Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ, our Lord. If you
wish to follow along, Of course, turn to Romans chapter
six. Romans chapter six. I'll read
several verses, but mainly I want to read verses nine through 17.
Nine through 17 of Romans chapter six. Romans six, verse nine. Knowing that Christ, being raised
from the dead, dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion over
him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once. But in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in
your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. And let me just stop for a moment
and say this. I know I've said this probably
over and over, I'll say it more, especially as we're in this chapter.
Religion has this idea that once a person is saved, whatever that
means, once a person is saved, then their battle with sin actually
ceases, at least to the large degree. But as I tried to point
out last Sunday, that's when the believer's battle with sin
really starts. And this is being dead to sin.
It's not about having no effects of sin. If that were true, there's
no need for us to have a command, let not sin therefore reign in
your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof.
Let me go on. Neither yield ye your members
as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves
unto God. And how much religion does not
like that to do. yielding unto God, as those that
are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for you're not under the law, but under grace. If
we were under the law, we would be under condemnation and sin. But we're under grace. What then?
Shall we sin because we're not under the law, but under grace?
God forbid. God forbid. No, you're not. Now
listen to this. We'll deal with this in more
detail, God willing, later, not this morning, but listen to what
this says. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants
to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin
unto death or of obedience unto righteousness? That to which
we yield proves who is our master. That to which we yield proves
whose servant we are. That's clear right there, is
it not? But go on, one more verse. But God be thanked that ye were
the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form
of doctrine which was delivered you. Now, I asked some questions
two or three weeks ago. Who then is dead to sin? Christ
is dead to sin. Christ is actually, literally
dead to sin. He died to sin on the accursed
tree. And we are only dead to sin in
Him. In Him. We are dead to sin when
he gives us life from above. And remember, it's real life.
It's not ethereal life. It's not theoretical life. It's
real, bonafide, spiritual life. And we also identify with Jesus
Christ because of that life. So who then is dead to sin? Christ
is dead to sin, and we are dead to sin in him. We looked at that
last week. What does dead to sin mean? Here's
what it means. Christ crucified our old man
on the tree. That's what it says. Now I was
so steeped in religion in my younger years that when God saved
me, I had trouble, Jack, for years sorting through the rubbish
in my mind when I read passages like this. But as God has been
pleased over these years, He's given me a little bit of light,
and I believe given you a little bit of light. Remember, Christ
is always the sum and substance of everything. Whether it be
our salvation or whether it be our service, He's the key to
it all. If we attempt to serve God apart
from bowing to and yielding to Jesus Christ, it is nothing more
than religious duty. But God's people, Paul says,
faith worketh by love. If you don't serve God because
you love to serve God, then you don't love God. So then, what
does dead to sin mean? It means this, Christ crucified
our old man on the tree. Now, here is the third question,
and I will be answering this question for a few Sundays, Lord
willing. I'm not going to try to answer
it in one Sunday. Now, here's the third question
I gave you. How do we not live any longer in sin? So, Let me say this to begin with.
This is impossible. That is not living, not living
in sin. This is impossible apart from
faith in and identification with and yielding to Jesus Christ
our Lord. Now here's my main text. Likewise reckon. Notice those
words in verse 11? Likewise reckon. Well, he's referring
back to something he's just said, correct? Likewise reckoned. So what is it that we are to
base this on? Base what on? Likewise reckoned
also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but of the life unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign
in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof.
What's the likewise? Knowing Here it is. Knowing that
Christ, being raised from the dead, doth no more, death hath
no more dominion over him. Here it is, here is the statement.
