FREEDOM REVEALED The Focus of Freedom
008 FREEDOM REVEALED: The Focus of Freedom
Romans 6:15-23
July 27, 2025
At the end of chapter 5 Paul gave us a summation statement
To really give an assessment of the first 5 chapter.
Romans 5:20-21 “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
That statement looks back to everything he had covered.
· There is found the sinfulness of man.
· There is found the Law that exposed man’s sinfulness.
· There is found the grace of God to send Christ to atone for sin and to impute
His righteousness to sinners.
Just as Paul had expounded in chapter 5,
Jesus Christ came an undid the work of Adam in lives.
Adam condemned us.
The Law exposed us.
Christ redeemed us.
No longer are we men trying to please God through our futile works,
We are men who are saved by grace, and that is a powerful salvation.
But you will also remember such a reminder prompted bad question.
Romans 6:1 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?”
Perhaps to say it another way:
· Since we are now under grace should we go ahead and sin to show just how powerful grace is?
You know, sort of like those infomercial guys.
We saw one at Canton selling magic rags that soak up spills and liquids.
· To demonstrate the miraculous power of the rag
· The man would first pour as much soda as he could on the carpet.
· The more soda he poured the more miraculous the rag would appear.
Is that what we should do with sin and grace?
· Should we just make our lives a cesspool of filth to show how great grace is?
And of course Paul’s answer to that was:
YOU’VE GOT TO BE OUT OF YOUR MIND!
God didn’t save you from sin to leave you in sin.
You are in Christ and that includes His death, burial, and resurrection.
· Through His death you died to sin.
· Through His burial your sin was carried away.
· Through His resurrection you received new life.
You think the power of that rag is demonstrated
In its ability to continue to clean up massive spills.
But if you really want to demonstrate the power of that rag
Show me a rag that cleans up a spill
AND keeps the carpet from ever getting dirty ever again.
SO IF YOU WANT TO HONOR GOD…
If you want to honor grace…
Then stop presenting yourself to sin and present yourself to God.
Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
That is a reminder of where we’ve come.
Back when you were “under law”
· You tried to earn God’s favor through your works and sin owned you.
As you will see in chapter 7,
· All the law ever managed to do was stir up sin,
· But it could never remove it.
Romans 7:5 “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.”
Romans 7:9-11 “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”
Being “under law” never produced freedom from sin.
However, being “under grace” did.
When you stopped trying to earn salvation
And started trusting Christ for it,
That is when real victory occurred.
So to answer your question,
· “No, sin does not magnify grace, sin only magnifies your weakness.
· Righteousness magnifies grace because it is only by grace that you can walk in
righteousness.”
AND THAT WAS THE CONCLUSION OF THAT FIRST QUESTION.
But Paul knew the debate was far from over.
There was another question looming.
We see it tonight
(15) “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!”
This sounds like a very similar question,
But in reality it is MUCH MORE STUPID.
If anyone ever says to you, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question”
You just quote Romans 6:15 to them.
THIS IS A STUPID QUESTION.
Verse 1 basically asked, “Should we sin to enhance grace?”
· Paul said, “That is stupid, no! Live righteous to enhance grace.”
But now, the true colors of his opponent come shining through
For this question is: “Well, can we sin since we’re under grace?”
And you can follow their twisted logic.
· If our sins are no longer counted against us…
· If grace is greater than all our sin…
· If Christ is greater than Adam…
· If we are no longer condemned by the Law…
Then I guess sin can no longer hurt us, so…
WE ARE FREE TO SIN!
And there are people who actually think that way.
There are people who carry that Antinomian position
All the way to this depraved end.
You probably never hear anyone confess it just like that,
But you sure see a multitude of people live like that’s what they believe.
· They attend a church service.
· They walk an aisle.
· They pray a prayer.
· They get dunked in the baptistery.
And then they run off into the world like they are carrying a
“GET OUT OF HELL FREE CARD.”
It’s like they’ve been vaccinated against hell
And so they are no longer worried about sin.
And they live for everything under the sun except for the glory of Christ.
What we’re about to learn from Paul is that
SUCH PEOPLE ARE LIVING A DELUSION.
And Paul isn’t the only one who says it.
1 John 2:3-6 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
James 1:22-24 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.”
Jude called people who claim grace and then use it as a cover to live in sin
“False brethren who worm their way into the church.”
Jude 3-4 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Paul isn’t the only apostle who recognized a phony and a fraud.
The simple fact is that no true believer
Would ever adopt such a depraved theology as to think
That being saved by grace meant you could sin all you wanted.
Jesus died to justify you before God.
