I want to also welcome everyone
here this morning. As you can see, we have so many
families out today. When our little group shows up,
especially this morning. Glad to see Diane. Good to see
you, Diane. But we do welcome everybody here. This morning,
I've got a message that that I want to deliver. And it's a
message, the title of the message is Mortify the Deeds of the Body. And this particular message that
we're going to be looking at this morning is so many misconceptions
about this doctrine of mortification that I call it. It's so many misconceptions about
it and false religion. And most of it has to do with
what they've come up with on, it's kind of like progressive
sanctification. That somehow or another, that a Christian, as he goes through
his life, that he gradually stops doing all these things
that he used to do, whether it be immoral or whatever, these
habits, maybe bad habits, that he has, that it's a gradual doing
away with these things. Just like, for instance, I used
to say if a person used to cuss a lot, he cursed a lot, or maybe
he had this bad habit or whatever, but as he goes through the Christian
life, he stops doing all these things. And I want to say, first
of all, I think that if anybody has a bad habit, he ought to
try to stop doing it and do away with it. But this is not what
we're talking about this morning. This is not what these scriptures
are speaking of. And I wanted to begin, as I talk
about the subject of my title, Mortify the Deeds of the Body,
I want to tell you a little bit about the Christ that we worship. his life and his death and what
they enable us to do as believers as far as mortified the deeds
of the body. This mortification, first of
all, is a spirit work. It's performed by the spirit
of God and it's the fruit and the effect of what Christ has
already accomplished. In other words, when I say it's
the fruit and effect of what Christ accomplished, if Christ
had not come here to this earth and performed all those things
that the Father give him to perform in his life and his death on
the cross, none of these blessings of grace would come about within
the believer. So what Christ performed in his
life and death enables the believer to perform these things by the
Spirit of God. Who is this Christ that we worship?
Jason talked a little bit about this this morning, about the
true Christ. Everybody says, well, I believe
in Christ. I believe in Jesus. Well, He's God in the flesh. He's both God and man. He's the
God-man. See, because of our fallen Adam,
because of our fallen Adam, all men without exception, no exception,
became sinners. We became sinners not only by
representation by Adam, but in time, by practice. And because
of this, we need a savior. The God we worship, he's a just
God. He's gonna do right. Therefore,
there must be complete satisfaction toward God for sins. And because
of this, God, in his great love, chose a people to save. They're
called his elect, his sheep, and he gave them to his son.
in the everlasting covenant of grace that was made before time. Now, God the Son, the Word, was
made flesh. Look at John 1, beginning at
verse 10. It says, He was in the world,
speaking of Christ, and the world was made by Him, and the world
knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And then it says, and the word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory,
and the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Now, the elect of God, were not chosen apart or
in some way separate from Christ when God the Father chose them.
