[0:00] If you want to open up your Bibles, your pew Bibles, to 1,120, we're going to be in Romans 6, 1-14. Do you ever wonder this question as a Christian?
[0:15] Why do I still sin? Why do Christians sin? Why do Christians sin in refined ways and in spectacular ways?
[0:30] I mean, we've declared righteous in God's sight. We learned that last week, justification, right? We are in right standing with God legally.
[0:40] Why do we sin? Why do we still sin? What's up with that? Here's the reality. Every Christian in the room, you're going to be tempted today to sin, to do something that's grievous to God in His sight.
[0:55] And some of us in the room, hey, we're growing in our sanctification. The process of being less and less ruled by sin and more and more like Christ. We're growing. We've got some wins under our belt.
[1:12] But there's other of us who, man, we feel like we're fighting a losing battle with sin. That sin's got your number.
[1:24] You can't beat sin, is what you think. And so when a Christian has experienced regular defeats in terms of their fight with sin, you know what a Christian's tempted to do?
[1:37] Well, if I can't beat sin, I might as well join sin and wallow in the mire. We as Christians experience regular defeat instead of victory.
[1:55] And it can be very discouraging. You can start asking questions whether you've actually been saved. Or you can even start going kind of a question like this. Is this Christianity thing true?
[2:05] Why can't I stop having anxious thoughts? Why can't I stop being more afraid of what people think about me than what God thinks about me?
[2:21] Why can't I stop gossiping, spreading rumors? Why can't I stop clicking on porn sites? Why can't I stop blowing up in anger at the people I love?
[2:32] Why can't I stop being bitter? And it comes out in the worst ways. Why can't I stop sinning?
[2:46] How do I change? Am I really a Christian? Or am I fake? How can I become less and less ruled by my sin and more and more like Jesus?
[2:59] Have you been there? Have you been there? Are you there now? The process of becoming less and less ruled by sin and more and more like Jesus Christ is called sanctification.
[3:16] And in Romans 6, we can see it talked about in verse 4. It doesn't use the word sanctification. It uses a different phrase. When we were buried therefore with him by baptism and death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
[3:32] He's talking about sanctification. If you go down to verse 13, you read, Do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who've been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
[3:47] That putting off and putting on is sanctification. Right? You see the word sanctification in a sermon I'll be preaching next week in verse 19 and in verse 22.
[4:02] It's the process of being less and less ruled by sin within and more and more like Jesus. Two weeks ago I preached from Romans 1 and 2, 1 through 3, and we saw the terrible unrighteousness problem that we were in.
[4:21] Whether you are an hedonist or whether you are a moralist, we are all under God's wrath and without excuse. And then, in Romans 3, 21, Paul turns the corner and starts bringing the gospel to bear, and it was beautiful news.
[4:43] Run, John, run, the law demands, but gives us neither feet nor hands. Far better news the gospel brings. It bids us fly and gives us wings. We learn about propitiation.
[4:59] Jesus shed his blood to bear God's wrath for you and me. We learn about redemption. Jesus shed his blood to ransom you out of slavery to sin. And Jesus shed his blood.
[5:11] He died and was raised so that you could be justified. That your unrighteousness could be imputed to him and his righteousness imputed to you, and God sees you and declares you now as righteous in his sight.
[5:27] Last week, I devoted the whole sermon to the doctrine of justification. Remember, doctrine defined. Justification is the one-time legal act by which God declares an unrighteous sinner, righteous in his sight, based on the finished work of Christ.
[5:42] And then we unpack that with doctrine supported out of Romans 4 and 5. We did a tour de force. Biblical precedent, the promise of Abraham.
[5:53] We now have peace with God, and we are under a new proxy. We're no longer in Adam. We are in Jesus Christ. And then we applied it. Remember belaying?
[6:04] Belay on. I've been walking in the morning, and I'm like, belay on, Jesus. And I hear God saying to me, if God is for you, Mike, who can be against you?
[6:16] Belay on. This doctrine of justification is battle, ballast for us. It's a battle cry. Your justification is the basis for your sanctification.
[6:31] Sanctification. And so this morning, we're going to do, again, doctrine defined. What is sanctification? But we're going to compare it to justification because there's a lot of confusion out here.
