If you were to read the book of Philemon, you would know all about a guy called Onesimus . The book talks about the time that he and Paul met and you would know that Onesimus was a runaway slave.
Now, because of his experience with Onesimus, I think that its fairly safe to say that the apostle Paul
would have been able to identify with the plight of slaves in America a couple of hundred years ago or so.
People, who were born free men and women in Africa, were rounded up by slave traders, herded onto ships and brought to America. We know that many didn’t survive the 6-week voyage across the Atlantic and for those who did, worse was to come when they reached land. They were sold to southern plantation owners and forced to work from sunup to sundown.
Some rebelled and ran off, only to come back, driven by starvation. Then they received brutal floggings – designed as a deterrent to others. Most slaves simply worked until they died from physical abuse, disease or exhaustion.
Before 1850, in order to gain freedom, a slave had to reach one of the northern states that had outlawed slavery. But in 1850, the government passed the Fugitive Slave Law and this law forced all Americans - even those in free states - to help slave owners capture escaped slaves. And so to find freedom, an escaping slave had to go even further north and make it to Canada
It was against the law to educate a slave, so they couldn’t read maps, etc. All they had was a whispered rumor that somewhere there was an underground railroad that would carry them to freedom. There was this whole network of people who worked together secretly passing slaves from one safe house to another
And all the misery, the fear and the longing for home the slaves experienced was expressed in the songs they sang and the stories they told. Generations of slaves often used stories from the Bible
to express their longing for freedom and they used music to send “coded messages” from plantation to plantation.
Someone singing about “crossing the river” was passing on information about how to escape by crossing the Ohio River into a free state. “Canaan” and the “Promised Land” became code words for Canada. A slave singing “Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus” was alerting other slaves that an escape attempt was coming up.
The most famous code name on the Underground Railroad was “Moses.” Even the whisper of this name brought hope to the slaves. “Moses” made 19 trips into the southern states and despite a $40,000 bounty being place on his head not only was Moses was never captured, he led more than 300 fugitives to freedom in Canada.
Few people back then knew that Moses was an escaped slave called Harriet Tubman. She was born in Maryland in 1820, and she never considered running away until she heard that some of her ten brothers and sisters were to be sold. She decided, “I will have freedom or I will have death,” and set off north
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and that proclamation freed all slaves in the United States. But before Lincoln did that,as many as 60,000 fugitive slaves had found a new life in Canada.
Now, I want all of you to close your eyes and imagine you were born into slavery.
You were raised as a slave, You were trained as a slave. And all you know is slavery. Now, imagine that one day you get sold at the slave auction. And you’re bought by a guy who immediately hands you the papers that state you’re a free man or woman. Imagine how happy you would be with your new found freedom. Maybe you’d run through the crowd waving those papers in the air and shouting
"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God! I’m free at last!"
The man who sold you to the auction, sees all this and starts to leave, and immediately you run after him. Your former owner looks around and says, "Man, you're free! You don't have to work for me any longer!" And then you say to him: "I know the paper says that I’m free, but all I know is how to do is to be a slave. I’m going to follow you and continue to work for you."
Now, you hear a story like that and say, "That would never happen! Why, would a slave who was set free ever go back to slavery!" But I want you to know something this morning: it happens all the time!
see, Jesus promised freedom to all those who would follow Him,
John 8:32; 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:36; 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free
But, there a whole lot of saved folks - people who’ve given their hearts to Jesus and recognized Him as their Savior - who still live in the bondage of their sins. Like the slave in the story, they hold their emancipation papers in their hands but they still live like they are slaves. So today, if you feel that in some way or another you’re still trapped in your sins, this passage is just for you
See, if you want to be a Christian who’s free from the power of sin, there’s some fundamental rules you need to understand
R 6:5-6 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin
Notice the verb "know " in verse 6. It’s a word that means "to know by personal experience."
In order to be free, there are some things that we need to know for certain. And unfortunately, a whole load of Christians never learn them, and so they live their entire Christian lives in a state of defeat and misery. But I want you to know that this does not have to be true for your life! You’ve been set free by the Lord Jesus Christ! You’ve been liberated from the power of sin!
In Romans 6 Paul tells us us how to walk in that freedom, so that we can lift up our voices and cry out to the Lord Who bought us and freed us "Free at last! Free at last! Praise God, I’m free at last."
