Invitation to our Funeral

Eric Clark brought it this morning at Men’s Morning Bible Study.

Romans 6.

The first part of Romans 6 is the invitation to our funeral. (vs. 1-11)

                Die to self – the old man has passed away with his longings and desires

                Life in Christ – the new man has come; not a ‘better version’ of the old man, but Christ in me, the hope of Glory

                Our IDENTITY has fundamentally been changed to:

                                PURE, HOLY, BLAMELESS, RIGHTEOUS, SON, REDEEMED

                Even though in God’s sight the old man is gone, he still haunts us …

The second part of Romans 6 is an invitation to become a slave to Christ instead of sin. (vs. 12-23)

                Sanctification is the name of the game

                We are all slaves to something

                Instead of presenting ourselves to SIN and obeying that master, we as the REDEEMED should present ourselves to Christ and obey him

                The fruit of SIN is death and the fruit of Christ is life with Christ forever

                Sanctification is dual effort

                God’s Role:

                                1 Cor 3:5-8 – only God gives growth, not man

                                2 Cor 3:17-18 – The Spirit is transforming us (in degrees) as we behold the glory of God

                                Phil 1:6 – He began the work and will complete it

                                Phil 2:13 – He works for His glory and good pleasure

                Our Role:

                                Rom 8:13 – living in the flesh is death and we must put to death the flesh in us

                                Phil 2:12 – work out our salvation with fear and trembling

                                Phil 3:12-16 – pressing on to the goal

                                Romans 6:12-16 – present ourselves to the better master; Christ, not sin

Be reminded of IDENTITY in CHRIST through the GOSPEL.

Become slaves to Christ.

MAKE WAR against sin.