What is the Straightened Way? Part 6

Introduction: The Crucial Question of Genuine Faith and the Straightened Way

0:02 The following message was delivered on Sunday morning, September 11, 1994, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Having pleaded with God for His blessing upon the ministry of the Word, as Pastor Jeff led us in prayer, I would now ask you to turn with me to 1 John, chapter 3, the first epistle of John, chapter 3. And while this text will not be the focus of our exposition, it is so crucial in the area of concern which will be addressed in the exposition that I desire to read it as background and conditioning biblical data to influence our thinking as the Word of God is expounded. And as I read it, I shall take liberties to try to reflect the significance of the Word of God. The significance of the tenses of the verbs in the original. So, in doing that, at certain points, I will be giving my own translation or paraphrase, and you should understand that as I read the passage.

1:15 1 John 3, verses 1 through 10a.

1:23 Behold, a word commanding us to stop, consider, think. Behold, what manner of life we are in. Behold, what manner of life we are in. Behold, what manner of life we are in.

1:34 Behold, what manner of life we are in. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God. And such we are. For this cause the world does not know us, because it did not know him.

1:53 Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that if he shall be called, be manifested, we shall be like him, for we shall see him even as he is. And everyone that has this hope set on him is continually purifying himself even as he is pure. Everyone that is practicing sin is also doing lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that he was manifested to take away sins, and in him is no sin. Whosoever continues to abide in him does not make a practice of sin. Whosoever practices sin is not a practice of sin.

3:00 Whosoever has not seen him, neither knows him. My little children, let no man lead you astray. He that is practicing righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. And he that is practicing sin is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God. God manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is begotten of God does not make a practice of sin, because his seed abides in him, and he cannot go on in the practice of sin, because he is begotten of God. In this, in this, the truth of the gospel tells us that God does not make a practice of sin. He is begotten of God.

4:02 The children of God are manifested, and the children of the devil. Whosoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. Thus far the reading of God's work.

4:24 If merely taking on the profession of being a child of God through faith in Christ, made one a true Christian, then surely many of the words of Christ and of his apostles would have to be altered.

4:46 The words which would be high on the list of alteration of mere profession of Christ and equating that with the true possession of Christ would be the words of Matthew 7, which we have been considering for some weeks now, in which our Lord Jesus said in verses 13 and 14, enter ye in by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby, for narrow is the gate and straightened or compressed or restricted. The way that leads unto life, and few are they that find it. As our Lord here describes the way to heaven and the relative number of those who find it, he speaks words which focus on the difficulties connected with vital saving Christianity by addressing the matter of the narrow gate. And he also speaks of the rarity of those who find it, few are they that find it.

6:12 Now since the vast majority of those of you within the sound of my voice this morning profess to be on your way to heaven because of your relationship to Jesus Christ, it is crucial, it is crucial for the well-being, of your never-dying soul to ask the question, am I for real? Do I merely profess Christ or do I actually possess him? And I say this is a crucial question because at the end of the day, it is not what I imagine myself to be or what others may assume me to be that really I am. Rather it is what God knows and declares me to be that will fix my state for the endless ages of eternity. In order to help us to know if indeed we are for real, we have been considering the words of Jesus which set before us the fact that none will enter into heaven unless we are for real.

7:33 Unless they enter through that which he calls the narrow gate and walk upon this straightened, this pressured, this restricted way. Having identified the narrow gate as a genuine spirit-wrought conversion comprised of repudiating from the heart all of our own righteousness as the ground of our acceptance with the Holy Spirit. Repudiating self-will and self-serving as a pattern of life. Repudiating the mastery and the practice of sin as a way of life and repudiating the world as our companion in life. We have now been focusing our attention upon that which Jesus says always follows in the experience of those who enter the narrow gate. That is, they find themselves upon this compressed, this pressured, this restricted way which alone, and I want to underscore it until some of you may feel this, you think we're thick. No, I know my Bible well enough and the human heart well enough to know we're so reluctant to believe this.

8:55 It is this way which alone, according to Jesus, leads unto life. There is not an alternate way. There is not a substitute way. As there is but one gate, there is but one way which leads to the one heaven which Christ has opened for all who come through the gate and walk upon that way by his grace.

