The Obedience Of Righteousness

“Yield To God”

As we go through our lives after God has saved us by His Amazing Grace, we are not to be dominated by the sin that is still in our flesh. We must count our self dead to sin and we must yield to Holy Ghost conviction and follow His lead.

Col 3:5 says to Mortify therefore your members

This means to take total control of our flesh. When we allow our flesh to take control, we are already in sin.

A little bit about “Grace”;

1.) “Grace” is God acting freely according to His Own Loving Nature. Not under obligation and always in view of the Cross.

2.) “Grace” is a Free Gift from God.

3.) “Grace” is not to be repaid and goes forth where ever God chooses. It can even seem to place the most undeserving in the highest places.

4.) “Grace” cannot work when we feel like we deserve it or we can act on our own ability.

5.) “Grace” cannot be given when we justify ourselves.

6.) “Grace” cannot be given until we are sure of our unworthiness.

7.) Our flesh has no place in the plan of “Grace”. Our own self “Pride” is the enemy of Grace.

8.) When we are under God’s “Grace” our burden should be all about others and not our own selves!

We should learn about our Holy Walk with God in this chapter. The questions to be answered in this chapter are:

A.) Shall we still walk in our old life just because God’s Grace will abound greater?

B.) Shall we use the liberty that God’s Grace gives us to commit known sin?

Our Salvation rest on five keys, five being the number of “Grace”.

1.) Christ Jesus did all the work on the Cross and “Shed His Blood” for us all.

2.) We are “Born Again” separated from the sin of Adam our old man crucified with Christ.

3.) We are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit of God and sealed and givin a new law of “Life” eternal.

4.) Christ in Heaven is now Our Great High Priest and Our Advocate with the Father.

5.) Christ will come to received us unto Himself in Glory—- The Rapture.

Our Text For Today:

*****Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

Let’s refresh our memory of the end of Chapter 5:

Rom 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Some people will say that if “Grace” is so great a gift, then why do we not sin more just to get more “Grace”.

Some people will say that if we allow “Grace” to reign in our flesh then what will control our evil conscience, and our evil tendencies.

Some people will even say that with abounding “Grace” we can live our lives any way we want too.

The “Free Gift of God’s Grace” is rejected by these people who think they should have to do some work to appease God.

The “Free Gift of God’s Grace” is rejected by these people who think they have to lead righteous and holy lives they they know that they are not capable of doing.

The “Free Gift of God’s Grace” is abused by some people who think they have a license to do things they know are wrong.

*****Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Paul says to the believer, we who are saved, are forbidden by God Himself to think these things about His “Free Gift of Grace”.

When we accept Christ Jesus death on the Cross then we must accept that our sinful flesh died with Him!

We died in our relationship to sin, we are still alive in our flesh.

We cannot be the same person doing the same things because it is impossible for our sin nature to have died if we have not changed and are still walking in sin.

This does not mean we have complete victory over sin but the things we know and are convicted of by the Holy Spirit we should have Victory over all those things.

Paul wrote to the Galatians:

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

*****Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Once saved we should do two things. We should make a public announcement of our confession and then be Baptized.

Baptism represents the death, burial and the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus.

Paul ask these Romans if they realized what this Baptism stood for. In our Baptism, we are confessing we have made our choice of Jesus who was made sin for us, on our behalf.

If Christ took our sin with Him to the grave then we should have no sin. These Roman Jews were not confused about Baptism as we are today.

Baptism should be a happy memory of the day we stepped out against this world of sin confessing that Jesus Christ is Our Savior and also Our Lord.

The Apostle Peter teaches us:

1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

We should have these things clear in our own minds. Baptism is all about the death and resurrection of Christ and Our New Man. Baptism is NOT ABOUT CLEANSING!

Baptism is a symbol of, a scriptural picture, of our own death to sin in our lives but it is not the means of our New Life. That was made possible by the “Shed Blood” of Christ.

*****Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

What Paul is saying here is that just as Jesus Christ was raised in that “New Glorified Body” we also as believers and identified with the death of Christ and our sin, past , present, and future, should also walk in
the Newness of Life.

Jesus Christ walk on this earth in “newness of life” for 40 days. He was the first born of the dead. He was the last Adam and the Second Man. Jesus Christ is our new starting point of the entire human race and Savior to all those that believe.

This not just a manner of living but actual life. To be saved is to already have begun our road to eternal life while we are alive in this flesh.

We will walk one day in the same new life that Jesus had after He was resurrected. We should begin that walk now even in this life and even in this flesh.