Jesus died to sanctify you before God.
He died to make you positionally holy
He is at work to make you practically holy.
You are being conformed into the image of His Son.
You are having your true humanity restored.
You are being washed and sanctified by God.
The notion of sin now being no big deal
Is one of the most depraved ideas ever to enter the doors of a church.
THIS IS A STUPID QUESTION.
And Paul gives that same emphatic answer here that he gave in verse 2, “May it never be!”
True freedom is not freedom to sin, it is FREEDOM NOT TO SIN.
Anyone who would use freedom as an opportunity to return to sin
Only makes it clear that they never truly desired freedom from sin.
I know that’s a pretty blunt way to say it,
“Honestly I wish I had the language to be even more blunt; more emphatic; more abrupt.”
I hope anyone who thinks that grace makes their sin ok,
Understands with absolute clarity that
“They have deceived themselves
And they are in definite need of salvation.”
The goal of justification is sanctification.
If you’re justification does not result in sanctification
Then you never genuinely received justification.
SANCTIFICATION MATTERS.
Well, there’s the rant.
But now, let’s get the explanation.
· Paul is going to answer that stupid question.
· And he’s going to do so by making 3 points about such a mindset.
#1 WHAT THAT QUESTION INSINUATES
Romans 6:16
In other words, “You don’t even know what you are asking when you ask that.”
Let me tell you what such a desire actually insinuates about you.
“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves of obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”
Let’s simplify that statement.
SLAVES OBEY THEIR MASTER
I remember as a kid, we had a dog that was technically my dog, but he went with my dad everywhere.
One day my dad and I were arguing over whose dog it was
· So we staged a test.
· We put the dog in between us and we each called the dog to us.
· That was the day I learned I didn’t have a dog.
THE DOG TOLD US BY HIS BEHAVIOR WHO IS MASTER WAS.
And that is a pretty simple point isn’t it?
· I don’t care if you claim to be saved or not.
· I don’t care if you’ve been baptized or not.
· I don’t care if you prayed “the” prayer or filled out a card.
If when sin calls, it is your desire to run to it, I know who your master is.
If you have righteousness calling on one side and sin calling on the other
AND YOUR DESIRE IS TO ANSWER SIN,
You just told me everything I need to know about your salvation.
So you can see why this is such a stupid question.
How can you really claim to be a slave to Christ Jesus
When it is obvious to everyone watching that sin is your master?
“you are slaves of the one whom you obey”
TURN TO: JOHN 8:31-47
We referenced this verse this morning, but we want to go a little further tonight.
Jesus made that profound announcement in verses 31-32
· It is clear theology.
· Jesus sets men free from their former masters.
Now, you remember from this morning that
The Jews He was speaking with didn’t like the insinuation.
READ VERSE 33
But Jesus reminded them that they indeed had been slaves, READ 34-36
· They were slaves to sin.
· But He could in fact set them free from their slavery.
But what you find as we move through the chapter
Is people who try to argue that they are not slaves to sin
Even though sin is the only one they seem to obey.
READ 37-40
· They claim Abraham as their father
· Yet they don’t act like Abraham
· They desire to kill Jesus
The Jews certainly don’t like that, but if you’ll notice they try to up the stakes. READ 41
Well, if you really want to get technical,
“Abraham isn’t our master, God is.”
But Jesus really goes after this one. READ 42-47
· You claim to be servants of God and yet:
· You don’t love those who come from God.
· You can’t hear the words of God.
No, you actually seem to be following a different father: Satan
He was a murderer like you
He was a liar like you
YOU SEE THE POINT?
· Don’t tell me you are a servant of God when it is obvious you are serving Satan.
Don’t tell me you are under grace
And then ask me if it’s ok to go and serve sin.
Do you realize what a question like that insinuates?
It insinuates that you are still in your sins.
Romans 3:7-8 “But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.”
You know men by their fruit.
You don’t get grapes from fig trees.
The very fact that you even want to sin
Tells me who is calling the shots in your life.
No Christian would ever ask such a thing.
· Which of the prophets have you ever read who seemed to like sin?
· Where do you read of David wishing he could sin more?
· Which apostle do you find in the New Testament looking for ways to sin?
So if your desire is to claim grace so you can sin with immunity
Then you have just told the world that you are a false Christian.
That’s what that question insinuates.
#2 WHO THAT QUESTION INSULTS
Romans 6:17-18
Now you notice here Paul’s use of the word “But…”
Here is what that means.
He is aware that there are people who think that way,
BUT SURELY YOU ARE NOT ONE OF THEM.
· Surely you would never ask such a question.
· Surely you really did escape the grasp of sin.
