Law and Grace in contrast (Lessons 14)

And first of all, we're at Romans six, by the way, and I'm going to try to do is get to both of these papers today because Courtney's starting to go. Maybe what I ought to do is kind of set it up next week. We're going to start on what are known as the 34 things that we have in Christ because of our identification with him. Chaffer doesn't teach them or present them the way in which we're going to present them because he doesn't present them in the way of a resurrected identity with Christ, but that's the way we're going at it because those things that we'll discuss from now until the end of June will be, they're not just 34 kind of niceties, they're 34 things that are true of every single believer who is united identified with the resurrected Christ. So what we're going to be talking about is what's true of everybody in this room. We've worked up to that point by spending the first part of this class talking about our identity with the old Adamic man, the sin nature and all that he brings to the table.

The next thing we discovered was that there was another man the Lord Jesus Christ and what God was up to is actually to unidentify us from Adam and re-identify us with the person of Christ. And what Romans 6 tells us is how he did it. We were united in Christ with Christ on the cross when he died. When he died unto sin, so did we. When he was buried, so were we. When he was resurrected, so were we.

The rest of chapter 6 talks about certain things that are true of us because of those facts. And our response to those facts. Little things like believing, reckoning, I talked today about presenting, things like that. And they are not commands to us to make them true. They are commands to us in light of the fact that they already are true. And this is behavior that's consistent with those who are resurrected in Christ. So that's kind of where we're going today.

But we're going to go fast, I hope, maybe. You can interrupt me though. Can I get last week's handout? No, you can't. I'm sorry. Fourteen or whatever, wherever we're going. We have any more. Yeah, I'm from your last week. This is the handouts for last week. I didn't have them. I brought them today. Hey, Mike, you can be chivalrous. So, Romans 6, 11, 12, and 13.

Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it and its lusts. Why not? Why shouldn't you? Why shouldn't you let sin reign anymore?

Because it's not true. It's not true. You're dead to it. It's pretty simple, isn't it? The problem is, I think, with these verses is that it takes us a while to appreciate the grace that's there. If I said to you, I'm going to put A hundred bucks right here. And it's yours for the taking. How quickly would you jump up and grab it? There'd be a riot.

I don't think so. I don't think so. If I said there's 20 bucks and anybody who wants it can take it, how come you're not rioting? You don't believe me, do you? You don't believe me. That's your problem. If you believed me, you'd be knocking each other over to get to it.

So, when the Lord Jesus says, or when God tells us in his word, look, you shouldn't let sin reign anymore in your body. You shouldn't do it. He gives you the reason why. And the reason why is because you're dead to it. Is that good news? Is it gracious news? something to be responded to because it is gracious? Absolutely it is. Now, of course you may be one of those people who think you control sin.

Now if you think that... So, the fact is that we died with Christ. So if I'm dead to sin, how can it still reign? If I'm really dead to it, can it still, well I better ask this question, can it still reign? The answer is yes, you can let it. You certainly can. Either because you're stubborn, or because you don't believe, or because you think that sin is stronger, or this is something that will work out later.

But the facts are the facts. What does this verse say about our bodies? Verse 12. It's mortal, it's subject to death. And you know, it's the vehicle that has been used to establish things in power and let it reign, right? And so, when God says, look, you don't have to do that anymore, you're thinking, well, gee, that's all my body knows, right? That's all it's comfortable and accustomed to. And it has, you know what? Your fallen body has desires, doesn't it? Sure it does. I mean, wants to eat too much? Doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning?

13. Neither yield 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. What does this idea of yield or present mean? Some of your versions will say present, some say yield. It's the same word. What do you think it means?

It's obvious that you can or you have been consistently all the time yielding your members. What are your members? Arms and legs and mind and your body. Everything that goes through your body, your members. It says neither yield your members of instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Don't do that anymore. Because you've been doing that continually. That's what presenting or yielding here means. You've been constantly doing that. And why have you been constantly doing it? It's natural. It's natural.

The old man and the non-believer knows nothing else. Sin reigns, right? Sin controls, right? Or do you really think that you control? Let's talk about the old man now. The man who's not a believer, does he have a choice? Does he have a choice in terms of presenting his members under unrighteousness and sin? Does he have a choice? No, he doesn't. That's all he knows how to do. Yeah, he's still in the tree.

