Freedom, Slavery, and the Triumphant Christian Life. Romans 6:19-23

VIDEO:    • Freedom, Slavery, and the Triumphant Chris...   TEXT: http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/pen-s... http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/pen-s... This homily may be considered to be a sequel to a previous homily, given the day before: Slaves to God or Slaves to Sin: The Binary Choice of the Christian Life, Romans 6:11-17 VIDEO:    • Slaves to God or Slaves to Sin: The Binary...   Text: http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/pen-s... http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/pen-s... Together, these two homilies present, arguably, St Paul’s most exalted teaching about triumphant Christian living. 0:00 - How you look at things determines whether you have a triumphant life; the centurion as an example 0:51 - St. Paul on authority, freedom, and slavery — Romans chapter 6, among his most accessible writings 1:32 - The centurion understood authority perfectly; Paul applies this to sin and righteousness 2:24 - "Having been freed from sin, you were made slaves to righteousness" — what this means 2:54 - In Christianity we are completely free; the question is what we do with that freedom 3:27 - You are free regarding sin — you can choose it or not; but regarding righteousness, your heart compels you 4:38 - The mother at 3:00 in the morning: she does not consider herself free to ignore her child 5:49 - "Yes, I can have ribs — I am choosing not to" — doing things from the heart, not from constraint 6:40 - Do not avoid sin because it makes you guilty; avoid it because your heart tells you it is not right 7:43 - This is why reading the Gospels and Psalter daily is so critically important — to train the heart 8:49 - When the heart is trained, you are free regarding sin and obliged from within to do righteousness 9:14 - There is no legalism in Christianity; we do nothing out of superstition or guilt — only out of love 10:08 - With righteousness comes authority; with sin comes Satan's authority over you 11:34 - "Having been freed from sin, you were made slaves of righteousness — I speak in human terms" 12:14 - All sin is addiction; when you sin, Satan takes you over and you lose freedom 13:46 - Lawlessness begets lawlessness — scrolling your phone leads to missing prayers leads to irritability 14:37 - Every sin is not a discrete act; you are presenting yourself to Satan every single time 15:24 - Every righteous act presents yourself to God; building bricks toward your mansion in heaven 16:49 - Lawlessness leads to depression, anxiety, and anger; sin never brings real happiness 21:44 - "What fruit were you having in these things of which you are now ashamed?" — sin gives pleasure but always pain with it 25:28 - You are called to be righteous, called to be a saint — every single one of us, not only those on the walls 26:33 - "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" 28:04 - God only gives; Satan always takes his pound of flesh — be like the centurion, place yourself under the authority that gives freedom