Romans chapter 6 this morning. Our text will be found in verse
14. Romans chapter 6 and verse 14. The scripture says, for sin shall
not have dominion over you. For ye are not under the law,
but under grace. Here, the Apostle Paul gives
to us the reason for the believers to be encouraged into our struggle
against sin. Because believers have a still
residing old nature in each one of us, we daily constantly are
engaged in a struggle, a spiritual battle within our own selves. And the apostle before in verse
12 says, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. The apostle Later, in Romans
7, we'll deal most explicitly with our experience. The Apostle
himself says in verse 18 of chapter 7, he says, I know, I know that
in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. He is speaking
concerning His old sin nature. That nature that resides still
in His mortal body. And all believers are keenly
aware of this warfare in our own selves. We understand then
the exhortation in verse 12. Let not sin reign, therefore,
in your mortal body. Believer, let not sin reign in
your mortal body, but yield yourselves to God. Is that not appealing
to you? Is that not appealing to your nature? Your new nature? It doesn't appeal to the old,
but it definitely appeals to the new nature. It is our desire. It is our constant longing to
be in service to our God and to put away sin. And here is the greatest encouragement. Do you need encouragement in
this matter of putting sin away? Do you need encouragement of
let not sin reign in your mortal body? Here's the greatest encouragement,
a promise. It is a promise of God to you. Look at this in our text, 4.
Let not sin reign in your mortal body, 4, because sin shall not
have dominion over you. Sin will not have dominion over
you. This is a promise to every weary
and faint sinner who struggles daily against this flesh, against
this old man. Sin shall not have dominion.
Back in the book of Joshua, Back in Joshua chapter 5 and chapter
6, we have Joshua first of all in 5 and he is gathered there
before Jericho. That mighty city, the walls of
Jericho, the Scripture says were shut up, that nobody went in
and nobody went out. And there was Joshua, the leader,
the chosen man of God to lead his people and to conquer this
city. And the Scripture says he looked
upon Jericho. Can you imagine what he thought?
How in the world are we going to take that? That is a large
city. It had been there for centuries.
And no one was able to conquer Jericho. How is it that we'll
conquer such a mighty foe? And all of a sudden there was
a man standing there with his sword drawn. This was a mighty
man. It was the pre-incarnate Lord
Jesus Christ that came to Joshua. And Joshua, seeing He being God,
he bowed himself down and worshipped Him. And he said, Who are you?
He said, I am the captain of the host of the Lord. And I'm
here to tell you how you are going to conquer that. That's
what I'm here to tell you. I'm here to tell you how you
are going to conquer that. You are not going to conquer
it. I am. That's what He said. He said,
this is what is going to happen. I have given this city to you. I've given it to you. That's
how you're going to conquer it. Because I've given it to you.
The Lord of Hosts. He promised that that city of
Jericho would be theirs. And was the city theirs? Did
they not take the city, even as He has promised? How many
times in God's Word has He not told His people, even though
they stood against great numbers, against great odds, it seemed
as though they were about to be overrun? You remember, It
was Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat the king. He had
those Assyrian army outside his gate. 160,000 men sitting outside
of his gate, fixing to attack him. And he brought in those
letters before God. What am I going to do? What am
I going to do? And what did God do? God sent
one angel and destroyed those men. You see, God promises victory
to His people. And when He promises victory,
there's victory. And He's promised you. This is
His promise to you, believer. Let not sin reign. Why? Because
sin will not reign in your mortal body. It will not reign. Sin
shall not have dominion over you. You weary saint, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head.
Believer, let not sin reign in your mortal body because it shall
not reign. It shall not reign. Believer,
in Christ see that we are dead to sin, meaning that we are free
from the punishment of sin. We are free from the guilt of
sin. If you are free from the guilt of sin, what fear then
is there? There is no fear. You see, Christ
has already put away thy sin. He's already paid the penalty
for thy sin. Sin has already been punished
in the death of our Savior, and therefore, we are free from the
condemnation of sin. Sin will not reign over you because
you are free from its condemnation. Now let me ask you this, where
then does sin get its power to condemn? How is it that sin causes
us to fear? What is it about sin? Where does
its power to condemn us come from? The power of sin is the
law. The law. Paul said, I had not
known sin except by the law. The law has said. In 1 Corinthians, Paul tells
us the sting of death is sin. Isn't that why men fear death? Because of sin. They know they're
guilty. They don't know how to pay for
it. They suppose that their good works will pay for it. That's
not true. But yet men fear death because
they know their guilt. And how is it that they know
their guilt? It says the sting of death is
sin, and the strength of sin is the Law. The strength of sin is the Law.
