Path of the Slaves to Righteousness (Rom. 6:15-23)

Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Especially those who are in the regional churches of Yakima, Seattle, Mongolia, and Burlington Hospital, and those who are in the main sanctuary, let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  May today be a blessing that revives your spirit. If you eat food, then your physical body gets strength. The more you give worship, the more your spirit gains strength.  May today’s worship renew your strength in that way.

There are two paths in life, the paths are not success or failure, the path is not even whether I accomplish what I want or not.  The Lord God has only given us two paths: we can be a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness.  The reason is because in Romans 1, it says that every single person, whether they are a Jew, Gentile, or Roman, have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

1. Slaves to sin

  1) Offer yourselves (Rom. 6:16)

    (1) Slaves of the one you obey (Rom. 6:16)

Then, what exactly is sin?  Romans 5:17 says that sin is disobedience to God.  So, it’s not about something that you do, but the fact that we have that spirit of disobedience to God is sin.  By having disobedience against God, we also sin against man and other people.  So, if we become disobedient to God, then that is sin.  Eph. 2:1 says we were dead in our sins and our transgressions.  Eph. 2:3 says that we followed the cravings of our sinful nature and were by nature objects of wrath.  That means your entire life is bearing the burden of wrath.  

    (2) Belong to the devil, Belong to the evil one (1Jn. 3:8.12)

Then, why must we believe in Jesus?  If you believe in Jesus Christ so you can be happier or live a better life, that is not the right goal.  But weirdly enough in America, maybe because Christianity has been around for a few hundred years, but especially the younger generations, people say, “I believe in Jesus Christ so I can have a better life.”  A lot of Asian people think, “The reason I believe in God is so that I can become happier,” but there is a common characteristic among both responses, the common characteristic is that they’re both about “me.”  I want my life to be better, so I’ll believe in Jesus.  I want to be happier, so I’ll believe in Jesus.  The Bible never says that. The Bible says, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you become a child of God, then the path that you must walk is the path of the righteous.  

Why is it in American society, there are so many churches, but there are so many social problems?  This means that social problems have nothing to do with whether people go to church or not.  It’s because people are walking the path that is outside of the target that God has set.  Even though I believe in Jesus Christ, the path I walk my life in is far away from the path that God wants for me. That’s why, even though we believe in Jesus Christ for a long time, the fruits in our life show something else.  

Simply put, I was living my life for my own physical desires and greed, and that’s the reason I believed in Jesus, that’s the reason people worship idols and enter religions, it’s so they can gratify the cravings of their flesh and sinful nature. The more churches become like this, the more extreme the social problems have become.  

    (3) Leads to death (Rom. 6:16)

So, today, you and I must ask, what path are we walking today?  Am I walking down the path of righteousness that is obedient to the words of Jesus Christ, or am I a slave to sin?  If we are slaves to sin, then without a doubt, the result is death.  You are now currently walking a path that will go towards eternal death and hell.  Or, if you say, “Why is it that I received salvation, but there is no change in my life?”  You can see that you don’t have salvation.  What does it mean that you do not have salvation?  It means that you have just gone to church, then you are bound to live following the cravings of their sinful nature.  So, there’s no change in your life at all.  In fact the more time passes, the more resentful you become because things don’t go your way.  For somebody else, if things don’t go my way, then I’m going to hurt someone else. 

Then, why do my relationships continue to break down?  Why do I have no choice but to go into addiction to alcohol, drugs, or gambling, even though I believe in Jesus Christ?  It’s because you’re only believing in Jesus Christ to satisfy your own greed and ambition. If you believe in Jesus Christ just so you can make more money, then without a doubt, you will manipulate people.  If I believe in Jesus Christ so I can gain more power and authority for myself, then without a doubt, I will end up trampling upon the crowd and using this to my advantage, manipulating people.  These are the fruits that have no choice but to happen.

Simply put, what does it mean to believe in Jesus?  It means we walk down the path of righteousness, in other words, we live following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in other words, we live for the glory of God. Just as in today’s scripture, we live to fulfill God’s righteousness.  Through today’s worship, I hope you will ask yourself, “Why do I believe in Jesus?”  I’m sure you’ll have an answer.  If the reason why you believe in Jesus is to fuel your own greed, then the only fruits of your life will be fruits of greed.  On the other hand, if you receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you will continuously receive the fruits of the Spirit.  

