The Believers Life Is Selfcontrolled

We learned that while we ALL were once IN ADAM, something happened when heard of salvation in Jesus:

• We recognized how dreadful our sins were, and repented of them and trusted in Christ

• We were immediately justified by the blood of Christ

And now we are no longer IN ADAM, but we are IN CHRIST.

In John 5:24, the Lord Himself said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

Romans, chapter eight, verse 1, explains several things about our new life IN CHRIST, that show why we no longer live in sin.

1. OUR POSITION OF BEING IN CHRIST

What we, in our sinful flesh, could not do, Christ did by coming, in the flesh, and fulfilling the law, thereby placing us IN HIM!

The Bible tells us that because of this position IN CHRIST, we are no longer under condemnation.

Paul suggested that the second reason the new believer has eternal life is because of:

2. OUR POSITION OF HAVING CHRIST IN US

Here are a couple of reasons believers should be victorious over sin:

I. THE BELIEVER'S LIFE IS TO BE SELF CONTROLLED

Look at verses 5-8, "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

Illus: When the Lord saves us, we do not become robots for God to control by pushing buttons. We still are free moral agents, and make our own decisions, but now we seek to make decisions to please Him.

We will discover there are two kinds of life we can now live.

A. WE CAN LIVE A DECEIVED LIFE

Much of the preaching we hear today, teaches people that they are to live lives devoted to Christ.

However, we must proceed with caution here. We must be careful not to get the idea that once we are saved from sin, we can then "pull ourselves up by our own boot straps,” and save ourselves from sin from that time on.

We frequently hear people say, "I am going to devote myself to living a victorious life over sin."

If you think you are going to do that on your own, forget it! You and I, IN THE FLESH, are wasting our time to think we can live victoriously over sin.

Paul said, "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh..."

Victory over sin comes from the DISCOVERY that, while we are still unworthy, GOD SAVES US FROM SIN AND PLACES HIS SPIRIT WITHIN US TO KEEP US FROM SIN.

If we could do it in the flesh, there would be no need for the Spirit of God to dwell within us.

The flesh can not do it, so God places His Spirit within us to do what we cannot do in the flesh.

Before accepting Christ, a person can not live above sin. But after he is saved, in the flesh, he also can not live above sin.

It is not that he sins and becomes a sinner, but he sins because he is a sinner.

He is in TOTAL REBELLION against God's Word.

Look at Galatians 5:19-21, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, laschiviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like...they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

Many preachers today will not preach from these verses, for fear of being accused of being legalistic.

But these things need to be preached, because so many people, even those who attend church, are manifesting these "WORKS OF THE FLESH," probably because they are not saved.

He said, "...they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

He was not teaching salvation by works, but he was preaching that if we are IN CHRIST, we will not be manifesting these "works of the flesh."

You may be saying, "Preacher, I know a lot of people who claim to be saved, and they still live the same sinful life they always lived."

You were right when you used the word "claimed." One can "claim" to be anyone or anything, but that does not necessarily make it so.

Illus: The reason:

• A duck quacks like a duck, is because he is a duck.