So when someone becomes a believer and you find out about identification truths, wouldn't it make sense that God would say, hey, don't do that anymore because you don't have to. You were presenting on a continual basis, present tense, your members unrighteousness and sin. Don't do it anymore. Is this a crack the whip kind of a thing? What's it based on? It's based on grace. It's based on the gracious facts that you don't have to do it anymore.

So he says, but instead of doing that, present your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. So you say, I'm a good obeying Christian, I think I'll do some of that. Can you do that? It's not in and of yourself. You can't do anything without the Holy Spirit with you or in you. What's the information you need to recognize that, hey I am free, I have the liberty to do this? It's right in the verse. What's the information? Yeah, that's the key.

Those that are alive from the dead have the liberty to do this. Those that aren't, don't. So, no fair saying, boy, you know, I'm a believer and I'm really having a tough time with this sin deal. Okay, so you are having a tough time with this sin deal. Here's a remedy.

And the remedy is, are you alive from the dead? And being alive from the dead takes into consideration all of the information through the first 10 verses. Your old man was crucified, right? True or not? If it's true and I believe it, I rest in those facts and then I find out that I'm alive from the dead, what have I got the liberty to do? Present my members to God as instruments of righteousness so he can use them. This would be a good time. Here's the grace loop.

Do any of you have to pass this out before that one? Now, the reason I'm showing you this is because I want I want you to understand motivation. So. If you take a look at this, it's going to have the verses. I got the color. And this is this is designed for to answer the question, what about those verses that look like they're saying, if you believe in this way, I will bless you. Because isn't isn't isn't that what reckoning and presenting really looks like to you? If you do this, I'll bless you.

Well, Let's start with motivation. The first thing you have to start with is God's grace or his love for us. In the verses 1 John 4, 7-9. Believer, beloved, let us love one another for love is of God. That's where it comes from. That's the source. And everyone that loves God is begotten of God and knows God. True? Begotten of God, you now know about love. He that loves not knows not God, for God is love. Herein was the love of God manifested in us that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us.

So that's the starting point. He starts it. He loved us. Guess what? There's a result. So you ask yourself, is my love the starting point, or is God's grace the starting point? Which one is it? It's His. He's the starting point. Now guess what? There's a result of that. Because He loved me, I have love for Him.

The verse is 1 John 4.19. We love because He first loved us.

So, if you're going around the wheel from left to right, 1 John 4.19, as a result of his love and grace, we love him. If he doesn't start it, we don't have it. Now, the next thing is our obedience to him is based on, as a result of his loving us, we will obey him.

John 14.21. He that hath my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me, and he that loves me will keep my commandments. So why do you keep the commandments? Because I love him. So why do I love him? Because he first loved me. The next part and the last part are the rewards. What's the reward?

John 14.21 shall be loved of my Father And I will love him and I will manifest myself unto him. Pretty cool reward, isn't it? That God would deign to manifest himself to me. Why did he do it? Because I obeyed him. Why did I obey him? Because I loved him. Why do I love him? Because he loved me first.

So you've got to complete the circle. You've got to go all the way around. Here's the problem with a lot of Christianity. They'll take step one and make a theology out of it. Or step two and make a theology out of it. Or three. But they won't put them all together. Do you understand what I'm saying there? The focus will be on obedience. The focus will be on my loving God. The focus will be on rewards. The focus will be on God just loves me. And that's the end of it. No. The whole thing goes into one picture.

So, you could say we ought to obey him And he will bless us. Is that true? Is that a true statement? We ought to obey him and then he will bless us. Then we need to ask why should we obey him? Because we love. You have to complete the circle. Why do we love? Because he loves. It all goes back to the root. It all goes back to God. He's always the source. And his source is based on his grace and his love towards it. So it's got to be grace for grace for grace. Now one last part of this. If our love was the basis for obedience, then how can we love if that love stems out of his love for us?

Are you with me so far? Complicated question. If we don't know him. Understand what I'm saying? If our love was the basis for obedience, then how can we love if that love stems out of his love for us? If we don't know him, if we do not open up his word that details him and his work, how can we ever know him? Do you understand what I'm saying? What I'm saying to you is this.

The word of God has been given to us in order for us to know God. not know about him, to know him. Because what's the reward in the circle? John 14, 21. What's the reward? The reward is, you shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, or you, and I will manifest myself unto you. If you think in your mind that God is going to manifest his person to you just because you're walking around acting holy, You've got another thing coming.

He gave us this thing specifically so we could fellowship with him. So the issue with the word of God is to spend time in it only for one reason, and that's to know him. Now if you don't care about knowing him, I'll buy your bible from you. You understand what I'm saying? The reason you have a bible is to know the Lord. and to learn of this grace, and to learn of his love for you. And as you learn all those kinds of things, you know what?

You're going to respond. You're going to respond. I remember as a really young believer, the guy that led me to the Lord made a very interesting statement to me one day about non-believers. He said, I don't know if you can see this or not, but he said, all non-believers have this huge hole in their chest. It's about this big. And what they do is they spend all of their lives shoving stuff in there, trying to fill it up. And you know what the name of that hole is?

Love me. Love me. And God put that hole in every human being for him to fill it. Because he's the only one who can. So when a non-believer comes to Christ, on a grace basis, God fills up that hole. Now if that hole is filled up, do you think that guy is motivated? To respond to whatever God would have him do? Like believe him, reckon, present? Absolutely he is. Why? Because he understands the love of God and the grace of God. Grace motivates love. Love motivates obedience. Obedience leads to reward. And the reward is intimacy and fellowship with Christ. That make sense? All based on grace.

So, when God says to us, like in verse 13, yield or present, what does he mean? What does he mean, based on what we just talked about? He's saying to you, my sons whom I love, who live in my grace, and I've just explained some of my grace to you, I want you to do this, I want you to obey me.

And you say, okay, why? Why do you say, I'll yield, I'll present myself to you as those who lie from death. Why will I do that? Just because he said do it? No, because his grace is sufficient. That's right. Because his grace motivated me to do so. His love motivated me to do so. It wasn't because he said do this. See that?

Now we're going to the new page, which you didn't answer because I didn't give it to you. Now, this covers verse 14 through 23, and maybe the way to do this is let's read it first and then we'll get through as many questions as we can. Let's everybody read. Karen, would you read two verses and then two, two, two, two like that? Your sin shall not be your master because you are not under law but under grace. What then shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace by no means?

Don't you know that when you offer yourself to someone to obey them, to obey him, as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey. Whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness. But thanks be to God that though you be used to be slaves to sin, you will heartily obey the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. And having been set free from sin and you became slaves of righteousness, I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanliness, and the lawlessness leading to more lawlessness. So now present to your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For in any of those things is death. But now being 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 is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Cool, huh? Now, in verse 14, from an identification standpoint of what we're studying, why would we not be under law and therefore sin would not have dominion over us? Why not? Why are we not under a law principle? Come on. Have you been in the class? No way. You died to it. You died to it. You died to it. So if you died to it, why would you be any longer under it? That's the point. And here's the deal. This is becoming one of my favorite verses in all of the Word. You know why? Because it tells me the environment in which I live. What's the environment I live in?

Grace. As a resurrected believer, I live only, all the time, in grace. I don't live under any sort of obligatory legal system anymore. I live only in grace. Remember, we talked about the definition of grace. Grace is God's unlimited, unmerited favor and blessing towards me based on the adequate work of Christ on the cross. So grace is always coming at me, totally unlimited, way over the top.

It's absolutely unmerited, there's nothing I did to deserve it, and it blesses me all the time. Now if you can get a gig like that anywhere else, let me know. There's nowhere else that that environment exists except in the resurrected Christ. God's unlimited unmerited blessing towards me all the time. And how do you use grace? How do you get grace?

By using it. You just take it. You use it. You receive it. So, here are these instructions with logical conclusions, and what is God really saying to us? Use what I'm giving you, rest in what I've given you. You see that? Now you're saying in the back of your mind, and afraid to tell me, isn't there something I can do here? To deserve more of this? Is there? Is there? Say no. Say no. Don't let no. At least say no. I say no. I'm going to skip question two. What relationship then does a believer have with the law? Zero. Zero. Nada. Is that relationship settled? Or do you have to kind of work up to it and through it? Positionally it's settled. So if you're not under the law, you don't have to go there, but I'm going to read these verses. In Galatians 4, 4-7, listen to this.

But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law. that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, and that's the word we us, adult, fully orbed, fully inherited sons, not just kids. Because you are an adult son, God sent forth the spirit of a son into your heart crying Abba Father. So that you are no longer a bond servant, but you're a son. And if you're a son, then you're an heir through God. That's who you are. Now you can't be a son and an heir and be under the law. You see that?

Because how do you get to be an heir? When Cartney dies, he's going to give me all his money. You know why? Just because he's gracious. How did I get to be an heir? No, I'm kidding. His family is going to get all of his inheritance. Why? Because they're his family. What did they do to deserve it? Nothing. Why did they get it? Because they're his family. Why are you and I adult sons and heirs of God? We're in his family. Because we're family. You see that?

