"The Choice is Yours"

Pastor Marc James

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Romans 6:15-22

English Standard Version (Chapter 6)

Slaves to Righteousness

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

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

“Choose the Chair”

"When I was a boy, my father, a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song," tenor Luciano Pavarotti relates. "He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown of Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I also enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating, I asked my father, Shall I be a teacher or a singer?' "Luciano,' my father replied, if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.”

"I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book; whatever we choose; we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that's the key. Choose one chair."

The Sermon in the Sentence

Expository Outlines from Romans (11. The Power of Choice (Romans 6:15–23)

God made man a free moral agent. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. Joshua admonished, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve”—Josh. 24:15. Elijah also demanded a decision—1 Kings 18:21. Christ came to His own and they chose to reject Him—John 1:11. If we believe, we will be saved; if we reject Christ, we will be lost—Mark 16:16. Man’s eternal destiny is dependent on his choice.

The Choice of Slavery

Some carnal Christians might think that living under grace means they can go on sinning. But Paul shoots that down. If you are living under grace, you will actually keep the law. And if you don’t keep the law, it only proves you’re not operating under the grace of God. Christians obey the standard, but the motivation isn’t the standard. The motivation is God’s grace. Paul shows Christians a choice: we can be slaves of sin leading to death or servants of obedience leading to righteousness. There is no third choice where we choose not to serve anyone. Every one of us serves somebody. The sobering danger is that people may be Christians and still offering their bodies up to sin.

January 1863, President Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves throughout the Confederacy. But even years later; there were certain places where that announcement had been kept secret. Thus, even after being declared free. African Americans were still acting like slaves. No one had told them the truth of their situation! How foolish is it for those of us who know we’re free in Christ to keep saying “yes” to sin?

“We do not choice to obey God out of fear or servitude, we make the choice to obey God because of the grace given to us.”

“Some Christians have to work on their presentation because it reveals who you truly serve.”

“To obey God means that you have to disobey sin, and to obey sin means that you have to disobey God.”

present (paristemi): to make something available to someone without necessarily involving actual change of ownership.

Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 566). New York: United Bible Societies.

standard (typos): a visual form designed to be imitated or copied.

Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 591). New York: United Bible Societies.

1. Choice—v. 15. If we yield to sin, we are servants to sin—John 8:34; if to Christ, then sons of God—John 1:12.

2. Control—v. 16. We choose who controls our lives—Rom. 12:1–2. See also 1 Cor. 6:19.

3. Change—v. 17. Though formerly controlled by sin, through Christ we are now in the family of God—1 John 3:2; Ps. 100.

4. Consecration—v. 18. The new life is Christ-controlled—2 Cor. 5:17.

5. Complete—v. 19. “I speak with words easy to understand because your human thinking is weak. At one time you gave yourselves over to the power of sin. You kept on sinning all the more. Now give yourselves over to being right with God. Set yourself apart for God-like living and to do His work”—NLT.

The Choice of Separation

Paul brings up the issue of life and death to amplify his point. Serving sin leads to a greater and greater lawlessness. And while serving sin means you were free with regard to righteousness, what did it really gain you? Sure, you were free from righteousness. But the outcome of those things is death. If you become a slave of sin, you get some short-term pleasure, but that pleasure led to death. What kind of a trade-off is that? If, however, you become a slave of God, you get sanctification and righteousness—both of which lead to life.

1. Problem—v. 20. If not in Christ, we are slaves to sin—John 8:44; 1 John 3:10. One remains a sinner by choice.

2. Pitfall—v. 21. What did sin produce? Shame and death—Gen. 3:10; Rom. 8:6.

3. Promise—v. 22. The results of being free from sin:

a) Servants of God—John 1:12

b) Fruit unto holiness—Heb. 12:14

c) Everlasting life—John 11:25–26

The Choice of Salvation

Another way to put this is to say that the wages of sin is death. Although we like to quote this to non-Christians, Paul is writing to Christians. And whether physical death or a spiritual separation from the enjoyment of the eternal life of God is in view—since believers can’t lose thier salvation—the payment of sin is always the same. Indeed, Christians can lose their joy because sin separates us from fellowship with God. They can also lose out on the will of God. The point is that believers can still choose sin, but when they do, they collect their rightful wages: weakness, sickness, meaninglessness, and death.

1. The pay of sin—v. 23a. Death—spiritual! Separation from God—Rev. 21:8. Unless man has his name in God’s book (The Lamb’s Book of Life), he cannot enter heaven—Rev. 21:27; 20:15. We reap what we sow—Gal. 6:7–8.

2. Promise of salvation—v. 23b. God’s gift is eternal life; God loved us and gave His Son—John 3:16. Salvation is the gift of God—Eph. 2:8–9.

After one accepts Christ, choices remain to be made daily. Paul said we must work out our own salvation—Phil. 2:12. We must decide to attend church, read God’s Word, pray and follow the teachings of Christ—John 14:15. Life or death lies within the power of our choice.

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