns the unredeemed soul to hell.
He continues to explain, "With the single exception of Jesus
Christ, every human being born into this world has been born with a sinful
nature. The natural, unredeemed person is under the tyranny of sin . .
. . Every unsaved person is a slave of sin (John 8:34). Sin is the terrible,
life-wrecking, soul-damning reality that resides and grows in every unredeemed
human heart like an incurable cancer. Even when men try to escape from
sin, they cannot, and when they try to escape its guilt, they cannot. The
greatest gift God could give to fallen mankind is freedom from sin, and
it is that very gift that He offers through His Son, Jesus Christ."--John
MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Romans 1-8, pp.
340-342.
Paul's primary point in the next section of Romans 6 is that
believers in Christ should live in total subjection to Christ and His righteousness
and not fall back into their former sins, which no longer have claim over
them. Because they have died in Christ to sin and have risen with Him to
righteousness, they are no longer under the lordship of sin but are now
under the lordship of righteousness. Because the Christian has a new relationship
to God, he also has a new relationship to sin. For the first time, he is
able not to live sinfully and able also for the first time to live righteously."--John
MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Romans 1-8, pp.
340-342.
Lesson Questions:
1. Does being "under grace" give us the liberty to sin? Romans 6:15;
Isaiah 1:16; John 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:34; 1 Peter 2:11; Galatians 5:13.
In verse 1 the question
was: Shall the justified person continue sinning that God's grace might
thereby have greater opportunity to operate and be known? Here the question
is: May we not sin once in a while, since we are under grace and not under
the lordship of the Law? In both cases, Paul's answer is a positive, "No!"--Thomas
A. Davis, Romans for the Everyday Man, p. 80.
2. Can a man serve two masters? Romans 6:16; Matthew 6:24; John 8:34; 1 Corinthians 10:21; 2 Peter 2:19; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17.
3. What act transforms a man from being a slave of sin to a servant
of righteousness? Romans 6:17,18; 1 Peter 1:2,22,23; John 8:31; 14:21-24;
15:10,11; 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
Faith and obedience are
inescapably related. There is no saving faith in God apart from obedience
to God, and there can be no godly obedience without godly faith.--John
MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Romans 1-8, pp.
346,347.
4. What is the ultimate goal of a servant of righteousness? Romans
6:19; Leviticus 11:45; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 2 Peter 3:11; 1 Peter 1:15,16;
2 Timothy 2:19-21.
vs. 19: The Apostle when
here speaking of holiness has in mind the chastity of the body, in particular,
that purity which comes from the Spirit of faith, who sanctifies us both
inwardly and outwardly.--Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans, p.
106.
5. Are those bound in sin able to do righteously? Romans 6:20.
"When slaves of sin, righteousness
was not our recognized master, and we can only hang our heads in shame
as we think of the fruit of that evil relationship, the end of which would
have been death, both physical and eternal".--John MacArthur, The MacArthur
New Testament Commentary, Romans 1-8, pp. 362,363.
6. What fruit is there in sin? Romans 6:21; Deuteronomy 32:32,33; Hosea 10:1,13; Matthew 7:17; Galatians 5:19-21; Isaiah 17:11.
7. What is the fruit of the righteous? Romans 6:22; 1 Thessalonians 3:12,13; 2 Peter 3:11; John 4:36; 5:24; Galatians 5:22,23.
8. Contrast the "wages" of sin with God's "gift" of eternal life. Romans 6:23; 5:12; James 1:15; Revelations 21:8; Proverbs 11:19; Exodus 18:20; John 3:16; Titus 3:5-7.