Now if Courtney is functioning graciously, He's going to tell his children, I'm going to give you all this when I'm out of here and you don't have to do anything to get more or less of it. If you're really good to me, I'll give you two sets of tires rather than one. None of that.

You get it all. God is so gracious that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. That doesn't mean we're going to have a meeting with Christ and divvy stuff up. It means that everything that Christ gets as an heir of God, we get. All of it. And when does that happen? It happens at the cross. It's done. It's done. You already are heirs. You already are. It doesn't say you're going to be when you die. You already are. Which means Davis doesn't need Courtney's stuff. That's right.

He was smiling when I got here for a little while. So, as we learn, to put it in Fann's vernacular, if we learn about God's stuff, which is his grace towards us. Can you see how that would motivate you? The God of the universe has said to everybody in this room, you are my son and because you are my son, you are an adult inherited son and you have all of my inheritance, all of it. We were laughing the other day, I forget when we were in Romans 8 and somebody was talking about that the creation was subjected to vanity, was it you and me?

The creation was subjected to vanity and what is it waiting for to be released from this vanity? What's it waiting for? It's waiting for the revealing of the sons of God. Who are they? You and me. Think you're important? You think God has given you a lot of status before him? He has tied the releasing of the creation that was subjected to vanity because of sin, to the revealing of you guys, because you're his sons. You see that? Is that gracious? So if you learn about the stuff of God, that's what you learn about is his grace.

And it's never, I'm gonna, it's always, I already have. So, you'll notice there are two big questions in chapter 6. The first question is chapter 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Because right before that it said where sin reigneth, that grace might reign. Grace is to be the reigning principle. Then in verse 15 it says what then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?

And the answer to both of those is no way. Total impossibility. Far be the thought. The answer to number one, I'll just go through it for you. Verse 2, we who died to sin. Verse 3, we were baptized into his death. Verse 4, we were buried with him through baptism into death. Verse 5, we became united with him in the likeness of his death. Verse 6, our old man was crucified with him. Verse 7, he that is dead is justified in sin. Verse 8, we died with Christ. Verse 11, Reckon yourself dead to sin and alive unto God and Jesus Christ. Verse 13. Present yourselves unto God as those who are alive from the dead. Is that enough reason? Not to sin anymore?

I would think so. I would think so. And I know what you're thinking. Yeah, but... No, no. Either God is telling us the truth or he's the biggest liar ever. Is he telling us the truth? Is all of this true of every believer? Yes, it is. There's no more reason for anybody to sin? Yeah, but I'm weak. Tell me something I don't know. That's exactly right. So the answer to the question in verse 15, which, what then? Are we to sin because we're not under law but under grace? Answer, same answer. Why not? Why wouldn't you say, oh gee, I'm not under law anymore, I'm under grace so I'm free to sin. Why wouldn't you go there? It's not who we are.

Sin is the epitome of self gratification, right? When you say that that's what sin is, I want to do it my way. In the Old Testament someplace, God condemned man for doing, for going, let's see if I can phrase this right, they all went and did what they thought was right in their own mind. Am I going to sound like Russell Limbaugh? The problem with that is that's the epitome of self and sin.

You and I aren't free to go and do what we think is right in our own mind, are we? Or are we? Oh man, you got really quiet, didn't you Ashley? Are we? It depends who you're a slave of. So what kind of freedom is that? Under the confines of being a slave of someone, are you free to choose within those confines? If you're a slave, how much liberty do you have? None. But you do have, as being freed from sin and out from under the law, you do have the liberty to do what?

The desire of your heart. What's the desire of your heart? To serve God. Because in the circle. To love Him and to obey Him. Why? Because He loved us first. The problem with sin is that it keeps you from doing what you really want to do. Isn't it? The problem with the sin nature is that it's so self-absorbed it keeps you from serving God. And by the way, how do you serve God? What's the most important thing? Know and believe. Right? No spiritual push-ups.

And the reason for the answer to question 15 is you're not under law but you're under grace. Now, verse 17 and 18, what does it mean to be a bondservant either of sin or to righteousness? A bondservant is a person who's what? If I make Peggy my bondservant, does she have any right to tell me what she'd like to do? No. You guys are Americans, you all think you've got free will and all this other nonsense.

