First Baptist Nixa Podcast

In Romans 6:14, Paul declared that baptized believers are “not under law but under grace.” In verses 15-23, he explained that freedom from the law does NOT mean they are free to sin. Now, in Romans 7:1-6, Paul begins to explain what he DOES mean.

In 6:14, Paul said that believers are free from sin because they are free from the law. But isn’t the opposite true? Does not freedom from the law lead to more sin? Paul answers this objection.

The Apostle Paul declares that it is impossible that someone who has experienced the grace of God in the gospel would continue to live in sin. Why? Because Christ died not only to remove sin’s penalty, but to break sin’s power.

Union with Christ results in a death to sin and a newness of life through the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit.

In Romans 5:12-21 Paul speaks of two distinct regimes. The first is the reign of death. But there is hope. From the beginning, God promised a Redeemer who would deliver the captives from the reign of death and establish the reign of grace. This victory was accomplished when Jesus was obedient unto the death of the cross. In verses 18-21, Paul completes the picture and presents four truths which must be embraced if captives of the reign of death are to be delivered into the reign of grace.

This Good Friday, as we gathered to commemorate and celebrate the death of Christ, we sought the answers to two questions which are of immense and eternal relevance to every one of us. Those two questions are: Why is Jesus hanging, bloodied and dying, on that cross on the Friday of Passover nearly two thousand years ago? What did Jesus’ death upon the cross accomplish?

Romans 5:12-14 offers a reason for the universal reign of death, explaining how death came to reign, why death continues to reign, and how the reign of death is defeated.

The subjective experience of God's love poured out upon our hearts occurs as we meditate upon the objective work of Christ which is the supreme demonstration of that love. In verses 6-11 of Chapter 5, Paul directs our minds to three ways in which God's redemptive love is demonstrated in the cross of Christ.

Romans 5:1 begins a new section of Paul's letter, in which he unpacks the results of justification. What changes in the life of one who has been justified by faith? The answer, according to Romans 5-8, is everything.

In Romans 4, the apostle Paul is defending the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and he has done so by proving that Abraham was not justified by his own works, by circumcision, or by the law. Rather, Abraham was justified by faith. But what kind of faith?

The Apostle Paul asserts that unless you consciously forsake your own righteousness and embrace the righteousness of Christ as the sole grounds of your justification, you are not justified.

Romans 4:9-12 addresses the fundamental question of human existence ("How can a sinner be justified in the sight of a holy God?"), and refutes the tendency found in every age to attach some outward and external work to faith as the means of justification.

The example of Abraham and the testimony of David establish that they were made right with God not by working for God’s favor, but by trusting in God’s promise.

One is justified by faith alone, apart from works of the law. In Romans 3:27-31, Paul gives three defenses for the gospel of sola fide.

What if God sinned? That is what God appeared to be doing when He did not punish evil. But Christ died to vindicate the righteousness of God in justifying the ungodly.

“To justify” means “to declare righteous.” In this sermon, Pastor Tim expounds upon the need, the source, the meaning, the grounds, and the means of the beautiful doctrine of justification.

How can a sinner be made right with a holy God? Only through the righteousness of God achieved by Christ, received by faith, witnessed by the prophets, available to all.

Now that the Apostle Paul has established the roles of the husband and wife, he addresses the role of parents and children. The role of children gives yet another display of grace and need for the gospel.

Ephesians 5:22-24 establishes the husband’s marital authority. Ephesians 5:25-33 describes how the husband’s headship is exercised in the same manner in which Christ exercises his headship over the church.

In this message, we tackle this hot-button issue first by looking at the all-encompassing command which Paul gives to Christian wives, followed by the all-important comparison in which Paul grounds this command – the comparison between the husband/wife and Christ/the church. We then deal with some of the all-too-common complaints which arise whenever the topic of female submission is raised, before finally looking at the all-satisfying conclusion of living according to God’s design.