Good morning, everyone. Walter and Penny specifically told me to tell you all hello, but I do sing greetings from Sovereign Grace Chapel. I'm going to move that because I've got a bunch of stuff here.

When Rex first asked me here, I'm going to preach a message that I've already preached before. But when Rex asked me to preach this here, this passage come to my mind. About three or four days later, I told Paul, I said, I can't wait. I got to preach at the chapel. So anyway, and not my deliverance of it, I'm talking about the message that it gives. That's what I couldn't stand anymore.

If you would, turn with me to Romans 6. And hopefully everybody can hear me because Paula said she's going to have a sign like this that she's going to show me if I don't speak loud enough. I haven't seen her do that yet. But Romans 6. Romans 6, and I'm going to begin in verse 6. We'll hit some of the other verses, but I'm going to begin in verse 6 right now.

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. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead doth 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.

And we started out reading this verse in verse six where it says, knowing this, and then Paul kind of goes further into what he's talking about. And what did he just previously say in verses three through five? Knowing ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have implanted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, and he goes on.

We know by the grace of God that we were baptized into Jesus Christ. We were baptized in his death. When he died, his people died. And I know I just came up with some big insight on that scripture, didn't I? No, that's exactly what it says. That's what God has Paul to write. But whoever is baptized into Jesus Christ was baptized into his death. I don't have to interpret God's Word. I just proclaim it. When you and I hear God's word proclaimed, God will use that by his spirit and he'll guide us into that truth. The preacher along with those hearing him.

As one preacher just recently said, and at least I heard him just recently say it, but I'm preaching to myself just as much as I'm preaching to you all. But it does not stop there. It says, if we are baptized into Jesus Christ by his death, we are also in the likeness of his resurrection. Life from the dead in Jesus Christ. An incorruptible body. I don't see anything there that we've just read that talks about anything that I do. Do you? I don't see that there's anything there telling me to do anything. To make this so, he did it all.

Now I said it says, knowing this, and he goes on further to say more about it. The old man is crucified with him, and for a specific reason spoken of here in our text, that the body of sin might be destroyed. And let me just say, it was. By what Jesus Christ did, it caused or allowed us that we may no longer serve sin. It does not say that we do not sin. You want to see sin? Just follow me around a little bit and you'll see it. No, please don't do that. Don't do that. But you will see it. If you follow me around, you'll see that. It says that we serve not sin. We are told in James that if we say we have no sin, then we lie and we deceive ourselves. No, we serve not sin is what it says by the work of Jesus Christ. We serve him, as it says in our text, in newness of life.

Because it says in Romans 6 verse 4, therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should also walk in newness of life. And it says there, walk. And that word for walk means to follow or be occupied with. We serve Jesus Christ our Lord because of him, by Him and in Him. Our minds, by the grace of God, are occupied with Him. We are still in this world and we have this flesh. I see my sin every day. I don't like to think about my sin. And I do not glory in my sin. In any sin that I commit, I'm actually ashamed of that sin.

But just as one preacher, another preacher said, Jesus Christ died for our sins, so we have to commit all of them. This is not an excuse, it's just a fact. All we can do is ask God to forgive us of those sins. How many times have I had thoughts of, I'm going to do the right thing, and then just like that, I do the wrong thing? Happens a lot, happens a lot. I do not glorify in myself or my sins. What do I glory in? I glory in that he, as it says here, he destroyed the body of death. If we died in him and if we are one of his, we did because it says so. But then it says if we died in him, we believe we shall also live in him and with him. And that means now and forever, if you will, or now and then, if you will, however you want to say it. There may be a better way to say it. But if you don't know him now, you won't know him then.

But listen, he died once and will never die again because what he did and because of who he is, one time is all it took. But he does live unto God, and so do we, because of him and in him. But we died in him because we are freed from that sin. I mean, because of that, we are freed from his sin.