[6:43] That's what the whiteboard's for. And then we're going to look to Romans 6, 1 through 14 for the doctrinal support. And I want you to see three things.
[6:54] Your new position in Christ, your new power in Christ, and this new practice we've been called to in Christ. And then we're going to apply it.
[7:06] Brother, sister in Christ, did you come in here feeling stuck in your sin? Feeling defeated? Without hope, ready to give in? Can't beat sin, might as well join it.
[7:18] Welcome the doctrine of sanctification. Let's look at this doctrine defined and compared. So, doctrine.
[7:30] Maybe you hear that word. We joked about it last week. Some people hear the word doctrine and it's instant lights out. Doctrine should not be a word that puts you off.
[7:43] Doctrine just simply means teaching. And in Titus 1, 9, elders must be able to give instruction in sound doctrine. And that word sound means healthy.
[7:57] It's good for you. It's good for Christians. Biblical doctrine is health for a Christian. And unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion and ill health when it comes to the doctrine of sanctification.
[8:12] So, here's what we're going to do. We're going to make a comparison between justification. Some of you oldies around here, do you remember Donahue?
[8:22] I just felt like Donahue walking through the audience. Thank you, Steve. We're going to use this.
[8:33] And if you are a note taker, you're going to want to take notes on this. Uh-oh. Almost. Almost. Got it.
[8:47] Thank you, Steve. Okay. So, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to redefine justification and then walk through these five traits about it.
[8:58] And then we're going to also define sanctification and then list out five traits about sanctification. I want you to see them side by side because seeing them side by side will help bring clarity to your mind of what these doctrines are and how they relate to one another.
[9:15] You ready? Okay. Justification is that doctrine we've been talking about, this teaching from our Bibles that says, God in a one-time legal act declares an unrighteous sinner righteous in his sight based upon the finished work of Christ.
[9:33] An unrighteous sinner believes in the finished work of Christ and God's response is to declare that sinner righteous in his sight. It's a change of legal status. And so, when we talk about justification, we're talking about an imputed righteousness.
[9:50] Now, come back to the chairs. 2 Corinthians 5.21, where Les started us off. This is the doctrine of double imputation, the great exchange. A sinner, you, when you first believe in what Christ has done, God thinks of you, your unrighteousness, as being placed on Christ.
[10:12] In all of God's wrath that you stored up for your unrighteousness, he pours out on Jesus at the cross in full so there's no more wrath. No more of judgment.
[10:24] But then, God also considers Christ's righteousness as 33 years of perfect living, and now imputed you. He thinks of it that way. And now you're a righteous in his sight.
[10:36] So, in that one act, God gives you of all your sin and completely accepts you as his own based upon the work of Christ. That's good news.
[10:47] Do I have an amen? Amen. Amen. And so, this imputed righteousness is what justification is all about. Now, when we get to sanctification, we're no longer talking about imputed righteousness.
[11:01] We're talking about experiential righteousness. I don't think I spelled experiential right, but you get the point. This is the righteousness we grow in day in and day out in our thinking, in our seeing, in how we conduct ourselves.
[11:21] It's this is in the day in, day out of life. Now, I was making a mistake earlier this week because I was saying, okay, there's the legal righteousness of God, and then there's the real righteousness. Both of these are real.
[11:35] This is the real righteousness of Christ imputed to you. It's legal status. And now, this is the real day in and day out of your changed life because of what Christ has done.
[11:46] Okay, this is sanctification. Now, we know that justification is an imputed righteousness that God declares. For by grace, you've been saved through faith.
[11:56] It's not your own doing. It's the gift of God. It's his work. We don't bring our works to this. There's nothing that we could do to make us righteous in his sight. So, this is a work of God alone.
[12:07] But when it comes to sanctification, now we've got a holy co-op. It's God and the justified sinner, a.k.a. a saint.
[12:21] And so, what this means now is that our works, which we couldn't bring into our justification, are now essential to our sanctification. For by grace, you've been saved through faith.
[12:32] It's not your own doing. It's the gift of God. Not by works, so that no one could boast. That's Ephesians 2.8.9. 2.10 says, we were created in Christ Jesus for good works.
[12:45] And so, we're not saved by our good works, but we're saved for, to do good works. And so, this is justification, imputed righteousness, God alone.
