If you'll open your Bibles with
me to the Romans, the 6th chapter, I'm going to do more teaching
tonight than exhorting or preaching. And I've given careful consideration
and study to this message and some of the things I'm going
to be saying to you. So if you care to take notes,
I won't object at all. In fact, I encourage you to do
so. write down the scripture references and the comments under
each point, if you will. Now, here's the introduction.
The title of the message is Sin, Sin and the Believer. And the
introduction goes this way. Every true believer, every child
of God, is conscious of this fact. and he'll readily admit
it. He is a sinner saved by God's
grace. We just sang that a few moments
ago. Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows,
loving the Savior to tell what he knows. Once more to tell it
would I embrace. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace.
Now, under that statement here, three headings. Number one, he
knows that he's saved. He knows that he's saved. You
say, can we know that we're saved? David knew that he was saved.
He said, the Lord is my shepherd. Job knew that he was saved. He
said, I know that my Redeemer liveth. Paul knew that he was
saved. He said, I know whom I have believed. I am persuaded he is able to
keep that which I have committed to him against that day." John
knew he was saved. He said, We know we have passed
from death unto life. So the believer knows that he
is saved, he is redeemed, and he is justified in Christ before
God. And secondly, he knows that he
is saved not by his works, but by the grace of God. Now, he
knows that. There's no question about it. He says, like Paul,
I am what I am by the grace of God. He says, for by grace have
you been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. It's not of works, lest any man
should boast. It's not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he hath saved us. The believer knows he's saved.
He knows that he is saved by the grace of God, and he knows
this. He knows and will readily admit
it before God and before himself and before men that he is still
a sinner. Now, this confuses people and
bothers people, especially in what we call the Methodist or
Holiness or Pentecostal movement. They call unsaved people sinner
folks. I don't know what they call themselves,
but they say he's still a sinner. Well, every believer knows that
he is saved, he is saved by the grace of God, but he's still
a sinner. He'll admit that. Every time he prays, he prays
as our Lord taught us to pray, forgive me of my sins. Turn,
if you will, to Psalm 51. I want you to listen to some
of God's elite. I want you to listen to some
some men whom we know knew God and loved God. We'll start with
the man of whom God said, he's a man after my own heart. In
Psalm 51, listen to David. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions wash
me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. I
acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me."
Turn to Isaiah, Isaiah 6. Here is a man that back in chapter
5, he kept saying, "...woe is them, and woe is you, and woe
is this, that, and the other. About five or six times he pronounced
woe upon everybody else. And then in chapter 6, Isaiah
saw the Lord. He saw the Lord in his glory,
in his holiness. And I want you to listen to his
conclusion. He said in verse 1 of Isaiah
6, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. Now, you've
read this many times. Let's go on down to verse 5.
With this sight of God's holiness, Isaiah came to this conclusion.
Then said I, Woe is me! Woe is me! Speaking in the present
tense, I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I
dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. And I have come
to this conclusion because I have seen the I have seen the Lord
of hosts." Turn, if you will, to the book of Philippians, chapter
3, and listen to the Apostle Paul. I know there are a lot
of people who talk about being baptized with the Holy Ghost
and getting a second work of grace and being filled with the
Spirit and eradicating the old nature and living above sin.
