By: Mark Engler, Mt. Vernon Christian Church, Mt. Vernon, MO
Sermon done with help from The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible.
The Believer is Not to Continue in Sin (Part 2)
He is to Live Out His Position in Christ.
Romans 6:11-13
Intro: There is no doubt that as a believer we know that the title of this sermon series it true. “The believer is not to continue in sin,” but do we live that out? We know, as we talked about a couple weeks ago that we are dead to sin. That is, those who have died with Christ. Died in the likeness of Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection in true Christian baptism. We know that we are not to continue in sin, but what does it seem that we continually do? We are always having to go back to God, always having to ask and pray for the forgiveness of our sins, it seems at times that it never stops and that it’s never going to get better.
There are Christians who have drug and alcohol problems, who get divorces, who have affairs, who cheat on their taxes, who steal, cheat on test in school, who lie, and the list could go on and on and on. Paul knows of these problems, Paul knows of these struggles, all you have to do is read the next chapter in Romans (chapter 7) to see how he struggled with sin, and he knows that sin is something that we Christians struggle with and that it is something that we will struggle with all of our lives.
Once we become Christians, Satan starts his work on us, because he wants to take us down with him, he doesn’t want to see us victorious with Christ and therefore sin will be a problem and a struggle for us. In Romans chapter six, in these verses with which we are dealing with today Paul addresses the sin problem and how we can victorious over it.
The true believer does not continue in sin; he does not live in sin. He conquers and triumphs over sin. In very clear terms Paul tells us in this passage exactly what the believer must do to live in victory over sin.
1. He counts himself dead to sin, but alive to God (vs.11). 2. He resists sin (vs. 12). 3. He does not yield the parts of his body to sin (vs. 13).
1. He Counts Himself Dead to Sin, But Alive to God (Vs. 11)
The believer must count himself dead to sin, but alive to God. Now, what does Paul mean when to “count yourself dead to sin”? The word count gives the idea to credit; to set to ones account; to ascribe; it is an accounting word; it implies something put to a man’s credit. It is used many times throughout Romans, about eleven times in chapter 4 alone. It is an extremely important idea in Scripture.
Scripture says that righteousness in imputed, counted, or reckoned to the genuine believer by God. Look at Rom. 4:18 & 22-25, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations…This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
Scripture says that the genuine believer is immersed, imputed, counted, or reckoned as dead in Christ’s death; that is, his “old self” is reckoned as crucified in Christ’s death. Just look at the Scripture we had a few weeks ago in Romans, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Rom. 6:3-4. And then look at Rom. 6:6, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”
Scripture says that a new life, a resurrected life is counted or put to the account of the believer through Christ’s resurrection. Again, back two weeks ago, Rom. 6:5 says, “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”
Very simply stated, God counts the believer righteous because of what Christ has done for us. Christ is seen to be “the Lord our righteousness,” and His righteousness is said to be put to a man’s account through faith.
So how does the believer keep from walking in sin? Well, first he must count himself dead to sin. If a person is a true believer, then he has died with Christ. God has taken his belief and counted him as having died in Christ, and a dead man can do nothing; he cannot sin. He is freed from sin.
What happens is this: when a believer truly believes in Christ, God takes his faith and counts him dead in Christ. God frees him from sin and its power as well as from its consequences and penalty. Therefore, the believer is to
Ø Count himself
Ø Treat himself
Ø Consider himself
Ø Regard himself
Ø Reckon himself
Ø Credit himself
…as dead in Christ, as being free from sin and its power. He is to receive this truth into his heart and life, and become totally convicted and convinced of it.
Let’s note a crucial point here; the true believer is not left only to the power of his own mind or thoughts to convince himself of this truth. It is not only a matter of human thought and reasoning or of mental control. God has given the Holy Spirit to stir and build confidence of the truth within the believer. The Holy Spirit is our “seal” our guarantee, of salvation. But that is the subject of another discussion, our text today in dealing with our part in overcoming sin. God does help us overcome sin through the Holy Spirit, but we also have a part. And it is our part that we are concerned with today.
Just look at the following Scriptures, Gal. 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” What about Col. 3:3, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” And 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
All of these Scriptures tell us that Christ has died for us and we have a part in overcoming the sin in our lives and we are to live by faith, hidden is Christ, and for righteousness. If we are a believer then we have died to sin and we are not to let sin control our lives.
The believer must also count himself alive to God. The true believer is not only identified with Christ in death, he is identified with Christ in resurrection. God not only counts the believer’s faith as death in Christ, he counts his faith as life in Christ. The believer is counted to have risen in Christ’s resurrection. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is counted as the resurrection of the believer. As Jesus Christ was raised to a new life, so the believer is raised to a new life. As Jesus Christ was raised to live in the presence of God and to serve Him forever, so the believer is raised to live in the presence of God and to serve Him forever.
The point is this: let the believer receive into his heart and life the truth of his resurrected life. Let the believer now live to God. Let the believer now serve God and not sin. Let the believer walk before God in his new, resurrected life; let him walk soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Let him walk…
Ø Counting himself
Ø Treating himself
Ø Considering himself
Ø Regarding himself
…as alive to God, now and forever serving God.
