What Is Your Role?

Thank you, Brett. We sure appreciate you using your gifts and the talents that God's given you to help inspire us and point us to God and to have a closer walk with Jesus Christ. Brother, in regards to our elder brother, Jesus Christ, he lived an unleavened life. He lived a sinless life. It was crucial that he do so. He became a perfect sinless sacrifice. You know, all those sacrifices in the past that God's people had been doing because of their sins, it was pointing to the Lamb of God all along. We rehearsed that a couple of evenings ago at the Passover service, and without this sacrifice, we wouldn't have any hope at all. That's how important the sacrifice was. The Passover pictures this, and it pictures Christ as our Passover. But when it comes to you and I living an unleavened life, some in religious circles say that Jesus Christ did it all, and there isn't much that we have to do. And yet, this is in direct contrast to the days of 11 bread and the meaning that they have for you and for me. The thought that Jesus did it all, and there's nothing left to do, is something that's entered into Christendom over the centuries. And the sad thing is, is it really masks the true meaning of the days of 11 bread. It undermines the meaning that God wanted us to realize that we needed to look at ourselves. We needed to examine ourselves. We need to see where the imperfections are, and then we change. Now, there's a role that Christ had that no one else could fill. He had to die. He had to be sacrificed in order for us to live. But the thought is that we also have a role which the days of 11 bread picture to us. From there, we're going to review a few scriptures here today. We're first going to look at the role of Jesus Christ and the role that he played in us being able to be unleavened. As a son of God, he played a very vital role. But as sons and daughters of God, we also have a role to play.

And we'll see that as we go through. But let's first take a look at what Jesus did and is doing, because there are some striking parallels to what he has done in the past with the people of God and what he's doing today. Brother, first of all, and this was alluded to a little bit in the first message by Mr. Fokler, that the God of the Old Testament that dealt with the children of Israel was none other than the Word. It was Jesus Christ, and that's not well understood in Christian circles. But it was Jesus Christ who saved Israel, who brought them out of slavery, who brought them out of bondage, who brought them out of a difficult situation of affliction. He brought them out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and it was he who led them out. Let's notice 1 Corinthians 10.

Because in the same way today, in a sense, in the same way that Jesus Christ led the Egyptians out of slavery, he is leading us out of slavery as well, which pictures the slavery of sin.

But let's notice first that it was Christ that led the children of Israel out of Egypt. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 1. And again, this is not well understood, that the one we know as Jesus was there with the Israelites. It says, Moreover, brethren, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 1, I would not that you should be ignorant how that all of our fathers were under the cloud. They all passed through the sea. They were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And they did all eat the same spiritual meat. And then he describes that spiritual meat and drink that they were partaking of. First it says in verse 4, They drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, or as it could be translated, accompanied them. And that rock was Christ. It's interesting how the father used Jesus Christ even back then in picturing coming out of slavery. And he's using Jesus Christ today in picturing us coming out of the slavery of sin. There's a lot of striking parallels between God's people back then in Egypt and coming out of slavery and God's people today coming out of slavery. And we rehearsed some of those things perhaps last night. Several different parallels. Just a few. We know, of course, that Jesus Christ, the word freed the Israelites from slavery. And of course, he's freeing us from the slavery of sin. They were baptized. As it says here in verse number 2, that they were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. It's like they went through a baptism before they started their wilderness journey on their way to the promised land. And those of us that have entered into a baptism covenant then start our journey towards the kingdom of God. So many parallels there. And a parallel of having not only a physical pharaoh of the Egyptians keeping the Israelites in slavery, but a spiritual pharaoh of Satan the devil trying to keep God's children in the slavery of sin. Quite a few parallels there. Now let's turn over to Exodus 6 and verse number 5. Go back to the Old Testament here. We'll notice what Jesus Christ was willing to do for the Israelites to get them out and where He was going to lead them. Exodus chapter 6. And we'll pick it up here in verse number 5. Exodus chapter 6 and verse number 5.

It says, I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage and I have remembered my covenant. God had entered into a covenant prior to this with Abraham and God says that He promised Abraham that his descendants would be blessed and there would be many things that would come to pass and yet that hadn't come yet, but He remembered His covenant. Verse number 6. Wherefore, say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will rid you out of their bondage and I will redeem you and I'll redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments and we remember the ten plagues, whether it be the blood, the frogs, the lice, the flies, the hail, the darkness, or whether it be the death of the firstborn. And there was nothing like that that had ever been seen before in any nation of the earth. When God stepped in and He was going to redeem His people and He was going to buy back His people and He was going to deliver His people from slavery, verse number 7. And I'm going to take you to Me for a people. There's going to be a special relationship. I'm not going to be a typical master. You've had the taskmasters of the Egyptians and they afflicted you with harsh and with cruel bondage, but I am not going to be that type of master to you. You know, many of us have had bosses or people that we've had to answer to or masters, and some were very difficult to get along with and some were very cruel and some were very selfish. And then there were others that had your best interest at heart and they wanted you to grow and they wanted you to change. And the relationship often transformed into something that was more of a kinship, of a friendship, still a respect, but a love that was there. Masters that you even grew to love, bosses maybe that you grew to love. Verse 7, I will take you to Me for a people and I will be to you a God and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, which brings you out from the burdens of the Egyptians and I'm going to bring you into the land. He's talking about the Promised Land concerning that which I promised, I swore, and I'm not going to break my promise, that I swore to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, and I'm going to give it to you for a heritage. God says I'm going to bless you, I'm going to help you, I want the best for you, is the type of Master that he is. Let's notice Psalm chapter 105 verse 36. Psalm chapter 105 and verse 36. Let's notice here what Jesus Christ also declared here. Psalm chapter 105 and verse number 36.

