The Lord's Day Bible Message Outlines
June 20, 2010
Pastor Dana Johnson
"Shall
we sin because we are not under law but under grace?
"
-Romans
6:15
What then? Shall we sin because we
are not under law but under grace? Certainly
not!
1. In Romans 5:19-21 Paul introduces
the theme of sanctification in chapters 6-8.
Romans 5:19:21 - For
as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also
by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.
20Moreover the law entered that the offense might
abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
21so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace
might reign through righteousness to eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
a. First, through union with
Christ the believer is delivered from sin's control.
Romans 6:1 - What
shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace
may abound?
b. Second, the believer is
delivered from the law.
Romans 6:15 - What
then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under
grace? Certainly not!
2. Though the good and holy Law
revealed man's sin, the implication of Romans 6:14 is that
the Law could not deliver from sin.
Romans 56:14 - For
sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under
law but under grace.
a. It certainly could not
justify anyone.
Romans 3:19-20 -
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those
who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God.
20Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh
will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the
knowledge of sin.
b. It had only limited success as a
means of sanctification.
Psalm 1:1-2 -
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in
the seat of the scornful; 2but his delight is
in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day
and night.
Psalm 19:7-11 - The law of the LORD is perfect,
converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple; 8the statutes of the
LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of
the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9the
fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the
judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10More to be desired are they than gold, yea,
than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the
honeycomb. 11Moreover by them Your servant is
warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
Psalm 119:9 - How can a young man cleanse his way? By
taking heed according to Your word.
c. This is the weakness of the
Law.
Romans 8:3 - For
what the law could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the
flesh.
3. God's solution for sin is Jesus
Christ.
a. Through His
substitutionary atonement we are justified from all
sin.
Romans 3:24 -
Being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
b. Through our union with Him (by
His Spirit) we are transformed into a new person/man with
all the resources of the Holy Spirit.
c. This is the power of the
Gospel.
Romans 1:16 - For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the
power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for
the Jew first and also for the Greek.
4. Thus, we have Christ and all the
provisions of the New Covenant which is better than the Law.
Therefore,
a. We are delivered from
sin's dominion.
Romans 6:14 - For
sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not
under law but under grace.
b. We should never incorrectly
conclude that we can sin because we are not under the
Law.
Romans 6:15
-
What then? Shall
we sin because we are not under law but under grace?
Certainly not!
5. Being delivered from the Law, what
are our obligations under grace?
a. Obedience that leads to
righteousness.
Romans 6:16 - ) 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. To be a servant of
righteousness.
Romans 6:18 - (
And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of
righteousness.
c. To present our bodies as slaves
of righteousness.
Romans 6:19 - 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.
6. In order to better understand
righteousness we must not neglect to read and love the
Law.
Psalm 119:97 - Oh,
how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the
day.
From:
God's Way of Holiness by Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) a
Scottish Presbyterian minister born in Edinburg,
Scotland
Standing by the cross, we
realize the meaning of such a text as this: "Knowing
this, that our old man [was] crucified with Him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin" (Romans 6:6). The crucifixion of
our old man, the destruction of the body of sin, and the
deliverance from the bondage of sin are strikingly linked
to one another and linked, all of them, to the cross of
Christ. Or we read the meaning of another: "I [have
been] crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave Himself for me" Galatians 2:20).
Here the one Paul- not two Pauls or two persons- speaks
throughout as completely identified with Christ and His
cross. It is not one part of Paul in this clause and
another in that. It is the one whole Paul throughout, who
is crucified, dies, lives!
It is true that sin remains in the saint, and it is
equally true that this sin does not bring condemnation
back to him. But there is a way of stating this that
would almost lead to the inference that watchfulness has
thus been rendered less necessary; that holiness is not
now so great an urgency; that sin is not so terrible as
formerly. To tell a sinning saint that no amount of
sin can alter the perfect standing before God, into which
the blood of Christ brings us, may not be technically or
theologically incorrect; but this mode of putting the
truth is not that of the epistle to the Romans or
Ephesians. It sounds almost like, "Continue in sin
because grace abounds," and it is not Scriptural
language. The apostolic way of putting the point is that
of 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins...If any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous"
(I John 2:1).
(All
Scripture quoted is from the New King James
Version)
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