Let us define these terms. What is the Law? The Law has
reference to God's Law. God's Law. I'll tell you what,
you may break man's law and you may not feel guilty about it.
It may be a bad law. How many bad laws do we have?
How many horrible laws do we really have in this nation that
we have? Just stacks of them. Horrible
laws and truly nobody obeys them because everybody would be in
prison. I think someone said in this
country everybody commits at least two felonies a day. Because
they're just bad laws. There's just no way that a man
could abide by all the myriads of laws that we have. But I'll
tell you what, God's law is good. God's law is holy, without flaw. The law has reference to God's
law, and it's not just the moral law. It's not just the Ten Commandments
that comes to mind. When I say the law of God, I'm
sure that pops into your head first. Unless you know anything
about the ceremonial law, the dietary law, the governmental
law, they're all the law of God. But I'll tell you, there's another
law that men don't even have to read the Old Testament to
find, and that's the law that's written in your hearts. How do
you know? How does the person that never
heard the Ten Commandments know it's wrong to steal or to murder? Because that law is written in
their hearts. They know that to be wrong. And I'll tell you, none of man
is exempt. How many times do men get off
from our law? They get exempt. There are certain
exemptions. There are certain exceptions
to the law. I mean, if you're a politician,
I'm sure you get exceptions, right? You don't get the penalty
of the law like the common person does. But I tell you this, God's
law is without respect of persons. I don't care if you're a child
or you're a full-grown adult or an older person. It doesn't
matter. God's law is God's law and you
are under it from birth. Nobody is exempt. Paul says in
Romans 3.9, he said, what then? Are we better because we're Jews?
No. For we have all transgressed
against the law of God. Because sin is the transgression
of the law. John says, Whosoever committeth
sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression
of the law. So there's another definition.
Definition of the law. What's the law? God's law. What's
sin? Sin is the transgression of God's
law. It's the transgression of God's
law. Now, before our conversion, believer, before our conversion,
Before we were quickened by the Holy Spirit to life and faith
in Christ, this is true of us. We only had one nature. We had the same nature as everyone
else, a sin nature. And this sin nature reigned in
us, ruled over us. And we had only this one nature,
sin nature, and see that we were sinners not just by our actions,
not just by our willful disobedience, but we were made sinners from
conception. You and I were sinners in the
womb. Before we took our first breath,
we were sinners. You see, we had already broken
God's law when our father Adam sinned. When our father sinned,
we sinned in Him, and death passed upon all men for all have sinned. You sinned before you ever committed
your first sin. You sinned in Adam. You and I
sinned in Adam. You see, we were born slaves. We were born slaves. Slaves to
sin. Therefore, David said, the wicked
are estranged from the womb, speaking lies. And as long as
sin reigns, there is no struggle. You get that? There's no struggle. Satan keepeth his kingdom in
perfect peace. Yes, there are twinges of guilt. There's twinges of conscience
because the law is written on our hearts. But as soon as that
conscience is stirred up, what does the enemy do? He whispers,
peace. Don't worry about it. It's alright. Everything's going to be alright.
Don't get stirred up about sin. You see, what he does is he sears
the conscience. You know, back before they had
doctors and medicine, when a soldier was cut and he was bleeding,
what they would do is take a hot iron and they would sear that
flesh. and it would become callous.
You couldn't feel anymore over that wound where that scar was. That's what the enemy does to
the conscience, is he sears the conscience and once we might
have felt a twinge of guilt, but now then we do it again and
again and pretty soon it's just a regular thing. Why? Because sin reigned. in us. Sin reigned. And the weapons of the enemy
that's the hottest is false religion. False religion says, just do
your best. You know, you're a good person,
just do your best. And what does that do to us?