We'll pick it up in verse 36 of Psalm 105. It says, He also destroyed all the first-born in their land, the first of all their strength. He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among his tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering. You may remember, in the desert it's hot, and with the sun, He went out with them, and He spread a cloud to cover them from the heat, so that they wouldn't get dehydrated.

The temperatures would be more reasonable. And it says, and it gave a fire at night, verse 39, to give light in the night. And I would imagine that possibly also provided some warmth as well. The people asked, and He brought quail, and He satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He gave them food, when there was no food, and water when there was no water. Water gushed out. It ran in dry places like a river. And He remembered His promise, not just His promise, but He's a holy God. And He made a holy promise, and He will deliver.

He remembered Abraham, His servant. And He brought out the people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness. You can imagine coming out of slavery after having such a difficult generation after generation, with no hope and no blessings. And He brought them out with joy and with gladness, and He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, and they inherited the labor of the nations. And why? That they also might observe His statutes.

That they may observe His laws, His commandments, the way that He lives. That they might begin to learn that way of life, because the commandments of God and His laws do show us what sin is. And so He wants us not to go that direction. He knows where it leads, the end from the beginning. He says that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise the Lord. Let's notice some of the spiritual parallels in the New Testament. What Jesus Christ was doing with the people of God in the Old Testament. Let's go to the New Testament, Luke 4 and verse 15.

There was a more important and serious slavery that God needs to address in the culture of our time in which we live. There was a much, much more serious slavery that we needed to be freed from. Notice Luke 4 and verse 15. And again, we're still referring to the same Jesus Christ that brought God's people out of the land of Egypt. And now we see that God the Father is using Him to bring us out of spiritual bondage and slavery. Luke 4 and verse 15. And Christ, referring to Jesus Christ, He taught in their synagogues and He was glorified by all.

And He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and He stood up to read. And then there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it is written. Verse number 18. He says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted and to preach deliverance to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind.

Brethren, this was why He was sent. God the Father sent Him to free us, to free all of humanity, all of His sons and daughters, because they needed to be delivered from captivity, from slavery. And notice that to have recovering of sight to the blind, and not only physical sight, but also spiritual sight to see the truth. To be free from error is part of the reason that Jesus Christ came. And also to set them at liberty those that are bruised. Some of the translations say, beat up. They've just been beaten up. Just like the children of Israel were in Egypt. But this is a worse slavery. It's a spiritual enslavement.

Verse number 20. And He closed the book, and He handed it to the minister, and He sat down. And all the eyes in the synagogue were fastened on Him, and He began to say to them, this day, this scripture is fulfilled in your ears.

Brethren, it was time for deliverance to begin. It was time for deliverance to begin. It was time to begin a process of freeing the captives.

Let's notice Acts chapter 26 and verse 14. Acts chapter 26 and verse number 14. We're going to see here a scripture where the Apostle Paul has seen a vision. He's seen a vision, in fact, probably more than a vision, because Jesus Christ actually speaks to Him. Acts chapter 26 and verse 14. We'll read on through verse 18, which is really where I want to focus, but I'll set some of the context here beginning in verse number 14. Acts chapter 26 and verse 14. Paul says, And when we had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me, and saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And so Paul answered and he said, Who are you, Lord? He didn't know for sure who he was dealing with, but it was something apparently powerful enough that he used the word Lord. Who are you, Lord? And Jesus said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise, stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose to make you a minister and a witness, both of the things that you have seen, and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I'm going to deliver you from the Jewish people. I'm going to deliver you as well from the Gentiles to whom I'm going to send you.

And here's the message that I want you to share. To open their eyes. I think he's talking about spiritually, don't you? Instead of being in darkness? To open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light. To get them out of darkness, rather than spiritual darkness, which is where all of us have been at one time. From darkness and to light, and from the power of Satan, which is powerful, but not as powerful as God's power. From the power of Satan to God.

