is not that I did you. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I want to read Romans chapter
6, verse 14. And before I read it, let me
say that this verse could well be called the Emancipation Proclamation
to every believer. What was the Emancipation Proclamation? On January 1st, 1863, President
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. And here it is,
that all persons held as slaves are and henceforward shall be
free. Now this is what this verse of
scripture says with regard to every believer. Let me read it
to you. Verse 14, for sin shall not have
dominion over you. It will not be your Lord. You will not be its slave. You've been set free. For sin
shall not have dominion over you. And here's why. For you're not under the law,
but under grace. The Emancipation Proclamation
for every believer. Now, what I'd like to do at the
first part of this message is do some defining of the terms. And that's very important. Because
preachers use biblical terms, grace, faith, words like that,
but they give different meanings to them than the Bible does. And in doing this, they never
really preach the gospel. They're guilty of preaching another
gospel and another message. So may God give us grace to consider
the meaning of these terms, sin and dominion and law and grace. First, let's think of this word
sin. It's found in the Bible. As a
matter of fact, the very first time the word is used is in Genesis
chapter 4, where Cain brought the wrong sacrifice. And the
Lord said, Sin lieth at the door. Sin is the cause of you bringing
the wrong sacrifice. Now I remember just a few years
ago I saw on TV someone interviewing people as to what they thought
sin was and I found it to be somewhat amusing because every
answer had to do with something somebody else did that they thought
was very wrong and they would say I think that's sin. Well
we're not doing a poll interviewing people as to what they think
sin is, what does God's word say sin is? Listen carefully. Sin is that
which proceeds from the human heart. You don't become a sinner when
you sin. You sin because you're a sinner. You sin, I sin, because we by
nature, choice, and practice have evil hearts. Sin comes from the heart. Genesis chapter six, verse five,
and God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually. Listen to these words of our
Lord Jesus. We read in verse 10 of Matthew chapter 15, and
He called the multitude and said unto them, Hear and understand,
not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man. That's
what most people think of as sin. Touch not, taste not, handle
not. If I can avoid smoking a cigarette
or taking a drink of alcohol, I'll be good. No, you won't. Sin is not in things. Sin is
in the human heart. He said, then came his disciples,
verse 12, And said, knowest thou not the Pharisees were offended
after they heard this saying? And Pharisees always are offended
by that. They put their righteousness
in things they do or don't do. But he answered and said, every
plant which my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted
up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the
blind. And if the blind lead the blind,
both shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said
unto him, declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are
you also yet without understanding? Do you not understand that whatsoever
entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out
into the draught? But those things which proceed
out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the
man. For out of the heart proceedeth
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. These are the things that defile
a man. But to eat with unwashing hands
defileth not a man. Now, man sins because he's a
sinner. Man's not a victim. Man is the
one who initiates the sin. He sins because he is a sinner. The sin comes from the product
of an evil heart. Now, let me read you these scriptural
definitions of sin. 1 John 3, verse 4 says sin is
the transgression of the law. Any lack of perfect conformity
to God's holy law is sin. 1 John 5, 17 says all unrighteousness
is sin. Anything that's not perfectly
righteous in God's sight is sin. James 4, 17 says to him that
knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. All you have to do is nothing
to sin. James 2, 9 says if you have respect
of persons, you commit sin. If you give somebody a different
standard because of what they can do for you or because of
their position, you commit sin. Romans 3.23 says all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Actually coming short of
God's glory is sin. Proverbs 24.9 says the thought
of foolishness is sin. Proverbs 21.4 says on high look,
and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked is sin. Now, we
think of plowing as a very good endeavor. I mean, it seems wholesome
to go out and plow the ground, to make, to grow food, to give
to the poor, perhaps. But if a wicked man does it,
it's sin. Romans 14, 23 says, whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. And you know, John says in 1
John 1, 9, he says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us. Now there the word sin is a noun,
speaking of a sinful nature at all times. First John 1.8. I'm
sorry, not 1 John 9, but 1.8. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves. We've lost all credibility and
the truth is not in us. And then in verse 10, he says,
if we say we've not sinned, and there the word is a verb regarding
anything I do, including preaching this message that I'm preaching
to you from the word of God. If I did it, There's sin in it,
because of who I am. If I did it, it's sin. Somebody
says, I have not sinned. Well, you make God a liar, and
his word is not in you. Oh, this thing of sin. Now, here's the promise. Sin
shall not have dominion over you. Now, who is it that sin
doesn't have dominion over? It's not over everybody. It's
over those who believe. It's over those who are under
grace. It does not have dominion over
those whom God has saved. This verse of scripture is not
true concerning every son of Adam. This is only true concerning
God's elect. This is the promise to them,
those who believe the gospel. Sin shall not have dominion. shall not have lordship, shall
not lord it over you, shall not have control over you, shall
not have dominion over you. Now, what a promise. Sin, this is speaking to every
believer, sin shall not, not it ought not have, but it shall
not have dominion, it shall not have lordship, it shall not have
control over you. And here's why. You're not under
law. You're under grace. Now, what is meant by not being
under law? He says to these blessed people,
sin shall not have dominion over you. It's not going to be your
Lord. You're not going to be its slave. Sin shall not have
dominion over you. And here's why. You're not under
law. You're under grace. Well, what
is meant by law? When we think of the Ten Commandments,
that's what we usually think of when we think of the law.
