Month: December 2023

Romans 6:14-23

• Intro:
  • The passage we are using in this lesson deals with a saved person.
  • The issue that Paul is discussing is sin in the life of the saved person.
  • This lesson will have two parts and in the second part we will address the question of what does sin cost a person that is already saved.
  • In this lesson we are going to look primarily at verse 23 and answer the question of what did sin cost in general.
• In verse 23 the word of God says that the wages of sin is death.
  • What exactly are wages?
  • Wages are what you earn for doing something.
  • If you have a job and you are paid $10.00 per hour and you work 40 a week then your weekly wages are $400.00 per week (before taxes of course).
  • Therefore wages are simply what you earn.
• According to this verse the sin that a person commits earns them death.
  • Today people say that death is caused by disease, accident, homicide, or many other causes.
  • But the Bible gives us the true reason for all death and that is SIN. (James 1:14-15)
• There is a very important principle in regards to earning something.
  • It will always cost you one thing to earn another.
  • Remember that even though sin may be fun and seem exciting for a moment you must ask yourself what is it going to cost you in the end.
  • To answer the question of what does sin cost we are going to look at several people in the Bible and see exactly what sin cost.
• 1. Sin cost Satan his original position. (Ezekiel 28:13-17 ; Isaiah 14:12-15)
  • Satan was not created as Satan but as Lucifer the anointed Cherub that covereth (Isaiah 14:12 ; Ezekiel 28:14).
  • Satan was lifted up in his own heart and through pride he said that he would be higher than God and as a result he lost his position as the anointed Cherub and is now the being that we call Satan.
  • And if you are wondering what will happen to Satan as a result of all of this read Revelation 20:10 and you will see that he winds up in the Lake of fire for all eternity.
• 2. Sin cost Adam his physical life and living in Paradise. (Genesis 3:19, 22-24)
  • God told Adam that in the day he ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil he would die.
  • Now Adam did die spiritual at that very moment and also from that point on he began to age physically.
  • Remember that the result of sin is death (Romans 5:12-14).
  • Also Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and as a result of their sin and they also suffered many other physical conditions as a result their sin.
  • So sin cost Adam a whole lot.
• 3. Sin cost God his only begotten Son. (John 3:16)
  • Now we know that God did not sin but because of Adam’s sin it cost God something to get man back into fellowship with him.
  • God is Holy, Just, and Righteous therefore he cannot just overlook man’s sin.
  • So he provided his son the Lord Jesus Christ to come and die on the cross for our sins so that through the Lord Jesus Christ we could be saved and made righteous in the sight of God.
• 4. Sin cost Jesus Christ the Agony of the Cross. (Isaiah 53:1-12 ; Luke 22:63-71, 23:1-50)
  • The death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary was both humiliating and excruciatingly painful, not to mention he was beaten severely before he ever even got to the cross.
  • And to top it all off he did not deserve any of it.
  • He had never sinned in his life.
  • What he was doing was paying for your sins and mine and the sins of the whole world.
  • This is why Hebrews says he endured the contradiction of sinners. (Hebrews 12:3)
• So you see sin has a terrible price and it will always get paid for one way or another.
  • Now if you are lost and are trying to get to heaven any other way than the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ you will not make it.
  • Many are trying to earn salvation through good works but if you can earn it then why did he die.
• You see Jesus has already paid the debt that you owe for your sin when he died on the cross of Calvary.
  • All you have to do is receive him as your Savior and accept this free gift of Salvation trusting in his shed blood to cover your sins and not your own works or goodness. (Romans 10:9-13 ; Ephesians 2:8-9)
• We also discussed how that if a person rejects the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior that ultimately sin will cost them death and their soul.
• In this lesson we are going to deal with what sin cost a person who is saved.
• Once you are born again you are spiritually circumcised according to Colossians 2:9-13.
  • As a result of this you are sealed unto the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:30).
  • Therefore as a saved person when you sin after salvation you do not lose your salvation.  
  • There are some things that sin can cause us to lose.
  • This matter is discussed for us in Romans 6:14-23.
• What is the passage telling us :
• 1. We are under grace and not the law (verse 14)
  • The whole point of the law was to teach us what sin is (Romans 7:7).
  • But now that we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) sin does not have dominion over us.
  • This is not saying that you will never sin but that as a saved person you should not let sin have dominion over you.
• 2. We do not have a license to sin (verse 15)
  • Many think that because we have eternal security that we have a license to sin, but as this verse says we do not have a license to sin.
  • When we do sin after Salvation we need forgiveness of that sin and to get it out of our lives.
  • We should not let it have dominion over us which is why we have Jesus Christ as our advocate (1 John 2:1-2)
• 3. To whom ye yield is who you serve (verse16)
  • Notice the word yield.
    • To yield when driving mean to give way to the other vehicle.
    • This is exactly what happens when we sin as a saved person.
    • We give way to our flesh.
  • As a result of the spiritual circumcision that we mentioned earlier a saved person has 2 natures, the old man and the new man.
  • The old man is the flesh and that is the part of us that still wants to sin after salvation.
  • So when we are tempted to sin we will have a choice to make.
  • We will either yield to the flesh and sin or we will yield to the new man and avoid the sin.
    • The choice is ours.
• 4. The result of Salvation is that we are freed from being the servants of sin (verses 17-20)
  • Before salvation we were a slave to sin.
    • After salvation we have been freed from being a slave to sin.
    • That does not mean we will not sin but that we are no longer under the bondage of being a slave to sin.
  • Before salvation our flesh was yielded to sin automatically but now as a result of Salvation we should yield our members (that is our flesh) as servants to righteousness unto holiness. (verse 19)
• 5. The fruit of sin is shame and death and the fruit of righteousness is holiness unto Everlasting Life (verse 21-22)
  • Thanks to the gift of God we can now have everlasting life.
  • Therefore we should strive to yield ourselves to the Lord for his work and not to our flesh for our own desires and pleasures.
• What does sin cost a saved Person :
• 1. Joy and Peace (Nehemiah 8:10 ; Ephesians 6:10)
  • In Nehemiah we see that the joy of the Lord is our strength.
  • And in Ephesians we see that we are to do everything in the strength of the Lord, especially overcome sin.
  • Now sin always destroys and makes one weaker.
    • You are never made stronger by sin.
    • Therefore when we as a saved person sin and do not get it out of our lives it makes us weaker spiritually.
  • Some of the most miserable people on the earth are saved people who continue to sin and never get it right with God.
    • They may have fun with sin for a while but fun and joy are not the same.
    • Joy and peace is what brings true happiness.
• 2. Your Testimony (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
  • At the end of verse 27 Paul says “lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
  • Paul was not worried about losing his salvation but Paul did not ever want to lose his testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ so that he could not preach to others.
  • Your testimony as a saved person is one of the most valuable things you have.
  • Once you have ruined your testimony with certain people you will never get it back, and you might not ever get to help those people.
  • Sin will cost you to lose your testimony and maybe your effectiveness for serving God so you had better be careful and guard it heavily.
• 3. Your Rewards (2 John 8)
  • As a saved person we are earning rewards that will be given to us at the Judgement Seat of Christ.
    • Those rewards consist of crowns and reigning with the Lord Jesus Christ in the 1000 year millennial reign.
  • Now sin can cost us those rewards.
    • Now can you imagine standing before the Lord Jesus Christ who died for your sins and having to watch all of your rewards burn up and have nothing to place at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ.
    • That is going to be really embarrassing for many saved people.
    • John says you and I need to be careful to gain a full reward.
• 4. Your Physical Life (Romans 6:16 ; 1 John 5:16)
  • Both of these verses have the phrase “sin unto death” found in them.
    • This is not one specific sin that causes people to die.
    • In the Bible people died for many different sins and some others committed those same sins and did not die immediately.
  • This sin unto death is talking about when a saved person continues to sin after being chastened and warned by God over and over without getting it right God may take that person out of this world.
    • Now remember that they do not lose their salvation but they may die before their time (Ecclesiastes 7:17).
• Remember God leaves us on earth after salvation to accomplish something for him and if we ruin our testimony to the point of being not useful for God why would he leave us here do to more damage to his name sake.