And that they may receive forgiveness of sins. Part of the vital role that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sin, for forgiveness, so that we would have a chance to live. That they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance. That inheritance that he talks about. The blessing that he talked about through Abraham. To be a child of Abraham, not just physically, but spiritually. That's the true children of Abraham. To receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Through Jesus Christ. Let's notice John chapter 1 verse 26. John chapter 1 verse 26. Taking a look at another one of Jesus's responsibilities. We've touched on it here. But it was something that was so out of the ordinary and unexpected when John the Baptist made this comment about Jesus Christ. John chapter 1 and verse 26. John chapter 1 and verse 26. John has been baptizing people and now he's getting a following. There are people that are beginning to hear this message as he's beginning to preach about someone that's coming.

And he's telling people to repent and some of the religious leaders come up and ask him a question why he's baptizing. So this is how what he answers in verse 26 of John chapter 1. He says, I baptize with water, but there stands one among you who you do not know. He's referring to a savior, a deliverer, someone that's going to be able to bring people out of slavery. There's one standing among you whom you do not know. It is he who coming after me. He was born six months after John the Baptist. But he's preferred before me who sandals strap I'm not worthy to loose. Now these things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan where John was baptizing.

Verse 29, I'd like to focus on this verse. The next day, John, referring John the Baptist, saw Jesus coming towards him. He had his disciples that were close by. John the Baptist had his own disciples that was probably within your shot. And he said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Now to us, that probably makes sense because we know that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. But at that time, they viewed that the Lamb, they didn't even view the Messiah as the Lamb of God. They viewed him as a deliverer that was going to come and throw off the shackles of the Roman government and was going to restore God's nation Israel to prominence and that they would be a powerful nation and example to the rest of the world. That's how they were looking at the deliverer. That's how they were looking at the Messiah. So when John pointed to a human being, they knew what a Lamb meant. You know, when all of those sacrifices in the Old Testament, when they sinned, God required them to go to a priest and they were to bring a Lamb, a one that was a yearling that had no spot or blemish.

And now, all of a sudden, John the Baptist, who people are beginning to listen to, is pointing to Jesus Christ and he uses the word, Behold, which means this is something significant. Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

This was probably something that, for a while, it didn't register to them because they knew what it meant when you talk about a Lamb. You're talking about something that's going to be killed because of a sin that you had done, that you took your best Lamb to the priest. And now, John the Baptist is telling his disciples that this human being is a Lamb, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That's an incredible, important thing for you and I. For us to be unleavened, Jesus Christ had to pay the death penalty that you and I incurred. He had to die. Jesus had to die in order to put away sin. He sacrificed himself. It's the meaning of Passover that we rehearse. Let's turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7, this is an area of scripture that was actually written during the days of Unleavened Bread, or about that time, that proximity, very close to it. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7, it's an important scripture because this was a letter that was written to Gentiles, and yet it's talking about keeping the feast and it's talking about Jesus Christ being a Passover. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, we'll pick it up here in verse number 6 to pick up some of the context. It says, your glory is not good. So they were beginning to put up with things that they shouldn't have put up with. They were beginning to overlook sin and it was beginning to corrupt them. It was beginning to do what it does. It works like leaven. It works like cancer, rust on metal, that type of thing. And it begins to slowly but surely change whatever it is that it's mixed with, just like leaven does with a loaf. And so it says there, it says, your glory is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? God says, you know how leaven works and it will change the lump. So your glory, what you're doing now, is not appropriate. Verse 7, therefore purge out the old leaven. Remove it. My center reference here with the word purge, it says, clean out. Purge it. Get it out. Clean out the old leaven that you may be a new lump. Because if we don't, it will affect you and me. That you may be a new lump, since you truly are a leaven. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. So again, talking about his role, verse 8, therefore let us keep the feast. So we keep the feast, but not with the old leaven. Not with the old leaven. It's something we have to put out. It's something that we have to do. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness. So if we remove something, we have to replace it with something else, don't we? We have to replace it with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. So we see some of Christ's responsibility in you and I beginning to be able to be unleavened, to live an unleavened life.

So what are our responsibilities? What are our responsibilities? I think we'll see that they tie in closely with the days of Unleavened Bread. Christ's responsibilities tie in very closely and tie in very succinctly with the Passover, but ours tie in with the days of Unleavened Bread, a very important festival in the plan of God. So what are our responsibilities? Well, let's turn over to Mark 8 and verse 34. Mark 8 and verse 34. We'll begin to touch on this a little bit. Mark 8 and verse 34. Jesus is speaking, it says, And when he called the people unto him with his disciples, so there's more than just the twelve disciples that are there, that are probably a multitude of people that are there that are listening. And he said to them, Whoever will come after me, let him deny himself.

So Jesus Christ starts to give an example of some things that we have to do, the responsibilities we have to deny himself and to take up his cross and follow me. So we have to follow and imitate Christ. Then he says something in verse 35. For whoever will save his life shall lose it, but whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospels, the same shall save it.

Brother, he talks about dying here, doesn't he? He talks about losing our life for his sake.