For in that he died, that is, in that Christ died, he, Christ,
died unto sin once. That's where it's at. That's
where it's at. So it's likewise reckoned. In
other words, In a similar way, as Christ died
to sin on the tree, based upon his death, reckon yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. But never apart from through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Now let me move on. Christ dying
unto sin once is our impetus. The gospel message Hearing the
gospel preached in truth and hearing it in the power and enablement
of the Spirit of God is that which is our motivation for not
living in sin. If the message of the gospel
of the person and work of Christ does not encourage me to not
live in sin, then I do not know the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul makes the statement, and
I'll deal with it in detail. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. Why? Because you're not under the
law, you're under grace. And the same grace that brought
you out of darkness and translated you into the kingdom of his dear
son is the same grace that will guide you and lead you and protect
you and keep you. And God's grace is not a desire
in God, it is the power of God. It is the power of God. But these
are astounding words, think of it. For in that Christ died,
and my title's this, Christ died unto sin once. This is an astounding
statement. And I hope that I can impress,
at least upon our minds, the Spirit of God's gonna have to
apply it, no doubt. But I hope I can impress upon
our minds what has been impressed upon my mind concerning this.
Christ died unto sin once. I have four thoughts concerning
this phrase. And I'll deal mainly with the
third and fourth one. Number one, yes, Christ died
for our sins. But that's not what Paul says
here. This says he died unto sin. Most of what is pawned off
on men and women today as Christianity, when they read a phrase like
this, for in that he died, he died unto sin once, then they'll
begin preaching Jesus died for your sins. That is not what he's
talking about here. Yes, I thank God that Jesus Christ
died for our sins, don't you? That's my hope. Yes, I can also
say this. Christ died for sinners. Christ
died for sinners. But that's not what Paul says
here. Paul writes that he, Christ, died unto sin once. Secondly, here's the second thing.
Not just sins. That is the wrong acts. but sin,
the actual source of the wrong acts. He died unto sin once,
our sin against God, and we read that source in verse six again,
knowing this, that our old man, that's the source of all of our
sins. is that sin that is within us
that's called the old man. Some call it the old nature.
I got no problem with that, but the scriptural phrase back is
the old man, the old man. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, with Christ, that the body of sin, not sins,
but the body of sin might be destroyed. And you say, I don't
feel that. It ain't about us feeling it.
It's about what he did when he died on that tree. Now some say
this is judicial, not experiential, and I agree, but judicial is
still real. You understand what I'm saying?
When I used to hear that word in religion, they would usually
say it's judicial when they wanted to just float something out there,
but they really had no idea what I was talking about. They call
it judicial. It is judicial. In other words,
it happened to Jesus Christ, by Jesus Christ, and had nothing
to do with me experiencing anything. I wasn't even born yet, and yet
my old man was crucified with him on that tree. And the body
of sin, not just sins, but the fountain, the source was destroyed. And no matter what you see and
feel down in here, let us believe God. Let us believe God knowing,
I just love this. Knowing, as Joe says, oh my,
knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not
serve sin. So as I said, it's not just sins,
the wrong acts, but sin itself, the actual source of all of our
problem against God. Christ dealt the death blow to
the source. of our sins. He didn't just die
for our sins. You see what this is saying?
How many people out there in religion that calls itself Christianity
is teaching that today? Every passage, some passages
I'm gonna read here in a moment, they always say he died for sins,
he died for sins. And that is definitely right,
I am not doubting that. But that's only a little speck
of what Jesus Christ did. only a little speck, and even
then, when they talk about him dying for our sins, they don't
really believe that he actually paid the price for our sins,
when he died for our sins. It's kinda like, we got sins,
and when he suffered on the tree, that made it possible for us
to be saved, if, and then they add in all of their things. When
he died on that tree, the source of our sin was destroyed. That's
not my opinion. That's what the holy book of
God says. Now, reckon it to be so, right? In other words, take an inventory
of what? Not your life. Not your thoughts,
not your actions, but take an inventory of the person and work
of Jesus Christ. Likewise reckon, see it? Likewise reckon ye also yourselves. So that lets me know this is
individual. Because he could have just wrote
likewise reckon yourselves, but it's ye yourselves. This is not
collective. This is the way we all believe.