[12:58] It's immediate. Sanctification is ongoing. It's complete justification. Sanctification, you get all of Christ's righteousness the moment you believe.
[13:10] It's all done. But when it comes to your sanctification, your experiential righteousness, it's incomplete. Anybody in the room expect to be perfect by the time you breathe your last?
[13:27] Not experientially. Legally, yes. Experientially, no. You see how this is setting your expectations?
[13:39] Finally, justification is unchanging. It's static. Once you are justified by the righteousness of Christ, you are fully justified. It doesn't change.
[13:51] But when it comes to sanctification, it is changing. It's dynamic. Can you imagine seeing the Dow Jones Industrial Average over 30 years in your mind?
[14:06] And so, it starts, let's say, in year, I don't know, 1981. And all the way through 23, is that 40 years? 40, thanks.
[14:18] And what you're going to look over those 30, 40 years is this progression of the Dow Jones. But if you look close, within a year, you're going to just see ups and downs, ups and downs, maybe a spike up and a spike down.
[14:32] But it's a progression over time. And so, what sanctification is, it's progressive. And the difference is very important.
[14:45] Your Bible is very clear in saying you are justified first by God's grace, a work of Him alone. And out of that justification, we work out our salvation.
[14:57] We work out our sanctification. Does this make sense to everybody? Let me ask you. What happens when a Christian confuses the two? They now think that their justification depends upon their sanctification.
[15:12] Do you know what's going to happen? You're going to be miserable. Because you're going to be thinking that your right standing with God actually depends upon your obedience. And that is not the biblical gospel.
[15:26] The biblical gospel says, because of what Christ has done, His work, His obedience, you are in right standing with God, period. And it's out of that in which we now put sin to death and bring to life the things that are pleasing to God.
[15:44] Our standing with God doesn't depend on it. We're working out our right standing with God. Does this make sense? When I was a young Christian, I confused these two because I was biblically ignorant and I was miserable.
[16:00] And when somebody finally sat me down with the Bible and said, Mike, here's what the scriptures have to say. I was like, no way. Taught me two things.
[16:10] God's salvation is incredible and I need to know what the Bible says. God's salvation is incredible and I need to know what the Bible says.
[16:45] And might I add, you're not walking in the truth of God's ways. So when we talk about the doctrine of sanctification and what it is, justification is the legal declaration of imputed righteousness to a sinner.
[17:04] Sanctification is the process of becoming like Christ, experiential righteousness in your day-to-day living.
[17:16] That's the difference. Compared and contrasted. Now let's look at this doctrine supported from Romans chapter 6, 1 through 14.
[17:27] In Romans chapter 6, verse 1, Paul starts with a question. It's rhetorical. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
[17:39] Flip over to Romans chapter 5, verse 20 and 21. He's talking about being in the new proxy of Jesus. You're no longer under Adam.
[17:50] You're under Christ. You're no longer ruled by sin. You're ruled by grace. And he says, Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
[18:01] So that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And some of the believing Jews of the Roman church congregation would have thought this.
[18:14] Huh. Well, that just sounds like a free ticket to sin. Justified. Where the law increased, sin increased, but grace abounded more.
[18:27] Man, it'd be great to be justified. I can go sin all that I want. God's grace is like this blank check signed by God and saying, Go sin however you wish. Paul anticipates that.
[18:41] And so he's asking the question, Do we continue in sin that grace may abound? Continue in it. Keep intentionally sinning. And Paul says in verse 2, By no means, which the Mike Salvati translation would be, Seriously?
[18:57] No way. And then he says something at the end of verse 2 that you've just got to see. It's the thrust of his argument that he's about to make.
[19:12] By no means, he says. We're not going to continue in sin. No way. Then he asks another rhetorical question. How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you know what he's saying? We don't continue in sin, brothers and sisters, Because it's not who we are anymore.
[19:29] He's making an argument from your very nature now. What God has done in you. You're no longer dead. You're alive to God.
[19:40] So we don't continue in sin. And then so for the remainder of, you know, verses 3 through 14, He develops this argument. Let's track it. We start off by talking about our new position.
[19:55] Our new position in Christ. In verse 2, he starts talking about dying to sin. And then verse 3, he says, All of us who've been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.
[20:08] And then in verse 4, We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death, In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, We too might walk in a newness of life. And so here's what Paul is doing.