Where I want to go here, though, is in verse 11, where it says, likewise reckon. And that's my title. We are reckoning three things here, as I said, or as I want to talk about it here. dead indeed to sin, alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So dead indeed to sin. We read in the prior verse this statement in verse 10, for in that he died, he died unto sin once. As I said, Jesus Christ died one time But that's not my opinion. That's what God says. He's not dying over and over again. He died once, and in dying that one time, he paid the debt of sin that his people owe. Hebrews 10.10 is quite clear on this. It says, by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. And if you'll notice there, it has for all in there, and it's italicized. It means they put that in there. And it's okay to use it if you understand what it's saying, but it says, once for all time, not once for all people. I know this world likes to think that, but God does not say that.

What God is telling us here is that it took Jesus Christ dying one time unto sin, and in doing so, he freed us from sin forever. When he did that, he took those sins as far as the east is from the west. Back in our text, in verse 9, it says, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. Jesus Christ died unto sins once for all time, and that for his people alone.

We are told in verse 11, to reckon ye selves also to be dead indeed, I-N-D-E-E-D, to sin. And that means verily or truly. It is a fact. We are truly dead to sin and we are to reckon it to be so. And reckon means to conclude. The conclusion to what Jesus Christ did was to free us from the bondage of sin. We count it to be so. In God's eyes, we are righteous in Christ Jesus. In our eyes, we still have sin daily. We see it daily. We are to reckon it to be that we are dead indeed to sin because it's true.

It says likewise, or you can say, in this way. And what he just said previously is how it is, and that's the manner in which we reckon it. For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. One time in his death, and we, because of that, we are dead to sin, truly and completely. We believe God and what he says Christ has done. And if you do not believe this, you cannot say this. And if you never believe this, then it's not true of you. Pray God he intervene and call you to believe. Because if he doesn't, you're still a servant of sin. But if he died for you, you are dead indeed to sin and you serve sin no longer.

But it does not stop there. We are also to reckon ourselves what? Alive unto God. It continues on in the verse and it says, alive unto God. That means live or quick. We have life before God. And what does it say about Christ in the previous verse, verse 10? But in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. So again, in this manner, because Christ liveth in the God, we reckon ourselves also to do so. Jesus Christ arose from the grave and He ascended to the Father's right hand, having procured or obtained eternal redemption for us, it says in Hebrews.

And I keep saying His people. There's no special mark on God's people that tells you who they are. They don't have certain mannerisms or certain jobs or anything like that. They, in fact, look like everyone else and behave just like everyone else a lot of times. In fact, there may be some who hate God, who behave themselves more morally before people than some of God's people do. Scripture says, the Lord knows them that are His. His people were just like anyone else, born of Adam. And the only way we have any reason to know someone is a child of God is if they believe this record God has given of His Son. These people, it says here, live unto God. We are to reckon this to be so. We're to conclude it to be so because it is a fact of God and what He has said and what He has done for His people.

even though I may not feel it to be that way all the time, and even if I don't behave myself for it to be that way all the time. He's done it, so it's true. We're talking about a thrice holy God, and we are sinners, and we are created by this God, and we sin against this God, and sinners are the only kind of people he saves. It is true if Jesus Christ died for you, you are dead to sin. And it is also true that if he raised from the dead for you, then you are alive unto God. He did both. He died and then he arose. Of that, we have no doubt. It's right here in black and white for us. We do live unto God. We do serve him. You were not involved in bringing any of this to pass. It was all done by one man. That is Jesus Christ the Lord. Which we are told in this verse, it goes on to say, this reckoning is to be done in light of what he has done, not what I do. And that's my next point. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. We cannot reckon anything apart from Jesus Christ. This reckoning has nothing to do with what we have done or what we do. We read it is all because of grace, not works. It's all because of what He has done and not we ourselves.

Turn with me to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10 and I want to read verses 14 through 24. Hebrews 10 verses 14. For by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us, for after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh. And having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and unto good works.

We could keep reading on there, it's just, That talks about how it's all about Christ. Reckoning these things to be so is all based on what He has done. So by one offering, it says, what did it accomplish? Sanctification for His people and perfection. This is before God Almighty in Him. That's how we come boldly to the throne of grace. Not boldly in my works, but boldly in him and his works. And knowing they pleased and pleased the Father. This says hold fast our profession. What is the profession that we hold to? And I want to be clear, this does not say hold fast to our profession. It says hold fast the profession of our faith. Jesus Christ the Lord died for my sins that I might be dead to sin and he raised from the dead that I might live unto God. Through him and what he has done, I can reckon myself to be perfected forever. He took on mine and your weaknesses so that I might, he might set his people free and free us from the weakness of our flesh and our sin. So he is our profession, that's the profession of our faith is Jesus Christ.

