Eternal Life and True Conversion: Inseparable Realities

Introduction: Context of Romans 6 and the Inseparable Realities

0:02 I wish to direct your attention this morning to two verses in the sixth chapter of the book of Romans.

0:11 One verse will be the primary focus of our study, but we must understand that one verse in the light of the verse that follows, and so the two verses that will occupy the major part of our time are Romans 6, verses 22 and 23. Romans 6, verses 22 and 23. But now, being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, the first thing I want to do is to give just a little reminder of the context of these verses, the thread of argument in Romans 6 as it relates to the rest of the book of Romans. Then we shall look briefly at the essential ideas of verse 23, and then we will come to a detailed study of verse 22, and I trust when we're all done you will see what I intend to demonstrate from these verses. The first thing I want to do is to give just a little reminder of the context of these

1:34 scriptures, that eternal life and true conversion are inseparable realities of God's grace. Eternal life and true conversion are inseparable realities of God's grace. Now then, just a word about the context of these verses. The Apostle Paul has been expounding the doctrine of justification by faith.

The Context of Romans 6: Justification and the Objection of License

2:04 That is, God's design to save sinners and accept them in his presence, not upon anything they have done or anything they are, but solely upon the basis of what Christ has done and what Christ is. And in expounding that doctrine all the way from chapter 3 and verse 20 through to the end of chapter 5, the Apostle comes to this. He comes to this tremendous conclusion in verse 20, but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly. And so he says, it matters not how high the mountain of a man's sin may be, the mountain of God's grace unto justification overshadows it. And it overshadows it not on the basis of merit by man, but free grace in Jesus Christ. Well then, someone draws the conclusion, they say, now wait a minute, Paul, do I understand you rightly? Where sin abounds, grace superabounds, that means the higher the mountain of sin, the higher the mountain of grace must be to supersede it.

3:23 Well then, the way to increase the display of grace is to increase sinning. So then, let us continue in sin to the end that grace may be magnified. Well then, the way to increase the display of grace is to increase sinning. So then, let us continue in sin to the end that grace may be magnified.

3:34 Well then, the way to increase the display of grace is to increase sinning. So then, let us continue in sin to the end that grace may be magnified. That is the logical extension of Paul's teaching. If there is a mountain of sin 10 feet high, and the mountain of grace is 20 feet high, well, let us raise up the mountain of grace by raising up the mountain of sin.

3:51 Now, Paul is going to answer that objection that is made to his teaching, or a conclusion drawn from his teaching, and so he introduces it by the question of chapter 6 and verse 1. What shall we say then, in the light of this tremendous teaching, that where sin abounds, grace abounds? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? And he answers, Mē genetō, God forbid. He takes the strongest words he can conjure up from his Greek vocabulary and says, God forbid. And now he begins to show why that conclusion is impossible. And when you boil down everything that he says, you can boil it down to this simple statement. It is the truth of union with Christ which cancels out this conclusion. When this person says, alright, if sin abounds and grace super-abounds, let's

4:56 continue in sin that there will be more grace. Paul says no. The only reason anyone would say that is if he is ignorant of the doctrine of grace. doctrine of union with Christ. For the very faith that unites us to Christ, bringing the gift of justification, is the faith that so unites us to Christ that it secures the grace of sanctification. And wherever there is union with Christ unto justification, that same union with Christ will inevitably produce sanctification. So Paul's answer to the objection, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound, let's continue in sin that there'll be more grace, is not to say, oh wait a minute, you misunderstood me. We must add to grace human works. We must undercut grace by putting in human merit. That's how

5:52 Rome attempts to answer this objection. The teaching of Rome is, why if you're saved solely on the basis of the merit of another, received by faith plus nothing, why that'll lead to license. And so they say, to protect grace, we'll buttress grace with works. Well, that isn't what Paul does. He says, grace has its own buttress. And the buttress of grace is the doctrine of union with Jesus Christ. And so the sixth chapter of Romans is an exposition. Of the fact and the implications of union with Jesus Christ. A union with Christ that means in the life history of every believer that he will have experienced death to sin as Christ died to sin, emergence to newness of life as Christ emerged to newness of life.