(17-18) “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
Let’s break that out a little.
We are aware that “you were slaves to sin”
· We all came to the gospel with the same sinful history.
· Regardless of our outward morality we were all slaves to sin.
BUT GOD GAVE YOU FREEDOM.
Paul says “you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed”
Now, let me make sure you don’t read that wrongly.
For I can see how one might read that as something you did.
As if to say:
· I decided to obey Jesus.
· I committed myself to Christ.
· I determined to obey His teaching.
You may very well have wanted to do those things,
But you were a slave and had no power to accomplish that in your life.
Just remember where we are headed in Romans 7
· Where you have Paul who says that he agreed with the Law that it was good,
· But still did the very things he hated.
What Paul is speaking about there is NOT something that you did.
He is NOT talking about how one day
You decided to quit serving Satan and start serving Christ.
No, God is talking about something He did to you.
That word “form” does NOT mean “type”
As in, “you decided to commit yourself to a different type of teaching.”
The word there is TUPOS and it speaks of “a mold.”
This is a concrete form…
And the word “committed” is NOT something you did,
But rather it is something that was done to you.
Like if someone has you placed in a hospital
You might say “They had you “committed”.”
It is the word PARADIDOMAI
It means “to give into the hands of another”
SO WHAT IS PAUL SAYING HERE?
He is saying that “you were slaves of sin”
HOWEVER,
· God took you and poured you into a new mold.
· God took you and made you new.
· God took you and committed you to the service of His Son.
How did He do that?
He caused you to become “obedient from the heart”
GOD CHANGED YOUR HEART.
Isn’t that how the New Covenant works?
Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Ezekiel 36:26-27 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
This is the supernatural work of God on those He saved.
God takes those who are slaves of sin.
· He unites them with Christ so that His death effects their freedom.
· He fills them with the Holy Spirit.
· He raises them with Christ giving them new life.
· He makes a new creation out of them.
· He literally pours them into a new mold.
That mold is His word; His righteous ordinances.
· He reshapes and refashions that person after His will.
THAT IS THE VERY ESSENCE OF SALVATION.
verse 18, “and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
God takes you from being someone who pleased sin
And molds you into someone who will please Him.
That was the effect of God’s working on your life.
· God liberated you.
· God reformed you.
· God enlisted you.
AND NOW, AFTER ALL OF THAT, YOUR QUESTION IS:
“Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?”
SERIOUSLY? CAN YOU SEE HOW INSULTING THAT IS TO GOD?
Oh God, thanks for breaking me out of prison!
Oh God, thanks for giving me this new white robe!
Oh God, thanks for filling me with Your Holy Spirit!
But I think I’m going to head back to my prison now.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep this white robe in my closet
So that I’ll have it when it’s time to go to heaven.”
WHAT AN INSULT!
THAT’S THE NONSENSE OF THIS.
Do you remember God’s frustration with the Children of Israel?
· He had delivered them from Egypt
· He had fed them with bread from heaven
· He had given them water from a rock
· A cloud by day, A light by night
· Parting the Red Sea
And yet they keep saying, “Oh that we could go back to Egypt!”
My how that warmed God’s heart.
The proper response to God’s deliverance IS NOT
To try and take advantage of it by returning to sin.
The proper response is
verse 17, “But thanks be to God…”
Thanksgiving is in order, not apathy.
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
He saved you for good works, not so you could return to the mud.
Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,”
YOU GET THE POINT.
Such a question is an absolute insult to God.
· THE TRUE CHILD OF GOD seeks sanctification not defilement.
· THE LIBERATED SLAVE runs after God not back to his former master.
The focus of freedom is not sin, it is righteousness.
That question insinuates lostness.
That question insults God.
#3 WHAT THAT QUESTION IGNORES
Romans 6:19-23
Paul begins by qualifying the analogy he is using.
He has been comparing our relationship to God as that of a slave and a master.
And that’s not a wrong way to do it, but it’s certainly not the only way to do it.
And Paul says, “I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.”
I’m using this is an illustration
To make sure you understand what I’m talking about.
Certainly our relationship with God is also likened that of a Father and son, a
Vineyard owner and a worker, even a friend.
Paul is not trying to make you think that slave and master
Is the only fitting analogy,
It’s just the one that will help you understand this issue the best.
SO HE CONTINUES.
And he is going to tell you that if you are asking that question.
If it is your desire to return of sin,
You are ignoring something you ought not to ignore.
In fact there are two things you are ignoring.
1) SLAVERY HAS CONSEQUENCES (19)
“For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.”
Be careful who you pick as your master
Because there will be consequences.