Jesus Christ was born in the meanest of circumstances, but the air above was filled with the hallelujahs of the heavenly host. His lodging was a cattle pen, but later a star drew distinguished visitors from afar to do Him homage.

His birth was contrary to the laws of life. His death contrary to the laws of death. No miracle is so inexplicable as His life and teaching.

He had no cornfields or fisheries, but He could spread a table for five thousand and have bread and fish to spare. lie walked on no beautiful carpets, but He walked on the waters and they supported Him.

His crucifixion was the crime of crimes, but, on God’s side, no lower price than His infinite agony could have made possible our redemption. When He died, few mourned, but a black crepe was hung over the sun. Though men trembled not for their sins, the earth beneath shook under the load. All nature honoured Him; sinners alone rejected Him.

Three years He preached His Gospel. He wrote no book, built no church, and had no money to back Him. After almost two thousand years, lie is the one central character of human history, the perpetual theme of all preaching, the pivot around which the events of the age revoIve, the only Regenerator of the human race.

Was it merely the son of Joseph and Mary who crossed the world’s horizon nearly two thousand years ago? Was it merely human blood that was spilled on Calvary’s hill for the redemption of sinners, and which has worked such wonders in men and nations through the centuries?

What thinking man can keep from exclaiming, “My Lord and my God!”

The Gospel Standard

There is a very personal note in the Christmas message which is frequently missed by many. The birth of Jesus is not simply an interesting fact of history wholly unrelated to your present life, but rather it has a direct bearing upon it.

