SECRETS TO LIVING FREE IN CHRIST - III

Romans 6:12-14
February 5, 1995
Bob Bonner

Boy, what a lot of rain we have had lately. I can't remember it raining this much since I have lived in Oregon. What a great time to take a vacation or a cruise to some warm sunny tropical paradise.

Imagine how great the warmth of a tropical sunshine would feel right about now. If you were on one of those expensive cruises, imagine those delicious meals you would be privileged to consume. No cooking, no dishes to wash, no house to clean, no beds to make. Just relax and have fun in the sun. Think of those warm tropical blue waters, and if you like swimming, the fun of snorkeling and chasing after the sea life, all the while having your body tanned by the sun. Think of the fun you could have exploring the different ports of call and visiting the cultural and historical sights. Sounds pretty good doesn't it? Anybody want to go? I'm leaving right after this service!

No, just kidding!! But let's just say, for a moment that I wasn't kidding. Let's say that I had in my hand, a travel folder filled with a cruise ship itinerary, with all the expenses paid, including the air fair to and from the port of departure. In addition, I was of the mind to let you have this all expenses paid vacation for absolutely nothing. What would be necessary for you to enjoy the freedom, the fun and the relaxation of this gift?

Well, there would be several things. First, you would have to determine whether or not I was on the level or was I playing a practical joke of some kind. Then, if you looked at the tickets and you had verified that those tickets and the entire vacation was a legitimate gift, you would have to determine that it was for you and that you were going to take advantage of this gift.  But still, that is not enough. You can get on the plane and fly to the sailing port of departure, have your bags loaded on board the ship, but until you actually walked aboard the ship and allowed it to sail you away to this tropical paradise, you could not enjoy the pleasures of that tropical vacation.

The very same thing is true of sailing away with Jesus and enjoying the real freedom from the slavery of sinful habits which is ours in Christ. If we are going to experience the joy and hope which is ours in Christ, if we are going to experience the life changing transforming power that comes from Christ, we must first, know something; we must then consider it as true for ourselves and then we must respond to what we know. We must take the steps required to get on board with Jesus Christ and allow Him to carry us away to this new life in Him.

Those three secrets to finding freedom in Christ are exactly what Paul is writing about in Romans 6:1-14. In verses 1-10, Paul has told us that we must know some facts about our new identity in Christ.

The major fact that concerns our identity that we must know is that we are "dead to sin." "Dead to sin" does not mean that we as Christians are no longer responsive to sin. If that were true, then Paul would not have had to write what he does in our verses for this morning, verses 12-13.

Neither does "dead to sin" mean that we have to put sin to death, as if we could. Some people tell us that if we are going to live victoriously in Christ we must "Crucify the old man or the flesh." Not only will you not find anywhere in the scriptures a statement about us crucifying the old man, but that is not what Paul means by "dead to sin." 

In verse 2, Paul tells us that we are already "dead to sin." It is something that has already happened to us. It happened the moment we put our trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We don't do anything. It is something that God did to us. "Dead to sin" simply means that no longer can sin master our lives because it is no longer part of our nature or our identity. No Christian can be controlled by sin, unless we choose to allow it. Furthermore, as Christians, any time we want, we can break free from the master of sin controlling our lives, because something about us has changed when we became Christians. And that which changed is our identity, who we really are or our nature.

For the past two weeks we have looked at verses 3-10 to understand what our new nature is about, and how we are dead to sin's control of our lives and alive to Christ's control. But for the sake of our further instruction and a better review, I want us to look at some other passages that confirm what Paul has said in these verses. Please turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 2:1-3.

These next verses will verify that we have a new nature or a new identity the moment we became Christians. As a result, sin no longer has the authority or power to control our lives. The Greek word for "nature," the core of who we really are, is only used in this way twice in the New Testament. The first place it is used in Ephesians 2:1-3. Here, it describes our nature before we came to Christ. Notice the past tense verbs and other expressions that describe your old life. It says, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,..."

What was your basic nature before you were born again? You and every other Christian were "children of wrath". You were dead in your sins, subject to Satan's power, being driven by sinful lusts and desires.

But the second time "nature" is used in the New Testament is to describe our nature after we came to Christ. It is found in 2 Peter 1:4, which states "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of {the} divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."

When you came into spiritual union with God through your new birth, you didn't add a new divine nature to your old, sinful nature. You exchanged natures. You now have Christ's divine nature at the core of your being, ready to control of your life, if you choose to let him. If you choose to believe and depend upon His enablement, his life being lived out through you, you will never have to allow sin to control you again. You are a new creation.

