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. Be blessed.
Are Christians Still Sinners But Saved By Grace – Part 5
(Rev. Barry Johnson and Rev. Rodney Johnson)
Introduction
This is the fifth lesson in this series which examines a statement that is very popular in the Church today: “I’m just a sinner saved by grace!” In the first four 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: “I was a sinner saved by grace! Now I am a righteous, blameless holy child of God!” Ephesians 1:3-4 states it this way: “(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (4) just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” (Ephesians 1:3-4)
In the first four lessons, we provided the foundation for what we are going to cover in this lesson and in the final lesson next month. All the lessons lead up to a detailed examination of Romans chapter seven, which is the chapter many use to support the teaching that a Christian, who is born again and completely free from the power of sin, continues to live under the power of sin. This is why many Christians continue to believe they are sinners. But the truth is this: Jesus freed us from the power of sin, and we see this recorded in Colossians 1:12-14 – “(12) Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (13) He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, (14) in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:12-14)
In verse 13, the word power is the Greek word exousia and is translated both as “power” and “authority” in the New Testament. However, the primary Greek word for “power” is dunamis, which means “being able, capable or inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth.” Think of dunamis this way: you have two people pulling a rope, one on each end. The goal is to pull the person across the line. Dunamis says the person with the most power, the one who is the strongest, will win. However, the primary Greek word for “authority” is exousia, which means “dominion, authority or rule.” A person who has exousia has a say in the lives of people. An example of this would be a person’s supervisor on the job.
What you are about to hear is very important to you, as a child of God. Satan has never had dunamis (power) over humanity. He cannot make anyone, whether the person is saved or not, do anything against their will. But he has exousia (authority) over people who are not born again through his ability to exert influence over the person’s sin nature. However, we have been delivered from his exousia – his dominion, authority, and rule – because we no longer have a sin nature that he can exert influence over. And this is the important truth that we must grasp and understand.
Why Christians Commit Sin
So why do Christians commit sin? That is the focus of this month’s bible study. We are going to begin in Romans chapter five with verse 12 and verses 19 through 23. Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” We are born into this world as sinners. It’s not our fault. Point the finger at Adam. The moment he ate of the forbidden tree he corrupted the human spirit and condemned every person born into this world to an eternity separated from God. And here is the truth that we must understand – committing sin is not what makes us sinners. We sin because we are born with a nature, a spirit, that wants to sin. We sin because that is who we are before we accept Christ as our Savior and are transformed.
We were born with a sin nature – sin was our default setting and what was “normal” for us. But when we got saved, our spirits were transformed but our mind and our flesh were not – hence the battle we are constantly fighting. Our minds and our flesh must be taught and forced to yield to our renewed spirits and that is the work that is being done within each and every one of us – getting our minds and flesh in agreement with our new spirit. Now look at verse 19: “For as by one man's disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One (Jesus) shall many be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)
With our first birth, we receive a sin nature, a corrupted human spirit. When we are born again, our second birth, we receive a spotless and sin-free human spirit. We no longer have sin living inside of us! Praise God! But we must say “yes” to Jesus because if we don’t, we are headed for the lake of fire and eternal separation from God because sin still rules (exercises authority) over us. Now look at verses 20 and 21. “(20) Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: (21) that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20-21)
Many people read verse 21 and believe that it is saying that the more a person sins the more grace that will be available to them. But that is not what the verse is saying. If we read verse 21, and we mean really read it, we will see that the sin Paul is talking about is not the acts of sin but the sin nature from which the acts of sin originate. Do you see the words reigned and reign? They mean “to rule, or to govern, to act as king.” We can read verse 21 this way and maintain its scriptural integrity: “In the past, the sin nature was king in your life. It decided what you would do and what you would not do. It also condemned you to an eternity in the lake of fire. But now you can receive God’s grace through a new sinless nature, a nature that is just like God’s nature. And if you will allow that nature to lead and guide you in how you live, then an eternity with Jesus Christ awaits you.”
One more point about grace before we move on. As we said earlier, many people believe that grace is what we must use to cover our sins. We sprinkle a little grace here and a little over there whenever we sin, but that is not what grace does in the life of a Christian. We won’t spend a lot of time on this, but it’s important for us to know that grace empowers us not to sin versus covering up our sin after we commit it. Titus 2:11-12 records the following, “(11) For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (12) teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” (Titus 2:11-12) Now let’s read these verses from the Amplified Bible. It says, “(11) For the [remarkable, undeserved] grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. (12) It teaches us to reject ungodliness and worldly (immoral) desires, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives [lives with a purpose that reflect spiritual maturity] in this present age.” (Titus 2:11-12 Amp)
The grace of God can bring salvation to all – but we know that all people will not accept it. God has offered salvation to everyone, but it is up to the individual to accept His offer or reject His offer. For the person who says “yes” then grace begins to do something. Paul says that the grace of God is, “teach(ing) us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” Paul wrote that grace teaches (instructs, trains and disciplines) us to deny (reject in all forms) ungodliness (wickedness) and worldly lusts. Grace does not cover sins; it teaches us to reject it! Grace does not erase sin; it instructs us how to not do it in the first place. When we truly understand and recognize what grace has done and is doing in our lives, we will begin to reject the idea that we continue to be sinners who are saved by the same grace that is teaching us how not to sin. Does this make sense? Now with all of this in mind, let’s look at Romans chapter six in some detail.
