Jump Start # 1181

Romans 6:17 “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed”

From sin to salvation is the theme of this section of Romans. Paul shows us the true nature of sin. A person often fools themselves into believing that they are doing what they want to do, but the truth is, they are simply obeying the master, which is Satan. He pulls the strings and we become his puppet. Not only that, Paul tells us that sin is a form of slavery. It enslaves us and is addictive. Finally, sin takes us some where. It ends with death—spiritual death.

Everyone has their own story of sin. It’s a personal horror story. Often it’s filled with lies and heartache and long periods of time without thought of God and living without hope. Had we died during that period, it would not have been very pretty for us in eternity. Away from God there is no hope.

Our verse expresses the joy and the thanksgiving because that sinful life was changed. The credit belongs to God. It is God who allows the second chance. It is God who forgives. It is God who revealed the way and the teaching that allowed each of us to break free from slavery and run to God. Without God we couldn’t have done it. The courage, the hope and the drive are found in a God who never quit loving us.

It seems these days that we put a lot of credit and hope in counselors and recovery programs, maybe more credit than we should. I doubt that there were such things as AA or the “Twelve step” programs in the first century. How then did they break the grips of alcohol? I don’t think there were “exit programs” to help break out of homosexuality. Yet, the Corinthians were able to stop it. There is certainly much good that is being done in many of these programs, but I wonder if we put more hope in them than we do the changing power of the Gospels?

There are four things I see in our passage that is the key to breaking free from sin.

1. Obedience. Paul said, “You became obedient…” They listened, they believed and they obeyed. Not just the easy stuff. Not just the big stuff. They became obedient to God. They trusted God. They knew God was right. They were sure.

2. From the heart. They obeyed, not superficially, not occasionally, but from the heart. That’s the source of our faith. That’s the foundation of being genuine or playing the game. From the heart. They realized what they were doing was wrong and what God offered was right. They were convinced. They knew. When one believes and obeys from the heart, behavioral issues fall into place. When one believes from the heart, attitudes shape up.

3. To that form of teaching. Other translations use the word doctrine. Some don’t like that word in the N.T. They want to believe that there are no rules in the N.T. Some have called it a ‘love letter,’ not a law. The book of James refers to the N.T. as the perfect LAW of liberty. They didn’t turn to God and do their own thing. They didn’t manufacture their own concept of what they ought to do. They didn’t settle into the emotional playground of just love. The Beatles sang, “All you need is love.” There are a lot of preachers today that preach that. It doesn’t matter what you do, just love. Really? Would that have opened the door to escape the ugly nature of sin? They obeyed from the heart to that form of teaching. That form of teaching, was God’s word. That’s what Paul was preaching. He was preaching righteous living. He taught that we should lay aside the old man and put on the new man. He taught us to walk in Christ. He taught that there was one faith, one Lord, one body, one baptism. He taught that the believers ought to be of one mind and one voice. He taught that if some taught differently they should be disciplined. He taught the way to God. He taught forgiveness that was based upon the cross. He taught baptism. That’s how these people broke free. They obeyed that teaching. It was God’s truth.

4. They were committed to that teaching. They hung in with it. They didn’t out grow it. They didn’t abandon it. They didn’t feel like it was no longer a part of their lives. They were committed. When a person is committed to a marriage, they stay together. They do things together. It’s a together thing. When one is committed to their favorite team, they will be loyal even in the tough years when they are in last place. When a believer is committed to the word of God, he will study it, know it, follow it, and teach it. When questions arise, it’s to this teaching that he turns. When he is unsure, he will search what he knows.

This is how the early disciples broke free from the enslaving nature of sin. It was through the word of God. What that tells us is that we need to be teaching and preaching that word. That word works. It worked for them. It will work for us. Maybe if we spent more time with the word, got ourselves committed, and really obeyed it, we would not need all the extra helps that can be crutches that carry us along. It worked for them.

There is an exit door from sin. It’s marked God. You go through that door when you finally get tired of sin. When you realize it’s a dead end street. When you see the trail of damage it has left. When you realize that you have crushed God’s heart. You are ready to leave. To open that door, you must open God’s word. Read it. Believe it. Trust it. Obey it. Be committed to it. You’ll find yourself becoming more and more like Christ. Your heart changes. Your outlook changes. What is important to you changes. Worship becomes a must for you. God’s word becomes a daily friend. You learn that word. You live that word. You become saturated with the Word. Soon, the bonds of slavery fall off. You find yourself not doing that sin any longer. You enjoy the freedom, the peace and the love that is found in Christ.

Freedom—what a great word. Not free to do anything. Not free to do what I want. That was slavery in sin. That was death. Freedom is commitment, obedience, trust and love in God. That’s where it’s at. That’s the path to Heaven.

It’s a journey. It’s not easy nor quick. Your former master, Satan, will chase you down. He wants you back. But you keep obeying God. You keep committing yourself to His ways. The more you do this the more distance you put between you and Satan.

You can do it. The Romans did.

Roger