You know, Jesus Christ had to die in order for us to be able to start this process of being unleavened. And apparently we also have to die. Our death is involved as well. But it's different than Christ's. And we'll see as we go along here, brethren, that we shall see part of the meaning of the days of unleavened bread are that we too, just like Jesus Christ, have to die, but not in the same way that he died. Well, then in what way? Well, let's continue to go on. Verse 35, it says, forever will save his life, shall lose it, but whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospels shall save it. The same shall save it. Let's turn over to Romans chapter 7 and verse number 4. Romans chapter 7 and verse number 4. Brother, we're going to go to a scripture here that is a very controversial scripture. There are many Christians that interpret this scripture that we're about to read to say that you and I no longer have to obey the law of God. That it's dead, Jesus Christ fulfilled it in a way that we never could, and so we don't have to follow the commands of God. We don't have to keep the laws of God. Christ did it for us. And they often actually turn to this scripture where no one has to keep the laws of God any longer. So let's take a look at this scripture. We want to take a look at it in the context and in the context of the entire book of Romans. So let's take a look at it. It seems like this question incites great controversy in Christian circles about whether or not the law of God is applicable to you and me today, whether it's abolished or not. Because for some reason, it's a difficult law. It never could keep it. God never intended us to keep it. It's abolished, and they use several scriptures, and they take this one in particular as one of them. So let's focus on this one just for a moment. And then hopefully in context we can see what God has really inspired to say. Romans 7, verse 4, it says, So some say, hey, the law is dead, they say. And in verse 5, and when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we've been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

So let's talk about this verse, Romans 7, verse 4. But before we dive into it too carefully, let's go back a few chapters, because Paul has already talked about the law back in Romans 3 and verse 31. So you might want to keep your finger where we were, but let's turn it over a few pages back to Romans 3 and verse 31, because Paul has already talked about the topic of the law here in this context, in this very letter. Let's see whether he thinks it's abolished or not.

Romans chapter 3 and verse 31. He says, do we make void the law through faith?

He's been talking about faith, and then he says, now don't misunderstand me, he says, do we make void the law through faith? He says, no, absolutely not, certainly not. Is the law completely void, or is it applicable? Is the question. He says, is it void? No. In fact, he goes on to say, certainly not. In fact, it's been established. It's been established by faith.

This would have been a perfect opportunity to say it's abolished, but he did just the opposite, just the contrary. He says it's established. For then, I'm going to give a reference of scripture here, Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 9 and 10. You can turn there if you like. Isaiah chapter 28 verses 9 and 10. But it talks about the principle of God and understanding the truth of his word, that we have to take several scriptures together in order to establish the bigger picture. Lying upon lying, precept upon precept is what the scripture says there. God is telling us that we have to pull a little bit here and a little bit there to get the whole picture to understand the word of truth. So that's in Isaiah. So let's go back to Romans chapter 7 and verse number 4. Romans chapter 7 and verse 4. We can't just look at one verse. We can't. We have to look at the context, the chapter, even sometimes the entire book, because God wants us to understand the truth.

One of the first of a few points I'd like to make here when it comes to this particular verse is that we notice when we get to verse 4 that it is not the law that is dead, but it is Christians, converted Christians that have become dead. It's converted Christians that have become dead. They have died in some way, not the law. Do you notice that here as we look at verse 4? It says, therefore my brethren, so he's talking about converted Christians, you also have become dead to the law. You have become dead to the law. Not the law becoming dead, but brethren, converted Christians becoming dead. It says you are dead, not the law. It doesn't say here that the law died. If a law died, then it's going to have to be some other scripture. It can't be this scripture. There's going to have to be some other evidence here, but it's not here, because it doesn't say that. It says, brethren have died. So if the law did not die, what did?

What did die? Well, let's go on. It says you have become dead to the law through the body of Christ. And what does that mean? How do we become dead to the law by the body of Christ? If you're a converted Christian, if you've been baptized and become one of God's sons and daughters, how do you die? How is it that you die? How is it that you became dead to the law, as it says here through the body of Christ? Well, here's another point here that we want to make here, brethren. Is that being dead to the law involves the death penalty, not having the death penalty, hanging over us. Being dead to the law involves not having the death penalty hanging over us.

Because the law says that if we break it, the penalty is death. It's death. So if we break it, there's a death penalty. Let's notice Romans chapter 5 and verse 12. Romans chapter 5 and verse number 12. It says, therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world.

And the Scriptures give us a definition for sin. Sin is the transgression of God's law.

God's law shows us what sin is. It shows us what's right and it shows us what's wrong.

And so it says, through one man sin entered the world. That's in 1 John chapter 3 verse 4, where sin is the transgression of the law, the transgression of God's law, of his commandments.

It says, therefore, just as through one man, referring to Adam, sin entered the world, and death through sin, thus death spread to all men because all have sinned. So brethren, we see here there's a transgression here. Death came in because of sin to all men. Death.

It's a consequence of breaking God's law. And it's talking about, when it talks about death, it's talking about eternal death, of ceasing to exist. So we want to make sure we understand it. Let's go back to Romans chapter 7 in verse number 5. Romans chapter 7 in verse number 5.