But just like receiving a free ticket to a tropical paradise vacation, it is one thing to understand or know the facts about that vacation, but if you are going to actually go on it or receive the free gift, you must consider it to be a valid or a true offer to you. And that is what Paul says, in verse 11. It's not enough that these truths make sense to you, but you must believe or consider that they are true of you. You are a new person.

If you do not believe that it is true for you, then the next three verses will not be effective in your life. One must first believe the truth, because it is only then that responsible behavior will take place. Responsible behavior reflects what you believe. What you believe precedes responsible behavior.

That's why in verse 12 Paul begins with the word "Therefore..." Based upon what we understand to be true and consider to be true of us, Paul is going to tell us to do something. He is about to give is the final secret to living free in Christ. In verses 12-13, we are instructed in how to relate to sin which indwells us as saints, but is not us.

In these next two verses, Paul is going to instruct us or command us to do three things. The first two are negative commands and the third is a positive command. Let's look at the first two negative commands. Paul says, "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin {as} instruments of unrighteousness;..."

Notice what this first command, "do not let sin reign" suggests. It suggests that you cannot expect to live free in Christ and be all that you can be in Christ and remain passive toward sin or how you live your life. You must deliberately choose moment by moment and daily how you are going to live. The world, the flesh, and the devil are continually at war against the life of Christ within us. If you sit back on don't deliberately choose not to allow the world, the flesh and the devil to control your life, they will.

As Paul suggests here, sin wants to be a sovereign master who reigns or rules your life. Sin demands service from those who deliberately do not choose to not serve sin. It is up to you to choose whether you are going to let your body be used for sin or for righteousness. Satan, who is at the root of all sin, will take advantage of anyone who tries to remain neutral. So, you have a choice. Let sin reign or Jesus reign. And by reign we mean you have a choice as to who will control you---someone who has no right to, because you are no longer under his authority (Satan) or someone who has the right to reign over you, (Jesus).

For example: If the Canadian government demanded that you pay Canadian taxes, and you never earned a dime in Canada and you weren't buying anything from Canada, could you pay the tax? Yes. Would you? I don't think so, because that government doesn't have any right to control you or to make you pay them taxes. Why should we let the Canadian government demand we pay taxes to them? The same thing is true here in the spiritual realm. Why should we allow a sinful habit or Satan to continue to take control over us, when we are new creatures, who belong to Jesus? We no longer belong to the kingdom of darkness, we have been transferred permanently into the kingdom of light. The only reason we do allow an old habit to take control over us is that we don't believe or see ourselves to be new creatures with new power. We get deceived by the wicked one, to believe that he still has the authority to control our lives when he doesn't, so we give in because we think we have to.

So, the first command is to choose to quit letting sin and Satan control our lives when he has no authority over us to do so. So, how do we quit allowing Satan control over our lives? The second command answers that. Paul tells us to quit presenting the members of our bodies as instruments of sin. Note will you, the word, "instruments". Why the translators choose to translate this word as "instruments", here, when in all the other 5 places it is used the translate it as "weapons", I don't know. Everywhere else that this term is used in scripture it refers to weapons of war. And 5 out 6 times, those are in reference to spiritual battles with Satan and sin. Folks, we are at war with a spiritual enemy. Why would we want to hand him our bodies as weapons that he can use for wickedness rather than present them or surrender them to our owner Jesus who can use them for good?

So if we are going to quit allowing sin to reign in our lives, we must stop presenting our bodies to our spiritual enemy as weapons of wickedness. The apostle Peter makes a similar appeal to us as Paul has over in 1 Peter 2:9,11. He says, that because "you are a chosen race, royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul."

Then Paul gives us the positive command of what we can do, and notice the stark contrast to the two negative commands. This contrast is set off by the word, "But". Paul says, "...but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members {as} instruments of righteousness to God." Instead of presenting yourself to Satan, present yourself to God. Since sin, our old task master has been run off, it is ludicrous that we should run after him to submit ourselves to the service of Satan and sin. Instead, we are to present ourselves to our new master, Jesus Christ and embrace the freedom from sin He has given us.

To illustrate, suppose I ask if I can borrow your car to deliver food baskets to the needy, and a thief asks to use it to rob a bank. It's your car and you can choose to lend it to whomever you choose to be used for good or evil. Which would you choose? There should be no question!