If you choose sin as your master.
If you present yourselves
· To “impurity” (outside; physical uncleanness)
· To “lawlessness” (inside; contempt for the Law)
It will result in what?
· “further lawlessness”
It’s the old adage, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go and keep you longer than you want to stay.”
Sin never says, “Enough”
If it’s your plan to present your body to sin so you can enjoy a little harmless sin in private on the weekends…
I’ve got some news for you.
Sin won’t allow that.
· It grows, it spreads, it splatters.
· There is no contentment with sin.
· It always hungers for more.
As a young person you see it in the form of boredom.
What was thrilling and fun yesterday will be boring tomorrow
And sin will drive you to more.
BUT
If you present yourself as “slaves of righteousness”
There are also consequences.
What will happen then?
“resulting in sanctification”
SLAVERY HAS CONSEQUENCES.
Those who choose to present themselves to sin
Are forgetting that
· Sin will call the shots
· And take you much further than you want to go.
Sin isn’t content until it ruins you, your reputation, your family,
And ultimately kills you and sends you to hell.
I grew up watching Troy Aikman.
· One of the most remarkable quarterbacks to ever play the game.
· Won more super bowls even than Roger Staubach.
· An incredible player.
· And he was booed as he left the field in his last ever game.
Those fans didn’t love Troy Aikman they wanted to use Troy Aikman for their own gratification. And when they were done with him, they eagerly cast him aside.
SIN IS LIKE THAT.
It will only lead you into more.
Until it ultimately uses you up and discards you.
But look, slavery to righteousness has consequences too.
It will also take you further down the road,
But down a road that leads to glory.
If you present yourself as a slave to God,
· He will sanctify you.
· He will wash you.
· He will make you more and more like Jesus.
· He will help you secure treasure in heaven.
Slavery has consequences.
Let me tell you what else they are ignorant of:
2) SLAVERY HAS BENEFITS (20-23)
Every master has a benefit plan.
SIN CERTAINLY DOES.
(20-21) “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.”
Now first you read:
“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.”
THAT’S TRUE.
· You can only serve one master, not two.
· And people who present themselves to sin only get to do sin’s bidding.
It’s not a 50/50 thing.
It’s not a 24 on 24 off thing.
Sin’s slaves serve only sin, and never God.
But don’t worry, sin will compensate you.
SIN GIVES YOU BENEFITS.
(21) “what benefit were you then deriving from those things of which you are now ashamed?”
You can go to my mom’s house and see my senior pictures.
· Garbed up in a ton of Dallas Cowboy memorabilia.
· I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.
· And that’s not even sinful.
But sin, never satisfies.
There is no benefit there.
I remember driving to Lubbock several years ago and BudLight had a billboard just as you went into town that read, “Always a Good Idea”.
· I always figured that some day there would be a drunk driving crash just below
that billboard.
“For the outcome of those things is death.”
There is the benefit of sin.
· Have you forgotten that?
· Have you forgotten the garden?
· Have you forgotten the flood?
· Are you ignorant of the workings of sin?
Such a question would suggest that you are.
But just like sin has benefits, SO DOES RIGHTEOUSNESS.
(22) “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”
Look at the benefit of presenting yourself to God.
· “sanctification”
· “eternal life”
I MEAN WHICH JOB DO YOU WANT?
DO YOU WANT THE JOB
· That shows the world you are a child of Satan?
· That offends God?
· That makes you do things that will make you ashamed?
· That will ultimately kill you and send you to hell?
OR
DO YOU WANT THE JOB
· That shows you to be a child of God?
· That pleases God?
· That washes you clothes you in honor?
· That takes you to heaven?
THAT SEEMS LIKE A NO-BRAINER DOESN’T IT?
THEN WHY ASK SUCH A STUPID QUESTION?
(23) “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The choice in masters is not a difficult one.
I know we blew through that segment, and that’s ok,
I just wanted you to see the absurdity of such a question.
BUT MORE THAN THAT.
I realize that none of you verbally asked such a question.
· In fact, I don’t know if I’ve heard anyone literally ask that question.
And yet it is vividly clear to me that even though few ask it,
That is the way so many in the world today think.
There are far too many in the church who adopt such thinking.
· Supposing they can claim Christ in some moment of empty profession
· Then return to the world like it’s no big deal.
IT’S A BIG DEAL!
Sanctification matters!
Christ died to provide it.
God is eager to give it.
Don’t you dare disregard it or reject it.
· You give every effort you have into presenting yourself to God.
· You give every effort you have into serving Christ.
· You strive to be the slave God desires you to be.
HE DESERVES IT.