For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law has its place. The law shows us what sin is. That we're aroused by the law, we're at work in our members to bear fruit to death. He keeps talking about death over and over again. That makes sense if it says, when we're in the flesh, before we began to understand the truth and God's ways, and we were breaking his laws, it says, when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law, because the law tells us what sin is, they were at work in you, and in me, in other words, in our members to do what? To bear fruit, and that fruit was death. It's death.

Verse 6, but now we have been delivered from the law, having died. Well, how did we die?

Jesus Christ died, but how did we die? How can we be delivered from the righteous requirement of the law? Apparently by dying, but it was different than the way that Christ died. What's Paul trying to tell us here? Well, let's go on. Let's notice Romans chapter 8 and verse 2. Brethren, there's a law that says, if we break the law of God, the consequences are death. We've been talking about that, but there's a law called sin and death. It's called the law of sin and death. It's in Romans chapter 8 and verse 2. Romans chapter 8 and verse 2. We're spending most of our time here in Romans. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death. Brethren, we needed to be delivered from the law, didn't we? Because part of the law is, as if we break it, the consequence is death. We needed to be delivered from that.

And Christ died to get that process started, but also we have to die. We've been touching on that. We also have to die, but how? How do we die?

We have an obligation to pay. How are we going to pay that? Verse 4. That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Somehow, that righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us if we don't walk according to the flesh, but we walk according to the Spirit. We'll tie that in with death here in a moment. How does that all work?

Brethren, the righteous requirement of the law is death. If we break it, we're going to die, and we need to be delivered from that. Let's see what Peter adds. Peter adds something here in 1 Peter 2 and verse 24. 1 Peter 2 and verse 24.

We've already covered the fact that Jesus died, so our sins could be covered. For the remission of our sins, it took His death to do that.

But our death is involved as well. 1 Peter 2 and verse 24. For who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, and that we, having died to sin.

Now, we're fund to something, and we're dying to sin. We know that Christ bore our sins on His own body in the tree, and then also we die. It says, We, having died, and He says to sin. How do you and I die to sin? How do we do that?

Apparently, there is a death that we also have to die. That somehow we have to die. It's a different kind of death than Jesus died. He lived a perfect life in the flesh, dying so that our sins could be forgiven. But now it says also that we have to die as well. A son or daughter of God has to die in order to begin this road to an unleavened life. Let's go back to Romans 6 and verse 1. Romans 6 and verse 1. How do you and I die to sin? Because it says we have to die to sin.

What does that mean? Romans 6 and verse 1. We see that God the Father has given us a part to play as well as His Son, because we must also die.

In what way then? Romans 6 and verse 1. What shall we say? Shall we continue in sin?

We've already talked about the fact that sin is the transgression of God's law. Shall we continue to transgress the law of God, is what He's saying here, that grace may abound?

You know, Paul makes it pretty clear that some people are going to come to that conclusion based on what he's been talking about. He saw that, so he made it clear as crystal. No, as certainly not. How shall we who died to sin? It's noteworthy again. He says that just like Peter did, that we have to die to sin. And again, the question is, how do we do that?

How is it? He says, certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

For then, how can you live in sin if the law doesn't exist? How can you transgress the law that has been abolished? God still has His standards, doesn't He? He lives by those standards and those commands. Paul says, if we've died to sin, why would we want to live in a sinful way?

Why would we want to transgress the law? This is what he's getting at here.

Verse number 3 of Romans 6. Or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ, Jesus were baptized into His death? Well, now he's beginning to maybe give us a little more information about how we die. When we went under the water of baptism, it pictured us dying.

It pictured us dying. And it says there, verse 4, it says, therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death. That just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should also walk in newness of life. Brethren, something has to die. Something has to die in you and me, is what Paul is saying, for us to escape eternal death so that we can live. And it's not only Christ's death, but it's ours as well. And he's beginning to help us to be in the sea a little bit, that we die through baptism. Well, if we've been baptized and we've been in the grave, is that all there is then? I mean, we're dead. That old man is dead. So we can live any way that we want. Paul says, certainly not. How can we, who are dead to sin, live any longer in it? Verse 5, For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Brother, that's how we're united together in the likeness of his death, through baptism. Notice verse 6. He begins to explain how we died together in the likeness of his death. He says, our old man was crucified with him. Our old man was crucified.