Essential Ideas of Romans 6:23: Sin, Grace, and Christ

6:52 Now, in a very short and simplified way, there's a statement of the argument of the Romans 6. Now, as the Apostle Paul comes in the conclusion of that argument, we now find him here summarizing that whole argument in verses 22 and 23. So we move now from the brief statement of the context to the essential ideas of verse 23. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, verse 23 is well known to all evangelicals. It is considered one of the most formidable weapons in the arsenal of gospel texts to use in witnessing. And you couldn't memorize any verses of scripture given out by any group all the way from the advanced structure of topical memory system of the navigators to the very simple outline of verses given in some follow-up courses. But Romans...

7:58 Romans 6.23 is always there. And Romans 6.23 is a tremendous text embodying some of the most fundamental elements of the gospel. Notice those three things that are stated. Sin has caused the forfeiture of life. The wages of sin is death. Secondly, God has conferred the gift of life, but the free gift of God is eternal life. Thirdly, that gift of life is bound up in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you can't get any more fundamental issues of gospel truth than you have there. Sin has caused the forfeiture of life. God has conferred the gift of life, and the gift of life is bound up in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those truths are the heart, the marrow of the gospel. And

8:57 those truths must be maintained. Even unto blood they must be proclaimed. They must be enforced upon the consciences of men. But will you notice that verse 23 begins with a little word, for? It doesn't stand alone. It is the conclusion of something that has preceded. And when you wrench it loose from verse 23... from verse 22, you don't really understand the apostle's argument.

9:29 For... Verse 23 begins with a for. It is a conclusion of something that precedes. Now, what precedes?

The Synthesis of Romans 6:22-23: Eternal Life and True Conversion

9:38 And here we turn to verse 22. But being now made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Verse 23 begins with a for. It is a conclusion of something that precedes. Now, what precedes?

10:01 And here we turn to verse 22. But being now made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. You notice the phrase eternal life is used in both verses. But it is approached from a different perspective. In verse 23 eternal life is called the gift of God. But in verse 22 eternal life is the end result of true conversion. Notice.

10:25 Being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end eternal life. For the wages of sin is death. Now can you bring those two things together? Verse 22 says the end of true conversion and progressive holiness is eternal life. Verse 23 says the free gift of God is eternal life. Now is there contradiction?

10:56 Of course not. There is a beautiful synthesis of truth. And that brings us to the heart of our study this morning. And the heart of our study is an attempt to see from this passage that eternal life and true conversion are the inseparable realities of the grace of God. And whenever the grace of God is operative to give the gift of eternal life, it will always be operative to give that gift in a way of true conversion and progressive holiness. The end result of the gift? Eternal life. The end result of this true conversion and progressive holiness is eternal life. And

11:43 unless we're going to make the Bible teach two different salvations, we must come to that conclusion that these two things, eternal life and true conversion, are the inseparable realities of the grace of God. Now do you see that in the text? I hope you do. If you don't, see me afterwards and I'll try to clear up where I am.

Irreducible Elements of True Conversion: A Change of Masters

12:06 I haven't been clear enough. Then, if this principle is true, it's tremendously important for every man, woman, fellow, or girl here this morning to ask the question, has my supposed possession of eternal life come in the way that Paul says it will always come? Not only as the free gift of God, but in a way of true conversion. And, as the Apostle Paul describes, true conversion, he does so in verse 22 under these three basic concepts. First of all, he speaks of a change of masters, being made free from sin and become servants to God. Secondly, a change of practice. You have your fruit unto sanctification. Thirdly, a change of destiny, the end, everlasting life. Now let's look at those things in that order.

13:09 What are the irreducible elements of true conversion? When you strip away everything that may be different in the conversion of a man, a woman, a fellow, a girl, when you take all those who have been truly converted throughout all the ages of the work of God's grace, and you strip away everything that is peculiar, to the individual's conversion, what are the common denominators in every single instance? Well, here they are. There will always be a change of masters, leading to a change of practice, issuing in a change of destiny. And let's look at them as they stand before us in that order. Being now made free from sin and become servants to God. Who was the old master? Who is the new master? Who is the new master? Who is the new master? Who is the

14:02 master? Well, in the text, the old master is personified and called sin. Sin is taken out of the realm of an abstract concept, and Paul deals with sin in this passage as though sin were a living person. And he speaks of being a slave of sin. He speaks of sin giving orders, and these Romans rendering obedience. Notice how real this servitude to sin is in the thinking of the apostle Paul. Verse 19, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh, for as ye presented your members as servants to uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity. Why, he says, when sin spoke, you came and stood before sin as your master.

