Sermon Cloud

SLAVERY OR FREEDOM?

Romans 6:15-23.      What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Here we are in what used to be “The Land of the Free and the home of the Brave.”  We used to be brave.  And when I was growing up, this used to be a free country.  It isn’t any more.  Freedom is decreasing.  And the momentum for its demise is increasing.  Inexorably increasing, with seeming inevitability.

But at this time, with Independence Day coming soon, I have a question.  What type of slavery would you prefer?

Don’t say, “None.”  That is not an option.  When it comes to slavery, there is no option to avoid it.  There is only the option of selecting what type of slavery you prefer.

This is not exactly anything new.  You won’t find this particularly difficult to believe.  Here’s a fact.  There is no such thing as absolute freedom.  No one is free to do whatever he wants to do.

God is absolutely free.  That’s what makes Him God.

I like to kid around with my dog when she does something wrong.  I “yell” at her.  “You can’t do whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it!  Only I – your beloved master – can do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do it!”  She just wags her tail.  She knows I’m kidding.  She probably also has figured out that I really can’t do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do it.

The real question is the one Paul is asking here.  Whose slave are you?

God or satan?  Sin or righteousness?

My message today deals with this.  My message today is something that will be as big a relief to you as it is a burden to the world around us.  My message today will be readily believed here as it will be completely opposed by our society. 

Here it is.  To be a slave of Jesus Christ is true freedom.

Two weeks ago, we studied why we could not going on sinning.  Because we are dead to sin.  But today we see another reason.  We’re free from the law.  But we are not free to sin.  In fact, we are not free at all.  All we can do is choose to whom we will be slaves.

Now Paul lists five reasons why we cannot go on sinning.  Not only because we are dead to it.  Here are some logical, positive and practical reasons.

1. Sin is slavery.  So why would we want to be delivered from slavery to sin only to choose to be enslaved again?  I’ve read stories about the end of the Civil War.  The Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863.  The South was defeated two years later.  Yet many, many slaved simply stayed where they were, enslaved on the plantation.  The reason was that they knew nothing else.  Slavery was the only life they knew.

The problem we have in the world today is that sin is not viewed as slavery.  Not at all.  In fact, sin is equated with freedom.  That’s what satan told Eve.  “Don’t listen to God.  Be free.  Eat of the tree.  And you’ll be just like God, knowing good and evil.

Sin isn’t freedom.  It’s just the opposite.  It’s slavery.  It traps us so that we can’t escape it later.  Even if we want to.  It’s so difficult.  If you give way to sensual passions, there will come a time when you will be a slave to those passions.  Or greed.

If all you want is money and you grab as much as you can – if you use people to get money instead of using money to help people – then you will end up as a slave to greed.

You’ll die rich.  And poverty stricken in every other regard.  No marriage, no meaningful relationships with your children, no friends.  Just money.  A Midas touch that turns everything into dead, lifeless gold.

Chains of slavery – fashioned from gold.

2. Sin leads to death.  Romans 6:16.  Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?  Or verse 21.  What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!  Or verse 23.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God keeps repeating it because it is free.  Each of these verses is an echo of Genesis 2:17. But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

What did the devil says?  Genesis 3:4-5.  "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

So Eve chose. And Adam chose.  And they both died – spiritually immediately.  And physically eventually.   They died physically inevitably.

Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that sin is harmless.  Don’t believe any of the advertising or promotion.  We are all sinners.  We are all dying.  The only hope we have is to turn from sin whenever we can.  And seek salvation in Jesus Christ.

3. Christians have been delivered from the slavery of sin.  Verse 17-18.  But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

This is a foundation of our Christian faith.  Christ redeemed us.  He bought us.  He paid the price.  With His life.  1 Peter 1:18-19.  For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

If your freedom was purchased at such an awesome price, how in the world could you return to sinful living?  No true Christian can do it.

4. This is important.  Listen carefully.  The same work of Christ that delivered you from sin has also made you slaves to Christ.  And that is true freedom. 

Verse 22.  Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

Now I know that some people actually think – and say – what good is that?  What good is it to stop being a slave in one sense only to become slaves again to someone else?  Well, think about it.

If slavery is your only option, would you rather have a master who wants to abuse you and kill you, or a master who loves you, cares for you and desires the best for you?  That would be a nice change.  Who wouldn’t welcome that?

Now, ask yourself.  What is true freedom?  Is it really the ability to do whatever you want.  To do whatever you want whenever you want to do it?  Well, no.  It isn’t.

True freedom is the ability to fulfill your destiny, to function in terms of your ultimate goal.  Real freedom means doing what it right.

Bishop Fulton Sheen, the Catholic Priest who had a very popular television show decades ago, said it right.  He said, “True freedom is the ability to do what is right.”

Turn for a moment to John 8:31-32.  Jesus was speaking with Jewish leaders.  Some of them began to believe, at least they started to really listen.  So Jesus said this.

