After describing the picture of slavery to sin compared to slavery to God, Paul is now going to use the picture of marriage specifically regarding the Jews. When they left Egypt, they were married to Christ in Exodus 24 when they swore that they would do whatever He told them to do and that marriage was governed by the law, whatever You say, we will do. Because it was governed by the law, for it to go away, they must die to marry another. According to the law of marriage, without committing sin worthy of death, the only way out of a marriage is through death. In death, that marriage is done away with and you have no responsibility to do what your dead husband commanded. For them to escape the curse which just produced sin, whatever You say we will do, is to die, then that relationship ends. To be saved, we must first stop thinking that whatever God says, we will do because that is works based righteousness and still being under that relationship means you are still condemned. You must die to your relationship with the law, so that you can be in the Spirit not just the Jews but also the Gentiles.

There has been a big shift in America in how men and women decide to get married. In early America, parents had a very high level of authority and responsibility over who their children married. This was partly driven by economic and social factors, where the parents were more concerned about continuing the family line and ensuring that their children and grandchildren would not starve to death than whether the two getting married were emotionally compatible with one another. As time went on and America became wealthier, engagement and marriage became less about financial stability and more of a courtship arrangement. The parents were not arranging the marriages as much as they were overseeing the interests of their children. As we lost our understanding of a biblical worldview, and focused on pleasure rather than duty and obligation, the marriage process has become more about the emotional and physical response to the relationship rather than establishing a productive home where both could safely establish their future. And while some may disagree, we would argue strongly that this modern approach to marriage has failed dramatically. In response, many are choosing to never get married or cohabitating for years, but behaving as if they are married to see if the emotions last, but none of this solves the underlying problems. For the last fifty years, about half of marriages end in divorce, people are not happier in their relationships and their families, and marriage rates have declined significantly. So let's start off with a question: why is dating such a terrible way to establish marriages?Thumbnail image by Jack Pearce under CC BY-SA 2.0Production of

In this week's passage, Paul continues the theme that those who are saved are slaves of righteousness. He points out that when you were a slave of sin, you produced fruit that you are now ashamed of. As a slave of righteousness, you will still produce fruit. Not fruit that you would later be ashamed of, but fruit that produces holiness. Slavery to sin produces death. Slavery to righteousness produces holiness. Those who are slaves of God do not received eternal death, instead they receive the gift of eternal life.

In this week's passage, after making his argument as to why that is contrary to the to the grace of God, he repeats his first premise that of course we should not be continuing in sin if we have been saved by the blood of Christ. Then he challenges them (and us) what are you really presenting yourself to obey. If you are seeking after ways to sin, then you are a slave to sin. If you are seeking ways to walk more righteously, then you are a slave of righteousness. Those who are conformed to the doctrine of the Scriptures, those are the ones who are slaves of righteousness. And if we know and understand righteousness and see it in our own lives, that should cause us to be filled with thanksgiving toward God.

At Reformation Baptist Church we stream the audio of the service for those who regularly attend who are unable to attend due to sickness or travel. We encourage everyone else to attend a church in your area.

In this episode of The Conquering Truth, we explore "contumacy"—the most common reason for excommunication in faithful churches today. While many assume church discipline is only for overt scandals like adultery, contumacy is a stubborn refusal to submit to the biblically established authority of the church. We discuss why this sin is comparable to the judicial concept of "contempt of court" within the body of Christ and how it manifests as a breach of the membership covenant and ask the following questions: Is it possible to simply "resign" from a local church to avoid the judgment of the elders? Or does this reveal a lack of respect for the universal church and the commands of Matthew 18? And if someone does flee to avoid discipline, is it wrong to excommunicate them for their refusal to recognize the authority of the church? Furthermore, if someone has been excommunicated from a church, is there any way that this can be appealed to other churches, or does scripture require a governing authority for this to happen?Many people first heard of contumacy because of the 2026 controversy involving Stephen Nichols and St. Andrew's Chapel, and while we will mention it in passing in the episode, we do not have sufficient information to discuss it in detail. Instead, we examine the normative process and the jurisdictional complexities that arise when members attempt to flee discipline. Many Christians today treat the church as if it has no real authority, as if it is a purely voluntary association that one can walk away from at any time. Theology impacts every facet of life, including how we resolve conflict and honor God's structur

In this week's passage, Paul is continuing to describe the ramifications of no longer being slaves of sin because we were crucified with Christ. If the slavery was broken because of the old man being crucified with Christ then we have truly been freed from sin. Being a slave of sin means that when we hear the law, immediately in us springs up a desire to sin. The law does not produce righteousness, because that is not a purpose of the law. Instead, it was given so sin would abound. Because those who are saved died with Christ and death no longer has dominion over us just as it no longer had dominion over Christ, so that we can live with Him. Our response needs to be to think of ourselves as not under dominion of sin but under the dominion of righteousness. As those under dominion of righteousness, we should expect and see righteousness ruling in our lives. So many people twist the verse, we are not under law but under grace to mean the opposite of what Paul means by the statement. To not be under the law, means the law no longer produces sin in you. To be under grace, means that the grace of God produces righteousness in you. No longer does sin have dominion over you.

Most professing Christians today hold to Arminian views, often assuming the debate between Calvinism and Arminianism is merely a secondary issue or a sort of "family squabble." But is it much more serious than that? In this episode of The Conquering Truth, we explore why the Reformers saw the doctrines of Arminianism not just as a mistake, but as a fundamental rejection of the biblical Gospel.When Martin Luther debated Erasmus, the core issue wasn't the corruption of the papacy—it was the nature of God's election and the bondage of the will. Does God choose man, or does man choose God? We dive into the outline of Arminianism to show how it changes the very nature of God, turning the Creator into a "slave" to man's choices and stripping Him of His glory.We also want to be very clear that this does not mean that everyone who has been taught or who holds to some form of Arminian doctrine is an unsaved heretic. But it does not help anyone to treat these doctrinal differences as if they are minor. There are wolves in and among the church who use these heresies to divide the church and to weaken the gospel. While our desire should always be unity, it should always be unity through truth, with the expectation that the spirit of Truth will guide those whom He indwells. Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NCPermanent Hosts - Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua HornTechnical Director - Timothy KaiserTheme Music - Gabriel Hudelson

As Paul often does in the book of Romans, he asks the question that most people will be asking if they consider his argument. In this case, if God is glorified by our absolute inability to overcome our sin nature, then why don't we just sin more so that grace would abound more? But that is not the testimony of the abundance of grace. It is not that sin is just forgiven. It is that our sin nature is done away with. We die with Christ. The testimony of His glory is not that He just forgives sin, but He baptizes those who He gives the gift of faith into His death so that they will walk in His resurrection. They will be spiritually revived to have spiritual life as Adam did before the day that he sinned. If we were crucified with Him, we were then raised to no longer be slaves of sin.

At Reformation Baptist Church we stream the audio of the service for those who regularly attend who are unable to attend due to sickness or travel. We encourage everyone else to attend a church in your area.