  2) Disobedience – Sin (Rom. 5:19)

    (1) Departed God’s word (Gen. 2:17)

There is a reason why people come to disobey God to begin with.  We don’t just disobey God for no reason.  Humans have no choice but to be a slave to something; if we’re unable to be a slave to God, then we have to be a slave to Satan.  Without a doubt, Satan will pull at us to make us a slave to sin.  So, when Satan drags us towards sin, what does he put into our heart, thoughts, and emotions?  Satan makes us do something God told us not to do.  In Gen. 2:17, God told Adam and Eve, “Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die,” and that’s the only thing Satan made them do.  The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not an apple tree, it is not a peach tree, the Bible never mentioned if it’s a fruit tree, a peach or apple tree.  If that’s how you explain it, then the gospel cannot go in.  Even if this person lives their walk of faith, they cannot be changed.  Do you really think that humans have to be destroyed like this because they ate one apple?  No, God told them to eat any fruit they want, but God said specifically, “You must not eat from the tree that will give you knowledge of good and evil,” it’s because only God is in the position Who judges what is good and what is evil.  In other words, do not try to put yourself in the seat of God where you decide what is good or what is evil, but if you just illustrate that as an apple or a peach tree, the true gospel cannot go into the kids, and even if they do believe in Jesus, they cannot be changed.  

    (2) With God – Centered on me (Gen. 3:5)

When Satan talked about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he said, “Your eyes will be opened,” Satan is saying, “The way you’re living right now, your eyes cannot be opened.  By believing in God the way that you do, the way to succeed in the world cannot be opened.  But if you become the master of your own life and you decide what is good and what is evil, then your eyes will be opened to see something new.”  

    (3) Greed, Covetousness (Gen. 3:6)

So, human beings who were created to obey and submit to God now changed to believe in themselves.  Because now, humans are so trapped in themselves, they have no choice but to live for their own greed.  The more you believe in Jesus Christ, the more you are set free from your greed.  However, there are people inside of the church who believe in Jesus Christ in order to fulfill their greed; those people cause problems.  The reason we believe in Jesus Christ is to glorify God.  The reason we believe in Jesus Christ is to establish God’s Kingdom on earth.  If that is not how your heart is operating, I hope you will have the work of God to change.  Whatever I’m dreaming of inside, if that is aligned with God, then God will work.  However, if I’m dreaming of something that is not aligned with God’s Word, then my life will be filled with strange things that are not aligned.  For example, I don’t even want to drink, but I fall deeper into alcoholism.  I don’t even want to do drugs, but I fall deeper into addiction.  I don’t want to gamble anymore, but I can’t stop myself from going.  Why is that? Is it because of a lack of education?  Is it because of a personality problem?  Is it because they have unclear political views?  Is it because they are not disciplined enough?  No, the fundamental reason is they did not worship God; instead, they followed their own greed and this is the result.  Why are there continuous fruits of problems within your family?  Because the reason you created a family is to fulfill your own physical desires and they’re not satisfying you, so you have a problem with your family.  

This is the reason why, if we sin or are disobedient to God, we end up sinning against other people too.  We need to honor our father and mother, but instead, we end up using them.  “I only need my father and mother until I’m mature; after that point I don’t care about them.”  That is breaking one of the Ten Commandments to honor your father and mother.  “Do not murder,” but with your anger and wrath, you end up hurting others.  In order to satisfy your own sexual greed, you end up committing sexual immorality.  In order to satisfy your greed for physical possessions, you steal other people’s possessions.  Finally, you’re bound to covet someone else’s spouse or partner.  If you have disobedience to God, it’s bound to connect to wrongdoings against people.  So, just because you haven’t broken an American law doesn’t mean you haven’t been doing wrong.  For example, even if I’m meeting someone, but my intention is to manipulate and use them to gain my advantage, then me meeting with that person is wrong, it’s not right.  If I’m marrying this person just because I know they can meet my needs and satisfy what I want, that’s sin, that’s not right.  

But how can people change from that?  They can only be changed when they are filled with God.  This gospel is the perfect promise that solves all of the problems of our past, present, and future completely, and even now, He is carrying out salvation.  That path is walking the path of the slaves to righteousness.  But why is it that even though I have salvation, I keep walking the path of a slave to sin?  That’s why we are dead to our sin.  The “sin” is not dead, in other words, disobedience to God is not death.   That thought of using that other person to gain your own personal advantage does not go away, but I will die to that sin.  How do I die to sin?  I can only die to sin if God is within me.  I must be alive in Christ.  If I follow my thoughts, emotions, and heart completely, then I’m a slave to sin.  However, when the Holy Spirit of God controls my thoughts, emotions, heart, and body, that is when I am set free from being a slave to sin.  