But they were chosen in Christ. They were given to Christ even
before this world was created, even before time. God the Son
willingly took on the office of surety. And, you know, we've
talked a lot about surety and it's such an important office
that Christ took on. Surety to pay the sin debt. Sin
debt that we all owed, but none of us could pay. God the Son,
the elect surety, became obligated for sin debt that we all owed,
but none of us could pay, as I said. God the Father, out of
His great love and mercy, chose not to impute, or He chose not
to charge the sins to His elect, but to impute them to His dear
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our surety. See, in Romans 4, 8,
Paul's speaking of this having to do with, he says, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. There's some
individuals, and those are God's elect, that God will not charge
them with their sin. Why? Because he charged them
to his son, their surety. He became obligated to pay that
debt. The justice of God has always looked to the Son of God
for full satisfaction and payment of the sins of God's elect. God
the Father has never looked for us to pay the debt. He's always
looked to Christ to pay the debt. And he did. He came in time and
paid the debt. Now God the Son came to this
earth as a representative of those that the Father give him
in the everlasting covenant of grace. That covenant that was
made between the Godhead Father, Son, and Holy Spirit before time. Look at John 6, beginning verse
37. Christ says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Well, that needs some explaining
to do. It says, all that the Father giveth me. Well, when
did he give them to him? He gave them to him in that covenant
of grace. All of the elect were given to
Christ. They were in Christ. And it says,
and him that cometh to me, he says, there come to me. And he
said, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. For
I came down to heaven not to do my own will, but the will
of him that sent me. And this is the father's will
that have sent me that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of him that sent me that everyone would see
of the son in time, they will see the Son by the work of the
Holy Spirit in them. And believeth on him, they will
believe on him, may have everlasting life. And I raised him up at
the last day." See, Christ the God-man, he became guilty for
the elect's sin, but he had no sin in himself. He was perfect. He was perfect without spot or
blemish. So many of these things that
I go into, I want to do a lot more explaining to them, like
without spot or blemish. Where'd that come from? Well,
in the Old Covenant. They had to bring a lamb, a sacrificial
lamb. All of this was pictures and
type of Christ that would come in time. And when it says without
spot of blemish, that's what it was referring to. They had
to pin that lamb up and they had to watch and be careful for
him not to have any kind of blemish at all on him. This was a picture
of Christ that would come in time. Perfection would come in
time. It says, he became sin by imputation. It's speaking of Christ. He bore
the responsibility for my sins. The wrath of God set its sight
on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the one who was our surety,
the one who became responsible for the sin dead of all the election
of grace. Now, speaking of surety, in Hebrews
7.22, it says, by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better
testament. The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.21, for he
hath made him, he, speaking of the Father, hath made him, speaking
of Christ, to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him, speaking in Christ. I said all of this in order to
make sure you understand that anything that's done in the center
by the Spirit of God which is wrought out by the spirit of
God is the fruit and effect of what Christ has already accomplished
for us in his life and his death. It's Christ's righteousness alone
freely imputed to our account that demands that we receive
all the blessings of grace of which mortification is included. Look at Ephesians one, speaking
of those blessings, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
Christ. I know this is a long introduction,
and that's what it was, but I wanted to... We need to understand that this
is the work of the Spirit within the believer when we talk about
mortifying the deeds of the body. Now, in Romans 8, 12, as we begin,
therefore, brethren, it says, we are debtors not to the flesh
to live after the flesh. In scripture, so many times,
when it talks about we're not in the flesh, we know that right
now we're humans and we have flesh and bone. But that's just
not what this is talking about. It's talking about when it says
we're not in the flesh, I will deal with that as we go forward.
But it's not talking about that. It's talking about prior to regeneration
and conversion. walking in the flesh, it talks
about, or walking in the spirit. The therefore that begins verse
12 is speaking of the previous verses here in Romans 8 that
our brother Robert read. Those verses that consider the
certainty of final glory, body and soul based solely upon the
redemptive work of Christ, the power of his blood, and the value
of his righteousness, it says here in verse 12 that we're debtors
not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. We owe nothing to
the flesh as if we have done something to earn or merit salvation
by anything in and of our fallen, sinful humanity. We have no confidence
in the flesh, as Apostle Paul says, but all of our confidence
is in Christ and what he's earned and merited for us in his obedience
unto death. As we owe nothing to the flesh,
we're not to live after the flesh. Our life now and forever is attained
and maintained by what Christ accomplished for us as our substitute
in His life and death on the cross. We live and walk after
the Spirit, which points us to Christ alone for salvation. And
once again, we have no confidence in the flesh. See, as we go through this life, unlike
where I was in false religion prior to God bringing me to the
gospel. I looked at touch not, taste
not, handle not, anything that I do, whether it be my church
going, whether it be my giving, whether it be my faith. I looked at all those things.
I was walking in the flesh, not in the spirit at that time. Now,
verse 13 of Romans 8 says, for if you live after the flesh,
you shall die. But if you through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. That needs some
explaining too. That sounds pretty serious to
me, for if you live after the flesh, you'll die. First of all,
make sure that you understand that the if here in this verse
is not a condition toward the believer, but it's the evidence
of one who is walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh.