Your body is also yours to use to serve either God or sin and Satan, but the choice is up to you. Notice, that Paul is telling us that it is through our "bodies" that sin tries to take control of our lives. The body from here on in, is the means through which we are tempted to sin. Let me prove this to you in several ways:

When you sit down to a table to eat, you are going to satisfy a normal appetite of the body. But when we find that there is more food presented to us to eat than is necessary, something within makes us want to eat too much. That is this thing called the "flesh" or this propensity that is a part of our physical body that wants us to do everything that is the opposite of what God says is right. Many, not all, but many people think they have a weight problem, but in reality, for many, it is a sin problem attacking their lives through the body.

The body requires rest. That is normal. But sin enters the channel of the body, when we over indulge and rest too much and become a lazy sluggard, waiting upon others to serve us.

The brain is a fabulous creative mechanism which allows us to deduce things and produce a variety of helpful inventions. Yet, the mind can easily rationalize evil to good and we can sin in our minds. Through our physical brains we are tempted to do wrong and produce evil inventions.

Our glands and hormones are another neutral part of our body through which sin can attack our lives. Are glands can be used for good when danger arises and we need adrenaline to flow so that we can quickly react to life threatening situations. Sexual hormones awaken us to the qualities and pleasures of the opposite sex in marriage and move us toward procreation. But these adrenal glands and sexual hormones can also be used for evil. For instance: when we get angry and we want revenge and desire to strike back, adrenaline flows and pushes us toward evil. Our sexual glands likewise can be stimulated by the world's culture and that which is evil and lead us into lust and infidelity or promiscuity.

So, it is through the body, which is controlled by the mind that sin attacks our lives. Our bodies are neutral and there is nothing wrong with our bodies. They are simply the channel through which sin tries to control our lives. Whether or not sin is successful at controlling our bodies is won or lost in the mind as to whom we choose to control our lives---Jesus or Satan.

So how do we present our bodies to God to be used as weapons of righteousness? Simple. One body part at a time.

For instance: let's start with the most important part of the body that daily needs to be present to God as an instrument of righteousness, your mind. Look at Romans 12:1-2 with me for a minute. This is a verse that parallels very much this same passage we are looking at this morning. Paul pleads with us as believers here, because he knows that this is the only way we will survive in this sinful world. He says, "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, {which is} your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,"

Notice that he says that it all begins with the mind. Paul said that from the beginning of this chapter that if you are going to find freedom in Christ then you must "know" something. It begins in your mind.

Have you ever really stopped to think carefully about what you do with your mind on a daily basis. If you fill your mind with the products of our secular culture, you will remain secular and sinful. If you fill your head with trashy "pop" novels, you will begin to live like the trashy heroes and heroines whose illicit romances you read about. On the other hand if you get in the scriptures or as Paul says in Philippians 4:8-9, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you." then your mind will remain cleansed and become an instrument of righteousness. 

I'd like to challenge us with something, but I think it would be so radical that few of us could handle it. I'd like to challenge you to turn off your TV's for six months and encourage you to read more of the scriptures, but I won't. But should you take up that challenge, you would definitely see a major change in our mind and outlook on life.

But for those of us who cannot turn off the tube, I will challenge you to try something easier that I believe will still have such a radical effect upon your life for the next six months that when you are finish, you may never look at TV entertainment the same again. I would like to challenge you to spend half as much time in the word and reading out loud to your family as you do watching the tube. If you do, you won't believe the difference it makes in the way you think, live, speak and treat others.

Next, consider the physical parts of your body, your eyes and ears and how they can be presented to God as weapons of righteousness. We receive so many impressions through our eyes and ears. These too must be surrendered to God. Do you remember Achan, back in the book of Joshua? He allowed his eyes to see and covet that which was not his to take. By his own admission, after he was caught stealing that which belonged to God, he said, "When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylon, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them." (Jos. 7:21) It is no different today. Sociologists tell us that by the age of 21, the average young person has been bombarded by 300,000 commercials messages either from TV, the radio or news papers, all of which are targeted at our personal gratification as the goal in life.

I am not suggesting that we hold up in a monastery somewhere to avoid commercials. But rather, daily submit our eyes and ears to the Lord and ask him to make us sensitive to what we see and hear and to help us notice what we need to see or listen to.

Take that little piece of flesh, called the tongue. It can be used for cursing or blessing. When the spirit controls it, we bless. When the flesh controls it, we sin. We choose who stays in the drivers seat. And who we choose to sit in the driver's seat is determined by who we think we are or how we perceive ourselves. We are either holy saints and ambassadors for Christ, or we see ourselves and our tongues as foul mouthed gutter dwellers. If you find yourself or Christian friends speaking with a foul tongue, ask yourself or them, "Is that how Jesus talks? I know he lives in me or you, and that certainly isn't him talking!" [warning: don't play holy spirit in someone else's life.]

