Attending Your Own Funeral, Part One
Note: When I preached this sermon, I found out I really had two sermons (time wise); so I preached part two (labelled, "Attending Your Own Funeral Conclusion" in which I summarize my first point and then half of the second point (which is far as I got), and then hit the third. In the process I added some new material.
1. Last Sunday was Mother¡¦s Day. After church, Luke went home, and, as he was unlocking the door, the lock fell apart.
2. So I hurried home to cook the ribs, and we ate well. We relaxed, took some naps, and did a few things around the house¡Kthen I remembered the lock¡K
3. Menard¡¦s¡Kthen more keys¡K.Lowes..7:01, Meanard¡¦s closed¡KWalmart¡K7:31...Monday, Marylu stopped on the way, no one in the key dept. then; Tuesday, Lowe¡¦s; none worked; no time to go back¡K.hardware¡K1 out of three¡K
4. Finally on Wednesday I went back to the hardware store with old keys and their top expert made me some new ones¡K
5. Some things just do not have play. You have to get it right or it doesn¡¦t work.
6. So it is with the Christian life. There are a lot of things to get wrong: salvation, sanctification (growing in spiritual depth and character), participation in the body¡K
Main Idea: Christians should not take sin lightly, but need to focus on developing their relationship to God instead.
Paul offers several arguments to convince us of this.
There are other motivations besides merit and fear (Law); Grace motivates us out of love, appreciation, and relationship.
I. The Argument of Our Confession of Faith at Baptism (1-5)
1. The question of verse 1 is raised in response to 5:20
(1) I said it last week and I¡¦ll repeat it: if you present salvation as Paul presents it, this question will be raised¡K.
(2)The problem with the question is that it presumes that the only motivation for living for God and combating sin that is effective is fear of losing salvation
(3)In a future sermon, we are going to see that this was one of the main motivators under the Law¡K.but we are not under Law, but under grace¡K
„h As we look at this text, many people tear it out of the context of Romans and teach that people are saved by baptism¡K.
In our text, we need to remember that baptism is faith in action for people to see. ¡§Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7; Romans 10:10, ¡§For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified¡K¡¨
3.Faith saves a person, but, in the early church, a person was recognized as having saving faith by his willingness to follow Christ in baptism. Baptism is not the point of regeneration; it is, instead, the formalization of conversion. Baptism is often used as a figure to include everything that led up to the point of immersion: regeneration, repentance, and faith.¡¨ EJV
„h John Stott writes, ¡§To be sure, the New Testament speaks of baptism in terms of our washing away our sins¡K but these are examples of dynamic language which attributes to the visible sign the blessing of the reality signified. It is inconceivable that the apostle Paul, having spent three chapters arguing that justification is by faith alone, should now ¡K contradict himself, and declare after all that salvation is by baptism. No, we must give the apostle credit for consistency of thought. ¡¥The baptized¡¦s faith is, of course, taken for granted¡Knot forgotten or denied¡K¡¦¡¨
4. But our baptism pictures POSITIONAL truth, what has legally happened¡K
„h the main concept of baptism is public identification
„h baptism by immersion pictures this completely¡K.
„h We identify with His death, burial, & resurrection
„h The result: legally, we ¡§died to sin¡¨
5. Paul claims that somehow the Christian has died to sin. Now what exactly does that mean? Does it mean Christians don¡¦t sin anymore? If it does, then none of us are really Christians yet, because we all continue to sin each and every day. In fact, the Bible warns us that if we think we reach a point in this life when we stop sinning that we¡¦re only fooling ourselves (1 John 1:8, 10). So being dead to sin doesn¡¦t mean ceasing from sin.
6. Maybe being dead to sin means that Christians no longer enjoy sin. Once again, if that¡¦s true, then none of us are Christians yet, because sinful behavior continues to entice us with promises of pleasure and excitement. Although we may end up broken and bruised afterwards, we¡¦d be lying if we claimed sin wasn¡¦t fun while we were doing it.
7. It means that we are viewed as perfect with Christ, seated in heaven¡Kthis is our standing¡K.the problem is that our actual state does not always match our standing.
8. When we came to Christ, we wanted to be saved from our sins; we came to Him for any of a number of reasons, but one of them was that we wanted a ¡§new life¡¨ (4b).
9. So Christians should not take sin lightly, but need to focus on developing their relationship to God instead because they came to Christ precisely to be saved from sin and its penalty and to be right with God.
Illustration (sermoncentral, alt): If you receive an invitation to a be in a Wedding and you go through the trouble of RSVP, you would put on old rags, then run out and wallow in the mud. You would not show up and jump around the altar during the ceremony.
You are morally obliged to put on the new clean garments they provide, show up, and follow the way of the Groom or Bride.
If you receive an invitation to make Jesus your Savior and you go through the trouble of responding, then you are morally obliged to put on your new clean clothes through conversion to Christ and follow the way of the Savior.
Since we have chosen to associate with Christ and we died and rose with Christ, it makes sense to live the resurrected life now with Christ.
II. The Argument of Liberation from From An Evil Master (6-14)
1.We were in Adam; through the work of Christ, we have defected from Adam¡¦s family to Christ¡K.2 Cor 5:17, ¡§Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!¡¨
2.We were slaves to sin¡K.
3. Addictions represent the -------------------------_____enslaving______ nature of sin; we are all prone ` to sin, but not all sins entice us in the same way as they do others.
„h Radio personality Paul Harvey tells the story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin. "First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. "Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night.