The first part of the verse, for if you live after the flesh,
you'll die. If you live in and by the flesh, whether in open
rebellion or in self-righteous religion, you'll die. You'll
die eternally. Romans 6, 23, the first part
says, for the wages of sin is death. Anything outside of Christ
is sin and death. All that the flesh can produce,
all we can produce as we come into this world in our sinful
humanity, all we can produce is sin, and sin deserves eternal
death. Thinking that you can be saved
by your works can never bring life to a sinner. Now, the last
part of this verse is what we're going to be concentrating on
this morning, Romans 8, 13. But if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. We mortify the
deeds of the body in the same way that the Apostle Paul described
in Philippians 3, beginning at verse 7. Paul says, but what
things were gained to me? This is prior to God converting
him. He says, what things were gained
to me at that time, those I count at loss for Christ. Now, what
things did he, at that time, that were gained to him? Well,
he talked about that. He says, I was of the tribe of
Benjamin. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. I
was circumcised. It says concerning the law, blameless. He thought he was at that time
prior to God converting him. But he says, now I count them
all lost. He didn't look to any of those
things now to recommend him to God. They were put to death. I count them all lost for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom
I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but
done, that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, But that which is through
the faith of Christ is faithfulness, the righteousness which is of
God by faith. Now, to mortify is to put to
death. This mortification is accomplished
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and repentance of dead
works and idolatry. We become, by the Spirit of God,
convinced that it is impossible for God's law to pronounce as
righteous, or right with God, based on anything other than
the shed blood and the righteousness that Christ worked out, and that
alone. In Romans 8, verse 3, it says,
for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh. The law wasn't weak, it was the flesh that was weak.
God sending his own son in the likeness of sin for flesh and
for sin condemned to sin in the flesh. We believe God's promise
of salvation in Christ alone and we repent, we change our
mind, we repent of our former idolatry and our dead works,
those works that could not recommend us to God, they were dead, dead
works. Philippians 3.3 says, for we
are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and we have no confidence in the flesh. We
see that this body that we're born with is totally dead because
of sin. We agree with the Apostle Paul
when he says that he had no confidence in the flesh. Mortifying the
deeds of the body is a continual looking away from works that
we might do or being able to do. and a looking to Christ for
all of salvation and eternal life. Mortifying the deeds of
the flesh is to have no confidence in the flesh. And only the Spirit
of God can cause a sinner to be convinced of that. You won't
be convinced of that unless the Spirit of God convinces you of
it. You just will not do it. You're going to hang on to something
done in you or by you, some kind of work. You're going to hang
on to it. And only the Spirit of God can cause you to turn
away from that. Mortification is siding with
God against ourself in the matter of sin and in the matter of righteousness. Turning to Christ for life and
turning away from my dead works, those works done in false religion,
thinking that they recommend those to God, evidences that
the Holy Spirit has done a work of grace. within our souls, our
very being. We're not in the flesh, spiritually
speaking. Therefore, we're not to live
after the flesh, but after spirit. God, the Holy Spirit, impresses
upon our hearts, which is our minds, our affections, and our
will, that we're debtors not to the flesh. We don't owe anything
to the flesh, but to the grace of God in Christ. Also, our being
debtors to the grace of God in Christ is not a debt of law.