The thou shalts and the thou shalt nots, God's holy law, and
indeed that is God's law. But I want to read you a passage
of scripture in Galatians chapter four that I think is so enlightening
as to what the Bible means by the law of God. In Galatians
chapter four, verse 21, Paul asks this question. Tell me,
ye that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? If you have a desire to be under
law, don't you hear what the law says?" And then he goes to
an event that took place in Genesis chapter 16. For it's written
that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid and the other
by a free But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the
flesh, but he of the free woman was born by promise, which things
are an allegory. For these are the two covenants."
Now, he's referring to God's promise to Abraham and Sarah,
you're going to have a son. Years pass. It hadn't taken place. Sarah says to Abraham, well,
God's promise is not going to come into effect unless we do
our part. It will fall to the ground if we don't do our part.
So here's what you need to do. You go into Hagar and you have
a child and it'll be my child because she's my servant and
thus God's promise will be brought to pass. Abraham went in and
they had Ishmael. Years later, God said, Sarah
shall have a son. Now Sarah had already gone through
menopause. It was impossible, humanly speaking, for her to
have a child. Abraham went into her and they
had Isaac. One was a child of the flesh,
nothing supernatural about their birth. One, a child of the promise,
supernatural. And Paul tells us that these
represent the two covenants, the covenant of works, that's
law, and the covenant of grace. Now, in the covenant of works,
Some aspect of salvation, be it ever so small, is dependent
upon something that I do. And if I don't do my part, it'll
all fall to the ground. Now you can put it at the beginning
of salvation. Salvation is dependent upon us
accepting Jesus as our personal savior. God loves you, Christ
died for you, but you will not be saved unless you of your own
free will accept him to be your savior. That's works. That's law. that makes salvation
ultimately dependent upon you. If you believe that, you don't
believe the gospel. Somebody else puts works in the
middle of salvation. If through your Bible study and
your discipline and diligence and prayer life, you make yourself
more and more holy and less and less sinful till you're finally
ripe for heaven, that is works. That's all it is. Somebody else
puts salvation or some kind of higher reward at the end. If
you live diligently, you're gonna get a higher reward in heaven,
a greater position in glory. Once again, that is works. It is Ishmael. It is the covenant
of works. The covenant of grace is salvation
completely dependent upon what Christ has done. Now, understand this. about the
law. We're going to get into grace
in a moment, but the law was not made for a righteous man.
If you need law, All you prove by that is that you are a criminal. The law was not made for the
righteous man, but for the lawless and the disobedient. 1 Timothy
1.8. What does the law do? All the law does is expose sin. By the law, Paul said, is the
knowledge of sin. By the deeds of the law, there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is
the knowledge of sin, but the law does more than expose sin,
it stirs up sin. The strength of sin is the law. All I got to do is tell you not
to do something and that's exactly what you want to do. That's the
way we are by nature. Paul put it this way in Romans
chapter 7. He said, I was alive without the law once. But when
the commandment came, thou shalt not covet, sin revived and I
died. It wasn't until the commandment
came to me that sin lifted up its ugly head and took complete
control of me. When the law said thou shalt
not covet, all it did is work up in me all kinds of covetousness
and evil concupiscence. You can read about it in Romans
chapter seven. You see, you put a man under
the law and he's under the complete dominion and domination of sin. Sin is his Lord. And if you believe any part of
your salvation is conditioned upon you, it'll not produce a
drop of gratefulness to God, only resentment. You serve as
a mercenary or as a slave with some hope for reward or some
avoidance of punishment that you think will come as an end
of your serving. What the law fails to do, it
fails to save a man. All it does is expose and stir
up sin. It fails to make a man perfect.
The scripture says the law made nothing perfect. It fails to
make a man love God. It fails to produce a good motive.
It fails to restrain sin. All it does is expose and stir
up and curse. As many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse. Cursed is every man that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. Now, if you're under law, if
any part of your salvation is dependent upon you. I mean right
down to an act of your free will. You're under the complete dominion
and domination of sin. And the fact that you don't see
that shows how much it dominates you. You're blind to the place
you're at. All the law does is bring a man
under bondage where sin is his Lord and sin is his master. Now what is meant by grace? He
says to believers, sin shall not have dominion over you, for
you're not under the law, but under grace. Now, what is meant
by grace? Well, I love talking about this. It means that all of your salvation
is conditioned 100% upon the free grace of God. It means you're not under law
in any way, but you're completely under grace. In Romans 11, Paul
made this statement beginning in verse 5. Even so, at this present time,
also there is a remnant, a small number of believers, according
to the election of grace. I love that, the election of
grace. And if by grace, then it's no more of works. Otherwise,
grace is no more grace. If salvation is by grace, it
has absolutely nothing to do with your works. But if it be
of works in any way to any degree, don't call it grace. because
it's no more of grace. Now, if you're a believer, you're
in Christ. Ephesians 1, 6 says, he hath
made us accepted. Literally, he hath graced us
in the beloved so that all God sees when he sees you is he sees
Jesus Christ, his son, and that's the real you. You're in him.