When the angel announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, the personal importance of His coming was emphasized. He said, “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 210-11).

Have you ever thought that it was for you the Saviour was born? Do you realize that when God sent His Son into the world He sent Him to become your Saviour? Listen to the word of the herald angel, ” … I bring you good tidings of great joy … For unto you is born … a Saviour … “ Yes, it was for you that Jesus came.

When at this Christmas season the wonderful birth of Christ is brought again to your mind through Christmas carols, paintings and pictures, and through the sacred story itself, will you not consider it was for you that He came?

He did not come to be the inspiration of sacred art, nor to be the theme of glad song, much less to be merely a good man and a great teacher. Jesus came to be the Saviour, and as such He was born for you.

Bound inseparably together are the Saviour’s birth and His death. He came to save, and to save He must die, die in the sinner’s stead, bearing the full penalty of divine wrath for sin. This too, was personal it was for you.

Such a personal message of God’s love and grace demands a personal response. The Saviour who was born was God’s gift to you. He wants you to receive that gift. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

To receive the gift of God by faith, you must believe that Christ actually was born to be your Saviour. You should trust Him because He died for your sins. You should trust Him because He lives, having risen from the dead.

God’s call to you is “Come unto me … “ (Matthew 11:28).

The Gospel Standard

The words of God say in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Once a person becomes born again (saved) there are supposed to be some changes that take place over time. When a person is saved then the Holy Spirit of God comes to dwell inside the person until the day of redemption. The day the Lord returns to catch them away with Him to heaven.

The work of the Holy Spirit is  over a period of time to conform the believer to the image Christ. The only way this process can happen if the believer is yielded on a daily basis to the indwelling Holy Spirit and not the old man or unsaved flesh.  You see when a person is born again the soul is saved, the believer’s spirit is born again but the flesh is still unsaved.

I ask you the following question if you are truly born again have you become a new creature in Christ by daily walking in and yielding to the Holy Spirit on a daily basis? If you make this claim then why do still harbor hatred toward a person of another race or ethnic group.

To the Lord each soul is a precious that needs to be saved regardless of race or ethnic group. As a saved person you are to have the mind of Christ. You should look at each person as a precious soul needing to be saved regardless of race or ethnic group.

The words of God speak out and against homosexuality, same sex marriage and the perversion that is going on in our society today but God does not prohibit interracial marriage.

So, if you harbor hatred toward person of another race and ethnic group then repent of your sin and ask God to give you a burden for their soul.

The Old Testament Scriptures predicted the coming of a Messiah who would be both a Saviour and a King. Prophecy became history in Jesus Christ. At His first coming”… the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6), and when He comes again ” … the government shall be upon his shoulder …” (Isaiah 9:6).

The Lord’s return for the church and His subsequent coming with the church to reign over the earth forms the Christian hope and solution to the problems of a chaotic world. The Scripture reveals numerous blessings bound up in that wonderful hope.

A HOPE OF RESURRECTION

The Apostle Paul tells us that following the archangel’s shout, announcing the coming of Christ, believers in Christ who have died shall be raised (1 Thessalonians 4:16). This is the first resurrection or the resurrection of life (John 5:28-29).

The happy state of those sharing resurrection at Christ’s coming is described in Revelation 20:6, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

A HOPE OF RAPTURE

Immediately following the resurrection of the dead in Christ, believers who are living at that time shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The Lord spoke of this blessed hope to His disciples in John 14:2-3, “… I go to prepare a place for you. And if l go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

A HOPE OF REUNION

Resurrected believers and living saints are to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). What a happy reunion that will be! Husbands and wives shall be joined again, broken family circles restored, friends and loves ones shall meet, never to be parted again.

A HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

“For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith” (Galatians 5:5). The hour is coming when the sons of God shall see the Son of God, and “… we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). Not only to be sinless, but to be unable to sin! “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3).

A HOPE OF RESTORATION

The redemptive work of Christ shall then lift the curse of sin from the whole groaning creation (Romans 8:19,22). Then shall the desert bloom as a rose, and thorns and thistles shall give way to fruitful vines and trees. The lion and the lamb shall lie down together. All nature shall rejoice and bring forth in abundance (Isaiah 3 5).

A HOPE OF REWARD

When our glorious King returns, He shall bring His rewards with Him (Revelation 22:12). Every act of kindness done in His name, all work built upon the foundation Christ Jesus which abides the test of His judgment, shall be richly rewarded.

A HOPE OF REIGNING

Those who follow the path of humiliation marked out by His nail-pierced feet shall be exalted with Him. “… and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). The willing victim of the cross shall one day wear the victor’s crown. The Saviour shall be acclaimed Sovereign. He shall be glorified in the innumerable hosts of the redeemed.