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

They got mad.  Look at what they said,  Verse 33.    They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"

Now think about that.  Talk about denial.  The Jewish people had been slaves in Egypt for literally centuries.  They had been slaves to the Persians throughout the captivity.  And how they had Roman soldiers looking over their shoulders at every moment, collecting burdensome taxes, probably listening to this very conversation to see if anything seditious was being said.

And they thought they were free?  Just like today.  People who are buried in sin will tell you they are free.  They are chained to their addictions.  Buried in the terrible consequences of their lifestyle.  But they will lie to your face – and actually believe what they are saying, and tell you that they are free.

Jesus replied in verse 34-36.  Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Jesus was offering the same to thing to them that He offers to us.  True freedom.  Not the liberty to do anything at all.  If you choose sin, you choose bondage.  He’s offering the true freedom that comes from knowing Jesus and committing to a life in His service.

That’s the only real freedom any of us will ever know in this life.  The freedom of serving Jesus Christ as a sincere, dedicated disciple.  Anything else is slavery, regardless of what the world says.

5. If you choose slavery to Jesus Christ, the result is righteousness.  The forgiveness which is the wonderful foundation of Christianity is not a license to sin.  It does not point to more sin.  No, it leads to what is God’s ultimate purpose – righteousness.

Sin leads forever down.  Christianity leads forever up.

OK, those are five good reasons.  Now let’s look at something else.  The secret to the Christian life.  It is this.  Obedience.

Verse16.  Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

That doesn’t seem to fit.  Wouldn’t you expect it say righteousness.  “slaves to sin, which leads to death, or righteousness?”

But no.  It says obedience, which leads to righteousness.

It’s the same with verse 17.  But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

You would have expected it to say “believed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.  Instead, it says, obeyed.

Why.  Well, obedience is what slaves do.  They obey.  Christ is the master. He commands.  We obey.

I would go so far as to say this.  If we don’t obey Christ, I wonder if we really believe in Him?  Isn’t obedience the essence of faith?

Think about all of the examples of obedience that occur throughout Scripture.

Joshua.  What did God say?  Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you.  Do not turn from it to the right or to the left.  Then you will be successful wherever you go.

Or Abraham.  His faith is mentioned four times in Hebrews 11.  His faith was so great that God promised him a son in his old age.  Romans 4:20-21.  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

They high point of Abraham’s life was probably when God told him to sacrifice Isaac.  And what did God tell him after God provided a sacrifice, allowing Isaac to live?

God told Abraham, in Genesis 22:15-18.

The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring [a] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Hebrews 11 leads us to believe that Abraham is noteworthy for his faith.  And that is certainly true.  But at the time that his faith was expressed in the greatest way, God said that Abraham’s defining characteristic was obedience…not faith.

Faith was the result of his obedience.  And so it must be with us.

That’s the choice.  We either obey sin that leads to death.  And we become enslaved to it.  Or we have been set free and choose to serve God.  There is no middle ground.  We are free to choose.  But that is the full extent of our freedom.  There is no other option.

Now.  What is the bottom line?  What is it that we can take away from a message like this?  Something that we can remember, keep in mind.  Use in a practical way to lead a good life and avoid trouble.

Well, it is rather simple.  A doctrine that we can see in verse  19.  I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

There it is.  A choice.  Slavery to impurity and wickedness.  Or slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

That doctrine, the doctrine of choice, can be boiled down to a simple statement.  And it this.  There is doctrine of two choices.  Two ways that you can go.  Which way do you go when you come to one of the innumerable forks in the road of life?

Time and time again, the Bible tells us that there are two ways to go.  And only two.  There are countless ways to go after you choose a path.  But first, you must choose one or the other.

The Bible offers this scenario so many times that it’s literally amazing.  Impressive.  Unmistakable.

In the Garden of Eden, two trees.  The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life.  Choose the right one.

Moses talks to the Hebrews who have just heard the blessings and curses.  Blessings if they obey, curses if they don’t.  He says, in Deuteronomy 30:19-20.  This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Two options.  Curses or blessings.  Obey or disobey.  Choose the right one.

Choose rightly and you live.  Forever.  Choose poorly and you die.  Forever.

Verse 23.  The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The wages of sin.  Wages are something you earn.  You go to work for satan and do evil.  The compensation you receive in return is death.  Now and forever.  Slavery.  Now and forever.

The gift of God.  A gift is something you did not earn.  You go to work for God and perform in a righteous manner.  The gift you receive in return is life.  Now and forever.  Freedom.  Now and forever.

Your choice.  Slavery to satan or slavery to Christ.  You choose.  And you make that choice every day, as you decide whether to obey God…or not.

To disobey is to fashion your own chains.  To obey is to secure true freedom to honor God, to glorify God by doing His work throughout our world.

Your choice.

Let’s pray.