That you determine your destiny and that, you know, you, you, you. But if the word of God here says that you were a bondservant to sin, how much freedom did you have then to make decisions about anything? You did have the freedom to make a decision. You know what it was? This bad thing or that bad thing? That's right. I can pick this sin or this sin. Or maybe this one.

That's how free you are. But now that you've been identified with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection and you have been taken out from under a law principle and put into a grace principle and now you're a bond servant to righteousness, how much liberty do you have there? Total liberty.

To do what? To serve God. Now, you're thinking, well in my heart sometimes I don't feel like serving God. Who's doing that talking? I want to sin. Who's talking? The old man. What's your relationship to the old man? Separated. You're dead unto it, right? What's the new man saying?

In me, I can't wait to respond to all of this grace that God has and continues to shower on me. Am I free to do it? Yes, I am. I've seen that movie, Prince of Tide, the other day, where they locked up the captain downstairs. Oh, and then he kept parking orders? Yeah. He got a few people to listen. It's interesting how much Adam can get us to listen. So, connect the dots. God loves us. We love him back. We obey him. He rewards us by fellowshipping with us.

So you say, well how am I going to find all this out? You spend time in the word of God finding out that he loves me, that he's blessing me, that I live under grace, and I respond. because I have the nature to respond, resurrected in Christ, and because I live in grace. See that? I live in grace. I don't know if you see what I see in chapter 6. It is so unbelievably gracious, it's hard to get through it. You see that? I mean it really is.

The next time you read it through, read it through from this perspective. What has God done? pouring into me, about my whole life as sin. What has he done? And if you can come up with one thing he hasn't done, I'd like to hear about it. He totally recreated us in his son, and made us an heir. In verse... I don't know if I'm going to make it, but we're in focus.

In verse 17, but God be thanked that whereas you were the servants of sin, that's what you were, not anymore, you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you. A better way to translate that was a better form of doctrine that you were delivered over to. See the difference? Let me give you an example. When God gave the law to Moses, it was not that the law was delivered by Moses to the Jews. It was rather, they were delivered over to the law system. You see that?

It wasn't that Moses came down and said, well I got these commandments, boys what do you think? And the ones that said, I don't think I want them, what did God do? The earth parted and down they went. So what he did was he gave the Jews the Ten Commandments, but what he did to the Jews was he delivered them over to them. He put them in them. So it says that this form of doctrine that we were delivered over to is what?

How would you describe it? Grace, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you describe it that way? I've been delivered over to grace. And the doctrine I now know and understand is grace. The knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody just didn't come up and give me a tract and say, okay, here's the deal. I personally, and you personally, got delivered over to this whole system of grace. Because you're not under law anymore, you're under grace.

You see that? That make sense? So, do believers have the power to prevent and stop sin in their lives? Answer yes. Do they have that power because they just will to do so? No. I can't do anything in and of myself. It has to be the Holy Spirit inside of me who I need it to. Because the law is stronger than your will. The mosaic law? Any form of law. When you're talking about your will, you're talking about self. We can't do it. Let's back up on the law thing first of all. Is the law the thing that has power? See, the law doesn't have any power in and of itself, but what does it do?

It comes in alongside the sin nature and what does it cause the sin nature to do? Sin more. It's like putting gasoline on a fire. So where's the strength? Is it in the law? Yes, in the sin nature. The strength of sin is the law. So it inflames the sin nature, right? Now within that nature, is there a will in that nature?

What do you think? No? Is it the force? It's self. Does self have a will? Sure it does. Sure it does. Before you were saved, and you were prisoners and servants of the sin nature, Did it control you or did you control it? Was there a will involved there? Your will. But who controlled it? Sin did.

So now that you've been delivered from all of that, I'm confused in the will. You said we don't have free will and now we do have will. Will is just not free. Define free. We get to do what we want to do. See that's the problem. We define will as I want to do what I want. We define grace the same way. Grace means I can do what I want. No it doesn't. No, it doesn't.

It means that I can choose who's going to be master over me. That's what free will means. I can choose, as a believer in Christ, who's going to have dominion over me. Is it going to be the Holy Spirit, Christ, or is it going to be the sin nature? I don't get to choose, nor do I have the power to choose, to accomplish what only the Spirit of God in me can accomplish. I don't have that power.

But I do have the will to let him do it. Does that make sense? James? I do have that power. I do have the power to believe, to present, and to become, to place myself as a servant of God. To put myself under the control of the Spirit of God by faith. I've got that power. I do not have the power to affect the Christian life in me. I don't have that power. You see what I'm saying?

