Resisting The Devil – Cleaning Up
Last week we talked about how every Christian is to pursue holiness. Every Christian is to pursue purity. Every Christian is to strive to stay away from sin. Holiness is not an option.
For the past three weeks we have been looking at a verse from first Peter where God tells us:
"Be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16 (NKJV)
Holiness is what God expects in the life of a Christian. God expects His children to become like Him. He expects His children to “be in His image.” He expects them to become clean.
When God saves you He begins a process of cleaning you up. God is in the business of life change. God is in the process of making us pure. But that process requires our involvement.
He will provide for us clean clothes. But you must put them on. He will provide us the ability to come clean. But you must wash. That is why He tells us:
"Be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16 (NKJV)
We are to strive for holiness. We are to pursue purity. We are to have a desire to please the Father – to become like Him.
Last week we said two elements are needed from us to overcome sin in our life. Only we can provide these two elements.
We need SUBMISSION and we need RESISTANCE.
In James chapter four we found these two elements plainly spoken of.
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 (NKJV)
Resistance and submission are vital for your personal spiritual growth. Go ahead and circle the words “submit” and “resist”. If you are going to grow spiritually you need to be submissive and you need to be resistant.
You need to be submissive to GOD.
All sin is just the opposite of submission to God. In other words:
Sin is being RESISTANT to God.
Think about it. Every time you and I don’t do what God wants us to do we are sinning. Every time I put my desires over God’s desires for my life I am falling short of what God has planned for me. Every time I think I can do things better than God can – I miss the mark of what God has in store for me. Every time I resist God – I sin.
James therefore tells us to, “submit to God.” Last week we examined seven ways that we can be submissive to God. But sin is more than resistance to God.
Sin is also being SUBMISSIVE to Satan.
When I give in to Satan or to evil – when I give in to temptation – when I do what I know is not in God’s will for my life – I am sinning against God.
Today we are going to focus in on what it means to resist the devil. We are going to examine how we can resist that which is evil.
Follow along with me in Romans 6:12. The Bible tells us:
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” Romans 6:12 (NKJV)
The first thing that we should notice in Romans 6:12 is that:
We are instructed not to let sin reign in our mortal BODIES.
In other words, don’t allow sin have control of you. This is something that we must do. We must be resistant to sin. It is not something that God has done for us. It is something that we must do for ourselves. The experience of becoming pure – of becoming holy – is not a gift like salvation is but it takes work and effort to become clean. If I want to clean up I need to submit to God – but I must also resist that which is evil.
The second thing to note from Romans 6:12 is that this verse begins with the word “therefore”.
Romans 6:12 begins with the word THEREFORE.
Whenever you see the word “therefore” in the Bible it means that something PREVIOUS has been said which is affecting what is NOW being said. In other words when the Bible says, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body.” we need to pay attention to what had just been said because what has just been said affects that which is not being said. To state it another way, we are to pursue holiness because certain facts are true that we have just been told. What are these facts? Here they are:
Fact One:
1. As a believer you have DIED to sin.
When you accepted Christ as your savior not only did your relationship to Christ change – but your relationship to Satan changed also. You are now dead to sin. Romans 6:2 says:
“How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
One of the things I know for certain about death is that when you die you stop doing the things you have done before. You stop eating, you stop breathing, you stop moving. All your physical activity stops. Your heart stops beating. You no longer have a pulse. You are no longer alive to do the things that you did before. That’s what Romans 6:2 is telling us. We are no longer alive to sin – we have died to it. If we have died to sin – stop sinning.
Not only have we died to sin:
2. As a believer you have been BURIED with Christ.
Not only are we dead – we are also buried. Look at Romans 6:3-4:
“Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death.” Romans 6:3-4 (NKJV)
Baptism is a physical picture of a spiritual reality.
When you accepted Christ as your savior you were baptized by the Holy Spirit. When you were baptized you were saying to the world – “I am no longer alive to sin but I am living for Jesus Christ.” That is why believer baptism is so important. Baptism is a witness to the world that you are a follower of Christ. You are no longer living for self but you are living for God.
You are to be dead to sin and not just dead – but also buried to sin.
Not only are you dead to sin you have been buried to it as well.
Fact three:
3. As a believer you are no longer a SLAVE to sin.
A condition of slavery was that the slave was to do what their master told them to do. As a Christian you are no longer to be a slave to sin. Sin is not to boss you around. When Satan comes knocking on your door let him know that you don’t work for him anymore. If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you are not to have two bosses. You are not to be a slave to sin. That is what Romans 6:6 tells us:
“…We should no longer be slaves of sin.” Romans 6:6 (NKJV)
That leads us to the next point:
4. As a believer you are FREED from sin.
When Christ died on the cross He said, “It is finished.” He said it was done. All things were completed. He completed the work of the Father. He put to death the punishment of sin. He paid the price so that we are no longer proclaimed guilty but that we are forgiven. He set us free from the bondage of sin. By His death we have life. If we have died with Christ – if we have been buried with Him – sin has no hold on us. We are free from the power of sin. Romans 6:7 says:
“For he who has died has been freed from sin.” Romans 6:7 (NKJV)
Sin should have no hold on you. The Bible tells us to live like it. Live like free men and women – because we are free.
That’s what point five tells us.
5. As a believer you are to WALK in newness of life.
I was dead. I was buried. I was a slave. Now I am free. Now I have been given a second chance. Now I can live a different life. Now that Christ has been raised to a newness of life – I can change my behavior. I can walk in a newness of life. Look at Romans 6:4 with me.
“Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4 (NKJV)
Folks if you know Christ – you have been given a second change. You have been given a new birth. You can walk in a newness of life. Submit to God – Resist the Devil. Walk as one free from sin. Be holy for God is holy. Live a life of purity.
That brings us to point six.
6. As a believer you are ALIVE to God.
Look closely at Romans 6:11 with me.
“Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:11 (NKJV)
To reckon here means to accept what God says is true and to live like it is. In Christ I am dead to sin. We reckon ourselves dead to sin when we respond to temptation as a dead man would.
One day Augustine was approached by a woman who had been his mistress before his conversion. When he her, he turned and walked away quickly. She called after him, “Augustine, it’s me! It’s me!”
Quickening his pace, he called back over his shoulder, “Yes, I know it’s you, but it’s no longer me!”
A dead man has nothing to do with immorality, lying, cheating, gossiping, or any other sin.
Point seven tells us:
7. As a believer you are to SERVE God.
Service has to do with who you obey. That is why the Bible tells you:
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” Romans 6:12 (NKJV)
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 (NKJV)
"Be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16 (NKJV)
Many people do not know that during the Civil War there was a draft that took place. Men would receive their draft notice and have to report to the draft board in order to fulfill their obligation.
But there was something unique about the draft during those days. A person could go out and hire another man to take his place in the service. Well this happened on numerous occasions but there was one in particle that caught my attention. It seems that a man had gone out and hired another man to take his place. In the course of a battle the hired man was killed. The draft board issued another notice the man and required him to serve. Instead of going out and hiring another man to take his place he went down to the draft board and made his case. He said, “You can not draft me a second time – because I am already dead. I have hired another man to take my place and he was killed in battle. Therefore, I am dead and can not be drafted again.” It turned out that he was right. Someone died in his place and he could not be placed into service again.
How about you – who has died in your place? If you are dead to sin you can resist the Devil. You can be holy.