[20:19] He's going to start talking about the death and life of Jesus, And how a Christian is uniquely connected to that. As part of his argument as to why we don't continue in sin. And so he starts off by talking about the death of Jesus, And he starts off talking about the resurrection of Jesus.
[20:35] Do you know what that is? That's the historic gospel. That's the finished work of Christ. This is God's power for salvation to all who believe.
[20:48] And he's linking your sanctification to it. And so what he's saying is this. When you believed, You used to be an Adam, And now you've been brought into a new head.
[21:03] Jesus Christ. Your new proxy. And as a result of that, You've been united to Christ in his death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit, The moment you believe, Unites you to Christ, Specifically, Christ's death and resurrection.
[21:22] That's your new position, Being in Christ. You've been powerfully linked to Christ in his death and his resurrection.
[21:35] Now, Did you notice all the baptism language? Last Sunday, We baptized, Zeke, It was a joy. And when I would put them down in the water, They would hear me say, Maybe you did too.
[21:51] United with Christ in his death. And as I brought them out by the water, Raised with Christ to newness of life. Baptism is a symbol.
[22:03] It's a claim. It's an announcement that this human being, Who used to be an Adam, Is now in Christ, And united to Christ in his death and resurrection.
[22:14] Here's the deal. This is our new identity, Brothers and sisters. It's who you are. Every Christian in this room, Has been by God's grace, United to Christ's death and resurrection.
[22:34] The question is, Is it true? And you may be saying, Well, I don't feel united, To Christ's death and resurrection. It's not about how you feel.
[22:46] It's whether it's true. Have you been bound, By the living God, To the resurrection and death of Jesus? Your new position in Christ, Radically changes your relationship to sin.
[23:01] And now we get to ask the question, Well, How does that work? And that's verses 6 through 11, Our new power. It's actually a power mindset.
[23:14] In verses 6 and 11, Let me read it. 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. For one who has died has been set free from sin.
[23:27] Now, If we have died with Christ, We believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, Being raised from the dead, Will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, He died to sin once for all, But the life he lives, He lives to God.
[23:40] Verse 11, So you, Christian, You also must consider yourselves Dead to sin and alive to God In Christ Jesus.
[23:54] Here's Paul's argument. You've been united with Christ, In his death and resurrection. And in verses 6 and 11, He's going to say, And that operationalizes, That makes functional Christ's power on the cross, In his resurrection, Available to you.
[24:15] The power of Christ's death to defeat sin Is now operational for you. The power of Christ's resurrection To now live for God And walk in newness of life, Is now fully available to you, Christian.
[24:35] The gospel power to die to sin And to live to God, We've now been connected to By being united to Christ. In verses 6 and 7, The apostle Paul focuses on The death of Christ And what it's accomplished.
[24:52] When you read verse 6, We know that our old self Was crucified with him. Do you know what he's talking about? He's talking about Who you were Before you were converted.
[25:05] Before you were brought under Christ. Before you were brought into, You were outside of Christ, In Adam, Ruled by your sin, Condemned, Facing judgment, Under God's wrath.
[25:20] That's your old self. And what Jesus, Or what Paul is saying here, Is that, That old self, Was crucified with Christ.
[25:31] It's dead now. There's no power, Authority in your life. And what that means is, It's, We don't continue living for sin.
[25:45] We've been crucified. That old man crucified. And the purpose is, To bring the body of sin, Brought to nothing. What that means is this.
[25:58] Sin no longer rules over you. Grace does. And so your body, All of who you are physically, Now, You no longer offer your body to sin.
[26:09] You offer your body to God. Sin no longer has the power To call the shots in your life. That's what we're getting at. And what we read, So that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
[26:27] Maybe you came in here feeling like, Man, I just can't shake sin. Like, It just dictates my life. If you're a follower of Jesus, Hey, It doesn't have to be that way.
[26:42] Because according to this, You're no longer enslaved to sin. And when you're no longer enslaved to sin, You're no longer under sin's tyranny.
[26:57] Verse 7, For one who has died has been set free from sin. Verses 6 and 7 is talking about How we've been united To Christ's sin-defeating death.
[27:09] And then, Verse 8 and 9 Focus on the resurrection of Jesus. And our ability now To no longer be under the dominion of death, But to live for God. Now, If we have died with Christ, We believe that we will also live with Him.