The Witness of Romans: God's Righteous Judgment According to Works (Romans 2:7-11)

9:25 Now, having identified the narrow gate as we have, as we've been focusing upon the restricted way, I have tried to keep before you this simple, basic principle. The way is nothing more or nothing less than an extension into every area of one's life for the entire duration of one's life of the issues of life confronted, and resolved at the narrow gate. So if at the gate we repudiate our own righteousness as the ground of our acceptance before God, then walking upon the narrow way is living in the constant faith of Christ crucified, risen, and interceding as the only ground of my acceptance with God. Paul declares in Romans 8.34, For who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

10:39 That is the faith of one upon the way. As surely as coming through the gate involves repudiating any of our own supposed righteousness as the basis of our acceptance before God, upon the way we do not have a different ground of acceptance with God. It is exactly the same ground. And we must maintain that death grip upon Christ and His work as the only ground of our acceptance before God.

11:15 Otherwise we enter into the tragic experience that Paul had to address in the Galatian letter when he speaks of those who are so quickly removed, removing from the grace of Christ unto another gospel. However, the issue of the righteousness which gives me standing before God is not the only issue dealt with at the gate. Some would say that's the only issue at the gate. The only issue along the way.

11:44 That is not what Jesus teaches. For at the gate we also reckon with the issue of who's going to run this life. And though we like sheep had gone astray, and each one of us turned to his own, the scripture says Christ died that we should henceforth no longer live unto self, but unto Him who died for us and rose again. And hence the call of Christ is always, when summoning men into a relationship of discipleship to Himself, if any man will come after me, let him repudiate himself.

12:22 Himself. Well, if that's so, what is the narrow way? Well, it is nothing more than an extension into all areas of life for the duration of one's life of that issue reckoned with and settled at the gate. It's living in the pattern of denying ourselves in order to please Christ and to serve others.

12:47 And though we do not do it perfectly, and though we do not do it with an even intensity, the pattern of our lives is one of denial. Denying self to please Christ and to serve others. Then we have come to see in the third place that if the issue at the gate is repudiating from the heart, the mastery and the practice of sin as a way of life, then surely the restricted way, the narrow way, that compressed way is the way of living in the reality of freedom from the dominion of sin, and from the dominion of sin. And if the issue at the gate is repudiating from the heart, and in the constant mortification of remaining sin.

13:32 Or to state it positively, it's living in the reality of the reign of righteousness and increasing conformity to the likeness of Christ, or most simply, it is living in the way of gospel holiness. Now what I attended to do last Lord's Day was to turn to the Sermon on the Mount and to demonstrate from that very sermon of which we are speaking, which Matthew 7, 13 and 14 are the beginning of its conclusion and our Lord's gracious, regal invitation to enter the kingdom. It comes, this invitation, at the conclusion of that sermon in which he's been describing the nature of the subjects of his kingdom, their character, the patterns of their life. And all I sought to do last Lord's Day was to demonstrate from the Sermon on the Mount particularly our Lord's description of the identity and the activity of the sons and daughters of the kingdom that that description of the compressed way fits the data of the Sermon on the Mount. Now what I want to do this morning and God willing next Lord's Day morning is to set before you not the witness of the Sermon on the Mount in particular, but the witness of the Sermon on the Mount in particular. Now what I want to do this morning and God willing next Lord's Day morning

14:56 witness of the remainder of scripture in general this is a matter of such critical importance that i am anxious that you feel the pressure of the overarching teaching of the word of god first upon your own conscience so that as you wrestle with the question am i for real you will not allow yourself to be the one exception who will get to heaven upon any other way but a way in which you are living out unmistakably living out your freedom from the dominion of sin a way in which you are continually by the spirit putting to death your remaining sin a way in which the reign of righteousness in you is not theoretical or notional but real and practical a way in which conformity to christ is a dynamic ongoing reality you that you are indeed not making yourself an exception saying i'll get to heaven though i'm not in that particular way that has been described from the sermon on the mount and so this morning

16:13 we'll consider just three pivotal texts from the book of romans and then god willing next week several other texts from the remainder of the new testament now why have i chosen to extract three texts from the book of romans and only one text from a number of other new testament epistles well i've chosen to do so for a very fundamental reason and the reason is this the book of romans more than any other book in the new testament was given to us by the holy spirit that we might have among other things a distillation of the very heart of what constitutes the biblical and apostolic gospel the apostle paul had not been to rome he hopes to use rome as his launching pad for a further missionary foray up into spain and he writes to the roman church and says in verses 16 and 17 of the opening chapter having spoken of his readiness to preach the gospel of the holy spirit to the gospel at rome i am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of god unto salvation to everyone