Luke 20:38 says, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” Rom. 14:8 tells us, “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” And 2 Cor. 5:15 says, “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
And we need to note another truth as we deal with this first point. The believer’s life is due to Christ and Christ alone. All that the believer knows – his deliverance from sin and the victory of eternal life is due to Christ’s death and resurrection. But it is the believer who really keeps his mind upon the death and resurrection of Christ that walks above sin. It is he who walks free from sin who conquers sin every step of the way; he is the one who gives God glory by living a righteous life.
The believer’s first step in conquering sin is to count himself dead to sin, but alive to God. He must know and live out his position; the life God has given him in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. The believer who keeps his mind and thought upon his position in Christ’s death and resurrection will conquer sin every time.
2. He Resists Sin (Vs. 12)
The believer must resist sin. This is an imperative – a forceful command. It is up to the one who believes to resist sin; he is responsible for resisting it.
He must not let sin reign in his body. Sin must not have authority, rule, control, occupy, hold sway, and prevail over him in any way. The idea is a continuous attitude and behavior. The believer is always to keep his mind off sin. He is to keep his mind under control by keeping his mind off…
Ø Wealth and material things
Ø Position and power
Ø Recognition and fame
Ø The lust of the eyes
Ø The lust of the flesh
Ø The pride of life
Ø Parties and sex
Ø Appearances and clothes
The believer is not to let sin dominate, control, and reign in his mortal body. Sin is not to dominate his thoughts and life. He is to resist sin by standing against it. He is to oppose sin with all his might.
Look at the following Scriptures: John 5:14, “Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 1 Cor. 15:34, “Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.” And 1 John 2:1, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”
We must not obey sin in its lusts and evil desires. The word “desire” means strong desire or craving and passion. The pull of sin is sometimes strong, very strong. Everyone knows what it is to lust after things, after more and more, whether it be money, property, security, position, pleasure, fun, or fleshly simulation. The true believer must not yield to these pulls. He must not let the lust of his eyes and flesh rule and regulate his mind and behavior. He must not let lust order his life. He must not obey sin in its lust, in its craving and desires and passions. He must resist the lust of his “mortal body.”
Rom. 8:13 tells us, “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Again in Rom. 13:14, “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” And back in 1 Peter 2:11 he tells us, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” It is imperative as our text tells us to not let sin reign in our mortal bodies.
3. He Does Not Yield the Parts of His Body to Sin (Vs. 13)
There are three things that need to be said about sin at this point. 1. Sin is an offense and a disease; it can be a master or a ruling power. 2. Sin is not done away with or “destroyed” in the believer. It is still active and can still injure. The believer is to fight against its pull. 3. The body is not the source of sin, but the Bible says and man’s experience proves that the body is the instrument of sin, the organ which sin uses to manifest and satisfy itself.
The body is under the heavy influence and severe power of sin and corruption so much so much that the appetites of the body tends to enslave the soul and lead men to sin, even against their better judgment. Therefore, the believer is strongly exhorted, resist, “do not let sin reign in your mortal body” (Rom. 6:12)
In vs. 13 it says not to “offer” the parts of your body as instruments of wickedness. That word offer or yield as is says in another version means to put at the disposal of; to give; to grant; to turn over to. The believer is not to offer the any part of his body as an instrument or tool on unrighteousness, if he does he sins. The parts of a person’s body refer to all the parts of the body: the eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, hands, feet, mind, or any of the covered and dressed parts, to do so is to sin.
The tense in this verse is present action; the believer is to be constantly on guard against allowing any parts of his body to be yielded to sin. Also note that the word “yield” has the idea of struggling. It is a struggle to fight against sin and to control and protect the parts of our body.
Instead of yielding to unrighteousness, the believer is to yield or offer himself to God. We should note that unlike what I said just a minute ago that the tense was present when he says not to offer our bodies to unrighteousness, here in the Greek when it says to offer himself to God it is not written in the present tense, but in a tense that expresses and never ending continual action. This simply means that the believer is to make a one-time decision for God, a once-for-all dedication of his life to God. The presentation of his life to God is to be sincere and genuine, a one time decision. He is to offer himself – his body, his life, all that he is – to God; and his decision is to be permanent one that last throughout all eternity.
Note just how complete this dedication is to be. It is to be as deep of a commitment as the dedication of those who are alive from the dead. Just think how deeply committed to God the believers are who have gone on to be with Him!
The believer is to offer the parts of his body as instruments of righteousness to God. The believer is to turn the parts of his body over to God: his eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, hands, feet, mind – all his members. Every part of his body is to be given over as an instrument or tool of righteousness. Every part of the believer’s body is to be given over to God for the purpose of working righteousness.
Romans 12:1-2, a verse all of us who are in Grace groups should know or will know if we memorize like we were suppose to do says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
I like what Peter tells us as he ends his books in 2 Peter 3:17, “Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”
It is imperative that we, as believers, not continue in sin. It’s imperative to our witness and imperative to our continuing effort to live righteously before God. I pray that as we all struggle with the sins of our life this week that we will that we will remember the words of Paul in our text today.
Invitation:
I’ll Tell the World That I’m a Christian #448
