And I just pray, Lord, that we hear
your voice this morning and not mine, that you put these words
in our heart and show us who you are and what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done for sinners. We ask that you bless this message,
Lord. We pray in Christ Jesus name. Amen. All right. I said, the title
of this message is sin and the believer. Every true believer, every child
of God is conscious of this fact and he will readily admit it.
He is a sinner saved by God's grace. There's a song that we sing,
and I know we've sung it before, and I'm not sure the name of
it, but the words in it, one of the verses or stanzas, I'm
not sure the technicalities of the hymns we sing, but it says,
suffer a sinner whose heart overflows, loving the Savior to tell what
he knows. Once more to tell it would I
embrace. I am only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. You say, can we know that we
are saved? David knew that he was saved.
He said, the Lord is my shepherd. Job knew he was saved. He said,
I know that my redeemer liveth. Paul knew that he was saved.
He said, I know whom I have believed. I am persuaded he is able to
keep that which I've committed to him against that day. John
knew he was saved. He said, we know we have passed
from death unto life. So the believer knows that he
is saved, he is redeemed, and he is justified in Christ before
God. He knows that he is saved not
by his works, but by the grace of God. There is no question
about it, he knows this. He says, like Paul, I am what
I am by the grace of God. He says, for by grace have you
been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God. It is not of works, lest any
man should boast. It is not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he has saved us. Believer knows he is saved by
the grace of God. He knows and will readily admit
it before God and before himself and before men that he is still
a sinner. This confuses people and bothers people, especially
in what we call this Methodist, or holiness, or this Pentecostal
movement, they call unsaved people sinners. They say, he is still
a sinner. Every believer knows that he
is saved. He is saved by the grace of God, but he is still
a sinner. Every time he prays, he praises our Lord, taught us
to pray, forgive me of my sins. Hold on to Romans 6, and let's
turn to Psalm 51, if you would. We're going to do some turning
here to listen to some men who we know knew God and loved God. We'll start with the man of whom
God said, he is a man after my own heart. In Psalm 51, listen
to David. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. blot out my transgressions, wash
me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. I
acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
Let's turn to Isaiah chapter six, please. Isaiah chapter 6. Now this is a man, back in chapter
5, he kept saying, woe is them and woe is you and woe is this,
that, and the other. About five or six times he pronounced
woe upon everybody else. Then in chapter 6, Isaiah saw
the Lord. He saw the Lord in His glory,
in His holiness, and this is his conclusion. He said in verse
1 of Isaiah 6, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. We've read this many times. I
know Rupert has been here many times. Go down to verse 5. With the sight of God's holiness,
Isaiah came to this conclusion. Then said I, woe is me. Woe is me. Speaking in the present
tense, I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips, and I
dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. And I have come
to this conclusion because I have seen the king. I have seen the
Lord of hosts. Let's turn, if you would please,
to the book of Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, there
are a lot of people who talk about being baptized with the
Holy Ghost and getting a second work of grace and being filled
with the Spirit and eradicating the old nature and living above
sin. These are all current and common cliches, but Paul didn't
believe any of these things. Philippians chapter 3, he says
in verse 12, Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I
may apprehend, that for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus. Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect. I am not perfect, he said. I
am not perfect. In Christ I am perfect. In Christ
I am perfected and justified, because by one offering He perfected
forever them that are sanctified. But He said, I am not perfect,
but I follow after, if that I might apprehend or lay hold upon that
for which I have been laid hold of Christ Jesus. Now there's
one other scripture, Romans chapter 7. Romans 7. Every believer, every
true believer, he knows he is saved. He knows he has met the
Lord in saving grace. He knows that he is redeemed
only by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. And
he admits that he is yet a sinner. He has a conflict with sin. Listen
to Paul here in Romans 7, beginning in verse 18. For I know that in me that is
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. To will is present with
me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. Now when
we talk about that which is good, we're talking about that which
is perfect. The believer has good works in Christ, but we
are talking about that which is perfect. How to perform that
which is good, that which is good like God, that which is
perfect like God. When the rich young ruler came
to our Lord, he said, good master. And Christ said, why do you call
me good? There is none good but God. There
is none good according to perfection, perfect holiness but God. And
this is what Paul is talking about here in verse 19. For the
good, the perfection that I would, I do not. But the evil which
I would, which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that, Now,
if I do that, I would not. It is no more that I do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me. It is not the new nature. It
is not the new creature in Christ Jesus. It is sin that dwelleth,
that remaineth in me. I find then a law. This is a
rule that when I would do good, evil is present, always present
with me. I delight in the law of God.