You know, not that we have split personalities, but there's a new man that rises up out of the water, but there's an old man that stays there in the baptism grave. And it's, I still remember Tracy Reese talking to me one time, just asking him how it was going. I said, Tracy, how things going? And Tracy said something I didn't quite understand what he meant. He said, well, I'm still digging. I said, you're still digging. I'm not sure if I follow you. He says, I'm trying to keep the old man buried. I'm still trying to keep the old man buried. You know, that's an understanding, isn't it, that the old man has died. It's crucified. It's dead with Christ. Now, we didn't have to die the way that he died. But, brethren, we still have to die. That old man has to die. And then we live in a new way. If we've come to the point where we've decided that God, I know that I'm not headed in the right direction. I know that I'm not following your commandments. I'm not following your words. I'm not following your laws. And I realize that I'm not the kind of person that you designed for me to be. Brethren, we come to that point and we make a conscious decision to say, I'm going to enter into a covenant and I'm going to die. I'm going to die. Death is required, brethren. And God the Father recognizes that death to satisfy the righteous requirement of the law. Paul is sharing some pretty deep stuff here, but he's trying to help us to understand we have to die. It says in verse 6 that the body of sin might be done away, that it might be destroyed, is what some translations put it. We have to crucify the old man so that the sins or the body of sin, as it says here, might be destroyed or might be done away. And then it says at the end of verse number 6 that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Brethren, we're going to serve somebody. We're going to serve someone, aren't we? We're going to have a master. And it's basically whoever we submit ourselves to is eventually going to become our master and we're going to be enslaved.

Verse number 7. After this death has happened, where do we go from here? Who is going to be our master? Who are we going to serve? Are we still going to continue to sin or are we going to be a servant or a slave to somebody else? Verse number 7. For he who has died has been freed from sin.

He that has died has been freed from sin. It no longer, sin no longer has any power, has no more dominion, free from sin and its consequences and its penalty.

For he who has died has been freed from sin.

Verse number 8. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion, has no more power over Jesus Christ. And that's why we want to be with Christ. That's why we want to be buried with Christ. That's why we want Christ to be in us. Death has no power over Him. Brethren, He died. He was raised. Let's see what verse 10. For this is the death that He died. That He died to sin once for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Brethren, this is what He's saying. He's saying He died, and then God the Father raised Him, and then He's saying, but my life is still yours. My life is still yours. You can still use me. I'm still your servant.

As He says in the latter part of verse 10, Christ lives to God.

He basically says, okay, Father, what do you want me to do now? My life is still yours to use as you wish, however you want to use. However you want me to be used, I'm going to live to you. Notice verse 11. Likewise, you also... Now, He just talked about Christ. He was dead. He was buried. He was raised, and He lives to God. And now it says, likewise, talking to you and me, brethren, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul says, quit sinning. He says, quit sinning and live a new life. Let the old crucified man stay there. But there's a new man that's been resurrected that needs to live a righteous way of life, to follow the laws, the commandments of the Most High. Live to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So verse 11, he talks about verse 10, he talks about Christ. Then verse 11, he talks about you and me, of dying and then being resurrected as a new person.

Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. How do we reckon ourselves dead to sin? Because the old man's crucified with Christ. We do our best not to resurrect the old man. We do our best not to live in the flesh, but in the spirit. We stop sinning the sins. We repent if we are found to be in error. We ask for God's forgiveness. Just as Jesus reminded the woman caught in adultery, he says, I don't condemn you either, but go and sin no more.

Brethren, we've talked about the fact that sin is the transgression of God's law. Notice verse 12, therefore, so that's a transitional word, which means what's the point of all this?

Don't let sin reign in your mortal body. Don't let it reign. Keep it dead. The old man is dead. Is God's law dead? No, it's not dead. It's still there. It's we who need to make efforts to make sure that we are dead to the law and its consequences and the penalty, that obligation that's there. Because when someone is dead, they have no more obligation to the penalty of the law. They don't. That's why Paul keeps emphasizing that we need to die to sin. Verse number seven, verse number seven. Let's go back to verse seven for a moment. Well, let's go on to verse 12. We're in verse 12. Let's keep going. Therefore, don't let sin reign in your mortal body, which means it can still reign. It's not dead. It could be very much alive. It can reign in our mortal body that you notice. Don't let it reign in your mortal body that you should obey it or serve it is the way some translations say. Don't serve sin. Don't let it reign. Verse 13, and don't present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.

Don't do that is what Paul's saying, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead.

How are we alive from the dead? Because we are living a new life. The old man is crucified, he's died, and the new man lives a godly way of life. And then we're dead to the law and the consequences for breaking it. We are free. We're free from that.

Verse 13, don't present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. What's righteousness? All God's commands are righteousness. He shows us what's right and what's wrong. Verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you.

Why? Why won't it enslave us? Why? Because you're not under the law, but under grace. For then we are so fortunate to be under grace. For we would have no hope.

We would have no hope. Because if the law still exists and we break it and we sin, then the penalty is there. And Jesus Christ said, I'm going to be gracious to you. I'm going to take away your penalty and you're going to have hope. I'm going to do my part. It was his graciousness to say to the Father, I'll go. I'll pay the penalty on their behalf. You know, this word grace has been twisted. It's been misinterpreted in Scripture. Let's turn over to one Scripture that shows grace tells us not the fact that we don't have to keep God's law, but that very much we do have to. Titus 2, verse 11. We'll just take a moment. We'll come back to Romans, but let's go back here a moment. I think it's important to understand grace because some people believe that grace means you don't have to keep God's law anymore because we're not under the law.