17:39 that believes to the jew first and also to the greek for therein is revealed a righteousness of god from faith unto faith as it is written but the righteous shall live by faith the great theme of romans is embodied in those verses paul by the guidance of the spirit of god is going to open up that gospel which is in the hands of god the instrument of his power to bring salvation to jew and to greek its great theme is the opening up of that gospel which has as its central provision a righteousness of god a righteousness which god himself has provided a righteousness which satisfies the righteous demands of a righteous god and in doing that the apostle begins with man's universal need for that righteousness so in verse 18 of chapter 1 all the way through to chapter 3 and verse 20 he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the

19:07 subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the subject of the gospel of god and he is dealing with the desperately need this gospel why because the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men you see the emphasis on righteousness it follows in his first statement of man's universal need of the very thing that the gospel sets forth now in the course of demonstrating man's universal sinfulness in chapter two he begins to address either jews in particular or he is addressing what some would call pagan moralists who had a sense of rightness and wrongness and who even sought to teach ethics and morals to others and i will not go into the discussion as to which I believe it is. There is no question in verse 17 that he's addressing Jews in particular if thou bearest the name of a Jew. But whether he is speaking to one class or the other in chapter 2, the setting of the verses, verses 7 to 11, upon which we focus our attention this morning,

20:26 is Paul's commitment to demonstrate universal sinfulness. All men are under sin and further, they are on their way to judgment. Verse 5, But after your hard and impenitent heart you treasure up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Now that righteous judgment will be characterized by two things.

21:00 Verse 6, Who will render to every man according to his works? The ground of that judgment will be men's works. They will be judged according to their works. And in the light of verse 16, the works include even the secrets of men.

21:24 Thoughts and motives are included in works, not just external deeds. In the day when God shall judge, the secrets of men according to my gospel. This note of judgment is a part of Paul's gospel.

21:44 And in that day of judgment, it is men's works, not their notions, not their profession, not their own self-assessment, not what others think them to be, but it will be God's righteous assessment, of what their works manifest that they really are. The judgment will be according to works. The second characteristic, it will be implemented by an impartial judge. Verse 11, For there is no respect of persons with God.

22:22 In the day of judgment, whether you have the blood of a commoner or the blue blood of an aristocrat, it doesn't impress God. If you have Gentile blood or Jewish, Jewish blood, it doesn't impress God. He will judge with total impartiality and objectivity. Now, with a judge who will judge according to men's works, with total impartiality, look at verses 7 and following, and what they say about this narrow way. In that day, according to the apostle, there are going to be two radically different kinds of people who receive two radically different kinds of treatment at the hands of the judge. Look at them. To them that by patience, endurance, steadfastness in well-doing, seek for glory and honor and incorruption eternal life. Unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall

23:40 be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that works evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to every man that works good, to the Jew first. And also to the Greek. Now remember, Paul is not here expounding the grounds of a sinner's acceptance before God. He's going to do that in chapter 3, verse 21 and following. He is here describing matters that surround the day of judgment. And in that day, we will be judged according to our works by an impartial judge. And in that day, we will be judged according to our works by an impartial judge. The judge will make manifest that there are only two kinds of people. Notice the first

24:36 kind, the first category. The first thing said about them is that they have patiently endured in a specific way to them who by patience, steadfastness, bearing up under duress and pressure. You Greek students know the significance of that word. It is speaking of perseverance in a given course against opposition in the face of difficulty and discouragement to them who by patience in well-doing, literally in doing good. What are they seeking in that course? They are seeking for glory and honor and incorruption. And in the book of Romans and in the Pauline vocabulary, glory means nothing less. They are seeking for the

25:36 consummate blessings of eternal life when they shall be glorified, when soul and body shall be transformed into the very likeness and image of the exalted and risen Christ. They seek for glory. They seek for honor. What honor? Certainly not honor here on earth because they have been enduring.

25:58 In the path of well-doing against the tide. They are persecuted for righteousness sake. They are called fools for their values and for their standards. No, they are seeking for the honor that will come when they hear their Lord say, well done, good and faithful. The only honor at the end of the day that will amount to anything is to have his honor and his approbation. In persevering in a course of doing good, they seek for glory, consummate blessings of redemption, honor, the approbation of their God and incorruption, focusing more particularly upon deliverance from what is called in scripture, this earthly tabernacle, this outward man that is decaying. They seek for such. And notice this.

26:59 They're seeking it while adhering to a course of doing good against pressure and opposition. That sounds awfully much like the compressed way that leads to life. And look what they will get. Look at the text. What will they get? Eternal life. They'll get eternal life. Now will they get eternal life on the basis that they have persevered?