I delight in the holiness of God. I delight in the character
of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, warring against this desire
to be perfect and bringing me into captivity all too frequently
to the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death or
the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. So then with the mind, with the
spirit, I myself serve the law of God, the commandments of God,
the holiness of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. All
right, let's go back to our text in Romans 6. And Paul deals with the solemn,
painful subject of sin and the believer here. We have in this chapter a great
fact to consider. This is comforting. This is helpful. Here is a great
fact to consider. Look first of all at verse 7. For he that is dead is freed
from sin. When Jesus Christ our Lord, who
is our representative, we read in chapter 5, by the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous. Jesus Christ, who is our head
and our representative, went to the cross bearing our sins,
and there he died under the penalty and guilt of our sin. All of
our sins were laid on him. When he died, we actually died
with him, having borne the punishment of sin in Christ on the cross. And because Christ our Lord died
under the judgment of our sins, we died under the judgment of
sin. That's what Paul is saying. The penalty is paid. All that
the law requires was met in Christ. All that the justice of God demands
was met in Christ. And as far as the law is concerned,
and as far as the justice of God is concerned, we are dead.
And it says in verse seven, he that is dead is delivered or
freed or justified from sin. If a man was guilty back in the
old days of stealing a horse, they usually hung him. He steals
a horse. They have a trial. He is guilty.
The law says he is guilty and he must pay. He must die. So
they take him out and hang him. He hangs there and he dies. He
breathes out his last breath and he dies. As far as that man
is concerned, the books are closed. The law is satisfied. There is
nothing else that the law can demand of him. The law is fully
and completely satisfied. He is dead. Now, this is what
we're talking about. When Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who is our head, our representative, our redeemer, we are bone of
his bone, he is bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, he is numbered
with the transgressors. When he walked on this earth
in perfect obedience to the law, it was the same as if I did it.
When he went to the cross and died bearing our sins, It was
just the same as if I personally died under the judgment of God
at that time. Therefore, as far as the law
of God is concerned, as far as the justice of God is concerned,
I have already died. And payment God's justice cannot
twice demand, first at my bleeding surety's hand, then again at
mine." Okay, verse 6, Romans 6. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin. He that is dead is
justified, he is free from sin. Now let's look at verse 8. Now if we be dead with Christ,
we believe we shall also live with him. In other words, when
Christ died, they took him down from the cross, they laid him
in a tomb, And the scripture says he arose without sin. He
arose without sin. When God the Father brought him
forth from the tomb, he brought him forth not as the one with
sin laid on him at the cross, because God the Father turned
his back on him. Our Lord cried, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? And God turned his back on him
because he was loaded and laden with sin. But when he was brought
out of the tomb by the power of God, he was brought out of
the tomb without sin. If we die and are buried with
Christ, when He arose, we arose without sin. We are in a perfect
justified state. We have in Christ before God
a new life and a new standing. We are holy and without blame
before Him in Christ. Turn a couple chapters over to
Romans 8, please. I'm going to start, I believe, with Romans
8, verse 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are Thee
called according to His purpose, for whom He did foreknow He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, then he called. Whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, he also glorified. Now what shall we say to these
things? If God be for us, who could be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for all of us, every believer, how shall
he not with Christ freely give us all things? Now, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? There is no charge. We are justified. Who is he that
condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God.
And let me ask a question. Who else is at the right hand
of God? We are seated in Christ. We are seated together with Christ.
