Sin is Dead
Romans 6:1-14
1.
Question: Have you ever had sin that you
couldn’t overcome?
2.
These next three chapters are the most powerful
sections of scripture when it comes to overcoming sin.
3.
See in the context of what we learned in
chapters 1-5:
a.
Chapter 1-5 helped us understand the positional
truth of justification,
i. in
6-8 we’ll learn the practical truth of sanctification
b.
1-5 taught us we were dead IN sin,
i. 6-8
teaches us we are now dead TO sin.
c.
1-5 taught us we were free from the penalty of
sin;
i. 6-8
teaches us we are free from the power of sin.
4.
Chapters 6, 7 & 8 will teach us three
important truths:
a.
Through Christ, the power that sin had over us
has been broken
b.
Through Christ, we’ve been released from the
bondage of the law
c.
Through Christ, we’ve been given the Spirit of
the Living God to guide us, to help us, and the reveal to us God’s love for us!
5.
These truths that we’re about to learn are so
important for the Christian, especially the new Christian, because all too
often, Christians try to fight sin by saying “no, no, no!”
a.
Guess what, that only works for a short time –
eventually our willpower weakens, and we give in…
b.
Paul is going to teach us a new way:
“Know, know, know!”
5:20
But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in
death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord 6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer
in it?
6.
Paul is answering the question "if grace is
so awesome, why worry about sin at all? Why not sin more so grace can abound
more?"
a.
And he answers his own question...
"Really?"
b.
There have been sects in the past that actually
taught that doctrine!
7.
I’m sure no one here thinks that, but often
Christians will rationalize sin...
a.
“I’m not there yet…” “God’s grace is
sufficient…” “I know God will forgive me…” “God knows my heart…”
8.
Those statements are true, but what's
happening is that person has taken the position that “since God’s grace is inexhaustible, I can live with this sin, and
trust God’s grace to cover it…”
a.
Yes, God does forgive, and yes His grace is
inexhaustible.
b.
And yes, a Christian could live their entire
life with some sin that they never get victory over….
c.
Paul is saying “that's no way for a child of the
king to live! You don’t have to live that way!”
d.
There IS a solution!
Our New Identification
3 Or do
you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism
into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
9.
In just a few weeks we’ll be holding a Baptism
service, and to me these are the most incredible services here at CCW.
a.
Why? Because baptism is a public
proclamation that a person has become eternally linked to Jesus Christ, and
that their lives have been forever changed.
b.
It is an outward celebration of an inward
spiritual reality
10. In
a way it’s similar to a marriage ceremony:
a.
Public ceremony – communicates to the world that
this couple are now one – they are committed to each other for life.
b.
Outward symbol – the ring – tells every person
that comes into contact that I am committed to someone for life.
11. What
would happen if a couple were married in secret, never told anyone, never wore
a ring, didn't live together,
a.
Technically they would be married, but
practically they wouldn’t be experiencing the life of a married couple.
12. Unfortunately
many Christians live in this exact same way; they’ve take the step to
receive Christ, but they aren’t experiencing the reality of their new
relationship with Christ.
a.
Just like that couple that was living as if they
were still single,
b.
Some Christians live as if they were still
unsaved.
13. Paul
is saying “You need to KNOW something: When you became a Christian, you
were eternally UNITED with Jesus Christ, and that makes you a NEW CREATION.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2
Corinthians 5:17
14. Baptism
represents a mysterious yet marvelous truth that Paul is laying out here: When we
are joined with Christ, a parallel reality is set into motion…
a.
It declares that just as Christ died, the our
old sin nature also died
b.
It declares just as Christ rose from the grave,
we will also rise again.
c.
And it declares that just as Christ now walks in
the newness of eternal life, we too walk in the newness of eternal life.
d.
It declares that just as He ascended to the
heavenlies, we are now seated with Him in the heavenlies!
