Obedience Within (Part A)

Mere acts of disobedience do not damn Christians.

I'll take that a little bit further. Mere acts of disobedience, mere acts do not damn unbelievers. What damns them is a rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what damns them. But they don't believe it, and there it is.

They don't believe it, and that is the condemnation. So you drift towards sin, you and I do, but we never stop hoping to stop that drift. to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick as he continues teaching through Romans Chapter 6 with this edition of Cross Reference Radio. Romans Chapter 6 is where we are.

Before I start to read, the title is connected to what we're going to read, hopefully. Obedience within. Beginning in verse 17, But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered, and having been set free from sin, 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 uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. Again, obedience within. Hatred for sin in Christ, that means for believers because of Christ, indicates that the dominion of sin has ended. Now physically, we will still commit sin, but in the heart, where it matters most, God looks at the heart. That has been dealt with. But that hatred has got to be there.

It's a key indicator. Some try to use this teaching, this honest teaching, they try to use it dishonestly and exploit it. Act as though they have a license to sin, that sin is not as serious a matter with God as it really is. The Christian's hatred of their sin never dies.

It is either flaming or smoldering, but it is there and it is hot. And Satan knows it. He doesn't want you to know that. Satan wants to control the truth, and he has a whole bunch of methods to try to do that. Well, it's going to be your foundation in the Word that gets you to prevail in this life and be fruitful at the same time for the Lord, in spite of your sinful nature. So our hatred for sin is directly linked to our loathe for disobedience to Christ.

That's all the difference. And not wanting to be a sinner is not enough to stop being one. But this grace, where sin abounded, grace did much more. It has to be this way, any other way, and Satan would pick us off. But we have been made clean by the blood of the Lamb, and God means every bit of it.

Whether you feel it or not, it's by faith. Now, the unbeliever can hate what we know to be sin. They can hate failure.

They can hate disease and killing and things like that. But Christ does not factor into their equation, and that's all the difference. It's what's within the heart. Is the heart obedient to the desires of God or outside of them? Christ makes this grand distinction. Matthew 25, verse 33, He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. How do you get to be a goat? How do you get to be a sheep? What's in the heart?

Who's in there? Why? To love Christ is to hate sin. It is a basic formula, and it is true. But it belongs to all the revelation of God from Genesis to Revelation. So with our heart, we believe and love the Lord Jesus. With a fallen nature, we sin. This dichotomy amongst the believer is ongoing till death do us part. Satan, on the other hand, hates that we cling to Christ and that our hearts are obedient to Him, that we intend fully to trust and obey.

We just can't always. So verse 17 again, But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. Well, there it is right there. I'm not going to try to make that say something it doesn't say. It is clear to me how thorough the work of God is in the life of the believer. Satan works tirelessly to get us to give up the fight. He fears perseverance.

He fears perseverance in the weary Christian. It happens to be one of the grand points of C.S. Lewis' book, Screwtape Letters, that the Christian in that story persevered to the end in spite of all the efforts of hell to get him not to.

Well, C.S. Lewis just wrote that book based on his proper understanding of the salvation that we have. God's grace is never a violation of justice. It is a proper administration of mercy to cancel judgment.

These are the spiritual laws that work. It is an antidote. The grace of God is an antidote for the judgment of sin. The world is willing to accept the idea of an antidote for some sickness, for some physical poison. They're fine.

Oh, yeah, give me the antidote. But what about the spiritual side of things, which we are? All are spiritual. Not all belong to Christ spiritually. It can be a sin to disagree that Christ and Christ alone forgive sin. And this is part of the message we can, we must not fail to communicate in some form. The new nature cannot sin, though the old nature is carried away with sin.

We covered this last session, but it has to be said again. Because again, our sense of justice can confuse us if we just look at it through natural eyes, without the spiritual truths that are given to us in the scripture. As I just read from verse 17, and I'll read again from other verses in a little while. This new nature cannot sin, though with your hands and with your mind and with your tongue you can.