Guilt. It sears the conscience. False religion has no use for
the words justice, or judgment, or law, or condemnation. And I'll tell you, we live like
that. Believer, is that not so? When we lived in our flesh of
our bodies and that's all we had, is that one nature? Sin
reigned in us. But as soon as a stronger came
in, as soon as the Lord Jesus Christ came in with the Word
of Truth, He created in us a new nature. And from that time on,
the conscience could not be seared. When the Spirit of God came in,
there was a new nature that could not be put away. It couldn't
be just swept under the rug. Something must have been done.
I have broken God's law and I knew it. I knew I was a sinner. I knew I was guilty and there
was no amount of searing that was going to stop this because
the Spirit of God had done something to me. He had given me another
nature and they began to war against each other in my heart. For by grace you are saved through
faith, and that faith is not of yourselves. It, faith, is
a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are His workmanship. Skilled craftsmanship. That's
what it is. We are His skilled craftsmanship. Created. Why is it that you now
have a sense and understanding of your guilt and sin? How is
it now that you know that you have broken the law of God and
it will not be silenced? How is it? Because God had created
a new nature in you. And we, like Paul, were alive. Paul says, I was alive once without
the law. Now, what does Paul mean? Because
he was a student of the law. If you remember, he was a Pharisee.
What does he mean without the law? He said, I didn't really
understand the law. I thought I did. He said, I thought
I was alive by obeying the law. I thought everything was well.
But when sin revived, I died. In other words, Paul was awakened
to see his own spiritual nature, that he was dead, that he needed
life, that the law could not give. The law could not give
life. And like Paul, we were alive
without the law once. Once we had no struggle. Sin
reigned and there was no one to compete. No one to argue. No one to upset the balance.
We had no strength, no will to fight against sin. Man is not
born free, but born a slave. That's why we speak against the
lie of so-called free will works religion. Free will works religion
is another hot iron of the enemy searing the conscience of man.
Man's will is not free, it's bound to sin, enslaved to sin. And men who believe that, they
believe that because they're dead. Man, anyone who believes
in free will works religion, listen to me. If they are saved
by their free will, then I tell you, it is because they're dead.
They're dead. But once quickened by the Holy
Spirit, we are made to see our condition. We're made to see
these sins were not freedom as we suppose, but chains. Sin is a chain. It's not free. Isn't that what the world is
telling us? He says, we don't need to be
chained to any rules. Let's go out and live and be
free to sin. No. The more you sin, the more
change. Sin is an enslavement. Now friends, and the power that
chains us is the law. The law. And I tell you, the
law of God is absolute. Listen very carefully. God's
law is absolutely perfect and demands that you be. Paul says, you that desire to
be under the law, have you not heard the law? Have you not heard
the law? He says that in Galatians 4,
but then he doesn't go back to the law of Moses. He gives an
allegory. He gives the example of Hagar
and Sarah. Now, that's kind of strange.
You that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
Abraham. He went back to Abraham, didn't
go to Moses. You see, these two women are
an allegory. Hagar, if you remember, was the
bondwoman of Sarah. And when God promised Abraham
a son, He said, I'll give you a son. And what did Sarah say? Well, God promised to give me
a son, but I'm too old. So, let's help God out. Isn't
that what the law says? The law said God promised salvation,
but we just need to help Him out a little bit. And so when
she said, I'll give you my handmaid, and you take her, and then I'll
have her son to be mine. That's not how God determined
it. God says, I'll give you a son,
which is by promise. What happened to that son? What
happened to that bondwoman? They were cast out. And I tell
you, anyone who desires to come to God by law will be cast out. This is the way of all law and
works religion. God's done His part and you got
to finish it. That kind of legalism will be
cast out. You, the desire to be under law,
listen to me, you'll be cast out. There's no miracle in the birth
of Ishmael. Is that not right? Wasn't that
just natural for that young woman to have a baby? I tell you, there's
no miracle in legalism. There's no miracle in free will
works religion. No miracle at all. Well, if you'll
just be baptized, you'll be saved. Well, that's no miracle. Anybody
can get dipped in water. Anybody can eat the bread and
drink the wine. Anybody can come to the front
and shake the preachers. That's not a miracle. It must be, those must be cast
out. But you who are born of the Spirit
of God, do you not see this? You are not under the law. but under grace. You see, your
birth was not natural. Your birth was supernatural.
