GOD'S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

by Pastor Paul Naumann

"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. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 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. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

— Romans 6:19-23

In Christ Jesus, who made Himself our Servant in order to free us from the slavery of sin, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Does the date "January 1st, 1863" mean anything to you? If any of you are American History buffs, you'll remember that that's the date that Abraham Lincoln issued his famous "Emancipation Proclamation," freeing the slaves. Not many people know it, but Lincoln didn't free all the slaves on that date, but only those in the Confederate states. His real purpose was to undermine the war effort in the South by reducing their manpower reserve in slaves. Nevertheless, that proclamation has gone down in history as a brilliant stroke for liberty and equality. On that day, there was a lot of laughing and dancing among the impoverished blacks of the South. Imagine the joy! They had been slaves...and now they were free!

Our text for today is an emancipation proclamation of a different kind. It's God's message of freedom to His believers. Through the Apostle Paul, God is speaking to us today, telling us to look around and realize the wonderful freedom we have in Christ. His Words in this sixth chapter of Romans are such good news - it should make us laugh out loud and dance for joy! Join me today as we consider...

"GOD'S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION"

I. As slaves of sin, we were headed for death... II. But God set us free, and gave us life!

In this section of his letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul is talking about a very important subject. The subject is the difference between unbelievers and believers. There is a very great difference between them, of course, but it's one which that you can't see from the outside. To our eyes, unbelieving people look just like believers, even though they're really as different as cats and dogs. So, because of our feeble human reason, Paul illustrates his point with a picture, in terms we can understand. He says, "I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh." He uses the picture of slavery. He says that a person is either a slave of sin or a slave of God. Every human being on the face of the earth is either one or the other - we can't be both! Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." — Matt 6:24. So Paul describes both kinds of slavery. The rewards and drawbacks of each, as well as where each of them leads in the end.

Of course, the picture of slavery was more vivid for the people of first century Rome than it is for us. They had slaves all around them; it's been a hundred and thirty years since we had any slaves in this country. But did you know...that you were born into slavery? It's true! You weren't born a god, or an angel. You were born a human being, a descendant of Adam. And by your very nature as a human being, you were born under the slavery of sin. In chapter five, Paul said, "Therefore...through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin...thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." — Rom 5:12. You've felt that human nature tugging at you, day by day, haven't you? Even though you've been a Christian since the day you were baptized, probably as a little baby, that human nature keeps pulling you back toward sin. The people Paul was talking to had all come to faith as adults. They could actually remember a time when they were completely under the slavery of sin. When pleasure and money and selfish desire were their only masters. So Paul asks them to compare what life was like before they came to faith with what came after.

Paul says one interesting thing about the slavery of sin - it does have a certain kind of freedom! "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness." Before they became believers, those Roman could and did ignore the will of God. They were free to "present their members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness." They had no god to answer to except the god of their own lust and greed. It was a very appealing kind of "freedom," and it still is! "Who says you can't have it all?" the TV blares. Why serve the true God? Why humble yourself in repentance and put God first in your life, when you can put you first, instead?

For some time now, the entire Pacific Northwest has been in the grips of a supposedly "new" religion called the "New Age Movement," led by former actress Shirley McLaine. It's a faith that centers, not on God, but on the worshipper himself...his self-fulfilment, realizing his goals. It's a religion, alright...but it's not new. It's the same old slavery to sin that Peter warns against in his second epistle, "They speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh...while they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption." — II Pet 2:18-19.

But the worst part of being a slave to sin - the part nobody talks about very much - is where it leads in the end. To death. And not just physical death; even Christians go through that, and, for them, it's just the doorway to life. Paul's talking about eternal death! He asks, "What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death...for the wages of sin is death." What are the "fruits" - the outcome - of being a slave to sin? Where do all the various paths of sin inevitably lead? To eternal death. To the incredible, unending agony of hell itself!