This has an abstract shadow, but the substance is concrete. It is fact without contradiction. Behind the concept is the fact that it is finished, that Christ Jesus came into the world to die for sinners.

Because there's nobody else. And it is more powerful, sin is, at times in my life, but it is not more powerful than the antidote. And mere acts of disobedience do not damn Christians.

I'll take that a little bit further. Mere acts of disobedience, mere acts, do not damn unbelievers. What damns them is a rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what damns them. But they don't believe it, and there it is.

They don't believe it, and that is the condemnation. So you drift towards sin, you and I do, but we never stop hoping to stop that drift. Which is again, a distinction between the Christian and the non-Christian, and ours is based on a relationship with God. Not just on this realization that sin is an awful thing.

And it is because of that new nature that we want to stop that drift. Grace does not completely stop us from sinning. It completely stops sin's ability to send us to hell.

It completely stops it. And that's why we're sin-abounded. Grace did much more. Beyond this life, the only way around this is to be made perfect. But you can't be made perfect in the flesh.

Or be treated as perfect because of Christ, which is the life of the believer. 1 Corinthians tells us that the natural man has a problem with this. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. Nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. The natural man cannot figure out God on his own. The natural man cannot drift into salvation.

It has to be a hands-on arrangement. God's hands on the sinner, but not against the will of the sinner. God is a, what we could say, a perfect gentleman in that regard. He stands at the door and knocks.

He does not kick it in. He will not force you into heaven. What kind of heaven would that be?

Yeah, I'm here. I didn't want to be here. I wasn't given a choice. Verse 15, now, now we can start my timer. What then shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace?

Certainly not. So again, he's going to deal with the unbeliever or the troublemaker that will come along and say, well, what are you preaching, lawlessness? So he interrupts himself with this rhetorical question. Here's an idea how it flows from verse 14 of Romans 6 to the first verse of Romans chapter 7.

It really flows this way. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. Or do you not know, brethren, for I speak to those who know the law, that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives. So the point I'm saying is he's answering anticipated objections, mainly from the religious Jews, because they were familiar with the whole concept of sin before Yahweh. But there would be Gentiles, too, that would be perplexed about what Paul is saying if he doesn't roll it out a little bit more for them. Salvation is without nonsense, and so that's when he says, what shall we say? Shall we sin because we are not under the Mosaic law?

That's what he's talking about. But under this New Testament grace? Of course not, he says.

My sense of God's holiness and my unholiness, try as they may, causes conflict and confusion in my head to balance these things. What would have happened had Paul said, certainly, and didn't put the not in there. But that not ties sin up. Certainly not. It would have been a disaster if Paul said, of course, go out and sin all you want. Jesus said, Romans 8.34, that someone's phone is ringing. Don't feel bad, it happens.

It's the age we live in. He said, I don't feel bad. I said, well, you should. He said, can you go back to preaching the Bible? Well, in a little bit. All right, back to this.

My sense of God's holiness and my unholiness causes this conflict. Jesus answered them, most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. That's right.

That is a fact. Our flesh. Paul comes along and he's, Christ does too, but Paul comes along and he's helping us with this because many questions come out of just a statement like that from Jesus.

We are all enslaved in our lower self, our flesh. You would think this verse in chapter 7, verse 18 would just settle it for the Christian. Okay, I got it.

I got it. Where I stand with Christ is based on my love for Him, my desire to obey Him. And the sin that I do that I hate does not undo what He has done on the cross. Romans chapter 7, verse 18, for I know that is in me, that is in my flesh.

You see that distinction? That's why I brought out the obedience of the heart. As stated in chapter 6, and part of what we just stood and read a moment ago, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells.

And don't you ever forget it. Nothing in your lower self, nothing in your carnal nature, nothing naturally about you is appealing to God. And he continues, for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. Not in the flesh.