Now, if we’re going to make sense of the present and understand our future, we have to start by being truthful to our past
6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin
Paul’s making it real clear that we "are" crucified with Christ. That means when Jesus died on the cross, Our old sinful nature died with Him! Our old fleshly nature was put to death forever. This is a fact! Grammatically, the tense of the verse implies that the event occurred at some point in the past. So, it’s a done deal. It doesn’t get to be repeated. But here’s the cool part the results of that deal back then continue on and on into the future. In other words, when Jesus died on the cross, God took our old, fallen, wicked natures and put them to death too. When Jesus died on the cross for our sin, He dealt with EVERY aspect of sin completely.
Now, there’s a couple of important things to understand here.
A; The point of crucifixion is and was never to produce extreme suffering. Think about it for a minute. The point of Crucifixion only ever was, to produce death!
B: a person being crucified can’t crucify himself! Crucifixion always has to be inflicted by someone else. I can’t crucify myself, Its impossible but Paul says if I’m saved, I’m crucified with Christ.
So here’s the issue that we all have to deal with: If the old man, the old sinful nature, is dead, why does it feel so alive?
And the answer is really quite simple:Its because so many believers don’t do what verse 11 says.
11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
See here’s the problem: We don’t consider our ourselves dead to the power of sin! When Christ died, the flesh died. It can only continue to live as long as you and I give it permission to live. But if we’ll just consider it dead, then it’s dead!
11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin KJV
I know that is easier said than done, but it can be done, and that is the point! The whole deal is that you and I, and all believers need to live out what God has already us is true!
6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin
If we’re really dead to sin, then how does that play out and what are the results in our lives? Paul gives us three:
Do not let sin control the way you live;
do not give in to sinful desires.
13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin.
The old sinful nature is dead – its been destroyed this means its been rendered "ineffective". Since the moment you were born again, your old man has died and he has no control over you. Now some of you might take issue with me and tell me that it doesn’t feel that way and there are those days when I’ll agree with you. But that changes nothing! How many times have you had a bad night's sleep
and when you awoke in the morning you said, "It sure doesn't feel like 7 o'clock!" Well, whether or not it feels like it, the position of the sun, planetary rotation and other fixed truths make the time what is – regardless of how you feel about it. And its exactly the same in the spiritual realm. Even if you don’t feel like the old nature is dead, God says it is, and so it is!
12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
The old nature lived for one thing: To serve sin – Eph. 2:1-3
Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
Thank God that because of Jesus, we’ve been given freedom from the evil influences that come naturally . To put it bluntly - we don’t have to live like that any longer! We’re no longer slaves to sin!
Will the Christian sin? Yes! (1 John 1:8-10) But - Does he have to? No! (1 Cor. 10:13).
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
Lets finish this thing!
14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
A dead man wants nothing! He’s not tempted by drink, by sex, by money, by drugs or by anything else that might normally tempt the flesh. When a man dies, he’s free from the temptation to sin.
As Christian people, we need to reach the place where we’re able to "consider ourselves dead to sin",
Because that’s when we get to truly experience that same freedom from temptation. Typically, our problem’s not that God hasn't given us all we need to avoid evil,our problem is that we like it too much to stop doing it!
Lets back track a few for a minute
8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.
When He died, we died! When He arose, we arose! We are in Him! What affected Him has affected us! And, just as He was changed after the resurrection, as believers, we’re changed when we got born again. And I’m not talking About heaven but of everyday life right now, John 10:10. Just as Jesus over came death to live a new live, the believer is raised from the death of sin to walk a new life by the power of His resurrection. This is the essence of 2 Cor. 5:17!) Just as Jesus enjoys permanent victory over the grave, he believer is supposed to enjoy permanent victory over sin! We’ve been given the privilege of living a victorious life by the power of His resurrection.
I’m aware that our day to day experiences can be very different than what I am teaching you this morning . You might be someone who’s tried and tried and tried to live your life for God but you feel you’ve failed over and over again. If that’s true - let me encourage you to continue keeping on keeping on. It may not seem like the old man is dead, but God said he was! Since he is, we need only learn to "consider" him so. When we can learn to see our flesh as being dead, We’ve got to the place where we’re willing to accept the word of God as our reality, regardless of what we think or feel.