current comments and clichés, but Paul didn't believe any of
those things. In Philippians 3, he says in
verse 12, "...not as though I had already attained, either were
already perfect. I am not perfect," he said. I
am not perfect. In Christ I am perfect. In Christ
I am perfected and justified because by one offering he perfected
forever them that are sanctified. But he said, I am not perfect,
but I follow after, if that I may apprehend or lay hold upon that
for which I have been laid hold of Christ Jesus. Now, one other
scripture, Romans 7, just one page over from our text. And
the Apostle Paul writes here, just what I'm saying, every believer,
every true believer, he knows he's saved. He knows he's met
the Lord in saving grace. He knows that he's redeemed only
by the grace of God through the blood of Christ. And he admits
that he is yet a sinner. He has a conflict with sin. Listen
to Paul in Romans 7, beginning with verse 18. Verse 18, For
I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing,
the will is present with me. But how to perform that which
is good, now when we talk about that which is good, we're talking
about that which is perfect. The believer has good works in
Christ, but we're talking about that which is perfect. How to
perform that which is good, that which is good like God, that
which is perfect like God. When the rich young ruler came
to our Lord, he said, good master, and Christ said, why do you call
me good? There's none good but God. There is none good according
to perfection, perfect holiness but God. And that's what Paul
is talking about here in verse 19. For the good, the perfection
that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now, if I do that I would not,
it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. It's
not the new nature. It's not the new creature in
Christ Jesus, it's sin that dwelleth, that remaineth in me. I find
in a law, this is a rule, that when I would do good, evil is
present, always present with me. I delight in the law of God. I delight in the holiness of
God. I delight in the character of
God after the inward man. Is that your experience? But
I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, warring against this desire to be perfect, and bringing me
into captivity all too frequently to the law of sin which is in
my members, O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from
this body of death, or the body of this death? I thank through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with the mind, with
the spirit, I myself serve the law of God, the commandments
of God, the holiness of God, but with the flesh, the law of
sin. Turn back to chapter 6. That's
the introduction. Here is the main part of the
message under three headings. Paul deals with this solemn,
painful subject of sin and the believer. Here is the first point. Write this down. We have in this
chapter a great fact to consider. Now, this is comforting, this
is helpful. Here is a great fact to consider. Look first of all at verse 7.
For he that is dead is freed from sin. What does Paul mean
by that? Here is what he means. When Jesus
Christ, our Lord, who is our representative We read that in
chapter 5, "...by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."
Jesus Christ, who is our Head and our Representative, went
to the cross bearing our sins, and there he died under the penalty
and guilt of our sins. All of our sins were laid on
him. And when he died, we actually died with him, having borne the
punishment of sin in Christ on the cross. And because Christ
our Lord died under the judgment of our sins, we died under the
judgment of those sins. That's what he's saying. The
penalty is paid. All that the law requires was
met in Christ. All that the justice of God demanded
was met in Christ. And as far as the law is concerned
and as far as the justice of God is concerned, we are dead. And it says in verse 7, is delivered or freed or justified
from sin. Here's what it means. If a man
is guilty, back in the old days of stealing a horse, they usually
hung him. When he steals the horse, they
have the trial, he's guilty. The law says he's guilty and
he must pay, he must die. So they take him out and hang
him. And he hangs there and he dies. He breathes out his last
breath and he dies. As far as that man is concerned,
the books are closed. The law is satisfied. There is
nothing else that the law can demand of him. The law is fully
and completely satisfied he is dead. Now, this is what this
is saying. When Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who is our Head, our Representative, our Redeemer, and he is bone
of our bone, flesh of our flesh, he is numbered with the transgressors
When he walked on this earth in perfect obedience to the law,
it was the same as if I did it. When he went to the cross and
died bearing our sins, it was just the same as if I personally
died under the judgment of God at that time. That's exactly
what that says. Therefore, as far as the law
of God is concerned, as far as the justice of God is concerned,
I've already died, and payment, God's justice, cannot twice to
the man, first at my bleeding shirt his hand, and then again
at mine." Now, that's what that says. Verse 6, look at Romans
6. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead
is justified, he is free from sin. Here is the second point,
verse 8. If we be dead with Christ, we
believe we shall also live with him. In other words, when Christ
died, they took him down from the cross and they laid him in
a tomb. And the scripture says he arose
without sin. He arose without sin. When God
the Father brought him forth from the tomb, he brought him
forth not as the one with sin laid on him at the cross, because
God the Father turned his back on him. Our Lord cried, My God,
why hast thou forsaken me? And God turned his back on him
because he was loaded and laden with sin. But when he was brought
out of the tomb by the power of God, he was brought out of
the tomb without sin. And this is what this is saying.
If we die and are buried with Christ, when he arose, we arose
without sin. We are in a perfect, justified
state. We have in Christ before God
a new life and a new standing. We are holy and without blame
before him in Christ. I'll show you that. Turn with
me to Romans 8, right over a page. Romans 8, verse 28. Now, watch
this. Romans 8, verse 28. I'm going
to read several verses here. Listen to what it says. Romans
8, 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose,
for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
whom he called, he what? He justified. Whom he justified,
he also glorified. Now, what shall we say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, every believer,
how shall he not with Christ freely give us all things? Now,
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? There
is no charge. We are justified. We are justified. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God. And let me ask you a question.
