Sermon Tone Analysis

5:1-21 - God has great things in store for His people!

(a) ‘Much more’ (9-10): ‘Justified by Christ’s blood’, ‘reconciled to God’, ‘We shall be saved by Christ from the wrath of God’, ‘saved by His life’.

(b) ‘Much more’ (15,17): ‘The grace of God’ has ‘abounded for many’.

In Christ, we have ‘received the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness’.

Through Him, we shall ‘reign in life’.

(c) ‘More than that’ (3): Our pathway to eternal glory will not be easy.

There will be ‘suffering’.

God has given us a glimpse of our eternal destiny: ‘grace reigning through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord’ (21).

‘We rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God’ (2).

Having caught sight of the heavenly and eternal glory, we see our ‘suffering’ in a new light, the light of ‘God’s love’ (3-5).

6:1-23 - (a) ‘We know that our old self was crucified’ (6) – What a great thing God has done!

He has made you ‘a new creation in Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

(b) ‘Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus’ (11) – Believe it .

This is what the Lord has done: ‘you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit… the Spirit of God dwells in you… Christ is in you… the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you… His Spirit dwells in you’ (8:9-11).

(c) ‘Yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life’ (13) – Act upon it’.

‘Walk in newness of life’ (4).

Live as those whom God has made new.

We are ‘not under law but under grace’ (14).

Keep your eyes fixed on the Saviour and your obedience will be Gospel obedience and not merely legal obedience.

7:1-25 - God’s purpose is not easily fulfilled in us.

Our battle with sin is extremely intense.

There is a great conflict going on within us.

‘The Spirit’ and ‘the flesh’ are at war with each other (Galatians 5:17).

God has given us His Spirit – ‘we serve… in the new life of the Spirit’ (6).

We are still sinners – ‘I am carnal, a slave to sin’ (14).

These are two sides of the one coin.

The Spirit is within us yet we remain sinners.

Honestly confessing our sin, we say, ‘Wretched man that I am!’.

Gladly rejoicing in our Saviour, we say, ‘Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!’ (24-25).

Despite our many defeats, we say, ‘Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (8:39).

Wait for ‘the final result’: ‘God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 15:57).

8:1-39 - Each of us must choose.

We can ‘live according to the flesh’ or we can ‘live according to the Spirit’.

We can ‘set the mind on the flesh’ or we can ‘set the mind on the Spirit’ (5-6).

The new life in the Spirit is just the beginning.

God is preparing us for the greater ‘glory that will be revealed in us’ (18).

We have ‘the first fruits of the Spirit’.

The Holy Spirit is ‘the guarantee of our inheritance’.

He is the starter which whets our appetite for the main course!

With Him in our hearts, we long for more – ‘an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you’, ‘the redemption of our bodies’, ‘the glorious liberty of the children of God’ (21-23; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Peter 1:3-5).

Led by the Spirit, strong in the Spirit, we press on to glory (14,26,17).