Sunday Morning Sermon

Preached by John Gaines at Leonard Street Church of Christ

September 28, 2003

1. Conversion is the great change which takes place when a servant of sin becomes a servant of righteousness [Romans 6:16-19 (NKJV) Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.]

2. God wants everyone to experience this conversion [Matthew 18:3 (NKJV) "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.]

3. It is our aim to encourage everyone to be converted to Christ. [Acts 3:19 (NKJV) "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ]

4. We need to be able to point out that we are planting seed by the actions we take in life. We shall reap what we sow [Galatians 6:7-8 (NKJV) Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.]

5. Let us return to our first text in Romans chapter 6. Notice that everyone must pick either the fruit of sin or the fruit of holiness.

I. THE FRUIT OF SIN

Romans 6:20-21 (NKJV) For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

A. One fruit of sinful behavior is shame.

1. We all have things in our past that we are not proud of.

2. When we become Christians, we are supposed to "renounce the hidden things of shame."

3. The memory of past actions lingers with us even when we know we have been forgiven. Years after his conversion, Paul looked back on his past conduct and called himself the chief of sinners [1 Timothy 1:13-15].

4. While Christians are ashamed of past behavior, some people become hardened in sin so they lose the ability to feel shame. Paul wrote of enemies of the cross of Christ "whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame; who set their mind on earthly things" [Philippians 3:19 (NKJV)].

B. Whether shameful or shameless, the end of sinful behavior is death. [Romans 6:23 (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death. . . .]

1. There is pleasure associated with sin. The reason the world is made up of sinners is that so many people enjoy doing sinful things. No sensible person can deny that. Even the Bible talks about "the pleasures of sin" [Hebrews 11:25].

2. The problem is that the pleasures of sin are temporary. They are "for a season" [Hebrews 10:25, KJV] or "for a short time" [NIV]. A night's drunken revelry is followed by the morning's hangover. A lifetime of tobacco smoking yields respiratory and heart diseases. An on it goes. Sinful behavior does exact a price . . . but the cost of sin is not readily apparent to those living only in the present.

3. The end result is death.

a. Physical death

(1) We all die as a result of Adam and Eve's sin as well as our own sins [Romans 5:12 (NKJV) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned]

(2) Of course, it's true that certain sinful behaviors hasten physical death. However, this is not the main point in Romans 6. The death Paul speaks of is . . .

b. Spiritual death

(1) Death is separation -- the spirit separated from the body [James 2:26]. It is also separation from God caused by sin.

(2) Eternal death is eternal separation away from the presence of the Lord [2 Thessalonians 1:9]. When Paul said, "the wages of sin is death," he meant that the consequences of sin is being separated from God for eternity. Simply put, sin keeps you out of heaven and way from the presence of God and Christ.

II. THE FRUIT OF HOLINESS

Romans 6:22 (NKJV) But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

A. Freedom

1. Freedom is available only to those who are in Christ [Galatians 5:1 (NKJV) Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.]

2. How can you be free while being a slave of God? Because it's a voluntary choice. God makes no one serve Him. We choose to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God.

3. You will be a servant to whoever (or whatever) controls you. So we're either servants of sin or servants of righteousness [Romans 6:16 (NKJV) Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?]

B. Everlasting Life

1. Holy living puts us in the right place with God [1 Peter 1:15 (NKJV) but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,]

2. The benefit (fruit) that comes from living holy lives here on earth is everlasting life with God in heaven.

a. Just as sin separates us eternally from God, holiness lets us be for eternity in the presence of God.

3. Now, we're back to the How? question -- how do we live holy lives so that we will enjoy the fruit of everlasting life?

a. It cannot be that we're so good and holy that heaven is the reward for all our good deeds. Eternal life is a "gift" not a paycheck for the work we've done [Romans 6:23 (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.]

b. However, God expects holy and righteous living on the part of His children. We cannot continue in sin that grace may abound [Romans 6:1-2]. We must be baptized into Christ and into His death [Romans 6:3-5]. We must not let sin reign in our mortal bodies [Romans 6:12]. We must present the members of our bodies as instruments of righteousness to God [Romans 6:13]. We must obey the form of doctrine which has been delivered to us [Romans 6:17]. We must present our members as "slaves of righteousness for holiness" [Romans 6:19].

CONCLUSION