Our hands and our feet are another part of our bodies that we daily must submit to the Lord. They determine where we go and what we do. I Thessalonians 4:11-12 tells us to use our hands profitably so that we might be self supporting. Ephesians 4:28 warns us against using our hands to steal instead of to work hard. Our feet take us places every day through our world as ambassadors for Christ. Romans 10:14 says, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news." meaning the good news about have to find freedom in Christ.

Where do your feet take you? Do you allow them to take you to places where sin is openly practiced, without any desire to reach out to others in the name of Christ? 

One final obvious part or parts of our bodies that needs to be mentioned in this hedonist culture in which we live and that is our sexual parts. When you run across a sexually explicit program on TV, do you linger and watch it or do you turn away from it? Are you sexually promiscuous? Or, are you offering up your body in a holy manner before the Lord? Paul says, in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, "Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you received from us {instruction} as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you may excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by {the authority of} the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; {that is,} that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;"

Bottom line, Paul is saying that daily or moment by moment we are to surrender or present our bodies to the Lord as instruments for Him to use since He lives in us and is the Lord over our bodies. Every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to bed, it would be a good practice to turn over individual parts of your body to Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." Then again, in Galatians 5:13-13, Paul says, "For you were called to freedom, brethren; only {do} not {turn} your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

Because of Jesus Christ's victory over sin, you are completely free to choose not to give yourself to obey sin as your master. It is your responsibility not to let sin gain mastery over you.

Notice one other distinction Paul makes in verse 13. He says to "offer yourself as well as your body to God." "Yourself" is who we are on the inside, the immortal, eternal part of us. Our bodies and their various parts are who we are on the outside, the mortal temporal part of us. Someday, we are going to jettison these old earth suits. At that time we will be absent form our mortal bodies and present with the Lord in immortal, new resurrection bodies. However, as long as we are on this earth, our inner selves are united with our outer physical bodies. Hence, both daily are to be dedicated to Him---body soul and spirit.

We now come to verse 14. There are two parts of this verse, each begin with the word "for". Paul says, "For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace." In the first half of this verse, Paul announces the change in sovereign rulers in our lives. He says that sin shall not be master over you. You do not have to submit to every sinful temptation. Someone else is master over you now, and that is Jesus. Where as sin and Satan were your master, who ruled on the basis of hate and a desire to destroy you, Jesus rules on the basis of love and want what is best for you. If you choose to serve Him and resist temptation, He will enable you to resist temptation and Satan will flee from you. He will enable you to live in joy and hope, regardless of the horrible circumstances you may find yourself in.

The second "for" in the second half of the verse announces the resulting change in our condition since we have become Christians, with a new master. This second half of the verse has been misunderstood by some to say that not being "under the Law" means that we are lawless or that we do whatever we please, even evil. Far from it. What "not being under the law, but grace" means is that we are no longer living under the fear or tyranny of a bunch of rules and orders. Instead, we are now living under the grace of a loving relationship with God, and because we are, we will want to live holy lives.

When we understand and consider it as true that our true identity has changed from before we became Christians to after we became Christians, then our view of the law and how we approach living moral lives will change as well. Let me illustrate: Let's say that a man is left a widower with two children, so he hires a housekeeper to be his servant. He tells her that the laws of her employment are that she is to cook good meals, follow some specific rules as to how he wants the house kept clean. In addition, he gives her instructions as to how and how not to dress the children. From time to time, this housekeeper's employer goes about the home to check up on her to see that all is in order and if she is obeying all his rules, instructions and laws. He watches her management of the children and corrects her in a manner suited to the relationship of a master and servant.

After a year or two, he marries this woman. The relationship not only changes between them, but so does her identity. She is no longer his servant, she is his wife. He no longer followers her around the house to oversee her work, nor does he tell her what to cook for dinner. Because her identity changes from servant to his wife, a relationship built on love, she delights in doing that which pleases her husband. If she is not sure what will please him, she will ask him. She is no longer under law, but grace.

In the same way, we obey Jesus because we know He loves us and we in turn choose to love Him. The more we understand or know what he has done for us, and the more that we consider it is true, then quite naturally, the more we ill want to honor and worship him by presenting ourselves to Him as holy vessels, weapons of righteousness for His use in an evil world.

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