You'll never find it there. The flesh is committed. It feels almost obligated to disagree with God.

It is committed. It will always let the Word of God be trampled on if it's given the chance. But God never makes it easy for us to feel comfortable in our sin, in our trespass, or in our carnality.

So it goes back to the first statement that I made. Our hatred for sin in Christ is an indicator that we belong to Christ. It's the conviction that is critical, not the comfort, or the comfort of faith knowing that. And I hope to bring that out as we move forward, especially when we get to Aaron and Moses.

I think they provide great illustrations of this. But grace does not say that sin does not matter. It never says that. But it counters our breaking of the commandments. Grace counters sin, not justice. One of my favorite illustrations is every time you see an airplane, you see this principle spiritually at work. The law of aerodynamics. That's one law overcoming another law, the law of gravity. Without violating the law of gravity, it overcomes it. It's another law.

Both laws are there, but one is prevailing over the other. And that is the difference between your flesh and its weakness, the gravity that sucks you down, and the aerodynamics that causes you to rise above it in the eyes of God. That's what he is looking at, our reception of the work of his son on the cross. Paul knew, again, that some would accuse him of preaching no law of Moses and no law on Jesus. He was ahead of them. He said, no, there are laws, and there are higher laws also.

And no one has anything better than this. And there are always those who try to dismiss God's call for obedience. They are the lawless ones. Paul said to Timothy, command the rich not to be arrogant. That's a commandment. Now, once you tell that to somebody who's rich, who struggles, not all rich people struggle with this. So anyway, when he tells that person, that rich person might say, I agree.

But then it's really hard to turn it off. It's hard to be humble when you're the best, I've heard. It's just a fact of the flesh, not the spirit. And so he's going to put them at ease as he deals with this through chapter 8, an attitude which exposes sin, an attitude which espouses righteousness. And that's how God boasted on Job. Then the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job, that there's none like him on the earth, blameless and an upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil. Now, he was not sinless.

But from God's perspective, he knew the heart of Job. I need a solution to this sin problem that I was born into without my permission and I can't get out of. I need a Savior. And sinners repeat sin and therefore need repeated grace, recurrent grace, the flow of grace. And I know you do too. We all do. There is more to God, there's more to God's children than sin.

It's a fact. Now we go to Numbers chapter 32. Moses had been on the mountain receiving instruction about the tabernacle for the people to worship at, to approach God. But while he was there, debauchery was at the foot of the mountain.

The people had given themselves over to carnal passions and lust. And Moses comes down and he sees this taking place. He left Aaron, who at this time is now the high priest in Israel, his own brother.

He left him in charge to see that these things don't happen. And there they were, violating the already given Ten Commandments, the first one, the most essential one. For without the first commandment, the others don't matter. You shall have no other gods in my sight. And God sees everywhere.

Idolatry. And I said to them, this is when Moses comes down and he confronts Aaron. And Aaron, this is his, we know the story. And I said to them, whoever has any gold, let them break it off.

So they gave it to me and I cast it into the fire and out came this calf. And Moses said, look at me Aaron, do I look that stupid? He didn't say that. He doesn't say anything to Aaron directly. Because he's more to Aaron than that act of sin. Moses knew it and God knew it, but what did Moses do? Verse 25 of Exodus 32. Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained, for Aaron had not restrained them to their shame among their enemies. Remember that the next time the pastor doesn't cooperate with a sin or something, you're doing wrong. Aaron did not restrain them.

You don't want that. Anyway, then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp and said, whoever is on the Lord's side, come to me. You can bet Aaron came too. You see what he did? He doesn't say, Aaron, are you crazy?

What are you talking about? He just threw it in and he saw more to Aaron than that sin. And if Moses can see it, so can God.

We can stay on that story a while, but I think the points are made. And so verse 16 now, Romans 6. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. Now again, he's on a spiritual level, not itemizing sin. He knows the answer, of course, that there's a vast difference between a POW and a traitor.