Not a legal debt, but it's a debt of love and a debt of gratitude,
all motivated, all motivated, as we're motivated to live after
the spirit, as the spirit motivates us by grace and gratitude. Well,
this mortification of sin that we're talking about, once again,
let's remember to consider what it is to mortify the deeds of
the body. The question gets to the heart of what it means to
live by the Spirit of God. And it belongs to the description
of the Christian life found in Romans 8. I have two main points
that I'd like for you to consider concerning what mortification
is. First of all, what mortification is not, and then what mortification
is. Now, the first point that I'm
gonna talk about here, what mortification is, Mortification, or what it
is not, mortification is not something believers have in common
with unbelievers. This is obvious from the phrase
in the first part of Romans 8.13, but if ye through the Spirit. Unbelievers do not have the Spirit
of God. Unbelievers do not have the life of regeneration. Apart from regeneration, we are
rightly said to be dead in our transgressions and sins. In Ephesians
2.1, it says, and you hath he quickened, made alive, who were
dead in trespasses and sin. This is the new birth. So we
need to see that prior to regeneration and conversion, God's elect were
not alive in the spirit, but we were dead in trespasses and
sin. This being dead here is being dead not only in Adam,
in whom we've sinned, Adam being our federal head and representative
by nature, but we're dead in a moral sense through original
sins and our own actual transgressions. By nature, we're without God
in the sense that we have no knowledge of the true God as
we come in this world. or the true Christ of Scripture
either. We are without the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of
life. Before God sends His Spirit in regeneration and conversion,
we have a God of our own imagination. We've changed a true God, a true
image of God, into a God likened to ourself. And you can probably
look back. I know I can, having to do with
the God that I had in my mind, that I'd built up in my mind
prior to coming to the gospel and prior to God revealing himself
to me, I viewed him as really, and it's because of what we're
taught all our life, I viewed him some gray-haired, old gray-haired
gentleman up there that somehow or another he had this scale
and he put all your good works on this side and all your bad
works on this side. And somehow or another, you hope
you Your good ones outweighed the bad ones, somehow or another.
See, that was a god of my imagination that I'd built up in my mind
because I'd been taught work salvation all my life. As we're
born in this world, we're dead as to our understanding of a
true God. Our will and affection with respect to spiritual things,
dead. As is also our capacity to do
anything that is spiritually and good. We lost our original
righteousness that we had in Adam, before the fall, and we're
blind and dead to the sense of sin and misery. And by nature,
servants of sin, Satan in the world. Scripture says in Romans
6, 20, for when you were servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. But thanks be to God that by
the Spirit of God, the believer has that by which he knows what
has been freely given to him by God. When it comes to distinguishing
the true gospel from a false gospel, this knowledge involves
distinction. In other words, to understand
something, it must be distinguished from something else. Compare
something else. God's gift of his spirit brings
a mind whereby righteousness is distinguished from unrighteousness,
light from darkness, good from evil, and so forth. 1 Corinthians
2, beginning verse 12, It says, now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. What's been freely given? Salvation
by grace. It's a free gift. Which things
also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but
which the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. But the natural man received
not the things of the spirit of God, for their foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them because they're spiritually
discerned. When God regenerates and converts
a sinner, he gives that sinner a discerning mind, a mind that's
able to make right judgments according to what God says of
himself and what God says of the sinner. Unbelievers have
not been given the mind of God by the Spirit of God. Next, we'll
look at the second point under this, what mortification is not.
It says, mortification is not something in common with unbelievers.
