Desert Springs Community Church

1. Unredeemed or Redeemed?

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Jesus came to redeem us

Romans 3:24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus

Unredeemed or Redeemed?
- Is Paul relating his experience before knowing Jesus?

Romans 6:2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

Romans 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead in sin...

Romans 6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness

- Or is Paul relating his experience as a believer, his struggle with sin?

Romans 3:11 THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

Romans 8:7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so

What say you? Redeemed or Unredeemed?

- Paul has stressed that the law can’t bring salvation to sinners (the unredeemed - chapter 2) & in the same way he now argues the law can’t bring sanctification to the redeemed

2. Understanding Our Redemption

- Paul understands people as embodied spirits - people are a union of spirit and body.

Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Genesis 2:16-17 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."

When we came to faith in Jesus our spirit was redeemed

But our bodies have not yet been redeemed, that is why Paul puts emphasis on our “mortal bodies”, our “flesh”

Romans 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,

Romans 8:23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

Our bodies are still affected with the virus of sin even though our spirits have been redeemed (Romans 7:17-21)

This is why we so often fail to live righteously even though we want to - when we rely on ourselves we still lack the power to do it

3. Freedom in Jesus

- There is hope! Jesus not only provided freedom from bondage to sin, but he provides power to sanctification

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Jesus is all we need!

Jude 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy

Understanding your identity in Christ is of absolute importance to your sanctification

- You are saved, accepted, secure forever in Jesus

- Satan wants to turn temporary failure into long-term defeat

- When we understand who we are in Jesus we can lean into Him fully, knowing that He is our helper, our strength, not one we have to impress through our own strength