27:30 In doing good? Do they earn eternal life because they seek for glory and honor and incorruption? No. But they receive it in the way of having persevered in doing good, seeking for glory, honor, and immortality. To such, the same Paul who champions salvation by grace, who says, If you mix human works with salvation, it's another gospel. The curse of God is upon you. Galatians 1, 8 and 9. He has no scruples whatsoever about saying, In the day of judgment, when we're judged by works, none will possess eternal life but those who've persevered in the way of holiness. I didn't write it. It's there. There in your Bible. In my Bible.

28:28 But now there's another group. Look at them.

28:36 Factious. The word factious here can refer to a disposition of settled contentiousness with respect to God and his claims. Or it can refer to a disposition toward one's fellow man. And again, I'll not go into the discussion on the issue. Suffice it to say that such people are marked by these characteristics.

29:03 But unto them that are factious and obedient. Obey not the truth. They will not heal themselves up to the demands of truth. For you see, truth always takes its recipients into a path of holiness and righteousness. According to Titus 1, 1, it is the truth which is according to godliness. And they will not obey the truth. But what do they obey? But obey unrighteousness.

29:35 You see, unrighteousness is personified into a master whom they willingly and continually obey. They do not obey the truth. But they obey unrighteousness. And notice how else they're described in verse 9. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man who is just the opposite of those who are doing good and of working righteousness. They work evil. That's the only other category. There are those who persevere in steadfastness in well-doing.

30:18 There are those who will be found to be factious. Obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness. And what will they receive? Two couplets.

30:28 Look at the language of the text. Shall be wrath and indignation. Those two things describe what God will need out upon them. Those two things describe what God will need out upon them.

30:41 God will vent His holy and righteous wrath that has not the slightest tinge of carnal anger that all of us are all together too familiar with. God will vent His righteous wrath and His indignation and the next couplet tells what it will produce upon them. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man and person man that works evil of the Jew first and also of the Greek. But glory, honor, and peace to every man that works good to the Jew first and to the Greek, for there is no respect of persons with God. Brethren, could the language of scripture be clearer? Underscoring again, this passage is not addressing the question, on what grounds is a sinner accepted before God? It is describing what the day of judgment will unveil, and it parallels almost to the phrase in terms of its emphases, the words of Jesus in John chapter 5, words that we ought not stumble over. John chapter 5 and

32:08 verses 28 and 29,

32:12 Now, who knows better than Jesus that no man in and of himself can do good? It is Christ that cares. name in the humiliation of incarnation, taking to himself as the eternal word a true and real humanity, never to abandon it. In that humanity he might in our condition perfectly keep the law for those who never kept it. And that he might die under the curse of the broken law, that we might not be accursed of God. Who knows better than the Lord Jesus?

33:11 Man can't take himself to heaven by his own good works. Yet Jesus did not scruple to say in the day of judgment, it's only those who've done good that will enter life, and those who've done evil will come under the fiery judgment of God. Why? Because Jesus is the one who will enter into life, will do so, not only by coming to a narrow gate, but by walking upon a compressed, pressured, restricted way, which alone leads unto life. You see, if you say this morning you're seeking eternal life, and you're not seeking for glory, honor, and incorruption, while not seeking eternal life, you're not seeking eternal life. You're not seeking eternal life. You're not seeking eternal life. You're not seeking eternal life.

34:13 You're maintaining a course of steadfastness in the way of holiness. You're seeking eternal life in a way in which God will never confer it. Professor Murray very perceptively comments on these verses, the complementation of perseverance and well-doing, and the aspiration, the desire of hope, underlines the lesson that these two things may never be separated. Works without redemptive hope are dead works. People trying to please God, who have never come to rest in the salvation of God in Christ, and having known the beginnings of that salvation, and the continuance of it in their lives, are yearning for its completion. That's why they seek for glory, honor, and incorruption. This is part of the promised package of saving mercy in Christ. And for people to try to do good works, who have no redemptive aspiration, their works are dead works. However, the professor says, aspiration without good works is presumption.

35:29 For you to say, oh yes, I'm aspiring to glory and immortality. My friend, unless you're aspiring to it in the way described in verse 7, to those who by continuance, to those who by perseverance, endurance in doing well, seek. For you to have an aspiration and a hope, you will enter into eternal life in its consummate glory and bliss. In any other course but a way of persevering in gospel holiness is to be self-deluded. I ask you, are you for real? Are you for real? If you've got just enough of Christ, and just enough moral decency to salve your conscience and persuade others that all is well, in the day of judgment, God will not be impressed with what you think about yourself, what others think about you. He'll reveal you for what you really are. He'll reveal me for what I

36:39 really am. Does this square with our definition of the compressed way? That it's the way of living in a pattern of manifesting freedom from sin? The dominion of sin, and continually mortifying remaining sin, or positively stated? Is it the way of manifesting the reign of righteousness, and increasing conformity to likeness to Christ? Is it the way of gospel holiness? It seems to me that this passage clearly validates the manner in which we've described the way. Second passage in Romans, Romans chapter 6.