Verse 1 – “(1) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” Do you see what Paul is doing here? He’s asking us to think about what we just read in Romans 5:20-21. Paul’s response to that is, “So, you’re telling me that committing sin is not a big deal because you will still receive God’s grace?” Can’t you just hear Paul’s exasperation: “Really? Seriously!”
Verse 2 – “(2) Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin, live any longer in it?” Paul says, “If you believe this, you need to lay off the camel milk! If a person is dead to sin, how can he commit sin? He can’t! He is dead to sin! Spell it with me: D-E-A-D!” How many of you know a person who has died? When was the last time that person called you or sent you an email or friend request on Facebook? We like the way Knox renders this verse: “We have died, once and for all, to sin; can we breathe its air again?” The answer is “No sir. We cannot.” Until we submit our minds and thoughts to our new nature, we will think like the old dead nature. When a person dies, that person ceases to function and no longer exists except in our hearts and minds. As we said previously, the born again experience does not affect our minds and thoughts – something that we have emphasized throughout these lessons. That’s why we must change our thoughts on purpose to agree with our new nature.
Verses 3 and 4 – “(3) Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? (4) Therefore we are buried with Him by 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.” Do you see the word should? It means we have a choice. We must choose to walk in our new life. A person who is not born again cannot make such a choice because of the influence that Satan exerts over the sin nature. Remember, it’s only the power of Christ that resides within us that enables us to resist sin. James wrote, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) It is only through our submission to God that we can resist the devil and when we do resist, he flees. If the devil is not fleeing from us it is because we are not doing a good enough job resisting him.
Verses 5-7 – “(5) For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, (6) knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (7) For he who has died has been freed from sin.” The body of sin that is done away with is the sin nature – the corrupted human spirit that is passed down to us from Adam. The King James Version uses the word “destroyed” or “annulled”. When a marriage is annulled, our laws say it never happened; it never existed. That is what this word communicates about the corrupted human spirit. When it is destroyed, the Bible treats it as if never existed. The word slave, on the surface, doesn’t give us a warm and fuzzy feeling, does it? It’s the Greek word doulos. In the Hebrew it is ebed. In Biblical times, a servant was paid a wage and had the freedom to come and go as he pleased. Not so with a slave, a doulos. He subjected himself, willingly and on purpose, to the will of his master. He chose to give up his freedom and he chose to not have a will of his own. New Testament scholar R. C. Trent says a doulos is a person “who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another, his will altogether swallowed up in the will of the other.”
This description sheds light on why Jesus says to the Father “nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” when he’s in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39) as well as what He declares about His relationship with the Father in John 5:30. We are going to read the verse from the Amplified Bible. “(30) I am able to do nothing from Myself [independently, of My own accord – but only as I am taught by God and as I get His orders]. Even as I hear, I judge [I decide as I am bidden to decide. As the voice comes to Me, so I give a decision], and My judgment is right (just, righteous), because I do not seek or consult My own will [I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose] but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me.” (John 5:30)
Before we were born again, we were a doulos to the sin nature. Our human spirits were corrupted, and we were in a permanent relationship of servitude (slavery) to sin. We were powerless to change that relationship. We needed a person with a pure, uncontaminated, life-giving spirit who was willing to purchase our freedom for us. Jesus willingly paid that price once and for all! Now we are in a permanent relationship of servitude (slavery) to righteousness – to a just, righteous, and loving God! Thank you, Jesus! Being a willing slave to God is not a demeaning or diminished position.
The text reads should no longer be slaves of sin, as rendered here in the New King James. However, most bibles translate doulos as servant or bondservant because of the negative view that society has of the words slave and slavery. But the concept of slavery is essential to understanding how Jesus lived and how we are to live as Christians, and we saw this in the Amplified Bible’s rendering of John 5:30. The truth Paul is speaking is astounding but will be hard for many Christians to hear and accept. “We have been freed from the servitude (slavery) of the sin nature so that we can enter a new servitude, a new form of slavery – slaves to righteousness!” We are no longer slaves to a corrupt human spirit. Now we are sons and daughters of God who willingly choose to be slaves to the will of our Heavenly Father through our new sinless human spirit.
Verses 8-11 – “(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.”
The word reckon paints an image of a person reviewing documents like official proceedings, text citations, and monographs to make an informed decision. After reading the last piece of evidence the person concludes that, yes, these are the facts in this matter. They will stand up in court! Paul says “Listen, based on what I have said up to this point, consider yourselves, without question, to be dead to the sin nature, dead to the corrupted human spirit. We are not sinners anymore. We have a new life. We are alive with a new uncorrupted human spirit through Jesus Christ!”
If we don’t understand this truth, we will continue to yield to the sin that lives in our unglorified bodies instead of making our unglorified bodies yield to our new sinless human spirits. Because a person is born again with the life of Jesus inside of them, when it comes to the sin nature, that person has become a corpse. There is no sin inside that person to influence them. This is what Paul is trying to get us to understand! A person who is dead – if you touch him will he flinch? No! Will he open his eyes? No! Will he respond to a lighted match? No! The person is a corpse!
Verse 12 – “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” Do you see the word let in this verse? It means we can choose to not allow the sin that is in our bodies determine how we live. This is a truth that we have also repeated throughout these lessons. When a person who has the life of Jesus living in them commits sin, it is because they have chosen to do so. Paul says do not let sin reign in your mortal body. He doesn’t say reign “in your spirit.” Just like the mind, the body does not get born again. That’s why the Bible says we must mortify the deeds of the flesh. We are to put to death the actions and temptations that arise because of the sin that lives in our bodies. Turn to Romans 8:13, which states, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Now look at Colossians 3:5 which reads, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Let’s continue with verse thirteen.
Verse 13 – “(13) 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.” We think it is interesting the wording that Paul uses in this verse. He said do not present your members. When it comes to sin, we must make ourselves available to do it. What would be an example of a person making himself available to sin? You decide to go to a bar but only for a cherry cola. You have just made yourself available to sin, not to mention you are ruining your Christian testimony. You may not drink alcohol the first time or the second time or even the third time. But if you keep going back to the bar, if you keep making yourself available to the alcohol, eventually you are going to have a drink. That is the image that Paul is communicating. Paul says don’t present yourself to sin – don’t put yourself in a place to be tempted to sin.
Think about it like this. If you have ever attended a birthday party, when all of the guests are present and it’s time for the cake, everyone is seated and the person of honor waits patiently for the cake to be brought out. Once the candles are lit, the cake is brought out and presented to the guest of honor so that the person can blow out the candle. Now think of the cake as your mortal body and you presenting it as an instrument of sin versus presenting it to God. It’s about a choice. Either we are presenting our bodies to God or we are presenting it to sin.
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. “The Law was given to people who had a sin nature,” he says. “Now that we have God’s life, the Law doesn’t apply to us anymore. We are 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). Remember, being under grace means we are being taught how to resist, turn from and walk away from anything that is not of God.
Verses 15-16 – “(15) What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law (we don’t have a sin nature) but under grace (we have God’s nature)? Certainly not! (16) Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” To whom are you presenting yourself to? Paul says that whoever we decide to present or make ourselves available to will be our master – the soul and body or the uncorrupted human spirit. One leads to the lake of fire and eternal separation from God and the other to an eternity in God’s presence.
So, why do Christians commit sin? They decide, on purpose, to make themselves available to sin, for example, through TV programs and movies that “nurture” sinful thoughts. They also have people in their lives that “bring sin with them.” What kind of sin? You have a friend who is living with his girlfriend. The Bible says two single people cannot have “a husband and wife relationship.” You are making yourself available to sin by spending time with him like everything is okay. It’s not. He is in sin and so are you if you don’t distance yourself from him. We don’t want you to miss what I am are about to say. If we continue to make ourselves available to sin, we can lose our salvation. That is what sin leading to death is talking about. Let that sink in ladies and gentlemen. The more sin we are around and allow to be present in our life the more sin that will become normal for us. When sin becomes normal for us we are no longer offended by it nor will we feel the need to distance ourselves from it.
Verses 17-23 – “(17) But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. (18) And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (19) I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness (You’re still going to the bar. You continue to watch movies that nurture sinful thoughts.) so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. (Stop going to the bar! Stop watching the movies!). (20) For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. (21) What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. (22) But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. (23) For (when you are a slave to sin) the wages of sin is death, but (when you are a slave to righteousness) the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Based on everything that we have seen in this lesson, how important is grace? The “wages of sin is death.” Because of our sin nature, our corrupted human spirit, through no fault of our own we were headed for eternal damnation. But now “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God’s grace rescues us from the eternal death that waits for everyone with a corrupted human spirit. We now have eternal life! Thank you, Jesus!
We know some people might struggle with the idea that they are sinning because they choose to. It is very comforting experiencing something that we can say “is not our fault.” It’s not my fault that I lied or stole – the devil made me do it. Because I am just a sinner saved by grace, it’s not my fault when I sin – I cannot help myself. This is how many Christians think and in doing so forget what Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth. He wrote, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” (Second Corinthians 9:8) Paul wrote that God would ensure that we have “all grace” in order to do what? All grace so that we will always have whatever we need in a given situation to handle our business – or better said, to handle His business. You see, again, grace is not covering anything – it is empowering. So we have what we need to resist sin and to walk away from it. God has empowered us and for that reason alone He can hold us accountable for how we choose to live. He can hold us accountable because He has given us everything we need to obey Him.
So, in Romans chapter six, we see that a Christian who sins does so on purpose. And it is not because of who he is, but because he refuses to follow the leading of his sinless human spirit. He chooses to give into a rebellious unsubmitted mind and a body that lust after the flesh and, if he continues to do so, he is committing the most egregious act anyone can commit – he is turning his back on salvation and he doesn’t even know it. Ladies and gentlemen, if this is you, fall on your knees right now and repent. It’s not too late.
We can now examine Romans 7 and we’ll do this next month.