Even Christ didn't have that power. How did Christ live his life on the earth? By whose power? The Spirit of God, right? The Word of God says by the Spirit he offered himself. He didn't say he offered himself, it says by the spirit he offered himself.

Romans 8.2 says there is a new principle of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. There is the life. And that life is the life that I now have resurrected in Christ. Make sense? Are you confused? You are? Tell me why. I guess I'm confused about your definition of that word will.

When it says in the question, because we have the will to do so, are you saying that will there means we have the power to stop sinning by saying the Holy Spirit's in charge of me? Here's what I mean. I don't think I have the will when sin assaults me to say, I'm not going to do this. I don't have the power to do that. But I do have the power to do this. Here comes sin.

Because of what I know, because of what the Spirit of God has revealed to me in Romans 6 through his word, I can look at this and I can use my mind to know my position to sin. And I can also use my soul to believe. Is God right or is sin more powerful?

Which is it? So what am I going to do right then? My attitude becomes, here's who I am in Christ. I'm under grace. Sin doesn't have dominion under me anymore. What have I just done? I've obeyed God from the heart. Have I not? Because I took him at his word. Now, at that point, right there, what is sin going to do to me? Probably attack harder. Well, what are you going to do? You're going to rest.

Isn't that why Romans 6 leads to Romans 7? Well Romans 7 is interesting because, well you just asked a two hour question. Romans 7 is a guy who understands Romans 6 and who thinks he's got power within himself to pull it off. Romans 7 goes through the will and the emotions. And the law. And the law. And that's really what 7 is about. And not only mosaic law, but you know that little black box in the back of your head that says, I can do it.

Now that I got the facts, I can do it. How about this, now that I got the facts and I know I'm supposed to reckon and present, I can do it. What's wrong with that viewpoint? The I can do it part. Rather than, now that I have the facts, and I believe the facts, and I have presented myself to God as those who are alive from the dead, I can rest in those facts and God will do it.

Because at the end of Romans 7, it says that with my mind I agree with the law of God, and I serve the law of God, but with my members I serve the law of sin. Well, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? What's the answer? to that question. The fact that I serve God with the law of my mind? That's not the answer. I've been doing that all along. What's the answer?

Romans 8.2. There's a new principle of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus that has set me free from the law of sin. It's the spirit of God that sets me free. He's the life.

I've got 3 minutes to do 12 questions, how are we doing? Let's go to question 11. How were we made free from sin and put into the service of God? How did that happen? What's the name of this class? You were identified by God identifying you with Christ as spirit of resurrection. So now you've been put into the service of God because you're resurrected. That's why.

Verse 23, this is a very interesting verse and we'll probably close with this. For the wages of sin is death, no kidding, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So my question is, what is eternal life? The end being eternal life. What is that? And I would refer you to John chapter 17 verse 3, and we went through this maybe a month and a half ago. This is the definition of eternal life, and this is life eternal that you should know thee. the only true God and Him who bowed his head in Jesus Christ. So eternal life is what? Ethel? Premium unleaded? What is eternal life according to John 17?

The very life of Christ. And it's not only that, it's knowing Him who is life. So if that's what it is, there is a consciousness that every day we're brought nearer and nearer into the full realization of eternal life. which we already possess but the full enjoyment of which is the end or the path that God realizes. So what's the end or the full enjoyment of eternal life? Would you say it is an endless intimacy with the Son of God? Is that eternal life? So here I am in 2007 living on this planet Do I have the capacity and the blessing and the grace of God to have intimacy with Christ every moment of every day?

Do I or don't I? Answer, yes I do. Yes I do. And all of Romans 6, Romans 6 are most of the reasons why I do. because I am under grace. And grace is, and eternal life is, the end being eternal life, eternal life is that I have the freedom, the privilege and the grace to do what? To fellowship with the God of the universe every day, every minute of every day. And I have the spirit of God in me permanently to effectuate that end. See that? Is that true or isn't it? I think you kind of got to go through things like this and say to yourself, gee I wonder if all this stuff is true.

Because if it is true, if every word of it is true, just Romans chapter 6, the grace is super abounding. Super abounding. The interesting thing about the end of Romans 6 is, I don't have any excuses anymore. I can rest in God's grace and intimacy with Christ and fellowship with him and I can do it now. Pretty cool, huh? Okay, let's close. Dear Father, how we thank you for your grace and your mercy. But most of all, we thank you for eternal life, which is knowing you and beholding your glory and resting. We pray in your son's precious name. Amen.