1Co 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

We need to walk in the Spirit of Jesus.

*****Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Planted together means closely united. To be united with Christ is to be like Him.

If we do not believe then we cannot be in the likeness of Christ Jesus. If we are then in His likeness at His death, our own sin buried with Him, then we will be like Him in His resurrection. Christ was raised in “Glory” and if we are planted with Him we will be raised with Him.

Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

This verse has two meanings:

1.) Obviously when our flesh dies we will be joined with Our Lord in Heaven. This is our real victory!

2.) But also if we die to sin, then we have gained in our walk with Our Lord while we are still alive.

We do not have to wait till we get to Heaven to gain the joy the Christian life knowing that our victory is soon coming.

3.) But if we are not now walking in that life can we truly say we are saved.

*****Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

If we have put off the old man then there should be a noticeable change in that new man.

Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, [which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him]:

To be renewed in the knowledge of Christ image is to recognize in our own minds what being like Christ truly means.

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

We all will still struggle with these things as long as we are in the flesh but we should be able to have victory over them most of the time.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Even though we are unworthy God has made it possible for us to be worthy by the death of our old man and place us in the image of His Dear Son.

This is what happens when we believe and live in Faith.

If I did not die with Christ Jesus on that Cross, then I cannot be living with Him risen from the dead.

*****Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

It is the knowing that we are sinners that keeps away from a glorious Christian Life. We can declare “Victory” only when we realize that we have certainly been justified by the “Blood” of Jesus. We absolutely are not under the “Bondage” of that “Old Sin” before Our Holy God.

It is our guilty “conscience” that condemns us. But if we have put that old sin to death, and mortified our members then we ARE FREED FROM THAT SIN!

The only memory of our old sin nature should be of the precious work that Jesus did “For Us” on the cross.

When we get “Victory” over our old sin nature we will know for sure that there is nothing that can keep us away from Our Lord and Savior, and Our Father who is in Heaven.

Do we still have sin in our lives? Sure we do but it will not rule us!

When we have been “justified” we then become a Saint of God!

Justified does not mean “sinless” perfection, it does not mean deliverance from sin. IT MEANS WE HAVE PASSED BEYOND, just as Our Lord Jesus did when He arose from that grave.

This is the picture we should get from full immersion Baptism, because once washed in the Blood of Jesus, we become a “New Creature”. This is where we can base our “Joy” for our remaining days on earth.

Col 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

A “Saints” in “Light” is a Saint in encased with the glory God gave Jesus through the Work of the Cross and the “Shed Blood” of Jesus.

1.) There are many who have truly turned to God but they have not accepted that Jesus “finished” that work on the Cross, that is Jesus did actually bare all sin, past, present, and future and put that sin away.

These are the ones that are never really sure of their own Salvation.

2.) Many others accept the work of Jesus and no longer fear judgment but they bury themselves in their unworthiness. They miss out on the “Joy” of being a “Saint of God”.

3.) But true “Victory” come to those who have the “Faith”, who have believed in their hearts, knowing that our relationship to sin has completely changed and we are identified with Jesus Christ in the eyes of Our Father.

Rom 8:5 says For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Once we have fallen at the feet of Jesus, we do not have to fear anything in this world! This world can only cause us to go to Heaven early.

Eph 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

*****Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

This is the confidence in the “Resurrection”. Our Lord Jesus Christ arose from that “grave” proving it is He that has the “Power Over Life”. HE WILL NEVER DIE AGAIN!

We share this “death of Christ Jesus” and we as believers will share “His Eternal Life”!

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Notice Paul says “I Am” this is not some future thing but the thing that happens the day we believe and are therefore saved.

*****Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

Since we have the knowledge of verse 8 and as it says “we believe” that Jesus Christ rules over “death”

The “devil” once held the power of death, by sin over man, but not any longer:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

This is the promise of Jesus:

Joh 8:51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

In other words when the body dies a physical death, that soul and spirit goes directly to be with Jesus Christ.

THERE IS NO DARK VALLEY TO LINGER IN.

Even that body will be reunited with the soul and spirit at the “Rapture”.

When we share the death of Jesus we will share the life of Jesus!

*****Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

The first thing we should realize is that Christ died “Unto” sin. Jesus Christ did not die because of any sin He had!

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Christ was made to be what we were as unbelievers in order for us to be what He is as a believer. God sent our old man to the Cross unto death and released the believer from the old man to become something new.

This Is Not To Be Changed But To Be Born Again!

Our lives have begun anew.

2Co 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.

