Email Preach Him with Dr. Jim

The Wages Of Freedom
Rom 6:17-23

17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NKJV

Introduction National PrideAmericans are No. 1 in national pride, according to a survey of 34 countries' patriotism by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. People rated how proud they were of their countries in 10 areas: political influence, social security, the way their democracy works, economic success, science and technology, sports, arts and literature, military, history, and fair treatment of all groups in society. The U.S. ranked highest overall and in five categories: Pride In:

1. Freedom's Wages Declared In . . Doctrinal Differences. 6:17-18
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

A.    The . . Past Doctrinal Differences. v 17 a
        17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin,. . ."

B.    The . . Present Doctrinal Differences. v 17 b
        '. . . yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

C.    The . . Product of Doctrinal Differences. v 18
    18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Illustration
One of our chaplains shared this experience; when I first arrived to Iraq in October 2005 I assumed the TF MP Chaplain mission and made it a priority to visit as many soldiers as possible where they served. One soldier was providing security at an Iraqi police station, in a troubled, dangerous area. As I was out on "visitation" the soldier was extremely surprised to see me walking up the ladder to climb into hi s guar d tower.

Once I got there, the soldier said, I have never seen a chaplain "outside the wire." We spent the next 45 minutes discussing faith and Jesus. The next week, that same soldier, Zack, came to me and said, "You have to have huge faith to go to [the area] without any weapons just to see soldiers. I want that kind of faith." Right then, Zack gave his life to Jesus. Zack has since redeployed back to the states and has reclassified as a chaplain assistant and is actively attending a Southern Baptist church near his home.

Application

Freedom's Wages Declared In . . Doctrinal Differences.

What you believe demonstrates itself in your Lifestyle.

2. Freedom's Wages Declared In . . Discipline Differences. 6:19-22a

A.    The . . Past of Discipline Differences. v 19a
        I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members
as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, . . ."

B.     The . . Present of Discipline Differences. v 19b
        ". . . so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

C.    The . . Parallel of Discipline Differences. v 20 & 22
        20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness,. . ."

D.    The . . Profaning In Discipline Differences. v 21
        21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.                 Ashamed = Profaned

Illustration TOPIC: Sin INDEX: 4171 SUB:
    Impairments of In describing one of the new movies of the day, a critic wrote, "The plot moves rapidly down sewer."

It would not be so damaging to those who watch such trash if the mind could be equipped, like your kitchen sink, with a garbage disposal. Then you could flush away all the filth and be done with it, but the mind does not work that way.

It stores up impressions for a lifetime.  The only way to protect the mind is to expose it to only the BEST!

Illustration: TOPIC: Sin INDEX: 3338-3359 DATE: 1/1987.21
A child asked a man to pick a flower for her. That was simple enough. But when she said, "Now put it back," the man experienced a baffling helplessness he never knew before. "How can you explain that it cannot be done?" he asked.  "How can one make clear to young people that there are some things which when once broken, once mutilated, can never be replaced or mended?"

A Christian Young Lady said to some friends who were less Christian in their behavior "I can be like you anytime I want.  I can give myself away anytime I want to, but you can't be like me ever again.   I am going to be very careful to whom I give my self. I believe True Love Waits."

Application

Freedom's Wages Declared In . . Discipline Differences.

3. Freedom's Wages Declared In . . Discernable Differences. 6:22b-23
". . . and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NKJV

A.    The Discernable Difference of . . Life. 22b & 23b
        ". . . and the end, everlasting life.  23b ". . . but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NKJV

B.    The Discernable Difference of . . Death. 23a
       23 For the wages of sin is death,. . ."
                Death speaks to a quality of life Now.
                Death speaks to a quality of Eternally.
                What Is the death of Hell Like?

Illustration
One of the chaplains in Iraq shared this experience. "A couple of months ago, as I was traveling through the streets of Baghdad visiting my soldiers from one place to another, our vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED). After an initial assessment, we realized that by the grace of God the primary impact went in front, behind and over the vehicle, leaving us with very little vehicle damage. Once we had cleared the area we rolled into our next stop for everyone to "catch their breath" and do a more intensive assessment. As we checked each other out, one soldier (my gunner, Billy) asked me why we were spared when so many others of our unit had been severely injured or even killed. I told Billy that God had, by His own mercy, protected us and kept us safe from harm. Billy then began to ask me what would have happened had he been killed in the blast. I explained to Billy that only those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ would enter heaven for eternity, n o matt er how heroic, valiant and courageous the y were. That following Wednesday night, Billy began attending the mid-week service. After three weeks of attending, Billy asked the Lord Jesus to be his Lord and Savior. We baptized him, at his request, on Easter Sunday morning.

Application

Freedom In Christ Produces In Christ We Receive

Discernable Differences.

There are Wages of Freedom;   Here and Hereafter.