Both of them are on the enemy's side physically, but not on the inside. This is given to us in Ezekiel chapter 1. This is Ezekiel that receives these great visions of God. He's a priest in Israel and he's taken into captivity in the Babylon. He doesn't want to be there. He's not a traitor against his country. He's a prisoner. And it's the same for Daniel who arrived there before him.

They were prisoners, but they were not traitors. That's the believer's life. And so whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness, there's no third choice.

That's what he's saying. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. He doesn't say, well, now that you're all perfect people because you've come to Christ, what's the point of writing to you about this conflict, this dichotomy? No, he's trying to help them because he knows some of them are being slammed by guilt and I can't stop. Well, there wasn't so much sin in those days because there were no automobiles. Sin really didn't kick in until we started driving.

When self-driving cars come along, you'll still be just as much a sinner. God honors sincerity, not insincerity. He does not honor dishonesty.

He doesn't wink at it. Yet, sincerity enough is not enough. There must be action, the heart's quest for God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for God, for they shall be filled. When?

When will I be filled? Well, when I leave this life, for sure. But he said Jeremiah points this out to a people who are very dishonest and you will seek me. He's talking about when God finally gets to have a people who want him and you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29, 13. See, perseverance belongs to obedience.

Satan doesn't want you to know that. He doesn't want you to know that the law of perseverance overcomes the law of failure. Luke 22, verse 28.

But you are those, Jesus said to his apostles, who have continued with me in my trials. So the differences lie in this life, in salvation, and it includes these things. Disobedience in the heart versus obedience in the heart. Slavery, an enslaved mind, not interested in what God says, versus freedom, a savior-influenced mind. Yeah, it's a battle for the mind.

It always has been, since Eden. One of the differences between the salvation and those who don't have it is the fruitless life versus the fruitful life. Eternal death versus eternal life.

There are differences. And you can't get to the good side of these things if you are determined to not accept the terms of salvation, which we call the gospel. So he says here, But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, that's the old nature, a slave is actually under complete control of their master. Those who are willful servants in this life without Christ are slaves of sin.

And that's why he's making this distinction. Once you were slaves of sin, now you're not. But now you still sin.

That does not necessarily mean you are its slave. Now some of you might just, you know, you'll be calling on this the next time you sin and you feel disgusted with yourself. You feel unworthy and all those things that come with it. Yeah, it's because of your relationship with Christ.

And the grace of Christ is there. And you persevere. Because if you don't, if you say, Look, I just can't do this. I quit. Well, then you're not persevering. You've played into Satan's hands.

And you've become a willing victim. 2 Timothy chapter 2, That they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. Those are the ones that have their minds. The battle for the mind is not won for Christ.

It is lost. And again, since Eden, it has been a battle for the mind, for the soul. He also says here in verse 17, Yet you, that is another distinction.

And it reinforces the believer's sense of belonging to Christ. He says, But you, but you, you're different. In spite of your fallen nature, you're different. And the distinction is in either the lordship of Christ or outside of his lordship. And he says, You've obeyed from the heart.

That's the new nature. Eager for God's truth. Eager for his fellowship.

Eager for his companionship. Looking forward to heaven, where you won't be a sinner anymore. Romans 10, 10, For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. What if he said, With the hands one earns salvation? He never says that.

The Bible never teaches that. Our decision to believe the gospel brings permanent results, provided it is more than an intellectual thing. It is from the heart.

Obedience functions as the only tangible expression of faith. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross-Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

We're currently going through the book of Romans. If you're in need of hearing this message again or want to listen to others like it, head over to crossreferenceradio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast, too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. On our website, you'll be able to learn a little more about the ministry of Cross-Reference Radio, so make a note of it, crossreferenceradio.com. That's all we have time for today, but thanks so much for listening. Pastor Rick will be back next time in the book of Romans here on Cross-Reference Radio.