Sermon Tone Analysis

*Grace Under Fire; Part II – The Law*

*Romans 6:15-7:6          October 14, 2001*

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*Scripture Reading: *Responsive Reading # 673, pew Bible

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*Introduction:*

 

ILLUS: Terrorists and Legalism (Can the Muslims ever expect to win anyone over to their side by terrorism?

It is ineffective in its destructiveness.

Osama bin Laden is enslaved to the law.)

Today we will be discussing the destructive ineffectiveness of Christian legalism.

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Roman church had written them because he planned to prepare them for his coming.

Rome was the capitol of the world at the time, and the church there was internally divided by various issues between Jews and Gentiles.

A divided church is an ineffective church, and Paul knew that his ultimate call by God to go to Rome would have every opportunity to reach the world for Christ through the church – if he could just get them all going the same direction.

The direction they needed was a serious reminder of what the gospel means.

Hoping to forge them into a unified body, Paul impresses upon them the overwhelming truth of the gospel that seems so easy to forget in practice.

That highest truth of the gospel is grace – God's favor, or blessing of eternal life, to all who have faith for the forgiveness of sins through the work of Christ.

You see, if we can just begin to understand grace, and our common need for it because of our sinfulness, and its only source by faith in Christ and not on our own merit, then we will all be going in the same direction for the kingdom of God.

For instance, a church given to a culture of complaint is not a church of overwhelming grace because they have not understood it at all – they are woefully divided against each other and against God.

So now in Romans 6, Paul elaborates on two general threats to the gift of God's grace.

The first threat, in Romans 6:1-14, was to think anyone could continue in willful sin since God's grace covers it all.

But we were reminded to overcome sin by gaining a new perspective on death, life, God, and ourselves.

We were reminded of what grace cost God in the death of Christ for sin and how to gain this new perspective by becoming like him in death unto a new life.

We saw our willful sin as a terrorist attack on God's gift of grace – basically abusing his grace.

But there is also another abuse of God's grace, and that is the law itself.

By this we mean the OT law that was intended by God to reveal or expose sin so that we would understand our need for a Savior to meet the requirements of the law for us.

The Jews calculated 613 various requirements of the OT law – impossible for any person to keep.

All this to show us that God's plan for salvation has always been by grace through faith – it is the only thing that works.

And so it is an abuse of that grace if we continue to rely upon the ineffectiveness of the law to make ourselves righteous after God has graciously shown us the way in Christ.

Another word for this self-reliance upon the law is legalism.

To give a preview then of the problem Romans 6 is revealing is to say that we either tend to violate God's grace by willful sin, or we tend to set grace aside and try to accomplish it ourselves.

We either abuse grace with sin or nullify it with legalism.

So today we will learn how grace supercedes the law – or legalism.

*Big Question:*

 

/How does the effect of grace supercede law?/

 

 

*I.

Cycle One*

 

*          A.

Narrative (vv.

16-18)*

 

*          B.

Implication*

 

Grace supercedes law by giving us a new enablement toward obedience.

*          C.

Illustration*

 

*          D.

Application*

 

Grace offers us a better choice of slavemasters – a new enablement.

The law put us in slavery to the very thing we hoped to escape.

No matter how hard a person tries to escape the weakness of the flesh in the flesh, he will always fail.

It is like a person trying to jump over the moon – the nature of gravity will always defeat him.

There is nothing to set him free.

No person can serve two masters (Luke 6:13).

We are either slaves to sin or to obedience – and each have their own consequences.

The one leads to death – the other leads to righteousness.

The requirements of the law can only be met by obeying them – and we cannot – except by the grace of God that gives us a new master to follow.

The head of sin is Satan, the head of obedience is Christ.

And we are led into the next principle, that in obedience we have righteousness.

Obedience becomes possible by what we were taught about grace through the gospel – it is this form of teaching we are committed to, the freedom of the gospel as opposed to (Jewish) legalism.

If we shall be enslaved to something, then let us be enslaved to the gospel – enslaved to freedom.

It is like the matter of which military force you would rather be enslaved to – America or the Taliban.

*II.

Cycle Two*

 

*          A.

Narrative (v.

19)*

 

*          B.

Implication*

 

Grace supercedes law by giving us a new understanding toward righteousness.

*          C.

Illustration*

 

*          D.

Application*

 

The definition of righteousness then is to obey God.

And just as this is not possible within ourselves without his help, so also it must be explained in human terms.

That is the meaning of this language about slavery.

Paul assumes that we can all identify with that, especially our enslavement to sin.

Has any one of you ever escaped the ravages of your own sin you have committed?

It is only possible, it only begins to be possible, as any of us who are in Christ can testify, when you come under the authority of the gospel.

And we are led into the next principle, that in righteousness we have holiness.

If you have a heart for God then you know he is holy.

He said that we must be holy as he is.

We are not made holy by the law but by obeying the law which leads to righteousness which leads to holiness which is only possible by the grace of God and not ourselves as we come under the authority of the gospel.

Our enslavement increases from obedience to righteousness to holiness.

*III.

Cycle Three*

 

*          A.

Narrative (vv.

20-22)*

 

*          B.

Implication*

 

Grace supercedes law by giving us a new purpose toward holiness.

*          C.

Illustration*

 

*          D.

Application*

 

When we were slaves to sin we were out of control.

There is a principle here, and that is that enslavement naturally increases.

Rarely will you see anyone caught in a sin habit that doesn't sink deeper and deeper until they are destroyed (and destroy much around them).

They cannot help themselves – only God can.

But also we see that anyone enslaved to obedience~/righteousness~/holiness will increase in that slavery – a good slavery.

Once you taste the goodness of God, can you go back?

We are on course for heaven.

And we are led into the next principle, that in holiness we have eternal life.

Our text calls this a benefit.

If you are just working toward an earthly retirement you will never see a benefit like this one.