  3) Weakness of flesh – Limitations (Rom. 6:19)

    (1) Offer yourselves as slaves to impurity (Rom. 6:19)

In Romans 6:19, it says humans have limitations and weaknesses, so we have no other choice.  We might think we’re something great, but I’m sorry; without God, we have no other choice.  Earlier on in Rom. 6:13-14, it says to use every part of your body, your eyes, lips, hands, as instruments of righteousness, as weapons of righteousness, and do not use your body as weapons of sin.  Do not use your eyeballs to see things that will give you lust or covetousness.  Do not use your mouth to manipulate people and elevate yourself.  Do not use your arm to satisfy your own greed.  Do not let your feet walk for the sake of your own greed.  

    (2) To ever-increasing wickedness (Rom. 6:19)

Change all of your thoughts to be weapons of righteousness for the Lord, all of your decisions and judgments.  That is what it means to take everything you’re studying and to change it into a weapon of righteousness.  But if you don’t think like that and you think, “How can I get better grades,” or, “How can I believe in Jesus Christ to study better?”  Then, without a doubt, you will receive the fruits of your greed.  I’ll talk about the fruits of your greed later on; those things cannot be changed. Even if you’re a pastor, you cannot.  If there’s even a pastor who has this greed, they will have the fruits of the flesh.  

    (3) State of satisfying their greed (2Tim. 3:2-4)

In 2 Tim. 3, it says why humans suffer, it is because they walk down the path of suffering by themselves, what is that?  That path of suffering means they love and are centered more on themselves than they are on God.  We were created to believe in and to follow the Word of God, but instead, people live following their thoughts, and that’s why they suffer.  We need to use our money for the Kingdom of God and for God’s work, but instead, we use it for our pleasure and desires, and that’s why we suffer financially, and it says here, more so than lovers of God, we are lovers of pleasure, that’s why we suffer.  What is “pleasure?” It is talking about your emotional state, for example, you chase after pleasure to satisfy your sexual greed, or you chase after the pleasure of getting drunk to get rid of your stress.  I’ve drunk before—you’ll keep on falling deeper in.  If you’re not afraid of alcohol, that’s strange.  People who are really drunk know that you need to fear alcohol.  They know how drug-like alcohol is.  As soon as the brain gets stressed, it immediately sends a command to drink alcohol.  The reason is because the brain remembers the good emotions it received while it was drunk, so it keeps commanding me to do it again when I get stressed.  

Simply put, we love pleasure more than we love God’s Word.  Why do people keep on doing drugs?  It is because of that state of ecstasy that they feel when they get high.  When you go into the colleges to evangelize, around mid-terms and finals seasons, the dorms are filled with the smell of drugs.  I asked them, “Why do you do drugs?”  They said they do drugs at that moment to help them concentrate, because they think, “If I get good grades, I can get a good job, and I can live the life that I want, so in order to satisfy my greed, I’m going  to do drugs now.”   Why do I break this law or do something bad?  Because I need to do that to get what I want, so I’ll do it.  They’re not doing something wrong because they were never taught otherwise; it is to satisfy their greed.  Even if you say, “Hey, how can you do something bad even though you believe in Jesus Christ?” They can never change.  When I go out of state, almost all Koreans are cheaters or conmen, but the younger generation of Caucasian assistant pastors don’t cheat.  Why is it that pastors cheat?  It’s because they are so pulled by the allure of having a good result from having a good sermon, but if they really lived their walk of faith for the glory of God, they wouldn’t use those tactics because the reason you’re a pastor is to glorify God, so you wouldn’t do things that result in cheating.  

What I’m saying is, this isn’t a matter of discipline or education, this isn’t a matter of this person’s personality.  What matters is, what does this person have inside of them?  Are you and I believing in Jesus Christ to become happy?  Then I’ll never be happy.  When I truly believe in and follow Jesus Christ, then God gives me a peace and a joy from heaven that is not even comparable to the happiness of earth.  If I’m going to church just to make my life a little better on earth, it’s better to go to a Buddhist temple, because at least in Korea, those who go to these temples have a lot of power.  At least in America, there are not as many temples, there just happen to be more churches, but the temples have a lot of money, so the political candidates and people who want power go to the temples, because you can go there and get a lot, you can go there and do better in your business.  If that is your goal, you don’t have to go to church, so today, you and I, the  most fundamental things must change.  