It follows then that mortification is not moral reformation. If it were moral reformation,
then both regenerate and unregenerate could perform it. It is not the
amendment or change or improvement of a particular sinful habit
or attitude in the way an unbeliever may recognize something in his
life that's wrong and seek to change it. This is not to say
mortification does not include some change in our behavior or
outward observable conduct. For example, in Ephesians 4.22,
that you put off concerning the form of conversation the old
man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lust. The putting
off of the old man speaks to the same reality as the putting
to death the deeds of the body in Romans 8.13. What is in view
here is not of itself a stopping of some behavior and attitude
as say an unbeliever would stop using profanity or stop stealing
from his company and admit blame in these things. Both unbelievers
and believers may discontinue a certain behavior, at least
apparently discontinuing an attitude, but their motives for doing so
may be entirely different. In the case of an unbeliever,
the motive may be one of self-improvement and a guilty conscience. In the
case of a believer, the motive is one of self-abasement and
thankfulness for the removal of guilt by Christ's sacrifice
on the cross. Only a regenerate believer has
the right motive for bringing about good works or works that
are acceptable to God. See, we don't look at those works
that we might do or being able to do is forming any part of
our salvation. We know that when we fall or
do something we know we ought not do. What do we do? Well, we look to Christ in thankfulness
for what he's done for us. And that he paid that debt for
the very thing that we just did. And we know we're not guilty. for it, even though we did it,
but we're not guilty. Not in God's sight, because he
did not charge us with that sin. He's already charged it to his
son. And his son paid the sin debt. He paid for that sin on
the cross. And God, being a just God, not
going to turn around and charge it to my account again. The point
is this, mortification most certainly has an outward expression, or
something that can be seen. But it does not consist essentially
and necessarily in this expression. Mortification consists mainly
in the motive and the judgment of a certain thing. This is what
gives rise to mortification. In the mind of the believer is
where mortification most certainly has its beginning. Now, the third
point of this, what mortification is not, is not a technique of
Christian victory. that some religions might want
to tell people about. It's common in most religionists
to speak of living by the spirit and mortification of sin, and
that is what might be described as an extracurriculum activity
for those who are really interested in getting deep and going on
with the special techniques and procedures which give them a
leg up on the normal Christians and open up the door to a deeper
life. Christian technique. The Apostle
Paul is not describing that technique in which Christians may consider
if they are having a problem overcoming a particular sinful
habit that plagues them. He is describing an experience
common to all Christians. All Christians put to death the
deeds of the body. All believers do this by the
Spirit of God. There's no exceptions. from the
youngest, most inarticulate believer to the most seasoned saint of
many years. Every single believer is already
engaged in mortifying the deeds of the body that's described
in verse 13. And such is the quality of their
experience. And that, from the time they
first believe, they might not be able to tell you that that's
what's what they're doing when they do it. But mortifying the
deeds of the body is the work of the spirit. And it begins
even with the most immature believer that comes to Christ that sees
that anything done in him or by him does not recommend him
or God. There's nothing, no merit at
all. with anything done in us, it's all merited by Christ and
His righteousness alone. After going over what mortification
is not, the second point is what mortification is. I'm going a little longer this
morning, but I had a lot to talk about. Mortification is a spiritual
work in the experience of the believer. As the phrase says, it is by
the Spirit. The Spirit of God brings that
life whereby the believer is convicted of his sins and sees
the truth of his unrighteousness. But be ye ever so moral and upright
as seen by others. Let's look at some scriptures
that show us the work of the Spirit. Look at John 16, 8. It
says, And when he is come, this is
Christ speaking of the Spirit, he will reprove the world of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Also John 3 verse
3, Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God. And over in 1 Corinthians 2.12,
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the
spirit, which is of God, that we might know the things that
are freely given of God. And then in Philippians 3, 3,
Paul says, for we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit
and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and once again, have no confidence
in the flesh. It is this life produced by God,
the Holy Spirit, which sees the truth of God's kingdom and God's
righteousness. which causes the believer to
look to Christ by faith. Without the Spirit and without
this life, there is no God-given faith. Mortification is the work
of the Holy Spirit of God in our experience. And secondly,
what mortification is, it involves or it entails judgment. The phrase, put to death, speaks
of judgment. The conclusion of a judgment When a murderer receives
the death sentence for his crime, it is on account of the judgment
or the assessment of the gravity of his offense and the justice
due to him for that offense that he committed. The actual execution
of putting to death is the judgment being carried out. Here the believer
is said to put to death the deeds of the body. The deeds of the
body are those actions and attitudes belonging to what the scriptures
call the flesh. The flesh is that principle of
rebellion and opposition to God's righteousness that exists in
the realm of our body or our present earthly existence by
nature if we're born in this world. This is what must be put
to death. This is the judgment in the mind
of the believer which issues that death sentence on anything,
any works that might come from our fleshly bodies. We have no
confidence in the flesh, or from any works that might proceed
from our flesh. The believer carries out the
sentence of death to the flesh when he sees his life in the
flesh as being contrary and opposite from Christ's righteousness,
and he sees it as God sees it. Before that, we don't see it
as God sees it. before regeneration and conversion.