Who else is at the right hand of God? We are seated in Christ. Is that what scripture says?
We are seated together with Christ. Go back to our text. This is a great fact to consider
and to comfort. He that is dead is freed from
sin. I'll tell you this. If we were
crucified with Christ and God's law and justice satisfied, there
isn't a mark on the books of God against us. We are totally
justified. That's what scripture teaches,
without guilt. And it says in verse 8, and if we be dead with
Christ, we live with Christ. Now watch this, this is so important
here. Verse 9. that Christ being raised from
the dead by the power of God, and brethren, that's acceptance.
God testified when he raised him from the dead that he was
satisfied with him, with Christ, that he accepted his sacrifice
and offering. He accepted him, he raised him
from the dead. Knowing that Christ being raised
from the dead dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion. Sin hath no more dominion. over
him. Now, here's what I'm saying.
The true believer who is in Christ by God's eternal grace and by
faith, who is in Christ, crucified, buried and risen with Christ,
the true believer, now this is strong, but it's so, can no more
come under sin again or under its curse than Christ can. Now, you think about Let me tell you something, turn
to Isaiah 40 a minute. That is the basis for comfort.
We can't find any comfort in ourselves or in our works or
in our deeds or even in our faith. It's so weak. But here's the
comfort. Isaiah 40, verse 1, says, Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord. Speak ye comfortably
to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her." Here is the basis
for comfort. Her warfare is accomplished. Her iniquity is pardoned. Pardoned,
put away. She hath received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins. When Barabbas, when our Lord
Jesus Christ took the place of Barabbas on that cross, and they
went down and set him free, He didn't have to go into hiding.
Barabbas could walk right down the street, right past the courthouse. They couldn't touch him. The
Roman law wouldn't let him touch him. Somebody else had taken
his place. He could walk right by the arresting
officer. He could walk right down the
street, because he died when Christ died, as far as the Roman
law is concerned. And you and I, I'm saying this,
that if we died, if Christ is our Savior and Lord and our substitute,
when he died, we died. And when he arose, we arose without
sin before God. And we can no more come under
the charge or curse or guilt of sin again than Christ can. Can't do it. That's what verse
9 of Romans 6 says. that Christ, being raised from
the dead, dies no more. That's the reason our Lord said,
He that believeth on me shall never die. He that believeth
on me shall never be ashamed. He that believeth on me shall
never come into condemnation. There is therefore no judgment
to them who are in Christ. It can't be! You see, when our Lord died on
the cross, he effectually paid the sin debt. And now he sits
at the right hand of the Father, totally, wholly accepted and
justified. There isn't in this universe
anywhere one little sin that can come up before the Father
and say, I lay this on Christ. He's got to come and pay for
this. No sin. He has no sin. He's paid for
all. He drank the very bitter dregs of the bottom of the cup
of God's wrath. He walked the winepress and he
walked it fully. And sin can no more demand of
him anything. He can no way come unto death,
have no more dominion, no more charge. And he has no more on
us, none whatsoever. If Christ is our Savior and our
substitute, and if you trust in an alter experience, you've
got a problem. because sin can still lay claim
to you. If you are trusting and resting
in a religious profession, or you are resting in something
else other than Christ, then you may be brought before the
judgment, but not in Christ. Now, here is the fourth thing,
look at verse 10. For in that he died, he died unto sin once,
but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Brethren, we are alive
unto We are sons of God, we are accepted in the Beloved. Jesus
paid it all, all the debt I owed. Sin left a crimson stain, but
he washed it, how? As white as snow. Dear dying
Lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power till all
the ransomed Church of God be saved to sin no more. What a
tremendous fight to comfort! If we died with Christ, with
free of all charge, all blame, all condemnation, all judgment.
If we were bared with Christ, we would rose again without sin,
totally justified before God, holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in his sight. And whatever sin in our past,
present or future can no more come and require of us anything
than it can come before the throne of God and require that Christ
die again. It can't do it, it has no charge. And we are alive unto God, accepted
and beloved and seated at the right hand of God. All right.
But here, as Brother Sammy said a while ago, is that solemn subject.
Secondly, we have daily, daily a great enemy with which to deal. Did you notice in this chapter
how many times the word S-I-N is used? Sin, sin, sin, sin,
sin. Brother Barnard said one time,
when you attempt to define something spiritually, you get in trouble.
But I'm going to attempt to define sin. What is sin? Part number one, under this second
heading, a great enemy with which to deal. What is sin? Well, I'm telling you this, sin
is a whole lot more than what men are saying it is. Sin is
more than drunkenness. If drunkenness was the only problem
a man had as far as sin is concerned, he could quit it. He could quit
it. Sin is more than lying. If lying
is the only problem a man has, then he could quit it. Sin is
more than adultery. If adultery is the only problem
a man has, he could quit it. Sin is more than stealing. If
stealing is the only problem that a man has, he could quit
it. But sin is a principle and a nature that produces these
things. Sin is the transgression, the
transgression of the law of God, not only outwardly, but inwardly. Our Lord said in the book of
Matthew, you've heard it said by them of old times, I shall
not kill. But I say unto you to hate, to
hate your brother. in your heart is to be guilty
already of murder, whether you ever take his life or not. You've
heard it said by them of old times, I shall not commit adultery.
But I say unto you to look with lust, to lust in your heart is
to be guilty already of adultery. And on and on and on he goes
defining those sins. But in Romans 3, verse 23, here
is one of the best definitions in the One of the best, Romans
3.23. Listen. For all have sinned,
all have sinned, and here it is, and come short of the glory
of God. That's what sin is. Sin is to
come short of the glory of God. Sin is anything in thought, in
word, in imagination, in deed, that comes short of what? Perfection. Perfection. Sin is a nature or
a principle that comes short of God's perfection, that is
contrary to God's holiness. And our Lord said to the disciples,
sin is not necessarily what goes into our body. Sin, and that
which defiles us, comes out of our hearts. Sin is pride. Pride. In Proverbs 6, our Lord names
six, yes, seven things that he hated. he said in Prides, number
1. Sin is envy. Do you ever envy? Are you ever covetous? Are you
ever discontent with what you have and envy someone who has
more? Sin is lust. Sin is hatred. Sin is greed. Sin is ingratitude. Sin is blasphemy. Not just blasphemy
with the lips, but blasphemy with the heart. Sin is jealousy,
sin is evil thoughts. All of these things are sin.
And secondly, this sin has great power. These things that lurk
within us and live within us are like outlaws, and they're
hard in our nature, and we think that they're gone, and then they
appear at the least expected time. We're going along thinking
we're doing so well, growing in grace. spiritually growing,
and suddenly that outlaw that's been there all the time, hiding
within us, rears up his ugly head. Sin is an outlaw which
hides in our nature and appears when least expected. Sin is an
enemy, a constant enemy that wars against the new nature.
Turn to Galatians 5, verse 17. Listen to this. And every honest
believer will confess this and admit this, that he has a constant
warfare when he recognizes what sin is. When he recognizes what
sin is, he admits that he has a constant warfare with his pride,
covetousness, ingratitude, lust, hatred, malice, all greed, selfishness. It says in verse 17 of Galatians
5, the flesh lusteth, warth against the and the spirit against the
flesh, and these are contrary one to the other. We feel like
two people. We feel like two distinct people. That's how Paul identified himself. He said, I delight in the law
of God after the inward man, but I find another law in my
members, like another person, a body of death, a body of sin,
that wars against this body of truth and These are contrary
one to the other, so you cannot do the things that you will.
And I'll tell you this, this sin nature is such a part of
us that it won't die until we die. And I'm not talking about
dying daily. We do die daily. We crucify the
old man daily. I'm talking about this. This
nature of sin and this conflict with sin It's going to stay with
me and you until they put us in the ground, that's what I'm
saying. You're going to have a battle with it, you're going
to have, and you know something? Thirdly, sin's battleground or
field of battle is the body. It's the body, it's the flesh.
Paul called it a body of death, and he called it, you know what
he called it in Philippians? He said it's a vile body. This
is a vile body. Let me just give you some illustrations.
I'm saying that the battleground of sin is the flesh. And when
we're through with this flesh and put it in the ground, then
we're going to be through with sin. And not until then. When these eyes are closed to
see no more, and these ears are dead to hear no more, and this
sinful nature sleeps in the dust, we won't have any more We will rise to be with our Lord
with the nature that he has perfected, the nature of God that he's put
within us. But this flesh, here's the battleground, here's the
source of evil and error. Let me give you these illustrations.
Now, here's the first thing. The materialism and desires of
this flesh lead us to covetousness. Now, Paul tells us to be content
in what sort of state God has put us. It's hard to be content
lying on a hospital bed, but that's what he said. It's hard
to be content when you don't have enough money to buy food,
like some of our friends down in Mexico. The body wants to
eat, and it wants to eat steak and potatoes, and it wants to
eat good. It doesn't want to eat tortillas. and black moldy. It wants to
eat good things. It's hard to be content with
a body wracked with pain and stooped over with old age. But
I don't care, we're still supposed to be content. That's what the
Word of God says. We're not supposed to murmur.
We're not supposed to complain against God's providence. He
said, be content with what you have and avoid covetousness,
which is idolatry. We got a car, but we want a better
one. You young folks have a home to live in, but you want a bigger
one. You got a washing machine, but you want an automatic. See
what I'm talking about? We got a good suit, but we want
a pretty one because somebody else got a prettier one. We got
a rug on the floor, but it's got a hole in it. We want a new
one. And we envy. And you say, is that sin? That's
sin. That's sin. And what causes it? It's this body with its materialism
and its desires. It wants, wants, wants, wants,
wants. It wants more. It wants better.
It wants bigger. It wants comfort. It wants luxury. And it's not content to live
on what God gives us. And it's not content with where
God puts us. A lot of preachers are not content
in their churches. They want bigger churches. But that's sin, that's the flesh.
You know what Psalm 73 says? David, he said, I was like a
beast. I complained against the providence
of God. All right, secondly, the appetites
and passions of this flesh, what do they do? They produce desires
that we're ashamed of. They produce desires that are
contrary to holiness. And it's no use saying they're
not there because they are. And they're very real and they're
very strong. And where do these desires come
from? This flesh. That's where they come from.
That's the field of battle. And when this flesh is buried,
you're not going to be bothered with them anymore. But there's
a person in this congregation, if they'll be honest and truthful,
that's not ashamed of your thoughts. Too often, just literally, you
look up to God and say, what do I think that for? Why do I
desire things like that? I'll tell you why, because you've
got an appetite and a passion, and that body of yours is going
to stay there and they put you in a grave. And you may as well admit it.
All right? Thirdly, the pains and infirmities
of this flesh lead to depression. Now, brethren, when we talk about
being depressed, we're talking about sinning. We're talking
about sinning. It's a sin to murmur against
God. That's what God judged the Israelites for in the wilderness.
They murmured against God. They said, We're tired of this
light bread and we're tired of this water out of the rock. We
want the garlics of Egypt. They murmured against God. They
were impatient. But the pains and infirmities
of this flesh lead us to depression, impatience, and coldness of heart. Yes, they do. We give in to it,
don't we? And I understand that. I'm just,
what I'm saying is, rather than saying it's sin, I don't care
whether you find it in a drunk or in a believer, it's still
sin. You can call it anything you want to, but it's still sin.
And I'll tell you something else. You know when a parent tells
a child to do something and the child resents it? It just resents
it. Maybe it has good reason or no
reason, but he's still, you know what he's doing? Fourthly, it's
that strong, selfish will, that will, that self-will that rebels
against authority, rebels against... You know what men have told me
down at the steel mill and other places where they work? When
they're working with a gang, everybody loves them. Everybody
loves them. They're working with a gang,
whatever they do, whatever they work. And one day they called
him into the superintendent's office and said, we're going
to make you a foreman. So he comes off the gang, he becomes
a foreman. He puts on the foreman's hat and he goes out. Everybody
hates him. They loved him yesterday. But today, you know what they
are? They hate God. Because that man represents authority.
I've known men to turn down promotions to keep from being hated. Children,
children rebel against parents. It's that, it's that will. It's
his flesh. My flesh resents advice. Does
yours? Don't tell me what to do. I know
what to do. It resents advice. It resents
orders. It says, go do this. What do
they talk to me like that for? Well, we do it, but we resent
being told to do it. We resent authority. In other
words, we want our way. Rather than that sin. A wife
got a lovable husband, he supplies her need, but she just resents
him being the head. She resents him making the decision. She may agree with the decision,
but he made it. I know women that take the opposite
just to be contrary, haven't you? Present company accepted. Tell you something else, not
only the materialism, and desires of the flesh, not only the appetites
and passions, not only the pains and infirmities of old age, not
only this strong, selfish will, but brethren, fifthly, the influence
which this flesh has on the mind and the spirit is unbelievable. Unbelievable. The flesh, the
flesh, thoughts in the flesh, in this fleshly nature, desires
in these things can drag the spirit and faith down until we
will convince ourselves we're not really saved. Yeah, I've
been there. The old flesh just, Newton was
there. Listen to what Newton wrote.
You've heard this before, but this was in one of those periods
of time when the flesh was so strong and the thoughts were
so contrary to holiness, that he said, "'Tis a point I long
to know, and oft it gives me anxious thought. Do I really
love the Lord, or no? Am I his, or am I not?' If I
love the Lord, why am I like this? Why am I dull and lifeless
framed?" I'll tell you why I'm dull and lifeless framed. It's
because of the infirmities and pains of the body. It's hard
to rejoice when you're hurt. You get one of these severe headaches
that some of you folks have, and I'll tell you, it's sure
hard to pray, isn't it, except help. You get drugged down, the
flesh takes you down. Why this dull and lifeless frame?
Hardly can they be worse who never knew his name. When I turn
my eyes within, all is dark and vain and wild. I'm filled with
unbelief and sin. Can I call myself God's child? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed with everything I do. You who love the Lord, tell me,
now be honest, is it that way with you? Is it? Everybody knows it's so, just
hate to admit it. Just hate to admit it. Yet, now
wait a minute, yet I mourn my stubborn will, I don't like it.
I don't like that stubborn will. I find sin a grief and a thrall. Now, should I grieve for what
I feel if I did not love him at all? No, you wouldn't. No,
you wouldn't. But an honest heart, and you
know when our Lord saw Nathanael come and he said, Behold an Israelite
in whom there is no guile. He wasn't saying Nathanael wasn't
a sinner. He wouldn't say that. Nathanael
was a sinner like anybody else. He was saying there was no hypocrisy
in him. He was saying Nathanael is an
honest seeker and a wholesome, honest person in his dealings
with God. And I'm saying that an honest
believer, regenerated by the Holy Spirit with a renewed nature
and a new heart, recognizes sin to be sin for what it is. He
admits it before God. He confesses it. And he seeks
for the glory of God to avoid it. And that brings me to the
third thing, a great resolution. Now watch verse 11. Verse 11. Now, verse 7, he that is dead
with Christ is free from sin. And verse 8 said, if we be dead
with Christ, we live with Christ. And verse 9 says, sin will never
bring a charge against him or against us, because in verse
10, indeed he died once. He died once. in that he liveth,
he liveth unto God." Now verse 11, "...likewise reckon as done,
ye also yourselves, to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God." Now reckon that. Now let me bring out this point
right here, number three. To reckon myself to be dead or
freed from sin. So that I boast I have no sin,
that'd be a lie, wouldn't it? If I stood up here in front of
you and I said, now I'm dead to sin, I mean by that I don't
have any sin, I live above sin, like one fellow said one time,
I haven't sinned in twenty years, that'd be a lie. All right, secondly,
to reckon myself to be dead to sin by saying sin in a believer
is not really sin, oh yes it is. I don't care where you find
pride, pride's pride. I don't care where you find lust,
lust is lust. I don't care where you find envy,
it's envy. I don't care where you find idolatry,
it's idolatry. Sin is sin no matter where you
find it, whether you find it in the gutter or the pulpit.
It's sin. It's an offense to God. And it's
a hateful enemy. It's sin. We reckon ourselves, thirdly,
to be dead indeed under sin. Look at one statement, verse
11, the last line. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
That's where the gift is. That's where the glory is. That's
where the rest is. That's where the comfort is.
That's where the debt was paid. That's where the victory is.
It's all in Christ. All in Christ. All right? Therefore, verse 12, let us Let
not sin therefore, now here it is, here's what I'm coming to,
recognize it, admit it. Our Lord said, he that covereth
his sin shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh
his sin shall find mercy. My little children, I write unto
you that you sin not, but if any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And if we confess
our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us. Now here's what
he's saying in verse 12, "...therefore let not sin reign." It does remain. It's ever-present. It's a constant
enemy. It's a source of irritation.
But don't let it reign. Don't let it control you. When
you see pride, suppress it. When you see lust, suppress it. When you see this greedy, angry
spirit, suppress it. Let not sin reign. Don't yield
to it. Don't give in to it. Sin does
remain. We're conscious of its presence.
We're conscious of its power. We're conscious of its affliction.
But what he's saying here, don't let it reign. Don't let it control
you. Don't let it take over. Don't
yield to it. Don't surrender. Don't pull up
the white flag and say, well, that's my nature. No, that's
not good enough. Put her down. step on the neck
of it for the glory of Christ and the glory of his kingdom.
Make your decisions. I wrote an article in the Bulletin
one time. Make your decisions based on
this truth, that Christ is king of my life and first in my life,
and I'm going to be dedicated to him in every way for his glory. And the gospel is second, and
the church is third, and my family is fourth, and I come way down
the line somewhere. It's not to satisfy my flesh
to which I should be given, but to glorify my Lord. And that's
what he's teaching us here. He's teaching us not that we're
going to ultimately get a complete victory over this body of flesh
until we die, but we can suppress it. And we can seek to control
it and not yield to it. Christ is King. All right, here's
the last thing. Do we have anybody to help us
in this battle? Oh my, yes. Our Lord said, I'll
never leave you nor forsake you. But here's what, here are four
or five things. Number one, make use of the means of grace. I
tell you, turn to the Word. Turn to the Word of God. Be much
in the Word of God. Be much in prayer. Be much in
worship. Don't stay away from the worship
service. Come to the worship services, read the Word of God,
spend much time in prayer. Here's the second thing. Cultivate
the fellowship of believers. The Scripture says evil companions
corrupt good manners. If you'll cultivate the fellowship
of people who love God, it'll help you to walk with God. That's
right. And thirdly, help one another. The Scripture says, confess your
faults one to another. That's not confess your sins
to one another. That's confess your faults, your
potentiality, those things to one another. Admit what you are
and pray one for another. But last of all, look to Christ. In Him is our victory. In Him
is our confidence. In Him is our sanctification.
In Him is our hope and life. Look to Christ. Let me read this
twelfth verse again. Let not sin therefore reign. Control. Don't yield to it in
your mortal body. It's there, but don't let it
reign. It remains, but don't let it
rule. Put her down. Suppress it. But you should obey
it in the lusts thereof. We belong to Christ with His
children, and we shall glorify His name. adorn the gospel of
God our Savior. I hope that's helpful. Our merciful Lord, how difficult it is to deal with
this subject of sin. We rejoice in our hearts and
we're glad that Christ dealt with it in His body on the tree.
paid the debt, set us free. In Christ we have no sin. We're free from sin. We're justified
and sanctified in Thy presence. Else we couldn't even speak Thy
name or come into Thy presence or be accepted to be. In Christ
we're free from sin. As sin has no dominion over Him
or death, it has no dominion over us. But our Father, we know
and we confess that in this flesh dwelleth no good thing, in the
flesh no man can please thee, in the flesh there is a constant
warfare and battle, so that we long for that day when we shall
be taken out of this life and perfectly conformed to the image
of our Lord to sin no more, not even to think that which is evil,
but to be perfectly righteous and holy like But until that
day, give us comfort and strength and hope and joy in Christ. Let us find in Him all we need
and never look to ourselves or even look to our sins or look
to our works or look in any way to anything that's of this flesh,
but look to Christ for our salvation and acceptance. And Lord, give
us the grace to grow in that grace and to grow in the knowledge
of Christ, and that we might grow in the fruit of the Spirit,
that Christ may be glorified in us. Forgive our sins. What sinful creatures we are,
forgive us of our sins. Cleanse us from our unrighteousness. In the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, we pray. Amen.