14:56 And you said, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. And you said, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. When sin said, all right, sin, what shall I do? And when sin said, give me your eyes to be instruments of coveting, you said, yes, master, and you gave sin your eyes. When sin said, give me your feet to walk in forbidden paths, you said, yes, master, and you gave sin your feet. When sin said, give me your ears to listen to untruth, listen to gossip, give me your tongue to speak untruth and your tongue to speak uncleanness, you said, yes, master, and you ran. He rendered obedience. This is his picture of sin as a master giving orders and the child of the devil, the one who is the slave of sin, rendering this obedience unto the commands of sin. It was a very real servitude. In verse 20 he says, it was an exclusive servitude

15:48 for when you were the slaves of sin, you were free in regard of righteousness. In other words, you said, who is righteousness that I should obey him? Sin is my master. Sin speaks.

16:05 Yes, master, righteousness speaks. Who are you? Paul personifies these things and he makes them into living characters. And he says to the one you rendered no obedience and no allegiance. To the other you rendered absolute obedience. And so the master who rules everyone. One of us by nature is this one called sin. And our servitude to sin is not an idea. It's not a theological concept. It is a real personal abiding experience in which the members are yielded up to its service. What then is the new master? As the apostle Paul thinks of the conversion of these Roman Christians, he says in verse 22, The new master. The new master is God himself, being now made free from sin and becomes slaves to God. The

17:08 new master is the living God and his son Jesus Christ. But because servitude to God is so bound up with servitude to his law, he says in verse 18, being made free from sin, ye became servants. So the new master always takes his participants with him in the service of righteousness. And he uses as synonyms in the new master God and righteousness. Indicating there is no true servitude to God, except a servitude expressed in practical subjection to the law of God. There is no such thing as a mere sentimental servitude to the living God. If it isn't ethical and moral, it is even more moral. So in verse 18-21, he says, Where did the Savior take you?

17:58 Have you been taken from the Holy Spirit? Have you done it? Have you been taken from the Holy Spirit? it isn't real.

18:01 Therefore the apostle Paul has no problem with using as interchangeable terms ye became servants to righteousness, ye became servants unto the living God. So the new master is God himself. God in the expression of his will in the law, in his righteous standards. Now this servitude to God like the servitude to sin is a very real servitude.

18:32 As ye presented your members servants to uncleanness, so ye now, even so now present your members servants to righteousness. It's not a matter of something that can't be seen and known that merely exists in the realm of one's subjected experience. No, no, he says, just as your servitude to sin was real. When sin said, give me your hands, give me your feet, give me your eyes, give me your ears, and you yielded.

19:00 So now when God says, I demand this of your eyes and this of your ears and this of your hands and this of your feet, your subjection to him is a practical servitude, a practical, a demonstrable subjection, something that can be seen and known. Well, when did this change of masters occur? He tells them in verse 17. Thanks be to God that whereas ye were the servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart, and here the translation of the authorized version is regrettable.

19:41 It says in the King James, ye became obedient to that form of teaching which was delivered you. But that's not an accurate rendering of the original. The American standard has captured the thought very accurately. Whereas ye were the servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered, and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness.

20:11 When did they become servants of righteousness? Well, they became servants of righteousness, Paul says, when they obeyed from the heart that form of teaching unto which they were delivered. Well, what was that form of teaching? Well, it was the gospel.

20:29 The gospel that came proclaiming free grace, acceptance before God on the basis of the work of another. And he says, when the gospel came, these people didn't take that form of teaching and make it their own. No, no. They were, by the operation of the Spirit, cast into the very mold of that teaching.

20:53 That teaching which comes proclaiming Christ as a mighty Savior, not only, not only justifying men, but breaking the dominion of sin, loosing them from servitude to sin. And he says, you became obedient to that form of teaching unto which you were delivered. When the gospel was preached, there was that work of God casting you into the mold of the gospel. And then he goes on in the development of his argument in Romans 6 to say, now that's precisely what you bore witness to in your baptism.

