Sunday – November 14, 2021
Word On Worship – Sunday – November 14, 2021
Romans 6:22-23
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
For those who have been saved, who have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, the subject of good works is still very important. If God does not save men on the basis of their works, does this mean that the deeds of the Christian do not matter? The relationship between faith and works is an important one, and it is an issue which is presently causing Christians to disagree and debate among themselves. It is commonly known as the question of “lordship salvation.”
The fundamental issue is the relationship between faith and good works. On the one side are those who wish to stress that justification is by faith alone, “apart from works,” just as Paul teaches (Romans 4:1-6). On the other side are those who insist that salvation is “unto good works,” just as Paul teaches (Ephesians 2:10). The fact is, both “sides” are correct, but each stress one side of the issue more than the other.
Having established once for all that man’s works do not contribute to his “justification by faith,” Paul now sets out to show the necessity of sanctification. God does not justify men only to get them to heaven or to keep them from hell, God justifies us to make us righteous, not only in principle, but in practice. Those who would advocate “living in sin” would do so under the banner of “liberty.” Paul refutes this error by raising the banner of “slavery.” Freedom is a misnomer because in reality, everyone is a slave and must choose one of two masters. Unsaved men are the slaves of sin. They have no choice, though they think of themselves as free. In Christ, believers have the freedom to choose our master: God or sin. But we still have a master.
One’s choice to become a slave can be either conscious or unconscious. To continue to present oneself to sin is to remain a slave to sin. Very few people choose to become drug addicts. They begin by dabbling with them. They think they are in control, but soon the drug controls (enslaves) them, and they are no longer free. It is the same with sin. To dabble with sin is to become enslaved to it. And to be enslaved by sin is to put oneself on the road to death. Sanctification is not the “higher path” of the few, the committed, the dedicated; it is that path which is expected of every believer. Sanctification is the expected outcome of justification. We dare not excuse ourselves from pursuing this path. If we do, we will be very much like those who say, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?”