- That's the bad news. The Good News is that God has made an "emancipation proclamation" of His own. He has set us free from the slavery of sin. This is true freedom, not a fake! It's the freedom Jesus promised through His Word, when He said, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free...and if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." — Jn 8:31-32,36. God's emancipation proclamation took effect when Jesus completed the work He came to do, dying for our sins on the cross. When Jesus said to the world, "It is finished!", God said to us, "You are free! All your sins are forgiven, and you are My children once again!"

But - did you notice in the text? - Paul still uses the term "slaves" to describe us Christians. "But now having been set free from sin, you have become slaves of God..." "What's the difference?" you might ask. "A slave is a slave." But that's not necessarily true! Theodore Sedgwick had a slave. Sedgwick was the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives at the beginning of the 1800s, and he had a female slave named Mumbet. One day she heard the Declaration of Independence being read out at a town meeting. The next day she went to see Sedgwick in his office. "Sir," she said, "I heard that we are all born equal, and every one of us has the right to be free." Sedgwick was so impressed with her simple statement that he promptly set her free. And how did Mumbet react? She was so grateful that she stayed with the Sedgwick family and served them for the rest of her life!

What a great picture of the Christian life! God has set us free from the slavery of sin. He's given us free forgiveness as a gift. Serving Him with our whole lives is the way we react to that gift. "Slavery" isn't really the word for it. We serve God, not because we have to, but because we want to. Our devotion to Him is a result of our joy at being free. Because of what Jesus did for us, God is no longer a fierce judge waiting to condemn us for our sin. Now He's our loving Father, who has adopted us into His very own family by faith. Do the sins you have committed ever make you afraid? No need! "For," Paul says, "you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'" — Rom 8:15.

The results of our emancipation should be obvious to the people around us. Our text calls them "the fruits unto holiness." We Christians worship God, and serve our neighbor out of love. We don't worship ourselves. We don't concentrate on serving only our own selfish interests, like so much of the rest of the world. We know there's a lot more to life than "looking out for number one!" Our joy in our redemption is reflected in sanctified lives - the way we speak and live. It always makes me laugh when someone stereotypes the typical Christian as a stern and tight-lipped person - that's not what Christianity's about at all! Faith in Jesus is about forgiveness and healing and happiness. It's about living fulfilling, meaningful lives in service to God, free from guilt, free from worry about the future.

"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. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Here's the last and most important difference between the slaves of sin and the servants of God. It's the final outcome. We Christians have the confidence that, on the Last Day, the salvation Jesus earned for us will bear the final, glorious fruit that God promised - eternal life. What a freedom that gives us - think of it! No matter what happens to you in this life, no matter what trials you go through, no matter what problems you confront, you know beforehand that everything will be alright in the end! Jesus' blood guarantees you a place in heaven. And the faith God has already given you is a down-payment on that guarantee. Peter speaks of the happiness you have in Jesus Christ, "...whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith - the salvation of your souls." — I Pet 1:8-9.

One night a father saw a light beneath the door of his son's bedroom. Wondering what his son was doing at such a late hour, he went to the door and heard the boy saying, "If you only knew what I know; if you only knew what I know." The next day the boy told his father what was happening. The boy was reading a wild west thriller and had gotten toward the middle of the book where the plot was getting thicker and darker and the hero was being outrageously abused and disgraced. The villain, winning at every turn, was gloating over his triumph. When the boy couldn't stand the suspense any longer, he turned to the last page to see how the story was going to turn out. There he saw the hero gloriously vindicated and the villain suitably punished. He went back to the middle of the story, but now instead of agonizing he was rejoicing in the midst of the dark plot because he knew the outcome ahead of time. "If you only knew what I know;" he said, "if you only knew what I know!"

We Christians know the end of the story. Even when the plot gets dark around us, let us continue to faithfully serve the God who has set us free from sin. We know that, one day, He will bestow on us the ultimate freedom...in eternity! In Jesus' name, AMEN.