15. Baptism
is a public declaration that we’ve been linked to Christ, and therefore we’ve
been placed into a new way of living.
a.
Just like a married couple should walk in the
new relationship that they've entered,
b.
We should walk in the new relationship we have
entered.
Our new Liberation
5 For
if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also
shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man
was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we
should no longer be slaves of sin.
16. When
Jesus died 2000 years ago, something incredible happened: My old sin
nature died with Him.
a.
I may not fully understand it, but it doesn't
change the reality of what happened.
b.
When you walk into a room and turn on the
lights, you may not understand how electricity was generated, or how it was
transmitted to your house, or how your house was wired, or how the light bulb
was made…
c.
But that doesn't keep you from turning on the
lights, and experiencing the benefits of those things, does it?
17. In
the same way, just because we might not understand how our sin nature died, or
how we've become a new creation,
a.
It shouldn't keep us from walking in the reality
of those truths.
b.
We are united in His death, united in His life,
and we've been set free.
“The
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel
to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to
the captives and recovery of sight to
the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke
4:18-19 / Isaiah 61
18. Here
is the reality:
7 For
he who has died has been freed from sin.
Died and set free…
19. If
you've ever known someone that had a terrible illness, you saw they were in
great pain and suffering, when they passed away you may have said:
“finally their free…”
a.
When they were alive, they couldn't stop the
pain, but once they died that pain no longer had any effect on them.
b.
Dead people don’t feel pain!
20. When
you were joined with Christ, you died to sin, therefore sin no longer has any
power over you.
a.
But in our case, we aren’t set free by just
being dead – we’re set free into new life…
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also
live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no
more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He
died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11
Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
21. When
this parallel reality of being joined to Christ occurs, we now have a new
relationship to God, but we also have a new relationship with sin.
Our relationship with sin
22. Paul
uses an interesting term: “reckon
yourselves to be dead indeed to sin”
a.
He isn’t pulling out the southern vernacular to
blend in (“I reckon y’all better stop sinnin…”);
b.
No, reckon is an accounting term, meaning “to
take into account, to calculate”
23. Say
your boss comes to you and says, “I’m going to pay you $50 per hour, which
would be $104K per year.”
a.
You say “are you sure that’s $104K per year?” he
could say “reckon it, add it up, you’ll see it’s true.”
b.
You might not understand why he did it, but it
doesn't matter, you’ve got the check!
c.
Then you come home and tell your wife “hey, I’m
now making $104K per year,” and your wife will say “GREAT! There’s some
things at the mall that I really need, lets go!”
24. In
other words, you’re going to start living your life differently in light of
your new reality – save for college, retirement, maybe even splurge a little.
a.
it wouldn’t matter how you felt about your new
salary, it wouldn’t matter if you understood it: It is your new reality,
and now you’re going to live in accordance with that new reality.
25. In
other words Paul is saying “I doesn't matter how you feel, or whether you
understand it, you can believe what I’m telling you:
a.
This is a FACT - You are dead to sin – and now
you can start living your life according to your new reality.”
b.
Put it this way: We live by FAITH,
according to the FACTS, not on our FEELINGS.
Imagine Fact, Faith, and
Feelings are walking on a tightrope across a deep canyon. As long as Faith
keeps his eyes on Fact, he’s fine.
But as soon as Faith turns
to check on Feelings, he falls.
26. It
is a fact that Christ died, and so did we, He rose again, and so will we; He walks in the newness of life, and so do we!
a.
Faith keeps its eyes on Fact!
27. Now,
there is another reality that we need to understand about sin: Our sin
nature is dead, but you can still pull him back out of the coffin.
a.
Paul said:
“our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of
sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin”
Vs 6
b.
Before we became Christians, we had an excuse:
we were slaves to sin.
c.
Yet when we were joined with Christ, our old sin
nature died with him, Paul says: “done away with,”
d.
Greek ‘Katargo’ which carries the meaning of
“rendered inactive” or “paralyzed”
28. There
is a different in something being “destroyed” or “annihilated,” and something
being “rendered inactive.”
a.
Our sin nature has been rendered inactive, but
we can still listen to it.. Engage it.
b.
Our sin nature is like that clown in the dunking
booth at the fair, all he can do is call to us and taunt us.
29. This
fact helps us to understand why Christians sometimes fall back into sin.
a.
Because, even though sin no longer has any power
over that person, that person can still choose to allow sin back into their
lives.
b.
And the results are always the same… death.
30. Perhaps
you recall the entertainers Siegfried and Roy, at one time the highest paid
entertainers in the world.
a.
Part of their show was Roy Horn’s 600 pound
Bengal Tiger, Montecore, an animal that Roy had raised from a cub. He treated
it like a member of the family.
During a show on Oct 3, 2003 at the Mirage Hotel in
Las Vegas, Montecore sank his fangs into Roy’s neck, and drug him off stage.
It took two stagehands beating the tiger and spraying it with a fire
extinguisher to get it to release Roy. Roy was rushed to the hospital
with a crushed windpipe, severe arterial and spinal damage. He had two
strokes, and flat lined three times while on the operating table. The Dept of
Agriculture and the LV Police conducted a thorough investigation to find out
why the tiger attacked Roy. The final results of the report: “ We
don’t know why the tiger attacked Roy.”
b.
I could have saved them the trouble; The reason Montecore attacked Roy is because HE’S
A TIGER! That’s what tigers do!
c.
(“I’m a tiger, every now and then I have to sink
my fangs into something … it’s been a while…”)
31.
Christians, sin is just like that tiger. “Hey, can I come in for a while?
I promise I won’t bite you like I did last time. It'll be fun, no
one has to know, just like old times!”
a.
And you’re like “Well, we did have a lot of fun
together, and its only for a little while, I suppose its OK, come on in!”
b.
And guess what, just like that Tiger, sin is
going to bite you, because THAT'S WHAT SIN DOES!
c.
Sin bring brings death.
32. You
might think “well, I didn’t die…” REALLY? Your wife just caught you
watching porn, you just killed your marriage...
a.
FACT: If we allow sin in, it will reign and
destroy. WHY? Because that's what sin does.
b.
In other words, Paul is telling us we have a
choice...
12
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in
its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness
to sin,
Practical Application
33. Paul
is teaching us a very practical truth: You have a choice as to what you
allow to reign in your life. (again, God gave us free will)
a.
See, sin is conceived in the heart: our
flesh has a desire to be fulfilled in some way.
b.
Then it is considered in the will: “will I
give in to this desire?”
c.
This is the decision point, like the angel on
one side, and the devil on the other!
34. If
we surrender to it, if we submit our will to our flesh, then it’s only a matter
of time before our body is put into motion to commit the act.
a.
Jesus went through the same process...
O My Father, if it is
possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You
will. Matt 26:39
35. So
the real question isn’t “will I sin,” the real question is “will I
surrender my will to the Spirit of God that lives in me.”
a.
Paul is telling us “surrender your will, and
thus your members, to God.”
...but present yourselves to God as being alive from the
dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall
not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
b.
Will you present your mouth to be used by your
sinful flesh to sin;
c.
or will you choose to present your mouth to be
used by God?
d.
Will you present your hands to your sinful flesh
to sin;
e.
or will you present your hands to be used by
God?
36. Can
you see how a person without Christ doesn’t even have this option?
a.
But once you enter into relationship with
Christ, everything changes.
Points:
37. When
you enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, you are born into a new
reality: An eternal link to Jesus Christ.
a.
Because of that link with Christ, everything
that was Christ’s, is now yours as well.
b.
He died, you died, and thus sin no longer has
any power over you.
c.
He lives, you live, you have been given new
life, you are alive to God!
d.
You have been set free!
I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Romans
12:1
Copyright © 2014 Clay Ritter. This data file is the sole property
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