No, it's got to be this. This is who I believe. Just believing what everybody
else at chapel believes is not enough. As a matter of fact,
Jesus Christ told us these, he gave us these words. I call my
sheep by what? Name. Not in groups, although
there may be many called by name, and it looks like a big group
at some time. But Mackie calls each individual one of his sheep
by name, and they individually, lovingly, willingly, knowingly,
believe and serve Jesus Christ. So again, Christ dealt the death
blow to the source. But now here's the third and
fourth, here's the third one. Now we're gonna try to get to
the nitty gritty of this. When Christ died, the death,
and he died the death, there were two men that died beside
him, and their deaths accomplished nothing for humanity, that did
it. As a matter of fact, their deaths did not even accomplish
anything for their own soul. But when he died the death, when
Christ died the death, he died unto, that is he ended the matter. He cried out right before he
gave up the ghost, it is finished. And we're told by those who know
the Greek. I don't know the Greek very good.
I can study those who do. They say that it could be translated
this way, paid in full. Whenever they said you had a
note, a debt, and you had a piece of parchment or something, and
your name was on it, and your creditor's name was on it, and
the amount you owed on it, when you paid that amount off, Mac,
they said they used to write on it, or stamp on it, or something,
paid in full. What we would call paid in full.
It is finished. Tetelestai. It's done. It's over
with. But think about this. Let me
give you, Young's literal translation puts it this way. For in that
he died, To sin he died once. Now wait a minute, him dying
and to sin? He had no sin, right? He knew
no sin. In him was no sin. But the book
tells us he was made to be sin for us. made to be sin for us,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So again, Young's
literal translation says, for in that he died to sin, he died
once. In that he liveth, he liveth
to God. But here is the Amplified Bible. And of course, the Amplified
Bible is not a translation. It is a paraphrase. But it's
very good here. And I like the way the Amplified
Bible puts this. Read it word for word. For by
the death he died, and that's good, because remember, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, but not just any old death. Jackie wasn't allowed to just
die in his sleep for our sins, because it took more than that.
He had to die unto sin. He couldn't just die for sin,
he had to die unto sin. So, here's what it says. For
by the death he died, he died to sin, and then they got in
brackets, ending his relation to it. I like that. Because when he hung on that
tree, that's the one and only time, but it was the time when
he had a relation to sin. You hear what I'm saying? You
hear what this book's saying? For by the death he died, he
died to sin, ending his relation to it once for all. And I like
that too. My sins are so great. My crimes
against God are so massive and so ugly. You would think it would
take a thousand, a million deaths to satisfy God's justice, but
it didn't. He died unto sin, what? Once. Once, I like that. For by the
death he died, he died to sin, ending his relation to it once
for all. And the life that he lives, he
is living to God in unbroken fellowship with him. I like that. Now, likewise reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. That's the source of
it, brothers and sisters. It's not us mustering up some
ability, but it is this. Yield. Yield. Yield. Refuse to yield to the
flesh. Yield to God and His righteousness. More about that later as well.
Now, here's number four. There on the cross, And I'm gonna
give a scripture for what I've been saying. Because after all,
that's all that really matters. My deductions, Jack, don't matter. My trying to be logical and rational,
that doesn't matter. Does it talk about Jesus Christ
having a relation to sin at any time? If it does, Paul tells
us here, when he died, he died in the sin once. And he lives
unto God, and as the Amplified Bible says in unbroken fellowship
with him. So here, there on the cross and
there only. Now let's get this straight,
there only. There on the cross and there
only. Did he ever have a relation to
sin? And if you want to follow along
with these, but I'm probably gonna move pretty quickly. Second
Corinthians, I'm sorry, chapter five, verse 21, I've done mentioned
this one, but look at it. For he, that is God the Father,
for he hath made him, that's Christ the Son, for he hath made
him to be sin for us. I don't understand what all that
means, but I know it means what it says. And I know it is real
enough that when we read the 22nd Psalm, which we clearly
know was the words, or at least, many of them were actual words
he spoke. Jack, others were thoughts that he thought. When he hung
on that tree, he talked about his grief, his guilt. Why? Because he was made sin
for us. He did more than die for sins,
he died unto sin. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we, hmm, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. Turn to Romans 8, listen to this
one verse. Romans 8, we're talking about
a relation that Christ had to sin, but only at one time, and
that's when he hung on that tree. When he died, it was over with.