21:28 Verses 1, 1 through 11. He said, what did you declare in your baptism? Why, you declared that the message of Christ crucified, buried, and risen is the message into which you were cast by the power of God. And therefore, in baptism, you declared you were joined to Him in His death, joined to Him in His emergence to newness of life.

21:51 How unthinkable that anyone would say, let's continue in sin that grace should abound. When did you come into the possession of grace? When you heard the message of Christ. And when you embraced that message, what was it?

22:04 Well, it was the gospel. Christ died. Christ was buried. Christ rose.

22:09 And when you embraced that message, you were joined to Christ. You died. You rose. You walked in newness of life.

22:18 And so he reminds them that their baptism was the declaration of their new master. They had died to the mastery of sin. They had now risen. To newness of life with the living God and His Son as their new master.

22:37 What a practical declaration of the significance of baptism. And I can't pause to enlarge upon it. But you see, baptism is never looked upon as the master's degree of sanctification. The idea that you come along and you become a super saint and then you be baptized?

22:54 No, no. No, no. It's the initiatory ordinance. It's getting enrolled in the kingdom.

22:59 The kindergarten of sanctification which begins when there's that change of masters. By virtue of union with Christ, I have died with Him. I have risen with Him to newness of life. And so this change of masters was the beginning of this work of grace in the heart of the Roman Christians.

23:26 Let me ask you as you sit here this morning, you claim to have the gift of eternal life? Do you hope to have that gift of eternal life? Then settle it now. Eternal life will only come to you in the way of true conversion and true conversion involves nothing less at the outset than this change of masters.

23:53 There's nobody in this building who's free this morning.

23:57 Every one of you is a slave. Every one of you.

24:02 You're either a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. And there's no neutral ground. One or the other. There's nobody who's free this morning.

24:15 Not a one.

24:18 Paul says, being made free, ye became slaves. You're either a slave of God and of righteousness through grace or you're a slave of sin and self by nature. And nobody in this building is free. Nobody.

24:39 Nobody. Not a person here who's free.

24:44 And there's nobody half a slave of one, half a slave of the other. The Apostle Paul absolutely sweeps that away by saying in verse 16, Know ye not that to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants you are whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or obedience to righteousness. There's no middle ground.

25:08 You may say that you're a slave, you're the slave of God, but he says, it's not what you say that counts. It's the one to whom you yield obedience. To whom do you give your hands? To whom do you give your mind?

25:20 To whom do you give your ears? To whom do you give your tongue? To whom do you give your hands? Your faculties?

25:25 That's the one who's your master. The one to whom you yield servitude. That's your master. And for every true believer comes the ringing declaration, I was the slave, the slave of sin.

25:41 But the great emancipator has come, the one anointed with the Spirit to open the eyes of the blind, to open the prison to those that are bound. And the moment he loosed me from the servitude of sin, he brought me chained in loving chains of servitude to his own feet. And in the words of that hymn, I forgot the precise words of it, but it deals with that. I lie in willing chains, at the feet of the Savior.

Irreducible Elements of True Conversion: A Change of Practice

26:12 A change of masters. Eternal life begins in true conversion, which always involves the change of masters. Well, the apostle goes on to say that if the change of masters has been genuine, it will always result in a change of practice. Notice, being now made free from sin and become servants to God, ye are the ones who are free.

26:39 Ye are having. It's in a present tense. Ye are having your fruit unto sanctification. This is not an exhortation ye ought to have.

26:53 It is not a prediction you shall eventually have. It is a statement of fact. You are having your fruit unto holiness. Well, first of all then, let's define what fruit is and then define what holiness or the word sanctification means.

27:14 Paul had used the term fruit in verse 21. Notice, what fruit then had ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now ashamed.

27:28 What fruit had ye? What was there that in any way could be acceptable unto God? Jesus said, make the tree good, and its fruit good. So Paul is saying here that the issue and the tangible expression of that new relationship with reference to your masters will be the issue of a new life considered as fruit.

28:02 Now he says, that fruit shall be unto in the direction of sanctification. Now the word can refer to a process or to a state. The state of being set apart unto God by union with Christ is considered the sanctified state. Christ is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption.

28:29 1 Corinthians 1.30 But other times it refers to the process of increasingly conforming of every area of life to the revealed will of God by the power of the Spirit. Hebrews 12.14 Follow after the sanctification, the holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

28:53 And it's in that second sense that Paul uses it here, for he says you are having a process, present tense, you are having your fruit unto holiness. So then, the inevitable, the natural, the ever-present result of a change of masters will be this change of practice summarized in these words fruit unto holiness.