Back to our text in Romans 6. If we were crucified with Christ
and God's law and justice satisfied, there isn't a mark on the books
of God against us. We are totally justified. That
is what scripture teaches without guilt. And it says here in verse
eight, if we be dead with Christ, we live with Christ. This is so important here, verse
nine, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead by the power
of God. God testified when He raised
Him from the dead that He was satisfied with Him, with Christ,
that He has accepted His sacrifice and offering. He accepted Him.
He raised Him from the dead knowing that Christ being raised from
the dead dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion.
Sin hath no more dominion over Him. The true believer who is
in Christ by God's eternal grace and by faith who is in Christ
crucified, buried and risen with Christ, the true believer, can
no more come under sin again or under its curse than Christ
can. We can't find any comfort in our own, in ourselves, or
in our works, or in our deeds, or even our faith. It's so weak. But here's the comfort. Isaiah
40 verse 1 says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith the
Lord. Speak ye comfortably to the heart
of Jerusalem, and cry unto her. Her warfare is accomplished. Her iniquity is pardoned. Pardoned,
put away. She hath received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins. When the Lord Jesus Christ took
the place of Barabbas on that cross, And they went down and
set him free. He didn't have to go into hiding.
Brabus could walk right down the street, right past the courthouse.
They couldn't touch him. The Roman law wouldn't let them
touch him. Somebody else had taken his place. He could walk
right by the arresting officer. He can walk right down the street
because he died when Christ died as far as the Roman law was concerned.
And you and I, that if we died, if Christ is our Savior and Lord
and our substitute, when he died, we died. And when he arose, we
arose without sin before God. And we can no more come under
the charge or curse or guilt of sin again than Christ can. Knowing that Christ, verse 9,
knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more. This is the reason why our Lord
said, he that believeth on me shall never die. He that believeth
on me shall never be ashamed. He that believeth on me shall
never come into condemnation. There is therefore now no judgment
to them who are in Christ. See, when our Lord died on the
cross, He effectually paid the sin debt. And now He sits at
the right hand of the Father, totally, wholly accepted and
justified. There isn't, in this universe,
anywhere, one sin that can come up before the Father and say,
I lay this on Christ. He's got to come and pay for
this. He has no sin. He's paid for it all. He drank
the very bitter dregs of the bottom of the cup of God's wrath.
He walked the winepress, and he walked it fully. Sin can no
more, can no more demand of him anything. He can no way come
under death, hath no more dominion on him, no more charge, and he
has no more on us, none whatsoever, if Christ is our Savior and our
substitute. If you trust an alter experience,
You got a problem because sin can still lay claim to you. If
you're trusting and resting in a religious profession, or if
you're resting in something else other than Christ, then you might
be brought before the judgment, but not in Christ. Verse 10 says,
For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he
liveth, he liveth unto God. We are alive unto God. We are
sons of God, we are accepted in the beloved. Jesus paid it
all, all the debt that I owe. Sin left her crimson stain, but
he washed it as white as snow. His precious blood shall never
lose its power, till all the ransomed church of God be saved
to sin no more. What a tremendous fact to comfort.
If we died with Christ, we are free of all charge, all blame,
all condemnation, all judgment. If we are buried with Christ,
we rose again without sin, totally justified before God, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in His sight. And whatever sin in our past,
present, or future can no more come and require of us anything
that it come before the throne of God and require that Christ
die again. It can't do it. It has no charge. We are alive unto God, accepted
in the beloved and seated at the right hand of God. The word sin is used quite a
bit in this chapter. What is sin? Sin is a whole lot more than
what men are saying it is. Sin is more than drunkenness.