[27:26] And that's verse 4 kind of living. Walking in newness of life. We know that Christ, Being raised from the dead, Will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
[27:37] So, Christ's death and resurrection Has freed us from the dominion of sin and death. You've got to believe this, Brothers and sisters. It's either true or it's not.
[27:47] You're either going to live in the reality of this Or you're going to ignore it. And you're going to ignore it To great difficulty. When we get to verse 10, Paul starts summarizing things.
[28:02] He says, For the death He died, He died to sin once for all. He died to your sin. And the life He lives, He lives to God. So that we too could live lives to God.
[28:14] And then verse 11 is the crux. It brings it all together. He says, So, You also must consider. You must think yourselves.
[28:27] Because it's true. Dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. And that little phrase, In Christ Jesus, It carries the freight of what He's talking about.
[28:38] Because you've been united to Christ In His death and resurrection. You've got to believe this. Because this is how God sees you.
[28:49] He united you to Christ In His death and resurrection. He set you free. The principle here is this. Who you are Determines how you live.
[29:02] That's the principle. And if you are now in Christ, You live differently. We don't continue in sin Because it's not who we are. The question is, Is this true?
[29:19] Have you been united to Christ In His death and resurrection? God says, If you put your faith in Christ, Yes.
[29:31] Are you believing that? What will it take To start believing this more? Not just agreeing with it in theory, But seeing yourself As one who's been United to Christ In His death and resurrection.
[29:50] Now, you may be asking, Well, what does this have to do with sanctification? It's got everything to do with sanctification. Because the case Paul is making Is that when you're tempted to sin, Our response is this.
[30:02] That's not who I am anymore. Because I've been united to Christ In His death and resurrection. What we tend to do is think, Okay, tempted to sin, What do I have to do right now?
[30:14] Do I have got the stuff in me to say no? Where we should be saying, No, you've got no mastery over me Because Jesus kicked you in the can. This is our new power source.
[30:31] There's one other piece of this. In Romans 8, It's the Holy Spirit Who is actively in our lives Bringing this power to bear Day in and day out.
[30:45] I'll come back to that in a sec. Our new practice. This is in verses 12 through 14. For the sake of time, I'm just going to set this up Because I'm going to come back to this next week When we're looking at the second half Of Romans chapter 6.
[31:02] In verses 1 through 5, Our new position. In verses 6 through 11, Our new power, A mindset. We must think a new way about ourselves. Because it's true now. And in verses 12 through 14, Specifically in verse 13, We have a new practice.
[31:20] Look at verse 13. Do not present your members to sin As instruments for righteousness. The members he's talking about Is the members of your body.
[31:31] Your hands, your body, Your eyes, your ears, Your sexual organs, Your mind, All of who you are. He's saying, Don't present them To sin As instruments of unrighteousness.
[31:48] Because when you present them to sin, When you offer them up to sin, Your body becomes tools. A tool for unrighteousness.
[31:59] It's not who you are. That's the first dimension To sanctification. Is the stop sinning.
[32:10] Because it's not who you are anymore. And the second aspect Of sanctification Is to start godliness. And we see that In the second half of verse 13.
[32:23] But present yourselves to God As those who've been brought From death to life. As those who've been made new. As those who've been united to Christ In his death and resurrection. And your members to God As instruments for righteousness.
[32:37] So what Paul is saying is this. Hey, In order for you to stop Living for sin, You need to stop Offering your body To sin.
[32:49] And you need to start Offering all of who you are To God. Because you've been united to Christ In his death and his resurrection. This do not present And this do present Is shot through your Bible.
[33:06] If you're familiar with Ephesians chapter 4 Or Colossians chapter 3 Paul uses language like this. Put off, put on. You get into the gospels It's language like this.
[33:17] Turn from, repent, believe. Later in the book of Romans It's do not be conformed To this world But be transformed By the renewing of your minds.
[33:29] Present your bodies As living sacrifice to God. That's all the way Through our Bibles. This is the new practice That we undertake As those been justified By the grace of God.
[33:46] So what you need to know Is that biblical sanctification This walking in newness of life It involves two things.
[33:59] Until we see Jesus It's going to require Putting sin to death Which the old timers Called mortification And Bringing godliness to life Which the old timers Called vivification We're to mortify our sin And we're to bring to life That which pleases to God.