If the most fundamental thing is not changed and you keep trying to change something externally, it cannot work.  But, if you correctly believe in and follow Jesus Christ, then everything will change naturally.  Then, you’re just not going to drink alcohol.  There are a few people who smoke cigarettes, and I used to smoke 3-4 boxes a day.  Do you know how much you have to smoke to smoke 4 boxes a day?  You have to keep chain-smoking.  Anything that is not sleeping time, you have to keep smoking to go through that much.  Why do you think someone like that kept on smoking?  Because I was continuously under a state of stress and nervousness, I was always smoking. I had a few years where, 24 hours a day, I was in a constant state of panic, that was when I was in the military, I was in an incredibly dangerous situation, always under a constant panic, so I was smoking every day.  You can’t quit like that.  Only when the internal fundamental things inside of us change will those things go away.  Today, I actually like the smell of cigarette smoke because it reminds me of the past, and when I see alcohol, it is tempting, because I do remember the memories of when I drank, but because I know the end result, I’m afraid of it.  Because I’ve experienced what happens when I drink alcohol, I’m actually afraid of the alcohol.  First, I black out.  Then, when you lose that inhibition, your natural instincts just come out.  So, that natural instinct that comes out, it’s just like an animal, like a dog, cat, or pig.  In that situation, there can never be any normal, good human relationships.  But why does this person keep doing that?  They only do that because they think this is the way to minimize their suffering, but they will never change this way; they will keep breaking their relationships.  If I wanted to talk more, I could talk forever.

2. Slaves of righteousness

  1) Under grace (Rom. 6:15)

    (1) Obedient slaves (Rom. 6:16)

    (2) Leads to righteousness (Rom. 6:16)

Now, we are slaves of righteousness within God.  This is God’s gift.  God has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit lives within our Spirit.  We need to follow the Holy Spirit so that it works upon our thoughts, heart, and emotions.  It’s so simple.  I rely on the Holy Spirit inside of me.  That’s what it means to be a slave to righteousness.   Then, our thoughts, emotions, and heart are seized by God, so they’re bound to change.  

  2) Pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance (Rom. 6:17)

    (1) Obey from your heart (Rom. 6:17)

    (2) Set free from sin (Rom. 6:18)

    (3) Leading to holiness (Rom. 6:19)

When I talk about “slave,” imagine, there are some people who have uncontrollable rage.  There’s a verse in Ephesians that says, when you are angry, do not sin in your anger.  Yes, people can get angry, but it says, “In your anger, do not sin.”  The “sin” that is mentioned here is both a sin against God because of disobedience, but also a sin against people by taking your anger out to harm others, because if you have anger and wrath in your heart, then in order to relieve that anger, you target others.  Then, in order to get rid of that pent-up anger or wrath, you express violence, whether it’s to an animal, a car, or even your family.  Either way, your actions are going to show that anger because you’re trying to get rid of that anger.  So, do not sin that sin, and do not hold onto your anger for more than a day, because without a doubt, Satan uses that as a foothold.  If you are constantly getting angry, it means you have a spirit of anger.  For people who continue to fall into sexual immorality, they have a spirit of sexual immorality upon them. That’s why when we’re disobedient to God, these spirits work at the same time, so we’re enslaved and dragged around by those spirits.

  3) Gift of God (Rom. 6:23)

    (1) Benefit you reap leads to holiness (Rom. 6:22)

    (2) Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)

How can we change that?  Can we just resolve in our minds?  Can we just try to be nicer?  Fundamentally we must become righteous by being controlled by the Holy Spirit, that’s why God tells us to follow the Holy Spirit.  How can we follow the Holy Spirit?  If the Holy Spirit of God completely holds onto my thoughts, emotions, and heart, then my body naturally moves in that direction.  So today, where will your feet take you and where will your hands go?  It will go wherever your heart and your mind is set on.  However, if all of that time, energy, and money is used to just satisfy your own greed, then later on, the fruits of your life will be very strange.  

    (3) Last one is eternal life (Rom. 6:23)

3. Path of the slaves to righteousness 

  1) Walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16)

    (1) Thoughts, heart, emotions (Jn. 14:26-27)

John 14:26 says that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, He will put the words of Jesus Christ onto our thoughts and heart, then John 14:27, the peace of God will take over our heart.  That is the work the Holy Spirit of the Lord does inside of us.  We cannot control our own emotions, we cannot control our thoughts. The Holy Spirit must work.  That is what it means to follow the Holy Spirit.  Then, you will no longer gratify the cravings of your flesh.  

    (2) Work through the word (Jn. 14:26)

    (3) Not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16)

  2) Guidance of the Holy Spirit

    (1) No longer under the law (Rom. 6:15, Gal. 5:18)

If I follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then I am no longer under the law.  If you are under the law, it reveals your sin.  However, if you follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance, then the law is fulfilled.  

