Series: God For Us Part 5: Choose Whom You Will Serve and Surrender To
Sermon Text: Romans 6:12-7:6
Josh Kleinfeld
God is FOR us. He sent Christ to set us free…
From slavery to sin
From bondage to “rule following”
From bearing the fruit of death
To being a slave of God
To being bound to Christ
To bear fruit for God
While God is FOR us, sin is AGAINST us.
Sin makes false promises:
Instead of fulfillment, we find emptiness
Instead of freedom, we find chains
Instead of life, we find death
Through these key verses…
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
“So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” (Romans 7:4)
And “Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.” (Romans 6:19)
…We see that God used the wages of sin, death, to defeat sin and death! And now we have a choice. We can be slaves to sin or God. We can be intimate with sin or Jesus. We can bear fruit for sin or bear fruit for God.
Choose to yield to God with this prayer:
I will no longer offer ________ to sin.
I will surrender ____________ to You Jesus.
Memory Verse:
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Message Reflection Questions
Read Romans 5:8. Take two minutes to silently repeat this verse in prayer.
How would you describe sin?
Read Romans 6:12-7:6 with this question in mind: what does this say about the power and problem of sin?
What does it say about the power and grace of God?
Paul uses two human relationships to describe the new saving relationship with God through Christ: slaves (6:16-22) and spouses (7:2-6). How do these help us understand ourselves and who God is?
What is the difference between the “old way of the written code” and “the new way of the Spirit” (7:6)? Use 6:14 to help.
Testimony Time: What is a sin that used to master you? Join Paul in 6:17-18 in giving thanks to God.
Confession Time: In what ways do you need to offer yourself to God as an instrument or partner in righteousness?
Prayer Time: Pray for a yielded heart. Allow the Spirit to search your heart and mind to show you areas that you can offer to him. Pray for small groups and our church to operate in the “new way of the Spirit.”
Daily Readings
From June 4 — September 17, we’ll be exploring the good news that God is for us, in us and with us. Take the learning home with you and read Romans by yourself or with others. You can download the whole plan at www.stillnaz.com/pray.
As you follow the plan, consider these questions:
What does this text say God does "for" or "in" or "with" us?
What does this text invite me to be or do?
Who can I share this with?
Day 1: Romans 5:1-5; James 1:2-8
Day 2: Romans 5:6-11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
Day 3: Romans 5:12-14; Genesis 2:16-17, 3:6-8
Day 4: Romans 5:15-17; Revelation 22:1-5
Day 5: Romans 5:18-21; 1 Timothy 1:14-17
NEED PRAYER?
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WANT TO JOIN A SMALL GROUP?
We’d love to connect you with a group of people exploring what it means to follow Jesus together. Find out more info at www.stillnaz.com/discipleship.