Your birth was something God did, not something you did. Therefore, you were born of grace
and not of works. You were born of grace, not of
works. We did not seek after God and
we were not enlightened by ourselves. We had no room to boast being
born again because we were born of the grace of God. We were
enslaved to sin and had no desire for freedom. And those who don't
know anything of their slavery to sin will never desire freedom
unless God frees them. Unless God frees them. Jesus
preached this. He said, if the Son shall make
you free, you shall be free indeed. Is that not a declaration? Is that a question? That's a
declaration. If the Son shall set you free,
you shall be free indeed. And what did those men say? They
said, well, we're not in bondage. Okay. He wasn't talking to you
then, I guess. Those men didn't know their bondage.
I tell you, I know mine. I once was blind to my slavery. But now I see. I've been set
free. Free from the ignorance. You
who believe, have you not been freed from the ignorance? of
self-righteousness. Once we thought self-righteousness
was enough, but now we're free to understand, no, it's not. I must have Christ. I must have
Christ and Christ alone if I'm going to be set free. It must
be by grace. Free from the ignorance of our
former nature. Free from the ignorance of my
inability to save myself. Believer, we have been set free
because Jesus Christ has made us free. Free from the law by
His perfect obedience and sacrifice. I like this allegory. Someone
had... Brother Daniel Parks had preached a message one time concerning
an allegory. He said there was a man named
Sinner, and he was talking about himself, And he was judged. He was condemned. And he was
sent to prison in a town called Conviction. Sent into the prison,
into the dungeon, chained. And at the door of the cell was
a man named Justice. And he said to Justice, what
must I do to be set free? And he said, the soul that sinneth,
it shall surely die. There was no hope of him freeing
himself. And one day a man came to justice
and his name was Mercy. And Mercy said to Justice, let
the sinner go free. And Justice says, by what right
should I let this man go free? He's guilty. And you see, no
one could be set free unless justice was satisfied. And mercy
said in a voice sweet and low, I have found for him a ransom. Jesus Christ the righteous. Jesus Christ the righteous has
come to redeem this poor sinner. God, a very God, has become man,
a very man. to stand in His place, to represent
Him, and to fulfill all righteousness for His namesake. Oh! Justice said, I could not let
Him go unless blood had been shed. And surely the Son of God
has come and shed His own blood. What else could justice do but
let him go? The door swung open wide. The chains fell off. My heart
is free. Free from what? Free from the
chains of my sin and free from the law that condemned me. Justice
has been satisfied. Justice has been satisfied. Every believer in Christ know
this, sin shall not have dominion over you for because you are
not under the law but under grace. Sin's not going to have dominion
over you, not because of your great struggle, not because of
your great conquest over the flesh. Sin will not have dominion
over you because God has been gracious to you. God has provided
an acceptable sacrifice in your stead. Therefore, you are free. How long? Forever. God says to you, I will not remember
your sins anymore. There is therefore now No condemnation
to those who are in Christ. God says, the Lord says, the
iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none. The sins of Judah shall be looked
for, and none shall be found. Why? God's answer, four, because
I will pardon whom I want to, whom I reserve. You know who God pardons? Whom
He wants to. And if you are pardoned, if you
are a believer in Christ, you have already been pardoned. Happy day, believer, for sin
shall not have dominion over you because you are under grace.
Now then, in conclusion, will you say, preacher, I don't feel
that. I don't know anything about that,
but my text doesn't say anything about feelings. Sin shall not have dominion over
you so long as you feel like it. Is that what it says? No. Sin is not going to have dominion
because of the law. You're not under the law anymore.
And where there's no law, there's no sin. There's no guilt. O weak and weary believer, take
this to heart and be at rest. Rest by faith in the promise
of God. The victory has already been
won. And if we have any doubts and
fears, it is because we're looking within instead of looking to
Christ. Is that not why you fear? You
who fear, is that not the reason you fear is because you're looking
within? Are you not seeking to be entangled
again with that yoke of bondage? That's why we fear. Unbelief. The law has no claim on the righteous. Is that not right? If someone
is not breaking the law, does the law have anything to say
to them? No. In Christ, you are righteous. The law has nothing to say to
you. Matter of fact, the law demands
your freedom. Demands your freedom. Grace,
the grace of God says, I will never depart from you. And those
who believe on Christ, you will never depart from Him. Why? Sin shall not have dominion over
you. Because you're not under the
law, but under grace. Oh, Spirit of God, give us such
grace to hear the truth and to believe. And God blesses to your hearts.