If you're a believer, you were elected by grace. Romans 9, 11
says, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It has nothing
to do with your works. He didn't choose you because
he saw you do this or you wouldn't do that. He did it because he's
gracious. If you're a believer, you're
redeemed, and that redemption is by grace. You're justified,
and that justification is by grace. You're called, and that
calling is of grace. You're kept and preserved, and
that keeping and preserving is all of grace. You are saved 100%
by the grace of God. You're not under the law. in
any way, and that's good news. I don't want to be under the
law because all the law does is condemn me, and I'm not saying
there's anything wrong with the law. The problem is with me.
God's law is holy, and I delight in the law of God after the inward
man. I'm not downplaying His law. I love His law, but understand
this. If I'm under the law in any way, all it does is condemn
me. I am the problem. So thank God
I'm not under the law, but I am under grace. To be under grace
is to have all that you have given you before you had any
existence. That means you couldn't have
anything to do with your works because you didn't have any. Second Timothy
1 9 says, he saved us and he called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. everything the believer has he
had given him freely given him in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Now what does grace do? Grace
saves by grace You are saved. It doesn't make salvation available
if you do something. Grace actually saves. It's not offered. It saves. By grace ye are saved. It justifies a man. It keeps a man. It saves a man.
It makes a man believe. It makes a man love, unlike the
law. The law doesn't do any of those things. Now this is God's
promise, sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under
law, but under grace. Now somebody's thinking, it sure
seems to have dominion in me. It sure seems to have power in
me. Why do I give in to temptation
so easily? Why do I fall into the same sins
over and over and over again? Why do I struggle the way I do
if sin doesn't have dominion over me? You tell me that sin
doesn't have dominion over me when it seems like that all I
do and all I am is sin? Is that promise for me? If you're a believer, if you're
under grace, it is. You see, this is a promise for the weakest
believer. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. This is for that bruised reed
and smoking flax whom the Lord said he will not quench. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. Now, listen real carefully to
this statement. All of the righteous, without
any exception, believe themselves to be wicked. And all of the wicked, without
any exception, believe themselves to be righteous, or at least
they have the potential to be righteous if the circumstances
are right. All of the righteous believe
themselves to be wicked, and all of the wicked believe themselves
to be righteous. Now if you believe you're righteous
or even have the potential to be righteous, if you blank, whatever
it might be, fill in the blank, You are under the complete dominion
and domination of sin. Sin is your Lord, and you are
under its control. And if God doesn't have mercy
on you and extend His grace toward you, you'll go to hell to the
praise of the glory of His justice, and that's where you ought to
be. You're a willing loving slave of sin. Sin is your Lord. Now I'm speaking to that person
now who fears, I feel like I'm under the dominion of sin. I
feel like all I do is sin. Let me ask you a question. There
was a time when you didn't feel that way. There was a time when
you felt like you were a better person than that. There was a
time when you felt like you had some goodness, you at least had
the power of your will and you could turn things over when you
wanted to, but you don't feel that way anymore. Why? Because sin doesn't have dominion
over you anymore. When you felt that way, it's
because you were under its complete domination and dominion. But
that's been broken. Sin does not have dominion over
you anymore. You're not fooled by sin. You see it for what it is. You're
not blinded by sin. You see who God is. You see who
you are. And so you see your sin. There
was a time when you didn't even know what it means to believe.
You'd hear the preacher say, believe, and you didn't know
what it meant. You'd hear the preacher say, repent, and you
didn't know what it meant to repent. You'd believe and repent if you
knew what it meant to do that, but you had not even a clue.
There was a time when you were in complete darkness, but now
you find yourself believing. Now you find yourself believing
that Christ really is all you need to make you acceptable in
God's sight. Now you find yourself continually
in a state of repentance, changing your mind about yourself and
looking to Christ only. There was a time when you had
no love for God. If the truth were known, you
would be perfectly pleased if He didn't even exist. Or, if
it were in your power, you would change Him to be a God more that
you liked, rather than the one as He's revealed in His Word.
But now, you love God as He is. And you wouldn't change Him if
it were in your power. Why? Because you've been delivered
from the dominion and the power of sin. Now, to be delivered
from the dominion of sin doesn't mean you don't sin anymore. If
you have human flesh, fallen flesh, if you still have a sinful
nature, all that nature does is sin. Now, I'm not excusing
it in any way, but that's just the truth. A believer has a sinful
nature and a holy nature. Now, there was a time when all
you had was a sinful nature. But now you have a holy nature,
too, if you're a believer, a nature that loves God, a nature that
loves holiness, a nature that loves obedience. Why? Because
sin is no longer your Lord. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, and here's why. You're not under the law, you're
under grace, and by the grace of God, you're enabled to look
to Christ as all that God requires of you. Now, we have this message
on DVD and CD. If you call the church right
away, we'll send you a copy. To request a copy of the sermon
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