[34:20] That's sanctification. Becoming less and less Ruled by sin And more and more Like Christ. Now here's This connection I want to continue Making for you. When Paul writes About being led By the spirit In Galatians chapter 5 And Romans chapter 8 Do you know what context He's talking about?
[34:41] Sanctification. In other places Of our New Testament The Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness. He leads the apostles To different places To preach the gospel.
[34:54] But when Paul uses it He's talking about Being led by the spirit By way of Putting sin to death And bringing to life The things of godliness. And so what that means For us is this There is a ministry Of the Holy Spirit When it comes to Our sanctification That is absolutely Essential The spirit is the one Who bounds you To the death And resurrection Of Jesus And the spirit is the one Who's going to help you Put sin to death And bring to life The fruit of the spirit.
[35:30] This is What God The spirit Is seeking to do In each of us.
[35:43] Okay let's apply This doctrine. First is this Do you understand The difference Between justification And sanctification?
[35:54] Not if you do. If you don't Let's talk. Find me after the service. I want to help you Understand this Because it is Really important To get these doctrines Clear and straight And how they relate With one another.
[36:10] Second Did you come in here This morning Actually believing That you Are United to Christ In his death And resurrection.
[36:22] Is that Operational In your mind? Are you Actively Believing that? Now you may say I don't feel United to Christ.
[36:36] I feel beat up By sin. When I was Younger I was on staff With an organization Called Crew Campus Crusade for Christ And we would share The gospel with Basically any College student That walked.
[36:52] And one of the things Is you get through The gospel And then you help Them to understand They're like Well I don't feel Like a Christian now And what you do Is you help them With an illustration.
[37:04] Imagine A three car train The locomotive Fact The coal car Faith The caboose Feeling Fact And trusting In the fact And your feelings Will follow But if you Are trying To pull The train With your caboose You're putting Your faith In your feelings You're going to be Very frustrated Frustrated What drives The train Of sanctification Is your union With Christ That you have Been Crucified with Christ And raised with Christ To newness of life So let me give you A prescription If you're struggling
[38:04] With this area If you don't think Of yourself that way Would you start Committing to your mind Romans 6 10 and 11 Start memorizing it Start meditating Start thinking about it You start thinking About for Christ The death he died He died to sin Once for all In the life he lives He lives to God So now also Consider yourself Dead to sin Alive to God In Christ Jesus Could you imagine What's going to happen If you walk around Like that Thinking that all day Good things Good things Are going to happen God pleasing things Here's what's amazing To me What Christ did 2,000 years ago Through God's grace Of uniting you To what he did 2,000 years ago Is still effectual It's still powerful It's still changing things Sanctification
[39:08] Sanctification This is the third point It requires two aspects Putting sin off Putting on godliness So here's what I'd like you to do As we head towards Next Sunday Use this week It's a homework assignment What is one area That you are presently Offering The members of your body To sin Think about it Focus in Go to the Lord God how am I presenting The members of my body To sin and not to you Would you show me I want you to do that Because when we get Next week It's going to be very helpful To have something Very specific and concrete To work with We're going to say What must you stop By faith And what must you start By faith Sanctification is the process Of becoming less and less Ruled by sin And more and more Like Christ Why do Christians sin?
[40:11] Why do you sin? See with the whiteboard? You're both of those Simultaneously justified And sinful That's why we still sin The penalty of sin Has been paid The power of sin Has been broken But the presence Of sin remains So we need to be Actively Putting our sin to death And bringing to life The things that please God Another way to think About it is this Before you start Climbing the wall Of sanctification You got to ask Belay on And you're going to hear Belay on Not only has God Justified you You've been united With Christ In his death And resurrection And that gives you Great confidence It's high ground In terms of now Putting sin to death And bringing life To the spirit The fruit of the spirit Let's pray God in heaven
[41:13] Would you help us Grow in godliness Would you help us Grow in Christ likeness Would you help us To do this work Of putting off sin And putting on That which pleases you God would you Would you help us To do this well To think your thoughts About us now And God would you Rescue any of the Brothers and sisters In this room Who are presently Not believing All that is true Of them For what you've done For them in Christ God would you Make us holy Pleasing to you In our experience In Jesus name Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen
[42:14] Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen