Are Christians Still Sinners, Saved By Grace – Part 6 Series

Are Christians Still Sinners, Saved By Grace – Part 6

(Rev. Barry Johnson and Rev. Rodney Johnson)

NOTE: New Light Faith Ministries and Barry Johnson Ministries, founded by Rodney V. Johnson and Barry O. Johnson, respectively, are partnering to offer Bible studies for Christians who are seeking to grow in their relationship with Jesus. This is a Bible study lesson, not a sermon. The Bible studies teach foundational truth that are designed to challenge, encourage and, most importantly, flame the fire of hunger in the Christian who wants to learn more about who they have become in Christ Jesus. The Bible studies you find on this site contains the written version of the lesson. However, these lessons also include a video and an audio file of the study, a PDF version of the lesson and a sheet for note taking. If you would like any of the additional resources for these studies, please email us at newlightfaithministries@gmail.com or bjteachingltr@gmail.com for more information or contact us at the email provided on both of our Sermon Central pages. Please visit our YouTube Channel (Barry Johnson Ministries; New Light Faith Ministries, Inc.) to watch or listen to these lessons as well as other available sermons. Be blessed.

Introduction

This is the sixth and final lesson in this series which examines a statement that is very popular in the Church today: “I’m a sinner saved by grace!” In the first five lessons we looked at scriptures that identified the biblically accurate description of who we are because of the life of Jesus that we have living inside of us. That statement is “I was a sinner saved by grace! Now I am a righteous, blameless holy child of God!”

In the last lesson, we did a somewhat detailed look at Romans chapter six that tied together the truths that we learned in the first five chapters of the book, namely that Christians no longer have a sin nature and are free from the dominion of sin. In chapter six, we saw clearly how committing acts of sin is a decision that a Christian makes deliberately. The Apostle Paul lays out what happens to cause a Christian to consider committing sin, and then acting on that consideration to commit the sin. He said in verse13 of Romans chapter six, “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Romans 6:13) Paul says, “Do not present your members.…to sin.” When it comes to committing sin, Paul said we decide to avail ourselves to the sin before committing the act.

And it is in chapter six that Paul makes a clear distinction between living under the Law and living under grace. He wrote the following in verse 14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under Law but under grace.” Paul connects the sin nature with the Law. He says, “The Law was given to people who had a sin nature. Now that we have God’s life, the Law no longer applies to us. Jesus has made us free from the dominion of sin.” We now live under a new Law – “The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus….” (Romans 8:2a). In essence, Paul says a person will either have a nature that is governed by the Law or a nature that is governed by grace. A person cannot be governed by the Law and by grace (the spirit of life) at the same time.

We want to emphasize this point one more time: the born again nature cannot co-exist with the sin nature. The born again nature replaces the sin nature. Second Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” The word “new” means “something that has never existed before.” The sin nature we had before being born again no longer lives inside of us. Paul drives this point home with the phrase “passed away”. When a person has “passed away” we know the person is dead. The person ceases to exist, except in our minds. The simple truth is this: Christians who commit sin do so because they refuse to bow the knee to their new nature. They choose instead to bow the knee to rebellious un-submitted minds and bodies that lust after the flesh.

The Prevailing Interpretation of Romans Chapter Seven

Before we study Romans chapter seven, we thought it would be helpful for you to see four of the prevailing interpretations of the chapter. Several Bible translations include marginal and study notes as part of their examination of the chapter. The following excerpts are a sampling of what we found.