If drunkenness was the only problem a man had as far as sin is concerned,
he could quit it. Sin is more than lying. If lying
is the only problem a man has, then he could quit it. Sin is
more than adultery. If adultery is the only problem
a man has, he could quit it. Sin is more than stealing. He could quit it. But sin is
a principle and a nature that produces these things. Sin is
the transgression, the transgression of the law of God, not only outwardly,
but inwardly. Our Lord said in the book of
Matthew, you have heard it said by them of old times, thou shalt
not kill. But I say unto you to hate, to
hate your brother in your heart is to be guilty already of murder,
whether you ever take his life or not. You've heard it said
by them of old times that thou shalt not commit adultery. But
I say unto you, look with lust. To lust in your heart is to be
guilty already of adultery. And on and on he goes defining
those sins. But in Romans chapter 3, verse
23, here's one of the best definitions in scripture. For all have sinned. and come short of the glory of
God. That is what sin is. Sin is to come short of the glory
of God. Sin is anything in thought, in
word, in imagination, in deed that comes short of perfection. Sin is a nature or principle
that comes short of God's perfection that is contrary to God's holiness. And our Lord said to the disciples,
sin is not necessarily what goes into our body, Sin and that which
defiles us comes out of our hearts. Sin is pride. In Proverbs chapter
6, our Lord names seven things that he hated. He said pride
was number one. Sin is envy. Do you ever envy? Are you ever covetous? Are you
ever discontent with what you have and envy someone who has
more? Sin is lost. Sin is hatred. Sin is greed. Sin is ingratitude. Sin is blasphemy. Not just blasphemy with the lips,
but blasphemy with the heart. Sin is jealousy. Sin is evil
thoughts. These things that lurk within
us and live within us are like outlaws and they hide in our
nature and we think they're gone. And then they appear at the least
expected time. We're going along thinking we're
doing so well, growing in grace, spiritually growing, and suddenly
the outlaw that has been there all the time, hiding within us,
rears his ugly head. Sin is an outlaw which hides
in our nature and appears when least expected. Sin is an enemy,
a constant enemy that wars against the new nature. Every honest
believer will confess this and admit this, They have constant warfare when
they recognize what sin is. When he recognizes what sin is
and he admits that he has constant warfare with his pride, covetousness,
ingratitude, lust, hatred, malice, greed, selfishness. It says in
verse 17 of Galatians 5, the flesh, the flesh lusteth, warth
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And these
things are contrary to one another. We feel like two people. We feel
like two distinct people. That's how Paul identified himself.
He said, I delight in the law of God after the inward man,
but I find another law in my members like another person,
a body of death, a body of sin that wars against this body of
truth and light. These are contrary to one another,
so you cannot do the things that you will. This sin nature is
such a part of us that it won't die until we die. And I'm not
talking about dying daily. We do die daily. We crucify the
old man daily. I'm talking about this nature
of sin and this conflict with sin is going to stay with me
and you until they put us in the ground. We're going to have
to battle with it. Sin's battleground or field of
battle is this body, this body of flesh. Paul called it a body
of death. He said, in Philippians, he calls
it a vile body. This is a vile body. The battleground of sin is the
flesh. And when we are through with this flesh and put it in
the ground, then we are going to be through with sin, and not
until then. When these eyes are closed to
see no more, And these ears are dead to hear no more. And this
sinful nature sleeps in the dust. We won't have sin anymore. We
will rise to be with our Lord, with the nature that he hath
perfected, the nature of God that he has put within us. But
this flesh, here is the battleground. Here is the source of evil and
error. The materialism and desires of
this flesh lead us to covetousness. Paul tells us to be content in
whatsoever state God has put us. It's hard to be content lying
in a hospital bed, but this is what he said. It's hard to be
content when you don't have enough money to buy food. Like some
of the believers in countries, you know, third world countries,
the body wants to end, the body wants to eat and it wants to
eat steak and potatoes. It wants to eat good things.
It is hard to be content with a body wracked with pain and
stooped over with old age. We are still supposed to be content.
That is what the word of God says. We are not supposed to
murmur. We are not supposed to complain
against God's providence, he said. Be content with what you
have and avoid covetousness, which is idolatry. We've got
a car, but we want a bigger one, or a better one, or a newer one.