*****Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Listen to what God says in this verse:

Our relationship to sin is exactly like that of Jesus Christ! This is the free gift that comes from accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.

Christ Jesus in His death, His connection with sin was ended forever. He no longer bore our sin but He died unto that sin. When Christ was raised it was as One who lived unto God, in an endless, resurrected, and new life.

This is the promise offered to every believer!

To be united with Christ Jesus in death is to be united with Christ Jesus in life.

This is not an experience that is always felt.

THIS IS A FACT!

*****Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

We can now see that our Spiritual has been the topic but now we see that our Mortal Body is mentioned.

While our soul has been redeemed and we are still waiting on the redeeming of the Body at Christ coming in the clouds, the Rapture of the Church.

Sin is still present in these mortal bodies and will reign but God has given us the power to over come our sinful flesh.

It is through our own lusts and desires that is the weakness of our flesh.

Paul wrote:

1Co 6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

We do not have to yield to our own flesh!

We must reject these desires of our flesh!

We do not owe sin or Satan anything. We are bought by the Blood of Jesus and free from obedience to Satan.

*****Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Now we have this commandment from God. We are expected to be obedient! This is the law of repentance.

We are to walk a different walk. God has given a means of controlling sin and that is to walk away. Not giving in to our desires.

All parts of our bodies of flesh are to be used as “Instruments of Righteousness”!

*****Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

1.) Sin’s lordship over us has ended.

2.) We are not under any man made law but under, nor laws of Moses,(Gentiles never were).

3.) Only when we realize our old man died on the Cross can we find ourselves completely free to enjoy the Heavenly Comfort of God’s Grace.

1Co 9:21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

If we are under the law of Christ(God’s Grace) we can then be a “witness” to those that are lost.

*****Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Are we free to sin?

Jesus said:

Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

We have 2 questions in this chapter:

1.) Are we to sin that God will have more Grace?

2.) Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under “Grace”?

*****Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

To answer the first question is that we are in the “Risen Christ”, we share “His Death”, our relation to “Sin” is “broken forever”; we walk in “newness of life”.

The answer to the second question is that God set every believer free to serve Him!

There is only one other master of our lives if we allow it and that is “Sin”!

If we do not look upon sin as controlling us enough to make us slaves then we have missed sin’s power.

What did God say about the sin of Adam?

Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

God has set us free from this bondage and given us the strength to over come it. We can return to sin or we can present our bodies to the work of God.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

*****Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

It is the “Gospel” where we can rest our weary souls. Every saint of God is delivered unto the Gospel of God. We must place our “Faith” in the Word of God, His “Glorious Truth”. Being obedient to “Our Faith” is to walk in the truth of God’s Holy Word.

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

*****Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

This is the pure fact of the believer who then becomes “Faithful”.

Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

These Romans had a clear understanding of “Slavery” as Rome was full of slaves and many of them were these Christians Paul was writing to. In the Roman empire, freedom did not come but to a few and it was hard to be set free.

It is not in man to like slavery of any sort because man is an independent creature. Where man makes his mistake is not realizing that he binds himself to his own lust and desires and become slaves to them.

It is only when we can accept this “truth” that we can be set free!

THERE IS NO FREEDOM OUTSIDE OF JESUS CHRIST!

1Jn 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

THIS IS THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD!

*****Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

When I look back on my life before Jesus found me, I can see the truth of this passage. I am truly shamed by my sinful life. There is not one good thing that can come from a sinful life. If I had stayed on that path I would burned in Hell. This is the death I will certainly miss out on as a child of God. I might also be able to lead others away from that certain death unto the life promised by the Word of God.

*****Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

This is where our peace of mind comes from. I truly want to be a servant of God! I truly want to be a “Slave” in the hands of God! I have no other goals to seek out. This in my mind is the beginning of the Love I have for my Savior.

Psa 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

*****Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If we were hunting for a job and many are in these days and that employer said the wages were death, we would run as far away from that place as we could get and we would tell all that knew about it.

Yet the world continuously serves sin and death will surely come!

We live in a world that is running over in “Terrorism” but even that being true, the real truth is that “SIN” is the king of terrors:

Job 18:14 says His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, [and it shall bring him to the king of terrors].

It is Satan that has this power over death to all those that do not believe on Jesus Christ.

It is life that God offers as His Free Gift! This can only happen through His Son Jesus!

Who would not choose “Life” rather than “Death”, yet many choose death and many choose not to choose and that is still choosing “Death”.

We have “Victory” only through the “Blood of Jesus”!

Let’s Pray!