„h So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his OWN warm blood. His carnivorous appetite just craves more--until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!"
„h It is a fearful thing that people can be "consumed by their own lusts." Only God’s grace keeps us from the wolf’s fate.
4. Since we are identified with Christ¡¦s death, and since He suffered as He did to pay the penalty for sin, we ought to find sin repulsive [logically]. Paul¡¦s argument is answering the question, ¡§Why should we not sin?¡¨ He is NOT saying that people ARE consistent and logical (though they can be at times), but rather he is building a logical case
5. We are now to live a life with God in the center of it (18); Please note: this is the logical and spiritually legal groundwork for a holy life; in actuality, avoiding sin and living righteously is still a struggle; but these verses tell us why we SHOULD struggle, why we should hold high expectations for ourselves.
6. Verse 11-13 is the application of this teaching: ¡§In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.¡¨
„h Being dead to sin does not mean sin does not tempt us or overpower us; it does mean we can choose to not let it reign¡Kwe are freed from the egotistical, pride-based protecting my self-esteem cycle¡K.but we can easily fall back into what we are used to¡K
„h In the United States, we refuse to negotiate, or give in to terrorists who attempt to use fear to force their will upon us. We insist on living free so we fight terrorism. Rather than giving in to the terrorists who blew up the World Trade Center, or to the cowards who blew up the Alfred P Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City, or to the murders who blew up the US. Military barracks in Saudi Arabia, we resist. We refuse to permit them to govern our actions. In the very same way Christians must resist sin and refuse to negotiate with the sin nature that still lingers within us. (Sermoncentral)
7. The Puritan theologian John Owens once wrote that his biggest challenge as a pastor was persuading non-Christians that they were slaves to sin and Christians that they were dead to sin. We need to undergo a paradigm shift in our lives, to see ourselves differently, as those introduced to a new way of living.
Christians should not take sin lightly, but need to focus on developing their relationship to God instead because they have been freed from the tyranny of sin.
Since we recognize sin as an evil and enslaving tyrant, why would we want to voluntarily serve it?
III. The Argument of Being Bond to A Benevolent Master (15-23)
1. But when Christ freed us, He did not make us an independent agent: we are now His slaves¡K.
2. Our life takes on new purpose. Our purpose is to live for the one who saved us and who broke the chains of sin that held us in its grip!
3. True believers are wholehearted in their commitment to Christ (17)
4. We are legally slaves to God (20-23)
(1)we are always either slaves to God or to sin (pride-based behavior)
(2) if we are truly saved, we want to serve God
(3) hence the relationship of grace to works in verse 23¡K
Christians should not take sin lightly, but need to focus on developing their relationship to God instead because they are enslaved to God, and sin is contrary to God¡¦s will.
Since we are God¡¦s slaves intent on pleasing Him, why would we want to offend His holy nature, which is what sin does?
Conclusion
1. A case in point
2. In his book "What¡¦s So Amazing About Grace," Christian author Philip Yancey writes about a friend who invited him out for a cup of coffee one night (Yancey 179-80). This friend, it turns out, is contemplating leaving his wife after 15 years of marriage because he¡¦s found someone younger and prettier, someone he says makes him feel alive. As a Christian, Yancey¡¦s friend knows his decision will devastate his wife and permanently damage his three kids. He also knows that his relationship with God will never be the same again. Even so, the force pulling him toward this other woman was like a powerful magnet. So finally he asks Philip Yancey, "Do you think God can forgive something as awful as I¡¦m about to do?¡¦
Yancey¡¦s friend was looking for assurance that he¡¦d still be accepted by God, still under the cover of God¡¦s grace. I¡¦ve had lots of people ask me the very same question as they contemplate doing things that are clearly wrong and destructive.
Because of this way of thinking, many people have been critical of the Christian idea of God¡¦s grace. Somehow we¡¦ve domesticated the idea of grace into a generic prayer we pray before a meal, but when you really think about it the Bible¡¦s concept of grace is very radical. Grace of course means that we can¡¦t earn or merit acceptance with God no matter how hard we might try. Grace means that God offers restoration with God on the basis of a free, undeserved gift, that there¡¦s nothing we can do to earn it, buy it, perform for it, or merit it. Grace means no amount of trying will make God love us more and no amount of sinning will make God love us less (Yancey).
Every other religion of the world rejects the idea of grace, and insists that we must contribute something to our salvation. We must try harder, we must be better, we must live morally, and so forth. All the various religions of the world offer a self-help way to merit restoration with God, whether it¡¦s the eightfold path of Buddhism, the karma and reincarnation cycle of Hinduism, the laws and ordinances of the Mormon church, or the four pillars of Islam. Only the Christian faith dares to suggest that God offers a relationship to people on the basis of pure grace.
3. But analyze this: is this man dead to sin? Is he showing contempt for the evil taskmaster of sin and love and appreciation for his new Master? Is he ordering his life in accord with God¡¦s will?
4. Will he lose his salvation (if he had it?). I do not believe so. But he will experience: God¡¦s discipline, unhappy consequences, guilt and its psychological toll, loss of reward in glory, and he will fail at his main purpose in life: glorifying God.
5. Can he get right with God later? Yes. But there is forgiveness, but the consequences remain. We can exploit God¡¦s grace, but it goes so against the grain of our new lives in Christ that we end up absolutely miserable:
--we have neither the joy of the Lord NOR the joy of the world
6. Shall we sin that grace may abound. The answer is clear: may it never be!
