What Does God Really Want?

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This is a sermon based on Romans 6:1-14, and it is a continuation of a series of messages on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. The series had been temporarily suspended during the Advent Season and the related holidays, and now has resumed.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

Today we are picking up where we left off in our series of messages on the letter of Paul to the Romans. That last few messages I gave before the Christmas season, were dealing with the subject of justification in chapters 3-5. We learned that justification is primarily a legal term and it has to do with the idea that God clears our record of sin and he credits us with righteousness because of the sacrifice of Christ. We were under condemnation because of our sin, but we have been acquitted and pardoned.

In chapter six, Paul goes further to explain that the righteousness of God provided through Jesus Christ is more than just a legal transaction in our behalf. It is truly a gift of grace that actually produces the righteousness of Christ in our conduct or behavior. When God erases our record, we say that He imputes righteousness, but when He transforms us He imparts righteousness. The main emphasis of chapters six through eight is regarding the impartation of God’s righteousness, and this is usually referred to as sanctification.

The word sanctification is a noun that means “holiness,” “purity,” “separated from the ordinary,” and various other shades of meaning. In its most common form it refers to the fact that we are granted the same character of God, who is holy.

My heart is burdened and so full of passion for this subject, that I hardly know how to begin this message. I can promise you that this message isn’t offered with the intention of making us feel good.

The spiritual state of the evangelical church today is disheartening. Most people who profess to be born-again-Christians today think of salvation as merely God’s way of forgiving our past and giving us a “ticket” to heaven. They have no clue about the biblical mandate for each of us to experience a complete transformation of our motives, our attitudes, our values, and our conduct.

Most of you know that I recently attended a Pastor’s conference in S.C. The theme of the conference was the same as the book that was authored by the main speaker, “Called to Be Holy.” Since his topic coincides with our subject today in Romans 6, I want to share some of the things the speaker, Dr. John Oswalt, gave to us (his source for statistics was George Barna, a popular Christian researcher).

·        We do not want our Christian faith to make us holy, we only want it to make us happy. [The average Christian on the street today doesn’t seem to be all that interested in being as holy as God wants, only so long as they are happy. In fact, I’ve literally heard some people express the viewpoint that God wants me happy, so whatever it takes to make me happy is what God wants.]

·        Faith today [for most Christians] begins with personal felt needs and ends with convenience and simplicity [i.e. ease, comfort]. [i.e., we often come to Christ because of some problem that we want relief from, and we continue living out our faith according to what is convenient or pleasant, but avoiding, as much as we can, especially anything that requires sacrifice, work, or suffering.]

·        Christians watch TV 7 times more than the time they spend in all spiritual pursuits combined [i.e., personal devotions, church attendance, discipleship, etc.]. [It’s no wonder most Christians today have moral values and priorities that mirror Hollywood.]

·        There is no observable differences between the values of the church and the values of the world. The six primary values of each group were described as:

þ       Material well-being  

þ       Satisfaction

þ       Happiness

þ       Approval

þ       Comfort

þ      Convenience

·        George Barna – “We have not transformed our culture because we are neither grieved nor embarrassed by our sin.”

·        The message of the entire NT assumes the foundation/ background of the OT. The NT answers the questions of the OT. If you do not know the questions, there is a good chance you will misinterpret the answers.

·        The primary “answer” of the NT is the cross, but what is the question?

·        Most people believe it is, “How can my sins be forgiven and I be assured of heaven?”

·        But the real question is, “How can a deeply corrupted human being ever share the character of a holy God?” [and live once again in perfect communion with Him?]

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they died spiritually and immediately lost the intimate fellowship they had enjoyed, and they lost the holy, godly character they had been created with. We learned earlier in the book of Romans that this defective condition has been passed on to all humanity. We have inherited our first parents’ condition.

But, salvation and redemption is all about restoring what was lost: the character of God, the fellowship and intimacy with Him, and ultimately, the divine peace and order He designed for all of His creation.

IV. God's righteousness is revealed through sanctification. (6:1-8:39)

Wuest's Word Studies – So Paul proposes the question, "What shall we say then?" — say then to what? We go back to 5:20 for our answer which we find in the apostle's statement, "Where sin abounded, there grace was in superabundance, and then some on top of that."

The question raised shows that some had concluded that the more we sin, the more we demonstrate the grace of God, and they also concluded that sinning was a normal part of the Christian life.

(If sanctification means anything, it means that sin has been conquered. Or to state it another more positive way…)

A.    Sanctification means grace has been victorious. (6:1-23)

                       i.    Victory comes through knowledge of the truth. (6:1-10)

I am using this point of the outline to express the observation of Dr. Warren Weirsbe who pointed out that various forms of the word “know” are used 4 times in this chapter.

a.   The truth is we have died to sin. (6:1-7)

“died to sin” (v. 2); “baptized into his death” (v. 3); “buried…into death” (v. 4); “crucified with him” (v. 6); “dead with Christ” (v. 8)

b.   The truth is we are alive in Christ. (6:8-10)

The gospel of grace is two-fold: it makes us dead to sin, but it also makes us alive in Christ. Sanctification is not only separation from something, but it is joining in with something different. The primary emphasis in verses 8-10 is about new life in Christ, but the same concept has already been expressed in some of the earlier verses as well. (see vv. 4-5)

v. 8 – “…we shall also live with him.”

v. 9 – “…Christ being raised… dies no more.”

v. 10 – “…he lives unto God.”

                     ii.    Victory comes through identification with Christ. (6:11-14)

Wuest's Word Studies - The word "reckon" is logizomai, "to reckon, count, compute, to take into account…"

a.   Identification is a fact to be accepted. (6:11)

The whole point in Paul’s use of the word “reckon” is to get us to believe it without reservation. He also puts this in the form of a command. It isn’t an option, we must figure, compute that we are dead to sin and that we are alive to Christ.

b.   Identification is a fact to be practiced. (6:12-14)

Why do we need to accept the fact and “take it into account” in all that we believe?

So that it will affect our conduct. (v.12) “therefore” “let not…” (v. 13) “neither...”

Conclusion:

What does God really want?

I believe that if we truly understand the message of the New Testament (and particularly passages like Romans 6-8), we will come to understand that God wants us to be re-made in His image spiritually and morally so that He can once again resume intimate fellowship and communion with creatures that share His character.