But we read in 2 Corinthians 13, 4, for though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. He was made like unto his brethren. He had flesh. He got thirsty. He got tired. He could sweat. He ate and drank. And if he didn't get any of these, any food or water or sleep, he would feel it. This weakness in him doing this through weakness was a choice by Jesus Christ. We are weak because that's who we are. He took on this flesh like unto his brethren, yet without sin, it says. But being made sin, which is the weakness of this flesh, our flesh is our sin, to the point the Scripture says he was made this sin, to the point the Scripture says there was none to help. Do you think he felt it when those nails were driven into his hands and his feet? Do you think he felt it when they plucked out his beard and had a whip on his back? But you know that it even went further than that, and you all know this. The great transaction that freed us from that sin is where there was none to help, not even God the Father. The Father turned his back on him, and in that moment, he suffered wrath that we might have mercy.

What did he do by that one great transaction that he did? Romans 8.3, 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 condemned sin in the flesh. The law could not do this. The law could not and cannot pay the debt of sin I owe. The law was given to our flesh, but our flesh was weak, and we sin and have sinned against the law. It showed us we are condemned before God, and it could do nothing else.

But he paid the penalty of sin, which the law could not do. All the law can do is say this, do this and leave. It's like that x-ray. It can show you your problem, but it cannot fix your problem. It shows us that we do sin, and that only by the grace of God. Otherwise, you'll look at the law and you'll say, where do I start? Just like the rich young ruler, right? That's what he said. I've done these from my youth up.

But if you're looking to the law for salvation in any part, and if you do not keep it or do it, then you will die. Scripture is clear. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The only way we could is by and through Jesus Christ, our Lord. There is no mercy in the law at any time. It was not given to give mercy. He who died under the weight, guilt and curse and penalty that was due us was Jesus Christ. And he did this one time. And that one time perfected his people forever.

He did far more than what the law could do. He caused us to die to that law so that we are no longer under that law but married to him. We are now dead to that law and dead indeed unto sin through Jesus Christ our Lord. And you can read some of that in Romans 7 sometime. We see in this passage that we are to reckon or count it as so. that we are dead to sin and alive unto God. We count that way because it is so. This is not pretending that it is so, okay? I want to be clear on that. It's not pretending it's so. It is counting it as so because it is through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is so. That is sure and we can count on what he has done and there's no doubt in him and what he has done.

When I began to look at myself, doubts will arise. I know this happens. I know it happens to you as well as to me because it happens to me. When I start thinking, all I need to do is this or that, then those dark clouds of doubt begin to start hovering over my head. because I know I don't do this or that. This reckoning has a certain thing in mind, and that in light of what Jesus Christ has done. Having this in mind, it's not so we can have an excuse to sin or a license to sin, as they might say, although we do continue to sin. We are told that in 1 John, and I mentioned that earlier, 1 John 1, chapter 1, verses 7 through 10.

1 John 1, 7. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ's Son cleanses us from all sin. If we believe God and we gather together as he has commanded us to hear of him, when we hear that message of him, we see what he has done. And that's what it means when it says the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. He died once and that for all time and it got the job done. As we walk in this world, we need to be reminded of that constantly in our mind. God does not need to be reminded of that. We do.

And then verse 8, we say, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. At no time can I say I have no sin. The only place I can say that is in Jesus Christ.

In verse 9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Again, in our mind, He renews our mind in knowing what he has done.

But then we have verse 10, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. God says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. When all died in Adam, he was our federal head and death passed to us from Adam. We know nothing else but death as we are born into this world. Because of that, every single one of us sin. And God confirms that in His Word that we sin. If you say you have not sinned, you make Him a liar. And His Word, which His Word is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

But if you say that, that you have not sinned, His Word is not in you. We sin more than we want to. Believers do. The whole of this book is about Christ and what He came to accomplish. He came to save His people from their sin against God. Christ did not die to us. He died for us. He died to God the Father and His sacrifice was accepted of the Father. He does not need acceptance from us.

