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Victory Over Sin

socialmedia@cityrise.org April 12, 2021 sermons, addiction, Crosspoint Church - Bellaire, Good News, houston, houston church, Roger Patterson, romans, sin,

The following is a manuscript of the sermon presented by Roger Patterson on Sunday April 11, 2021 at our Crosspoint Church – Bellaire campus. To view the sermon in full, please visit our YouTubpage.

 

Context. Chapters 6 & 7 are going to discuss victory over sin.  And Paul is going to be really honest with us about Sin’s allurement.

Prior to what we will study today, Paul challenges the church to understand their identity and to consider it to be the case in their own lives.

In Romans 6:6 we see these words.

Romans 6:6

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 

It says, “We know!!!”  And he then discuss our identity being changed because of the cross of Jesus.

In verse 11 we see these words.

Romans 6:11

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Another word for “Consider” is “reckon or count”.  It’s an accounting term.  In other words, the price has been paid…our sin is forgiven…our identity is changed… Count it as so!  Reckon it so!  Consider it so!

And we are to consider…count … or reckon ourselves “DEAD TO SIN.”

So, how do we walk in this truth?  In other words, How can we have victory over sin?

Let’s read our passage together today.

Romans 6:12-23

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Remember, we are to count ourselves “DEAD TO SIN.”  So, how do we walk in this truth?  In other words, How can we have victory over sin?

Let me give you one word that is central to having victory over sin …Yield. We are to yield ourselves to Jesus Christ.

Def: To yield is to: to place at one’s disposal, to present to, to offer as a sacrifice.

How are we to yield? Look at verse 12 and 13.

Romans 6:12- 13

 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Notice the language here… V. 12 – Body & V. 13 – Members. Normally, you hear us talking a lot about your heart, and your soul and your mind.  But the Apostle Paul instructs us on what we are to do with our bodies, because so much evil or good is done through the members of our bodies.

As Paul instructs us on our bodies, notice verse 13 from the New Living Translation.

Romans 6:13a, NLT

Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin.

-Warren Wiersbe

Literal Translation – “Do not constantly allow sin to reign in your mortal body so that you are constantly obeying its lusts. Neither constantly yield your members of your body as weapons (or tools) of unrighteousness to sin; but once for all yield yourselves to God.

Notice, this is a once for all yielding moment of the members of your body to Jesus Christ. Have you had this moment?

  • Have you presented yourself to him?
  • Have you yielded to him and your hands and feet?
  • Your eyes and ears?
  • Your mouth and mind?
  • Have you yielded your sexuality to Jesus Christ?
  • Have you yielded what you put in your body to Jesus?

Application: Let me just ask you this question for a second. Do you struggle with alcohol? Or would people in your life say that you struggle with alcohol?

Yield yourself to Jesus for you are not to be given to drunkenness.

Some of you are like, “Ok. Here he goes talking about alcohol again… he tends to harp on that once or twice a year.”

Friend – you don’t get the calls I get. You don’t sit up close and personal to the pain I see authored in marriages and with kids because of alcohol.

Believers are so loose with alcohol. And listen to me…

  • its deadly.
  • Its
  • Its deceptive.
  • And the fruit of it is devastating.

You all know my love of the book of Proverbs. Let me share with you for a moment from the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 20:1

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
    and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

Proverbs 23:29-32

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

    Who has strife? Who has complaining?

Who has wounds without cause?

    Who has redness of eyes?

30 Those who tarry long over wine;

    those who go to try mixed wine.

31 Do not look at wine when it is red,

    when it sparkles in the cup

    and goes down smoothly.

32 In the end it bites like a serpent

    and stings like an adder.

 

Do you want woe?        Sorrow?           Strife?              Pain?

Don’t heed these words.

Be careless in your alcohol consumption. It is a loaded weapon.

Students, listen to me. Marijuana consumption is a big deal. The culture tells you its no big deal. Its recreational. Listen to me. You are to yield your body to Jesus. Marijuana is a downer… a depressant. Its highly addictive and it opens the door to other drug consumption.

