Romans 6: 15-23“The Slave To Good”
“You Gotta Serve Somebody”
Seems like a strange illustration Slavery? Paul appeals to a common
occurrence of selling ones self into slavery to pay off debt
85-90% of Rome and the Italian peninsula
The startling claim that all people are slaves is not as shocking when you know that, but…
No neutral ground here Self-lordship is an illusion!
Humans are not God!
Freedom!
What the discussion is really about is freedom and what that means
Some of Paul’s opponents wonder what kind of people the Gospel will produce
Paul himself even admits that the slavery metaphor my not be a perfect one (V.19)
Paul says the Gospel doesn’t produce legalism or license
Freedom doesn’t mean the ability to do whatever you want! (Driving for example)
This is a complex theme within which are wrapped up views of time, virtue, and the goal of humans
Pagan Time
Christian Time
Ancient Ethics
Humanity as it is
Moral Virtues
Telos or Humanity
as its meant to be
I’m From the Future…
Humanity as it is
Jesus comes into reality as the
representative of the New
Humanity
New Humanity
Calvin and Hobbes Thomas Hobbes (16th century) and
Leviathan
Hobbes took a very cynical view of human nature (i.e. Babylonians)
For Hobbes, humans are mechanical animals that need restraint from a sovereign, people give power to the state
Virtues are things that protect “individual rights” instead of pushing toward a common good
Freedom is understood best as being able to do what one wants to do within the bounds of the law
The lack of telos is the telos, preservation is the highest virtue
Calvin and Hobbes John Calvin is writing at about the
same time “Common grace” That humanity, despite being
sinful, is capable of great things and of recognizing a common good
Sanctification=That humans are being made into something better when that submit to Christ
Repentance was key The inner self, the conscience,
needed to be trained Heart=idol factory
Stealing and Building Ephesians 4:17-32 Not about doing things to
MAINTAIN salvation Living more fully into it You are saved and you are
being saved De-selfing of the self Rooting out the sin under the
sin The Gospel creates demands
in the Christian because believing it propels you OUT
Choose Your Master
Is Paul right about Sin? That Sin and Self says, if
you stay with me, you must do these things or you miss out on life!
But says very simply to test the air for signs of death
Distancing, Decay, Destruction
How’s your fruit? (V. 21) What’s growing in your life?
Choose Your Master Jesus in Matt. 6:24 Money is not inherently evil It’s what comes with it that
we really like Money is the universal way to
be a god The great lie is that what you
really need is more of what you already have
Everyone is offering themselves to something and sacrificing for something
Rebecca Pippert
“Whatever controls us is our lord. The person who seeks power is controlled by power. The person
who seeks acceptance is controlled by acceptance. We do
not control ourselves. We are controlled by the lord of our
lives.”
Martyn Lloyd Jones
“But you say, ‘I’m not religious.’ Well, sorry to say, but everybody’s religious. What is
your religion? Well, your religion is what you rely upon... Your religion... is what you live
for, is what you hope for... Your god is that to which you give yourself, you give your time,
attention, your greatest thought, your money — you live for it. It is the thing that
keeps you going... It is what you turn to when life gets so hard. Everybody has a
religion. But the question is – what is your religion?”
Choose Your Master We offer ourselves to what we
see as the highest good in life… If you don’t turn to God, you will
be a slave of selfishness the rest of your life
Sin has many faces Lust, bitterness, pride,
materialism, worry, fear, approval Approval: constantly experience
self-pity, envy, hurt feelings, inadequacy…
The real truth of sin (selfishness) is that it cannot save because the heart is sick
Obedient From The Heart
Real change happens from the inside out
Outside in attempts at change create legalists or discouraged people
What moves your heart? What does your heart leap toward?
Psalm 119:32
All good things require submission to a teacher or process
Jesus shows us what real goodness looks like and its captivating…
A New People God has always been looking for a
people
God wants to make you into someone who lives for the sake of others
It takes great courage to throw off the shackles of consumerism and self
But who’s going to do it? Who’s going to point the way forward?
Cavanaugh on church
Jesus as the next evolutionary step (C.S. Lewis)
God takes our sin on Himself and absorbs it into the Trinity to set us free now and forever
Prayer