29:25 Now in terms of the context what does that mean? It means that what happens in the initial change of masters will be increasingly expressed in the many details of life. Has sin's masterhood really been destroyed in principle? Yes.

29:47 Being made free from sin, you became servants to God. Then the expression of that change of mastery will be an increasing measure of progressive holiness. More and more presenting my members instruments of righteousness unto God. Verse 13.

30:07 More and more giving my members to be vehicles of conformity to His law. So the mind which once became the cesspool of thoughts of uncleanness and impurity becomes a mind that more and more is set upon Christ and is fixed upon those things which are above. The tongue that once spoke with abandonment, lies, and sarcasm is a tongue that more and more speaks truth and kindness. The ears that were given to listening to that which affected the soul in a direction other than God's word are more and more jealously guarded.

30:51 The feet no longer walk willfully in forbidden paths but in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Energies that were dissipated contrary to the will of God are now channeled into the standards of His Holy Word. And so the unanimous testimony of Scripture is that holiness, in progressive measures, is the absolutely indispensable issue of grace begun. Ye have your fruit unto holiness.

Irreducible Elements of True Conversion: A Change of Destiny

31:29 And that change of practice will always follow. Notice the Apostle is not exhorting. He is stating the fact of the workings of God's grace. And then in the third place he says, there will be the change of destiny and the end eternal life.

31:50 The end of what? The end of this change of practice which is rooted in the change of masters will be eternal life. A change of destiny. The original destiny?

32:06 Death. The wages of sin is death. Exposure to divine wrath. The new destiny?

32:13 Eternal life. This phrase, eternal life, sometimes refers to a quality of life enjoyed here and now. John 17, 3. This is life eternal.

32:26 That we should know Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. Other times it refers to the consummation of that life in the world to come. Mark 10, 30. And in the world to come, Jesus said, He shall receive eternal life.

32:43 It's in the second sense that Paul uses it here. He's not speaking of eternal life as a quality of life enjoyed here and now. But he's speaking of eternal life as the consummation of that life in the world to come. Now this change of destiny, and notice the relationship in the text,

33:04 comes at the end of the change of practice and the change of masters.

33:10 And so we see the salvation of God which comes as His free, free gift, verse 23. The free gift of God is eternal life, is a salvation which always comes in the way of producing a change of masters and a change of practice.

33:33 What Paul gives us in theological terminology, our Lord gave us so beautifully in pictorial language. Who among us is not familiar with the words of Matthew 7, verses 13 and 14? Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. And many there are that enter in thereby for, notice the three elements, narrow is the gate, change of masters, straight in the way, change of practice, that leadeth unto life, change of destiny, and few there be that find it.

34:17 You have a gate, you have a way, you have an end. No one comes to the end, but they get there along the way. And no one is found along the way unless they come through the gate. What Paul gives us in theological language, our Lord gives in pictorial language, and John Bunyan picks it up and gives it to us in beautiful Christian allegory.

34:45 Nobody got to the celestial city who was not found in the way. And nobody was, was truly in the way unless they came through the wicked gate. Now there were people who seemed to be on the way to the celestial city who climbed over a wall, who came through over some hedges, but none entered into the celestial city but those that came through the gate. And every one of them who came through the gate were found in the way.

35:12 Now some were found in the way as valiant for truth, faithful, Mr. Graveheart. Some were Mr. Fearing, Mr. Ready, Mr. Ready to Halt. But they had this in common. Everyone who was in the way had his back to the city of destruction, had the light of the celestial city in his eye, had the world and the flesh and the devil beneath his feet and was pressing on that narrow way which leads unto life.

Application: Do Not Separate What God Has Joined

35:41 What is it but a beautiful statement of our text this morning? Being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye are having your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. I want to say in concluding our study this morning several things by way of application. The first one I already have hinted at.

36:08 Do not separate what God has joined. These three things are inseparable in the gift of life and God never gives the free gift of eternal life. But what he first of all delivers men unto the teaching. They are cast into the mold of the power of the gospel and being cast into that mold they become obedient from the heart to that form of teaching unto which they are delivered and there is this change of masters.