In v6, God says that we "Know" that the old man is crucified with Christ! In v9 We also "Know" that we’re living a new life in Him. So that’s the reality we have to strive to walk in. It’s the only path that leads to victory!
11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.
If it is true that I died with Jesus, then I have to consider myself to be dead to sin. And If I also arose with Jesus, then, by the same reasoning, I’m alive to God! The old man is dead! The new man is alive! While I’m to be dead to the works of sin, the flesh and the devil, I’m to be alive to the things of God: His Word, His Work, His Worship, His Will, His Ways, Etc.
The whole idea is that we who are in Jesus are to follow the things that speak of our position in Jesus! Jesus has to become the motivation for all we do in life!
13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God
V 13 tells us that we have to be actively involved in determining we will and will not do. Instead of allowing the flesh to have its way all the time, we’re to give control of our lives to Jesus. We’re to allow Him to reign so that we become instruments of glory in His hands.
14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
By virtue of the fact that we’re dead and risen with Jesus, we’ve been released from the dominion of sin forever. We’re not its slaves any longer! The flesh, the world and the devil have no control over the child of God. We’re free in Christ. Free to live for Christ! Free from the Law and its penalties! Free by the power of God's powerful grace! Free to live for God, And we’re free to say no to sin!
So, Why does it seem that so many Christians struggle with sin? I think the answer lies in the fact that
they’ve failed to see themselves as they really are. They’ve never grasped the truth that they’re dead to sin, but alive to God. They have never faced the fact that when sin and temptations come along,
they don’t just have to give in and go along. They’re free to say no and to live for Jesus!
If we learn nothing else from the book Romans, lets learn the fact that we are dead to sin, because we were crucified with Jesus! Lets learn that what happened to Him has happened to us. When He died to sin, we died to sin! When arose in victory, we arose in victory. We are no longer slaves, but we are free! Guys, the devil knows that if you are saved - you don’t belong to him. But, if you choose to continue to live for him and to do his will, he won't turn you away. He can't have you, but he will sure keep you in spiritual bondage
Paul knew what it was like to be a literal “prisoner of the Lord,” and he realized that many people – even so-called Christians – shunned him because of his chains.
in a short letter of just 25 verses., Paul pleads with his friend Philemon not to punish the newly-converted runaway slave Onesimus. Twice, Paul refers to himself as a “prisoner” He wants Philemon to know that Christians are all “slaves” to Jesus Christ – even those who are slave masters!
But, the most insidious attitude Paul faced was not from Christians who rejected him because he was a prisoner of ROME, but from those who rejected his gospel because it made them a prisoner of CHRIST! The message of righteous living has always faced rejection from those who want “freedom in Christ” without “responsibility to Christ.”
The whole point of being a Christian is not to be set free from ANY master, but rather to CHANGE masters! We exchange being a “servant of sin” for being a “servant of righteousness.” There are still responsibilities,but the WAGES are different!
People today are calling out for freedom from restrictions of any kind.
You can hear in the calls for feminist rights (“eliminate the differences between the sexes!”),
in the shouts for abortion rights (“eliminate the consequences of casual sex!”),
in the pleas for AIDS funding (“eliminate the consequences of homosexuality!”),
and in the increasing calls to legalize drug use, nudity and prostitution(“eliminate all the barriers to my pleasure!”).
And yet, feminists, abortionists, and homosexuals are not free!
Psychological studies repeatedly show that they bear traumatic scars from their behavior, and that the radicals among them are so fixated on their cause their life becomes consumed by it. The militants and activists for “freedom” are the most incarcerated slaves in the world.What they are really looking for is not freedom, but a new master! And we know Him!
slavery is alive and well here in Sanford this morning. I'll go a step further,there are slaves in this very room today! Surprised?
See, we’re all slaves! The only difference is which master we serve.So, who is your master? Is it sin?
If so, the wages of your service to him are death and Hell. Is your master Jesus? If so, then rejoice! For in Him, you’ve found life and liberty. You’ve found peace and purpose. You ‘ve found all you need.
The difference is plain to see! And, it all lies in those last few words of verse 23: "through Jesus Christ our Lord." He is the Door! He is the only way into eternal life. He is the only way out of bondage into freedom.
Are you a slave? Yes you are! But, who is your master?
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