He paid the debt. He settled the thing. He destroyed
the problem. He crucified the old man. Look
at it, verse three of Romans eight. For what the law could
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. Now, don't try to
say, well the law wasn't weak, it's the flesh was weak. That's
not what it says. It says the law was weak through
the flesh. Now the law wasn't flawed, but
it was weak. All the law Paul Abelian, and
I know others have said it, the law is like an x-ray. It can
maybe show you the problem, but it can't fix the problem. It
don't do nothing. As a matter of fact, you get
too much of that x-ray, it can kill you too. When you try to
stand before God in the merits of the law, it's gonna kill you.
It's gonna kill you, but me, I digress, as they say. For what
the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and
for sin, what did he do? Condemned sin in the flesh. Whose flesh? His flesh. I've told you all this before,
but I wanna say it again. Maybe this'll help you again
this morning. Maybe someone else, maybe God'll open an eye this
morning. Years ago when I was in religion, I thought that meant
Jesus Christ came and preached against sin. He condemned sin. When he's in the flesh, his body,
he preached against sin. That ain't what this talking
about. He condemned sin where? In his flesh. That's a relation to sin, would
you not say so? Here's another passage, Galatians
chapter three. Somebody says, well, you're picking
and choosing. Well, you better pick and choose some of these
passages because they are the passages that give us the gospel
in no uncertain terms. Judas hanged himself, go thou
do likewise. That's the truth of the Bible,
but that ain't the gospel. Do you understand what I'm saying
now? Now I was being a little facetious when I said you're
picking and choosing. Galatians chapter three, look
at it, just one verse. Verse 13, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. being made a curse for us. Now why did the curse come? Because
of what? Sin and sins. And he was made, made a curse
for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hung on a tree. So when he hung on that tree,
he was accursed of God. and somebody says, how do I experience
that? You don't want to experience
that. You need to be grateful to God that he experienced that. That that was his relation to
it and never our relation to it because he stood as our substitute
and our representative. I'm glad I don't have to make
all this up. I'm glad it's right in this book because this is
so wise. Do you understand that? In Christ
Jesus is the wisdom of God of how a holy God can be just and
yet justify creatures like me and you. That's an astounding
thing. That's gospel. That's gospel. Here's another one, Hebrews chapter
nine. Hebrews chapter nine. And folks, there's a whole lot
more than this. There's a whole lot more than
this. Hebrews chapter nine, look at verse 28. So Christ was once offered to,
what's that say? Bear the sins of many. Do you see that? To bear. Now that is, the word in the
Greek is bore, it's not carry, it's to bear. Isaiah wrote it
this way. The Lord God, the Father, laid
on him the iniquity of us all, and that's more than a saddle
on his back. It talks about actual penetration, actual going into
the body, so much so that Peter puts it this way in 1 Peter 2.24,
that he bore our sins in his own body on the tree, and he
died to it once when he died on that tree. And now that he
lives, he lives unto God. I like that, I like that. So
again, where am I at? So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many, and look, and unto them that look for him. That's all it takes, folks, look.
Not looked. Now yes, we looked, but we still
look. Peter said, to whom coming? Folks,
it's just looking to Him. I'm not telling you to go out
and live in sin. God forbid. We're not under the law but under
grace. But that doesn't mean we go out and sin so grace can
abound. Because if God's your master, you're going to serve
God. You're going to be yielding to
God. Now you will not do it perfectly. And when you don't yield, you
start yielding. When you mess up yielding, you
just keep on yielding. When you fall flat on your face,
you repent and you yield some more. It's just a continual yield,
yield, yield. But unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin. He ain't got no
sin in him. Let me tell you something, you
ain't gonna have no sin in you either. Because even if we're
alive and remain, even in these fallen, fleshly, Adamic bodies,
if he comes back in the next few moments, he will, that quick,
change this. And we will then be done with
it, like Christ was done with it when he died on that tree.
But let me tell you, we are not done with it yet. This is why
it is a battle, a struggle. It is yielding, yielding.