You know, you hear a lot of people say, we were talking about it, brother. I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. Christ does not need acceptance. He's already been accepted of the Father. We need acceptance of Him. But we will never get it in and of ourselves. What we need is Him. We need to bow down to Him and believe Him. Peradventure, He will give us mercy. He deserves glory and honor whether we give it to Him or not. The truth is we don't always do that because we sin. But you know what else? We deserve nothing whether we serve Him or not. Even if we serve Him, God does not owe us anything.

But He did something for His people who have sinned against Him. We have all broken His law, and sin is the transgression of the law. So we do sin. But reckoning this to be so, what he has done, causing me to be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God, is so that we do not let sin reign in our mortal bodies. That's what it says in verse 12 of our text, 12 through 14. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves 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 ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Grace does not want or cause us to want to sin, or it does not cause us to sin. We are enabled by God through Jesus Christ our Lord to live unto God, to believe Him.

Paul starts out the chapter this way. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? When you look at the word continue, it means to abide. Shall we live as our home, our abode in sin that grace may abound? He asks the same type of question in verse 15. It says, what then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid is the answer.

But is the answer to let the law be our guide in life or to life? Between verses 1 and verse 15, did you read anything about what the law did or what I do? Not a thing. Not a thing. We, in fact, read a passage from Romans 8, 3 that said Christ did what the law could not do. What we read is everything that Christ did.

But do we live in sin? Is that our way of life? We deceive ourselves if we say we have not sinned, and we make Him a liar if we say we have not sinned. But we do not live under the dominion of sin, summed up by God this way, verse 14, for you're not under the law, but under grace.

We are not looking to justify or excuse our sins so that we can keep doing it. We confess our sins to Him, and we look to Him to guide us. We serve Him, we believe Him, we give Him the praise and the glory, and we love the brethren by the grace of God. Not by following the law was our guide, but by following Jesus Christ.

We do by grace mortify our members as we are told in Romans 8, 13, for if we live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Because we know what he has done, he's done this for all of those who believe. He shed his grace upon us through Jesus Christ our Lord, who died for us, and he paid that sin debt that we owe, and we're no longer under that bondage of sin. He perfected us and sanctified us before God.

When we hear His Word over and over again, it sanctifies us in our mind. His Word sets us apart in our mind. It lets us know what He has done. And you can turn over to Romans 12 real quick, and we can read this. Romans 12. Romans 12, verses 1 through 3 is all I'm going to read here.

Romans 12, verses 1. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace given unto me to every man, that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

How is it that we are transformed by the renewing of our mind? Hearing of what Jesus Christ has done over and over again. That's what we need to hear over and over again. renewing our mind by His Spirit. Because when we don't have it, the Gospel, what does our mind begin to do? It starts to look within. And I said, as I said before, we are accepted of God in the Beloved.

He has not forgotten this, nor will He ever forget this, because He knows the Son, and loves the Son, and has accepted the Son's sacrifice for us. He is faithful in all that he has said, but we just don't always remember it because we began to look to ourselves for whatever reason.

We are told that the law is fulfilled in us and not by us. Christ in you, the hope of glory is what the scripture says. Did he keep and do the whole law? He absolutely did. In him and him being in us, And we read that in our text, him being in us, we fulfill the law, not do it. We fulfill the whole law in Jesus Christ, and he then raised from the dead, and in him we live unto God, serving him who deserves to be served.

Oh, that I might, he might cause me to reckon what he has done to be so with myself. And if He's done that for you, may He do that to you as well. If He does and you're one of His, He will if you are one of His. But if He does, we can glory in Jesus Christ from where all our blessings flow.

We died in Him and being made dead indeed to sin, but we are dead no longer. Because He raised from the dead, so then we are now alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. if we believe him. To serve in newness of life is what it says. We are to reckon it to be so, count it to be so, because it is so.

Amen. Thank you for having me. I'm going to get me a drink because it is hot up here.