In other words, when we see our lives, ourselves, with spiritual
eyes, and thus see ourselves as God sees us, we take sides
with God against ourself. We know the greatest treasure
and advantage we may find by our own selves and by our own
works is something worth discarding, and according to Philippians
3.3, have no confidence in the flesh. In a matter of speaking,
we disown ourselves as far as our works towards salvation and
put all of our confidence in Christ and His righteousness
alone. What is it to mortify the deeds
of the body? It is to regard as evil what we once regarded
as good. It is to regard as worthless
what we once treasured. It is to see as nothing what
we once saw as everything. in our form of religion. Moral
vocation is determining that who we are outside of the glorious,
moral perfection of Jesus Christ is a person worthy of death,
with deeds deserving of death. It must also be said that Christians
in their earthly journey may find themselves forgetting and
sinning against the gospel they believe. and require correction,
rebuke, and a reminder of who they are and what Christ has
done for them. This correction never comes to
a believer as some new and different approach to mastering the sinful
flesh, making that flesh better in some way. It comes to the
believer in words he essentially recognizes to be true and agreeable
with the judgment he's already made about himself by the Spirit
of God. of Christian mortification is
found in this, the judgment or assessment a believer makes concerning
himself and his sinful attitude and behavior, that he is, for
this, worthy of death, worthy of the death that Jesus Christ
died on the cross and the penalty Jesus Christ suffered there.
In other words, in and of myself, I deserve the death that Christ
died on the cross. as he suffered as my substitute,
my representative. In Christian mortification, the
believer puts to death the deeds of his sinful life by seeing
himself as deserving what Christ endured for him, judging himself
accordingly and thus finding his life not in himself, but
in Christ and his righteousness alone. Here in the Spirit, walking
in the Spirit, the believer may discontinue sinful activity not
for the fear of impending judgment, but in a confident knowledge
that all judgment and condemnation has occurred in Christ's sacrifice,
that he will not be judged for what he determines is worthy
of death, all of this because Jesus Christ, his representative,
has taken on the judgment and that Christ died for him and
has risen and is now at the right hand of God interceding on his
behalf. What a blessed thought. In Christian
mortification, and I'll finish here, in Christian mortification,
the believer lives by the Spirit of God, putting to death the
deeds of the body. He does all of this, not looking
to improve the flesh, because he knows that there is nothing
good in the flesh. He does this out of love and
gratitude toward Christ, his Lord and Savior. This is totally
opposite from our walk prior to God sending his Holy Spirit
to regenerate and convert us Look back on your life prior
to the Spirit's work. You thought highly of yourself
and you were going about doing something, doing everything you
could do to improve your flesh by works of law. You now don't
have any confidence in anything that you do or that you are enabled
to do. Now we're talking about confidence
having to do with eternal life and salvation. Now, we ought
to, as individuals, have a lot of confidence in what we do in
this life, as far as our work, our hard labor, raising our family,
all these things. There's nothing wrong. We need
to have confidence in all these things, you know. But we're talking
about confidence in anything we do that would recommend us
to God as far as salvation. You now have no confidence in
the flesh or in works done by you in this area. in you or through
you. You now look to Christ for all
of salvation and final glory. This is true mortification. Well,
I thank God for sending his spirit, which causes his elect to have
no confidence in the flesh. If he hadn't, we'd still have
confidence in the flesh. And for creating in us a spirit
that enables us to only have confidence in Christ and his
righteousness alone for all of salvation and final glory. Amen.