The Gospel's Provision and the Antinomian Objection (Romans 6:1-5)

37:23 Romans chapter 6. From chapter 3 in verse 21 to chapter 5 in verse 21, the apostle, by the inspiration of the Spirit, has set out the amazing fact that God has wrought a glorious salvation for hell-deserving and helpless sinners, and that this salvation is characterized by two great categories of truth. Number one, it is accomplished by the salvation of the Christ. Number two, it is accomplished in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

38:03 That's summarized in chapter 4 in verse 25. Look at the text. This salvation that he's been expounding focuses upon the work of Jesus Christ, particularly his death and resurrection. Who was delivered up for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

38:30 Central to the apostles' exposition of God's marvelous provision for hell-deserving and helpless sinners is the accomplishment of redemption in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But then the second emphasis that comes through this entire section is that that redemption is received by faith alone. That redemption and all of its privileges is received by faith alone. Chapter 4, verses 4 and 5.

39:07 Now to him who is working, the reward is not reckoned as of grace but of debt. But to him that works not but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness. At the point of standing at the gate, we stand as ungodly sinners with all of the tokens of our ungodliness upon us. But as ungodly sinners, we throw ourselves upon the mercy of God in Christ and for the sake of Christ, we are reckoned righteous.

39:48 Now we'll not remain ungodly, but we don't make ourselves godly in order to believe. We believe that we might...

39:57 Be justified.

39:59 And in the grace and power of the Spirit given to every believing sinner, the same Spirit who is secretly wrought in his heart, the graces of repentance and faith, that Spirit will enable him to begin to be a godly man. But we do not put the slightest work, the first breathing of a holy desire toward God in Christ to the last breath, the breathing of the most mature expressions of devotion to Christ and everything in between does not add one centimeter of a thread to the robe of Christ's perfect righteousness. In that and in that alone, we have acceptance with God. That's the great teaching of these chapters culminating in verses 20 and 21 of chapter 5. And the law came in beside, the trespass might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, or did abound more exceedingly, that as sin reigned in death, so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, the apostle has made it clear in these chapters that this gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, is a gospel that tells sinners,

41:28 who desperately need the righteousness that only God can provide. God has graciously provided it in the person and work of his Son, and he promises to every penitent believing sinner, it is yours if you will have my Son. Now then, along comes the devil and adds his logic to this wonderful truth. And it goes like this.

41:57 You mean, Paul, you're telling me that to have acceptance with God, I don't bring anything that I've done in the past, anything I resolve to do in the present, that I purpose to do in the future, not one thing do I bring to God to give me brownie points that He'll accept me, or along the way that I can hold up this somehow securing my acceptance with God. You're telling me that if I'm to be accepted with God, I'm to go totally out of myself in the act of faith that takes the provision of another and I'm to rest solely upon Christ crucified, buried, risen, ascended and interceding as my only hope of salvation and mercy? Yes. And you're telling me that no matter how high the mountain of my sin has been, the grace in Jesus Christ supersedes it? Yes.

42:55 And you mean that there's nothing I do that can add to it? Yes. Well then, obviously, if we want to magnify God's grace, let's go on sinning. Because you see, if I have a 5,000 foot mountain of sin and grace raises up a mountain of 10,000 feet, then if I raise up a mountain of 10,000 feet of sin, grace will have to go up to 15,000 to overshadow it.

43:22 So let's go on continuing in sin, that grace may abound. Look at chapter 6. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in the practice of sin, that grace may abound?

43:37 If we confess our salvation rests solely upon the doing and the dying of another, and it's received by no works of our own, and that's what you need to faith, it goes out of itself and takes an object presented, well then, surely, the more we sin, the more we magnify God's grace. Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? And what's Paul's reaction to it? God forbid, may it never, never be.

44:09 My gospel does not lead to that logical deduction having any substance. That's the devil's logic added to only one aspect of my gospel. And so he says, the moment we would think in those terms, well, if, if salvation's all of God and all of grace and all of Christ, and by faith alone, then we'll live like the devil, and if we go to heaven at last, we'll be the most wonderful sounding board to sing the hallelujahs of God's grace. No, that's the devil's logic added to the purity of the gospel.

44:46 And Paul says, the very thought should be summarily dismissed. God forbid, may it never be. Now follow closely.

The Believer's New Identity: Died to Sin (Romans 6:6-15)

44:56 As he's now, going to tell us why it must never be entertained for a moment, he's giving us the heart of the reason why it may never be entertained. And it's all bound up in the next phrase. We who died to sin, and in this question, how shall we any longer live therein?

45:20 And that in a nutshell is Paul's answer to the devil's logic. We who are such, would be a better, we who are such in our identity, that we can be described as those who have died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? When a man dies, he is separated from the world in which he conducted his life.

45:52 Paul says, if we died to sin, how shall we go about living any longer, in the realm of sin? We who are such as have died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? And here he states, in categorical terms, that everyone who has truly believed upon Christ, unto the possession of the righteousness of God in Christ, has also died to sin. You say, but Pastor, what?

46:30 But look, forget the questions, look at your Bibles, and get the truth. If you're a Christian, you have died to sin. If you haven't died to sin, you aren't a Christian.

46:46 You feel the weight of it. We who are such as have died to sin, how shall we live any longer therein? Again, listen to the comments of a servant of Christ. Thus, the question is, we being as we are, persons who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?

47:11 The impossibility of the believer living in sin in this way, asserted in the strongest possible manner.

47:19 The force of Paul's thought, and the foundation of the following argument, is the fact that believers have died to sin. And it is this decisive breach with sin, which constitutes, constitutes their very identity. What is a Christian? You can say he's a man, who having seen his hell deservingness, and the impossibility of ever saving himself, has thrown himself upon the mercy of God in Christ, and trust in Christ alone for life and salvation.

47:53 And your answer would be true, that you may say with equal certainty, who is a Christian? He's a man who's died to sin. He's died to sin. Therefore, the person who has died to sin, no longer lives and acts in the sphere or realm of sin.

48:12 There is a kingdom of sin or darkness and of death. The forces of iniquity rule there. It is the kingdom of this world, and lies in the wicked one. But the person who's died to sin, no longer lives there.

48:25 It is no more the world of his thought, affection, will, life, and action. His wellsprings are now in the kingdom of God. Which is totally opposite to the kingdom of darkness.

48:39 Well, what does it mean we died to sin? Well, the apostle goes on and gives an expanded explanation, and I want us for just a few moments to focus on several key passages. There are questions asked in this chapter. There are exhortations given, but I want us to focus upon the affirmations that are made.

48:59 The first one is, we died to sin. Verse 6, Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away. Now notice, not that we should be sinlessly perfect in this life. No.

49:21 So that we should no longer be in bondage to sin, for he that hath died is justified or released from sin. He is saying that this death, death to sin can be understood in terms of our old man. What is the old man? Everything I was in Adam.

49:42 Everything I was apart from Christ. Everything that every man is who has not been united to Christ is old man. With his perspectives, with his ambitions, his ungoverned passions, his desires, his standards, all that he is apart from Christ, all that he is apart from Christ, all that he is apart from Christ, all that he is in Adam, all that he is in the world, all that he is as a son of the devil, that's the old man. And what happened to the old man in the case of every Christian?

50:17 Our old man was crucified with him. Our old man was crucified with him. It doesn't say our old man will someday be, is in the process of being. It was crucified with him to this end, that a lifestyle, under the dominion of sin, might be radically and forever broken.

50:43 That's what it means. It doesn't say sins died to us. Oh no, sin is very much alive to us, both from within, remaining sin, and from without, temptation that comes from the world and the machinations of the devil. No, but we have died to sin.

Change of Masters: From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of Righteousness (Romans 6:16-20)

51:02 Furthermore, he goes on to explain what this means, conscious, of the difficulty of using human illustrations, or the necessity of using it. Verse 16, Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves as slaves or servants unto obedience, his servants you are whom you obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Here comes our word righteousness again. He said, now look, this is self-evident.

51:38 You are really the slave of the master you obey. You can have a sign around your neck saying, I am so and so's slave and I am so and so's slave. But crunch time comes when the various masters in the town begin to give their orders. The master you obey is your true master, regardless of the sign you may have around your neck.

51:59 Don't you know, he says, writing in an area where slavery was rife and everyone would be conscious, a church that had slaves within its membership. He says, don't you know that to whom you present yourself as a slave unto obedience, his slave you are whom you obey. And there's only one of two alternatives, whether sin, which leads to death, or obedience, which leads to righteousness. No middle ground.

52:28 But, now notice carefully, thanks be to God. God did something. That whereas you were, the slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching where unto you were delivered. Beautiful, beautiful picture of what happens when the gospel is preached and the spirit of God works upon the heart of the sinner.

52:55 That sinner is taken and thrown into the mold of the gospel. The gospel will now determine the contours of his life. The gospel will now determine the contours of his life. The gospel will now determine the contours of his life.

53:05 That's what Paul is saying. And he says, thanks be to God that whereas you were the slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to the form of teaching where unto you were delivered, and what was the result? And being made free from sin, having been made free from sin, you became the slaves of righteousness. When you, by the mighty work of God, cast into the mold of the gospel. It is a gospel out of which Christ speaks, saying, Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Whoso commits sin is the bondslave of sin. But if the Son makes you free, you are free indeed. And he says, you Romans were cast into that form of teaching. The gospel was not an amorphous glob of little deisms. It had substance to

54:08 it. It had propositions to it. It had statements about God and sin and righteousness and propitiation and reconciliation and repentance and faith and the work of the Spirit. And he says, when you were cast into the mold of that gospel, you had a change of massiveness.

54:29 You were the slaves of sin. But now being made free from sin, you became the slaves of righteousness. You became the bondslaves of a course of life described as righteousness.

The Fruit of the New Master: Sanctification and Eternal Life (Romans 6:21-22)

54:46 But now that is not righteousness in the abstract. For he goes on to say, look at verse 21, What fruit had you at that time in the things whereof you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, now notice, and become slaves to God. Put the two together.

55:10 He says in verse 17, you were slaves of sin. And now verse 18, you became slaves of righteousness. In verse 22, being made free from sin, you became slaves to God. You see, we're back at what happened at the gate.

55:31 At the gate, there was not only a repudiation of our own righteousness. There was a repudiation of self-will and self-serving as the pattern of life. You now became the willing bondslaves of God. God revealed in Christ. God manifested in his overwhelming mercy in the person and work of Christ, having seen him by the illuminating work of the Spirit in the gospel. You willingly, joyfully, not grudgingly. Not like a kid being called away from a bowl of ice cream, but like a rational man who's been sitting at a table eating a bowl of rancid pig slop and thought he was having a filet mignon dinner, having his eyes opened, and being nauseous and about to vomit, someone calls him to a true banquet of the choicest of foods. That's what God does in the gospel.

56:30 And that's the problem with the majority of you. You are still undisciplined. You have kids in this place that are still unconverted. You think this preacher and the other preachers and your mom and dad are trying to call you away from the filet mignon dinner of your worldly lifestyle and your worldly associates and your worldly pleasures? No! You're killing yourself with pig slop. And what we call you to is a banquet of choice things. A banquet of choice things that come out of the person and work of Christ your meaning. And this is what your God is telling you to do. Your faith that brings your faith. Take your vigor into what he's saying. Take a single pastor in home, the person you serve and where his faith belongs to us. It's not an ordinary person or aeting family, of the son of God and if the God of the gospel ever cast you into the mold of the gospel verse 22 will be true of you you will joyfully freely with delight cast off in the strength of Christ the dominion of sin and joyfully freely willingly become a bond slave to God and now what happens look at verse 22 you are having notice he doesn't say you ought to have you should have he says you are having it's an affirmation you are having your fruit unto sanctification which basically means

57:50 a life devoted to God you are having your fruit unto sanctification now look at the verse how does it end and the end eternal life eternal life you see overtones in Matthew 7 what Jesus gives in figurative language narrow gate Paul says free from sin slaves of God what Jesus calls the restricted way Paul says fruit unto holiness or sanctification fruit unto a life devoted to God a lifestyle manifesting that sins dominion has been broken that you are increasingly conformed to the image of Christ a lifestyle in which the reign of righteousness is patently loved and in which there is a desire to deal with everything displeasing to God not perfectly not evenly yes the Bible teaches the possibility of periods of declension and backsliding I know that but my friends do you know what's here if coming forth is a pattern of life fruit unto holiness and you think you are going to die and go to heaven you are wrong deluded this text says

59:16 none will have eternal life at the end unless they come by the way of fruit unto holiness you'll never have fruit unto holiness unless you get a change of masters my friends if that is not what this book teaches I'm ready to go out and hire myself out to be a laborer in construction work again rather than preach a salvation in which almighty God has such disregard for his son that he'll swallow him up in his wrath to take a bunch of people to heaven who are clinging to the very things that caused his agony in his blood I wouldn't preach such a gospel for all the money in the world that's your gospel it isn't God's gospel this text clearly says of every Christian without exception that he is being found in the restricted way

Conclusion: The Inseparable Link Between Faith, Union with Christ, and Holiness

60:24 the way of fruit unto holiness because as Paul has said the same faith that unites us to Christ I say it reverently but I say it biblically and makes it right for God to declare us righteous in Christ because by faith we are united to him God is not just juggling the books of heaven and playing games when the sinner embraces Christ he is united to Christ and in Christ the scripture says we have righteousness as well as sanctification and redemption that same faith that unites us to Christ according to Romans 6 unites us to the virtue and power of his death and resurrection so that his death to sin becomes our death to sin his resurrection to life becomes our resurrection to newness of life in the power of the Holy Spirit and it results in a change of masters now isn't it interesting the very epistle that sets out so clearly that salvation is all of God and all of grace and received by faith alone spends a whole chapter to say and if your professed faith in Christ has not brought you to the place where you have died to sin

61:52 where you have turned away from the dominion and the mastery of sin and unrighteousness unto God and to the mastery of righteousness manifesting it by bringing fruit unto holiness it makes it plain you have never embraced Christ unto the forgiveness of your sin there are not two Christ or two stages of embracing his salvation it's one Christ and one salvation you have him you have it all you don't have him you have none of it while our time is gone I hope to address a third passage Romans 8 12 to 14 but this is so critical that again eternal souls are at stake and I dare not gloss over what is so vital and I ask you then as we skip over the third text from Romans to ask yourself the question am I for real? could Paul describe me as a man a woman a boy or girl who has died to sin he could describe all the Romans that way they had problems later on in the epistle it's evident what some of the problems were they had remaining sin to deal with they had to be told put on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh they had to be told wake up your salvation's nearer

63:21 than when you first believed he had to tell people with different backgrounds how to get along with one another they weren't a bunch of people already made sinless they had remaining sin in the very next chapter Paul's going to give his own testimony and say the good that I would I do not and the evil that I would not that I do but all of that is within the context of the realities of chapter 6 in fact it's only the man who's died to sin that keenly feels the pain of remaining sin and who deals with it at the deepest levels of his thought life as one man said he who does not deal with the littlest sin is dealing truly with no sin he who does not deal truly with the littlest sin is dealing truly with no sin yes there is the pain of remaining sin that's very evidence that I've left sin's mastery I'm grieved that the remnants of its influence are still within me with all the allowance of those things I still ask the question could you be described as someone who's died to sin who is a slave of God and of righteousness not just picketing choosing say well righteousness is convenient here but over here it isn't this will cost me my job this will cost me

64:49 my friends this will cost me having to trample underfoot this desire and this lust so you pick up righteousness as your boss where it's convenient no no a slave doesn't do that he has no plans of his own he doesn't call the shots his master does and where righteousness is spelled out in the law of God in the precepts of God and in the examples of the godly and where righteousness is manifested in the perfect pattern of the Lord Jesus that's where I go because I'm its slave and I'm gladly its slave I don't say well I'm going to be its slave or I'll go to hell my friends sin is a cruel mess it digs its ugly spike loops into everything that's noble and holy and pure paths of righteousness are paths of peace paths of joy paths in which I find what God intended me to be a creature that reflects his image are you for real are you for real Christian naming his name is this you are you in that way that compressed narrow restricted way that leads unto life which few find the way

Pastoral Plea and Prayer for Honesty Before God

66:16 living out your release from sins dominion seeking to mortify sin the way of gospel holiness if not I plead with you this morning give up your profession and seek God until you know you're in that way and that means you've got to reckon with the issues at the gate you've got to reckon with them honestly and thoroughly no matter what the cost that's why when Jesus called people to himself he said count the cost on the human side you've got to then cost the thing to take up the name of Christ in our society to be a true Christian will cost you as much here as if you were in a Muslim community where to name Christ's name would mark you for martyrdom they're not two different standards of salvation the difference is we have a lot more cheap professions in our context than in the other may God help you to be honest with your soul because I'm telling you God's going to be honest with it in the day of judgment when he judges according to works and without partiality let us pray our father we acknowledge that left to ourselves we will seek to push aside the clear

67:44 the unavoidable pressure of the word of God oh Lord not let any of us commit that kind of spiritual suicide may each of us with judgment a honesty deal with the word that has been preached this morning we thank you for the many here in whom we see what appears to us to be the marks of your grace that they have died to sin that righteousness is their master but Lord we look on the outward appearance you alone know the heart we pray that out of your perfect knowledge of every one of our hearts that you would have dealings with us in grace and in mercy seal then your word and may Christ this day become glorious to some and may they throw themselves upon his mercy and know his blessed liberating grace and forgiving and pardoning mercy we ask in his name Amen