    (2) Acts of the flesh disappear – Healing (Gal. 5:19)

Even if I don’t struggle and try so hard with my own life, if I follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it naturally takes place, then the physical work gets healed, too.  What is the physical work?  

    (3) Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, 

jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies (Gal. 5:19-21)

If I work for my physical greed, then without a doubt, there will be sexual immorality and impurity.  Even if you look at yourself and you think, “This is too dirty, this is pathetic, it’s pitiful and cowardly,” even if you don’t want to act like that, you have to, because in order to satisfy your own physical craving, you have to be cowardly, sketchy, two-faced, and corrupt, and worship idols.  You’re bound to follow witchcraft and shamanism to get what you want, because you’re so curious about your future.  But because you don’t get your answer about the future from God’s Word, you have to follow witchcraft and fortune-tellers.  You even chase after them to get your diseases healed, too, and without a doubt, you’ll make enemies because if you don’t get what you want and what you’re greedy for, you become an enemy to them.  Then, without a doubt, there will be conflicts, division, fits of rage, and always anger.  Because people are living with their own ambitions, they gather together groups and cliques to satisfy their selfish greed, but people don’t think of these things as sin—they are a hidden sin. Don’t just think of the visible sin as a sin; the state of living with greed is a sin, and then it says, “factions.”  Then there’s envy, drunkenness, back in these biblical times, there were no drugs or cigarettes.  Tobacco for cigarette smoke was discovered in America by Christopher Columbus and was brought back to Europe.  Same thing with drugs, during the age of the Early Church, there were no drugs, so it was discovered in nature after this.  On the other hand, alcohol existed even since Abraham’s time, so what does this mean here?  It says, “drunkenness,” but you can get drunk on wine, substances, or even playing or having fun, but the reason we get drunk on something is because we’re under so much suffering, we want to get rid of it.  

Instead of trying to get rid of the fundamental source of the suffering, you’re just wanting to cover the symptoms of the suffering with substances or pleasure, so you become addicted.  If you have a disease, then there is a cause and a process that led you no choice but to get that disease.  So, yes, that is the time for you to receive physical help from your doctor as well, but you must be filled with the Word and the Spirit of God for you to be spiritually and then physically healed.

Conclusion

1. Filling of the Holy Spirit

2. Guidance of the Holy Spirit

We must follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the working of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit works every time you pray in Jesus’ name, otherwise, another evil spirit works.  You are all praying in the name of Jesus Christ and God works with His Spirit there.  When that Holy Spirit works, the forces of darkness are broken down, just as in Acts, and the work of saving lives takes place.  Today, at this time, when you pray in the name of Jesus Christ for the field you are praying for, the Holy Spirit works there, transcending time and space.  That’s why before you start working, you need to do the work of prayer.  Before you work or study, you need to check, “Am I doing this for my own physical greed, or am I doing this for God’s glory?” 

3. Fruits to save the world and me

Then, you will receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit and bear those fruits.  This is not solved or changed just by going to church; you must be led by the Holy Spirit in order for you to be changed and for you to change society.  Throughout the week, may you remain within the guidance, filling, and working of the Holy Spirit and be witnesses in the field. 

Message Prayer

Let us pray holding onto the Word we’ve got and really ask ourselves, “What is it that must change and what is it that we’ve received?”  God can do anything through prayer.  Let’s pray.  

Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing

God, we thank You.  We thank You for we had no choice but to suffer under curses and disasters and judgment under sin, and yet, you have saved us through Jesus Christ and called us righteous.  You know our weak nature, so we pray You will hold onto us by the grace of Jesus Christ and guide us by the Holy Spirit to give glory to God.  So, allow us to stand as the witnesses who change ourselves and this world into the Kingdom of God.  

We have returned Your materials as offering.  Everywhere this offering is used, we pray You will bless the hands who have given this offering to raise people up and to help them be the witnesses of Christ.  In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.  

God, we thank You.  God, we pray You will bless and work upon Ben so this worship will be the one worship that will guide him and bless him throughout the rest of his life, and that You will fulfill Your Word through him.  We pray that you will bless his studies and the work he is doing so that it may be the instrument of righteousness that will bear fruit in this world.  In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.  

Announcements
1. Bible reading, writing

2. Church officer meeting 12:30pm – Active elder, outdoor worship.

3. 9/10 – Young Professionals Retreat of America, 11 – North America Business person’s Evangelism Conference

4. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @Antiochmissionchurch

Benediction

Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, guidance, fellowship, and working of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of all the people of God, the people of all nations, and the future generations who desire to walk the path of righteousness, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.