We have a home. to live in, but we want a bigger
one, a nicer one. We envy. And what causes it? It is this body with its materialism
and its desires. It wants, wants, wants. It wants
more. It wants better. It wants bigger.
It wants comfort. It wants luxury. And it's not
content to live on what God gives us. And it's not content to live
where God puts us. That's what David says in Psalm
73. He says, I was like a beast. I complained against the providence
of God. The appetites and passions of
this flesh, what do they do? They produce desires that we
are ashamed of. They produce desires that are
contrary to holiness. And there is no use saying that
they are not there, because they are. And they're very real, and
they're very strong. And where do these desires come
from? This flesh. That is where they come from,
this flesh, this field of battle. And when this flesh is buried,
you're not going to be bothered with them anymore. But there
isn't a person here, if they'll be honest and truthful, that
is not ashamed of their thoughts. Too often, just literally, you
look upon God and say, well, I think that's odd. Why do I
desire things like that? It's because we have an appetite
and passion in this body of ours that is going to stay there until
it's put into the grave. You may as well admit it. The
pains and infirmities of this flesh lead to depression. Now,
brethren, when we talk about being depressed, we're talking
about sinning. We're talking about is a sin to murmur against
God. That is what God judged the Israelites
for in the wilderness. They murmured against God. They
said, we are tired of this light bread, and we are tired of this
water out of the rock. We want the garlics of Egypt.
They murmured against God. They were impatient. The pain
and infirmities of this flesh lead us to depression, impatience,
and coldness of heart. We give into it, don't we? Sin is sin. And I don't care
whether you find it in a drunk or in a believer, it is still
sin. You can call it anything you want. Sin is this strong, selfish will,
that self-will that rebels against authority. When a man is a regular worker
with his crew, you know, one of the guys, everybody loves
him. But the day that he's called
into the superintendent's office and they make him a foreman,
everybody hates him. He comes off the crew, he becomes
a foreman, he puts on a foreman's hat and goes out and everybody
hates him. They loved him yesterday. They
hate him because the man represents authority. And some men turn down promotions
to keep from being hated. Children rebel against their
parents all the time. It is that will, it is this flesh. My flesh, my flesh resents advice. Does yours? Don't tell me what
to do. I know what to do. It resents
advice. It resents orders. Go do this. Why does he talk to me like that
for? Well, we do it. We resent being told to do it.
We resent authority. We want our own way. This is
sin. Not only the materialism and
desires of the flesh, not only the appetites and passions, not
only the pains and infirmities in old age, not only the strong
selfish will, but the influence which this
flesh has on the mind and the spirit is unbelievable. Thoughts
in the flesh and this fleshly nature, desires, and these things
can drag the spirit and faith down until we will convince ourselves
that we are not really saved. I know I've been there. Newton
was there. He wrote, you've heard this before,
but This was in one of those periods
of time when the flesh was so strong and the thoughts were
so contrary to holiness that Newton said, "'Tis a point I
long to know, and oft it gives me anxious thoughts. Do I really
love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? If I love
the Lord, why am I like this? Why am I dull and in lifeless
frame?' because the infirmities and pains
of the body. That's why we're dull and lifeless
frame. It's hard to rejoice when you're
hurting. You get one of these severe headaches that some people
get and it's sure hard to pray. You get help, you get pills,
you get put on medications and the flesh drags you down. This
is why a dull and lifeless frame. Hardly can they be worse who
never knew his name. When I turn my eyes within all
this dark and vain and wild, I'm filled with unbelief and
sin. Can I call myself God's child? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed with everything I do. You who love the Lord, be honest.
Isn't that the same with you? We know it so. You know when
the Lord saw Nathanael coming, He said, Behold an Israelite
in whom there is no guile. He wasn't saying Nathanael wasn't
a sinner. He wasn't saying that Nathanael... He wouldn't say that. Nathanael wasn't a sinner like
anybody else. He was saying that there was no hypocrisy in him.
