Romans 6:15-23 – You are Free! – Bible study

Luke 12:48 For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required III. \#Rom 6:20-23\ We have a new goal in freedom. A. Paul is asking the question, "What fruit did you have when you were doing those things you are now ashamed of?" (while in darkness) 1. When he speaks of "fruit," he means fruit of righteousness. That is, what good things did you do when you were lost. 2. The answer is NONE! 3. We need to get this principal – Lost people cant produce good fruit even if they are doing good deeds. a. It makes sense to a lost person that if they will go to church, treat someone else with kindness, or clean up their act a little, it will impress God. b. The opposite is true! c. That is human flesh trying to impress God and instead of it impressing God, it offends God. B. Now that we are saved, we can reverse the question that Paul asked. 1. What fruits of darkness should we be producing now that we saved? 2. The answer is NONE. 3. I know it is a high goal to set, but Christians should shoot for living a sinless life. a. Literally, in this flesh, we will not permanently achieve it. b. But it is our goal none the less. IV. \#Rom 6:19\ We have a new plan for freedom. A. In overcoming sin, the Christian finds varying degrees of success. 1. The chains of some sins are instantly broken at salvation. 2. Some fall away with some effort in time. 3. With others, we really struggle. B. This is part of the plan of God. 1. It is not just freedom from sin that God wants us to have, it is the growth that getting that freedom will bring. a. As we fight to overcome sin, we grow. (1) We grow in the Word which persuades us to struggle against sin. (2) We grow in prayer as we seek Gods help. (3) We grow in faith as we see God giving us victory in our struggle. b. All of this and more is part of the slow growth process. (1) It is very slow for us. (2) It is very frustrating. (3) We stumble and fall a lot. C. Gods plan \#19\ As ye have yielded to uncleanness, yield to righteousness. 1. Typically, we go into sin gradually. As Christians, we get out of sin gradually. 2. Typically, each step is downward. As Christians, each step should now be upward. 3. Typically, we just kept going the wrong way. As Christians, we now just keep going the right way. It is very important that every Christian understand that sin can destroy them, but it need not do so. We can have the victory if we will seek the grace to overcome.