36:42 Not something subsequent to regeneration. Not something that is part of progressive sanctification but the change of masters is there at the threshold.

36:56 And once God gets a man in the way by the change of masters he is as certain as to have the full consummation of life as he is of his own name. For that free gift not only secures the change of masters but it secures his continuance in the fruit unto holiness and the ultimate issue in the world to come. And so this becomes a two-edged sword. It says to the person sitting here this morning oh yes I have accepted the free gift of life in Jesus Christ and his work upon the cross.

37:34 I have trusted the Lord. I have eternal life in pledge because I believe in Jesus. Well you see this sword cuts at such a profession if it is not attended with progressive holiness. Where is the evidence of a change of masters?

37:50 Where is the evidence that righteousness is indeed your master? I don't mean in some theoretical way. Where is the evidence that your hands your energies your eyes your feet your heart your mind everything is the possession of the living God?

38:08 Don't you talk blithely oh yes I have accepted the free gift. Where is the change of masters? Leading to the change of practice. Don't delude yourself that your destiny has been changed unless your master and your practice is changed for the wages of sin is not life but death.

38:29 Ah but there is the person that says oh I wonder if I had the change of masters.

38:35 There are times when I am so sure I have and I see some evidence of desire to press on but I wonder I wonder am I going to make it ah friend listen God does not begin anything but what he completes it. He that hath begun this good work in you he is going to carry it on in spite of your struggles in spite of the fact there are times you wonder if any progress is being made. The very fact that you find in your heart that sense of disquiet and that sense of disturbance at your present measure of grace is that God has planted that principle within that will ultimately find expression when you are like him and you see him as he is and therefore that very sense of restlessness is the token and evidence of God's working in you and so this truth of the inseparability of these three things which undercuts on the one hand the shallow confession of one comes as a bomb of encouragement to another then the last thing I would say this morning is this that the proof of the reality that you've had a change of masters and that you're going to have a change of destiny is that there is presently the fruit of holiness. You see the second aspect is both the proof of the first and the proof and pledge of the third. You follow me? How do you know you've had a change of masters?

40:04 Well because there's a change of practice and how do you know there'll be the change of destiny because this is the earnest of that which is to come and isn't it interesting that in our day whole systems of teaching on the Christian life have been conceived to negate that simple statement so that people are encouraged to believe they've been converted and will end up in heaven even though there is no fruit unto holiness and so we found categories for them carnal Christians saved but not surrendered converted but not consecrated and dear ones that's not dead I've heard it with my own ears there in the British Isles this summer from good men men imported to be conference speakers known for their great ministry in the word who constantly talked about consecrated Christians and unconsecrated Christians those that are simply saved and others who've had their own Pentecost as though there's some other category in which people may have some comfort that all is well they have eternal life though there is no fruit unto holiness no no dear friends the proof of the reality of the change of masters and the pledge of the change of destiny is the fruit unto holiness and we dishonor the Lord Jesus and that salvation which he purchased with his own blood if we negate if we negate

41:31 this simple principle that stands before us in this text of scripture for the salvation which God has designed in Christ is designed in such a way that praise shall be rendered unto him not only for what is accomplished but for how it is accomplished and God in wisdom has purposed a salvation which begins with the change of masters when we are brought into union with Christ and sin's dominion is broken and we are now in union with him by virtue of his dwelling in us and we in him John 15 we bear fruit unto holiness and then in that day as Paul says if we believe that Christ died and rose we believe that we too shall rise with him and we will then share in that day the full glory of his own resurrection when these bodies of our humiliation should be made like unto his own glorious body being then made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life for the wages of sin's death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord do you have eternal life as you sit there this morning do you profess to possess

43:00 the gift of life then God would have you to know that the gift of life and true conversion are inseparable realities of God's grace and true conversion always involves change of masters leading to a change of practice is this true of you if not I urge you to call upon him who is mighty to save cast yourself upon him pray that by the spirit you would be cast into the mold of the gospel and know its power operative in your own life and dear child of God who can say by God's grace that is true of me I've had a change of masters and it is real as I my own name is real to me then I trust that we shall take fresh hope and courage in the battle to know that God never begins this salvation but what he's going to carry it on to completion is the and that we shall cry mightily to him to work in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure let us look to God in prayer together