But that's not what it means. Titus 2, verse 11. God, let's let him tell us what it means. Scripture shows that grace actually tells us to obey God in his way of life, in his righteousness.

Notice chapter 2, verse 11 of Titus. It says, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. And boy, can we ever be glad that that happened.

The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Notice what it teaches us in verse 12. It teaches us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age.

For that's a really important scripture for any of us that have to ever encounter the thought that the law has been done away because of grace. It says grace teaches us just the opposite, to deny ungodliness, to embrace righteousness and godly behavior right now in this present age. It's what it teaches us. Verse 13, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. And that is certainly true. That's our hope. The appearance of Jesus Christ, verse 14, who gave himself for us. So he did his part. He died. Why? That he might redeem us from every lawless deed. That's what he did. He redeemed us because we broke the law. He redeemed us from every lawless deed and is now purifying us. Purifying for himself his own special people. Zealous of good works. He tells Titus to speak these things, to exhort these things with all authority, rebuke with all authority, and let no one despise you. Let's go back to Romans chapter 6 and verse 14. Romans chapter 6 verse 14. I just wanted to cover that scripture when it comes to what grace really teaches. Romans chapter 6 and verse number 14.

For sin shall not have dominion over you, and we could be grateful for that because of Christ, for you're not under the law or its penalty, which is the law of sin and death, but you are not under the law but under grace. What then? He has to keep coming back to this. He wants to make sure that nobody misunderstands. What then? Shall we sin because we're not under the law but under grace? Shall we go ahead and sin because we're no longer under the penalty of God's law, is what he's saying here. He wants to make it crystal clear. What then? Shall we sin because we're not under the law but under grace? He says, certainly not. Absolutely not. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying, and some people have with Paul. He says, don't misunderstand. He says, don't you know, verse 16, that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey. Whoever we obey, we're going to be that person's slave.

Don't you know that to whom you present yourself slave to obey? In other words, that's going to be whom your master is. Don't you know that who you present yourself slaves to obey? You are that one's slaves whom you obey. And notice whether of sin leading to death.

We can still be a slave to sin. We can still break the law. We can still have a penalty of death that God wants us to escape. It can still happen.

It can still happen to converted people. The law is very much alive. It's we who need to die to the righteous requirement of the law. Rather than the law being dead, or sin being dead, we need to die to the law, and we need to die to sin.

Paul is saying it could still happen, and we don't want that. Paul is warning them. You don't want that. Verse 16, don't you know that to whom you present yourself slaves to obey? You are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or notice, or of obedience? Obedience to what?

The commandments of God. The holy commandments which show us righteousness, leads us to righteousness. Whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. That's where God wants to take us. God says over and over death is the way out. Christ's death is part of it pictured by Passover, and our death is part of it pictured by the days of 11 bread. Crucifying the old man, leaving him there, and a new man begins to live. Or a new woman. God says leave the old man in the grave. Keep digging. Keep digging. Verse 17, let God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed. So again, obedience comes in there. Yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And verse 18, and by doing that obeying from the heart the doctrine that was delivered, then we have been set free from sin. And of course, its consequences. By dying. By dying. As we've read about the old man, crucified with Christ.

And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. God says to you and I now that we need to have a different master. We have a master that cares for us.

A master that has a heritage for us. A master that wants the best for us.

God says we can't serve two masters. God says you and I must serve a new master now. The one we served before that person died. And now the new person serves a new master, not following and being enslaved by sin, but becoming slaves. Notice verse 18, of righteousness. Verse 19, I'm speaking in human terms. Because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you did present your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness. God knows where that goes. The end from the beginning. So now present your members as slaves of righteousness. And where does that lead? To holiness. It leads to holiness as God is holy. He said, Be you holy as I am holy. Verse 20, for when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. That's interesting how he puts that. When you were a slave of sin, you were free from righteousness. And verse 21, and what fruit did that have in the things which are now ashamed? Because God, knowing the end from the beginning, says the fruit of that is death. But now, verse 22, having been set free from sin, having become slaves of God, a new master, where does that lead? What's the fruit of having a new master and following his commands, his laws, his ways, serving him? No longer slaves of sin, but slaves of God, a new master. Not sin any longer, but God.

Verse 23, for the wages of sin is death. He talks about it over and over again.

But notice the gift of this new master. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

It's a heritage. It's a blessing. It's a spirit life, similar to how God and Jesus Christ live.

Let's notice Romans chapter 8 and verse 1. Romans chapter 8 and verse number 1.

Rather than we can be encouraged by the fact that death has no longer any reign. It has no ability to enslave us. We could be dead to sin. We could be alive to God. It says in verse 1 of Romans chapter 8, there is very encouraging. There's now no condemnation. Notice to those who are in Jesus Christ who do not walk according to the flesh, but they do walk according to the Spirit. There's no condemnation. There's no claim. The penalty has been paid. We're dead. We've died. And there's a new man that's living. But the new man that is living is not walking according to the flesh, but walking according to the Spirit of God. Verse 2, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Verse number 5, For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.