He was saying that Nathanael is an honest seeker and a wholesome,
honest person in his dealings with God. An honest believer
regenerated by the Holy Spirit with a renewed nature and a new
heart recognizes sin to be sin for what it is. He admits it
before God. He confesses it and seeks it
for the glory of God to avoid it. Back to our text, verse 7. He that is dead with Christ is
free from sin. Verse 8 said, if we be dead with
Christ, we live with Christ. And verse 9 says, sin will never
bring a charge against him or against us, because in verse
10, that he did once, he did once, and that he liveth, he
liveth unto God. Now verse 11, likewise reckon
as done ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." To reckon myself
to be dead or freed from sin so that I boast I have no sin,
that would be a lie. If I stood up here in front of
you and said, now I'm dead to sin, I mean by that I don't have
any sin. I live above sin. That would be a lie. To reckon
myself to be dead to sin by saying, sin in a believer is not really
sin. Yes, it is. I don't care whether
you find pride. Pride is pride. Sin. I don't care whether you find
lust. It's all sin. Sin is sin no matter where you
find it. whether you find it in the gutter or in the pulpit.
It is sin. It is an offense to God and is
a hateful enemy. We reckon ourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin. Look at one statement, verse
11, the last line, through Jesus Christ our Lord. That is where
the guilt is. That is where the glory is. That
is where the rest is. That is where the comfort is.
That is where the debt was paid. That is where the victory is.
It is all in Christ, all in Christ. Our Lord said, He that covereth
his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confess and forsake his
sins shall find mercy. My little children, I write unto
you that you sin not. But if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And if
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us. Here's
what he's saying in verse 12. Therefore, let not sin reign. It does remain. Sin remains.
It is ever-present. It is a constant enemy. It is a source of irritation,
but don't let it reign. Don't let it control you. When
you see pride, suppress it. When you see lust, suppress it.
When you see this greedy, angry spirit, suppress it. Let not
sin reign. Don't yield to it. Don't give
in to it. Sin does remain. We are conscious
of its presence. We are conscious of its power.
We are conscious of its affliction. But what he is saying here, don't
let it reign. Don't let it control you. Don't
let it take over. Don't yield to it. Don't surrender.
Don't pull up the white flag and say, well, that's my nature.
That's not good enough. Put it out. Step on the neck
of it for the glory of Christ and the glory of his kingdom."
Henry wrote in a bulletin one time, he said, make your decisions
based on this truth, that Christ is the king of my life and first
in my life. I'm going to be dedicated to
him in every way for his glory. In the gospel second, and the
church is third, and my family is fourth, and I come way down
the line somewhere. It is not to satisfy my flesh
to which I should be given, but to glorify my Lord." And that
is what he's teaching us here. He's teaching us that we're going
to ultimately get a complete victory over this body of flesh
when we die. But we can suppress it. We can
seek to control it and not to yield to it. Christ is King. Do we have anybody to help us
in this battle? Our Lord said, I will never leave you nor forsake
you. Here are four or five things.
Number one, make use of the means of grace. Turn to the Word of
God. Be much in the Word of God. Be
much in prayer. Be much in worship. Don't stay
away from the worship services. Come to the worship services.
Read the Word of God. Spend much time in prayer. Second
thing, cultivate the fellowship of believers. The scripture says
evil companions corrupt good manners. If you will cultivate
the fellowship of people who love God, it will help you to
walk with God. Thirdly, help one another. The
scripture says confess your faults to one another. That is not confess
your sins to one another. That is, confess your faults,
your potentiality, those things to one another. Admit what you
are and pray for one another. But last of all, look to Christ.
In Him is our victory. In Him is our confidence. In
Him is our sanctification. In Him is our hope and our life. Look to Christ. I'm going to
read verse 12 again. Let not sin, therefore, reign. Control, do not yield to it in
your mortal body. It is there, but don't let it
reign. It remains, but don't let it rule. Put it down, suppress
it, and you should obey it and the lust thereof. We belong to
Christ. We are his children, and we shall
glorify his name. Adorn the gospel of God our Savior. Amen. th th