You can blow me off, but I need you to hear me say that these things do not please your Lord. They are dangerous and can prove deadly and you can become enslaved to them. You are to say no to them because you have said yes to Christ.

AND HERE IS THE DEAL…TEENS TODAY CAN SIMPLY TEXT SOMEONE AND HAVE IT DELIVERED TO THE HOUSE LIKE AMAZON OR UBER EATS…IT’S EVERYWHERE.

But just because something is everywhere doesn’t make it good.

You may say, “Why does the Lord want my body?” Well, to begin with, it is his temple…his dwelling place and He wants to use it for his glory.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

You are not your own. You are not your master. You are to not let sin be your master. You were bought with a price. Jesus Christ is your master.

            So, our sex lives are to be his…what we take in with our eyes and ears is to be his…what we eat and drink is to be his…all that we consume and all that we do is to be his!

How are we to have victory over sin?  So, a beginning point is that God wants your body – your hands, feet, mind, your passions.  He wants you to YIELD TO HIM!

And He wants to use you through your surrender.

  • He wants to use your mind to learn the sciences so you can be used to heal disease.
  • He wants to use your hands to repair and restore flooded homes or to prepare food for those in need.
  • He wants to use your feet and your mouth to go to your neighbors and carry his love.
  • He wants to use your eyes to see brokenness all around you and burden you to bring healing.

Notice again in verse 13.

Romans 6:13

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Do you see his plan? Part of his plan for your life is using all of who you are as an instrument of righteousness.

God wants to use you to build his kingdom as part of his arsenal to drive back the darkness. He created you in his image. He purposed for you to rule and reign and exert dominion over the earth. He has gifted you uniquely and he burdens you and exposes you to pain so that you will get involved and share his heart with others. God wants you to yield so that He can use you for good!

So, notice something with me. As we present ourselves to God, the verb tense here carries with it the idea that this is a once for all act.

Warren Wiersbe writes…

“There must be in the believer’s life that final and complete surrender of the body to Jesus Christ. This does not mean there will be no further steps of surrender, because there will be … But there can be no subsequent steps without that first step.”

Application:

  • Have you surrendered your body to the Lord?
  • Will you yield?
  • Or will you live in that miserable, messy middle of being saved, knowing the truth, yet allowing sin to reign?

The surrender is the path to victory over sin.

But the skeptic in you may say, “C’Mon, Pastor, what’s the big deal? Why are you always harping on sin? What you call sin, we call fun.”

For clarity sake, I’m just telling you what the holy scriptures say. But I can also appreciate your skepticism. So, let me give you 3 reasons from this passage, why we shall not live-in sin.

3 Reasons Why We Shall Not Live In Sin

I. Sin is slavery.

Slide: Romans 6:15-16

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

There are two paths presented to all throughout the scriptures to us. They are the paths of sin, judgement and destruction and the path of righteousness, life and peace.

Two Paths

Sin                                Righteousness
Judgment                     Life
Destruction                   Peace

Jesus says it this way in Matthew 7…

Matthew 7:13

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

There is a wide gate and its easy to be taken down that road.

And then a narrow gate and fewer walk this way.

Psalm 1 says it this way…

Psalm 1:1-6

Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the 
Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.


The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the 
Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

 

These two paths are very distinct. One is full of blessing and fruitfulness.

The other leads to destruction and judgment. But, back to verse 16, we see that we are slaves to the one we obey.

Romans 6:16

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Do you see it? “You are slaves of the one whom you obey.” And here are the two paths. Sin or obedience to Jesus.

Be skeptical…that’s fine…but also, beware! Sin is slavery.

3 Reasons Why We Shall Not Live In Sin

  1. Sin is Slavery
  2. Sin Leads to Death

II. Sin leads to death

Do not listen to those who tell you that sin is harmless. They are lying to you. In the garden of Eden, Satan, the Serpent, lied to Adam and Eve. God told Adam and Eve that if they partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that they would surely die.  And what was Satan’s lie?

Genesis 3:4-5

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

His lie was…no…God is a kill-joy. He just doesn’t want you to know what he knows.  He doesn’t want you to be like him. 

His lie was, “God is not good…he’s selfish and wants to keep you down.”

But we saw in the past few weeks the reality that Adam’s sin led to his death and ours.  God gave Adam and Eve their free will and He provided them everything that they needed for life.  And the caution he gave them was for their good…their protection. 

And what you need to understand is that when you are encouraged and instructed not to sin, it’s as much for your protection as anything. 

You are told not to touch hot things…why?  So you won’t get burned.  You are told to only drive a certain speed…why?  For your safety and the safety of others.  We are given rules for our good.

Sin leads to death.  Sin is deadly.  That’s what verse 16 is saying.

Romans 6:16

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

When you present yourself to sin…you become enslaved to sin and it leads to death.

Men, listen to me…when you park yourself in front of a computer and you view pornography…when you offer your eyes to pornography, for the false ecstasy and intimacy you are promised, it leads to the death of the intimacy in your marriage.

  • Do you want to slowly kill your marriage? Get hooked on porn.  It will devastate your marriage.

And if you are just a teen or college student and you are captured by pornography, let us help you.  Don’t take that into a marriage. You can be free from this addiction.

Once again, I noted this a few weeks ago…but if you want to be free from sexual addiction, I want to encourage you.

Here are two confidential resources. 

Two Confidential Resources for Sexual Addiction

  1. theresstillhope.org
  2. hopeandfreedom.com

Friends, sin leads to death…death of dreams, marriages, relationships, careers, and lives.

3 Reasons Why We Shall Not Live In Sin

  1. Sin is Slavery
  2. Sin Leads to Death
  3. We have been delivered from sin’s enslavement

III. We have been delivered from sin’s enslavement

Romans 6:17-20

 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 

To convey freedom from the enslaving power of sin, Paul uses the picture of slavery that they would know, as there were more slaves in Rome than free people at the time of this letter.  But it wasn’t the heinous slavery we had in the United States where individuals were owned by others.

The slavery of the Roman world was indentured servitude where people would pay off debt.  Under the Jewish code is was 6 years of indentured service. Under Hamurabi’s Code it was three years of indentured service.

So, on a frequent basis, people were finishing their terms of slavery and being freed.  The people reading this letter would have understood what freedom from slavery entailed.

Paul’s message to them is simple: You have been set free from your slavery because of the price paid for you by Jesus Christ.  He paid off your debt. He canceled your debt. And that has moved your heart to a place where you should yield to him and be allegiant to him and him only.

Before you were saved, you were the slave of sin.  Now that you belong to Jesus, you are freed from that old slavery and are made a servant of Christ.  And Paul’s point here is that this should produce some real fruit.  Fruit that shows growth…fruit that shows progress…fruit that declares praise.

That’s why Paul busts out with, “But thanks be to God…”

It’s praise. And it’s growth…notice the word “Sanctification.” Now, sanctification is…

Definition of Sanctification: the act of becoming more personally dedicated to God; especially by becoming more distinct, devoted, or morally pure.

It’s in verse 19 and verse 22.

Romans 6:19

I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

When we present ourselves to the Lord because we have been set free from sin’s death and enslavement, it leads to sanctification – our becoming more personally dedicated to God by becoming more distinct, devoted, or morally pure.

Now look at verse 22.

Romans 6:22

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

Application: The fruit that your life bears should be a distinct devotion…a moral purity…a sense of moving away from the struggles of sin’s grip to the beautiful freedom of walking with Jesus Christ. 

Can this be said of you? 

Why should we not live in sin?

Because you have been delivered from it’s power.  So, the natural response is to give loyalty to the one who set your free and bear fruit that shows this allegiance.