But those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit, to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Because, verse 7, the carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. Brethren, I don't think we understand verse 7 as well as maybe we should. It says that human beings, the carnal mind, has a big problem with the commandments and the laws of the Most High. It says the carnal mind, as it says in verse 7, is enmity against God, and it's not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. And I don't know if we realize the significance of how powerful that is in the way that we are. But God says you and I have the power to rule sin with Christ's help through the Spirit, living in the Spirit, not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Verse 8, So then who are in the flesh cannot please God, but you're not in the flesh, but you're in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. Brethren, God says that we have to die, just like Jesus Christ had to die, not exactly in the same way, but our old man needs to die. There's something else that Jesus Christ did. He was presented as a sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice. Let's look at over Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12, verse 1. Brethren, we also have to be a sacrifice to God. Not only do we have to die, not exactly in the way that Christ did, and not only was Christ a sacrifice, but we have to be a sacrifice, but it's a little different as well. We have to be a living sacrifice. Let's read about that. Romans chapter 12 and verse 1. We do some of the very similar things as Christ, but in a different way, because this was the only way that it could work in the plan of God for us to be saved. He says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Notice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you be able to prove what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God. And that's to live in the new man. That's to continue to obey the laws that have not, they're not dead, we died. They're still very much alive.

Brethren, we are to be dead. The law isn't dead. We are.

Now, I suppose we could become alive to the law again. We could become alive to sin again. Is that possible? That a converted Christian who has died to the law, that has died to sin, could come back and be alive to the law and be alive to sin again? Well, let's notice from Scripture that it is possible. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 24. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 24.

It says, let's consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much more as the day approaching some of the things that he wants us to do as we live this new life in Christ. Verse 26, for if we sin willfully, and that's a key word there, I think, willfully. It's not talking about, I think it's talking about an attitude. It's not talking about those of us that maybe have slipped up and we repent and God restores us. I think we're talking about an attitude that we know that it's wrong. We're going to go ahead and we're going to do it anyway, regardless of how God feels about it, regardless of what he says in his word. We're going to go ahead and sin willfully. It's almost like saying, God, I don't care what you say, I want to do what I want to do. For if we sin willfully, notice, after we have received the knowledge of the truth. So we understand that there's been a relationship here. If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins that remains, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. I think we're talking about death, don't you? Here. That it's possible to become alive to sin again after being dead to it or being alive to the law. Let's notice 2 Peter 2 and verse 18. Peter talks about some of the same things here. 2 Peter 2 and verse number 18.

For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, he's talking about some false teachers who are looking for a following for themselves, not necessarily about the unity of the body of Christ. And they're also, as we'll see, not rightly dividing the word of God. It says, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who've actually escaped from those who live in error. Brother, it's talking about false teachers who are beginning to affect people that have actually escaped and those who live in error. Verse 19. While they promise them liberty or freedom, they themselves are slaves of corruption. For by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage or slavery. He's saying the same thing that Paul is saying in the book of Romans, isn't he? Whoever you are overcome by becomes your master and you become their slave. It says some here that they'd escaped. Verse 20. For if after they have escaped, it's like they've already escaped the pollutions of the world. They'd already died and they were dead with Christ through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and they are again entangled in them. They escaped and now they've gone back and now they've entangled themselves in the way of the flesh again. Sinning and overcome, as it says again, we will serve whoever it is we're serving. If it's sin, we will eventually be overcome. Then the latter end is worse than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment. Again, we're talking about God's law, aren't we? They turn from God's commandment that had been delivered to them. It's not dead. We're the ones that have to die. Verse 22. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, a dog returns to his own vomit and a sow having washed to her own wallowing in the mire. So God cautions us through Peter. He cautions us through Paul, doesn't he? Leave the old man in the grave.

And then death has no power over us. We're in Christ. We're living a new way of life. We're obeying God's commandments, the holy commandment that's been delivered to you and I, as it says in the latter part of verse number 21. Let's turn, brethren, to the last scripture from Romans chapter 6 verse 22. Brethren, we do have to die. Not in the same way that Christ did.

But nevertheless, we have to die. There's something that we have to do. And we have to live in a new way. We live sin. We leave the old man buried with Christ, crucified, and we live a new way of life.

Striving to live an unleavened way of life, living in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

Brethren, we can escape death. We can be free from it. God has shown us the way through Jesus Christ, his role, and the role that we see through the days of eleven bread. By Christ's death, we pass over our death as we see in our baptism covenant, and we begin to live a new way of life, putting leavening out of our lives. Romans 6, verse 22. For the meaning of the days of eleven bread has to do with dying. Dying to sin, not letting it rain in our mortal body.

Let's conclude here with Romans 6 and verse 22. Some very encouraging thoughts here, brethren. Sin doesn't have to be able to rain over us. We're not under condemnation if we follow the Word of God. Romans 6 and verse 22 says this, But now, having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and in the end everlasting life.