Romans 6 verses 12 through 14.
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.
For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace.
Let's pray.
Lord, we're thankful for your word this morning to remind us of who's truly in control,
who's in charge, who has dominion.
May you remind us as those who trust in Christ that you rule over all things,
even in our lives now.
And Father, we thank you for your word and may it speak to us this morning.
We pray in Christ's name. Amen.
Have you ever found yourself wondering, how did I get to this place?
What decisions did I make that led me to where I am right now?
Whether it's a series of mistakes that I've made or good decisions.
I've made a good decision here and a little decision here.
And all along the way, and I've arrived at this spot,
I found myself reading those words to my kids.
But not asking them of myself, but reading from Mr. Toad.
You see, Mr. Toad had gotten to this spot, in this position,
because of decisions he had made.
He had lost his ancestral home, Toad Hall, because of bad decisions.
And now he found himself without a home and overrun by varmints, weasels to be in fact.
His story is a winding path through a train of escape, evading the police,
jumping off of a train, wrecking a number of cars,
and then alienating his friends.
And then finally, crashing that car at the bottom of the lake and losing a home,
and dressing up like a woman, and all these things, cascading effects of all these bad decisions.
He had made them, and then now he found himself in a spot where he asked,
How did I get here?
What did I do to find myself without a home?
You see, despite all the best efforts of his friends,
he found himself drawn back in to his one singular obsession.
Cars.
Motor cars.
It reads like this, the story of the wind in the willows.
It says,
Toad, halfway through his meal, heard a familiar sound.
He trembled with joy.
It was the sound of a motor car.
He heard it stop.
The inn's doors opened,
and as he sat, he saw the car's passengers entered in,
talkative and happy.
Toad slipped out quietly.
There can't be any harm, he said to himself.
And just looking at it,
he inspected it carefully,
and then his eyes lit up.
I wonder, he whispered,
I wonder if this sort of car starts easily.
And before he knew it,
he was cranking the handle,
and pop, pop, pop went the car.
And once again, Toad was possessed,
as if in a dream,
and he found himself in the driver's seat.
He swung the car on the road,
and faster and faster it went.
And as the car devoured the highway,
Toad felt large,
and again, he was Toad the Terror.
Toad was consumed by driving cars,
and he had wrecked a number of cars,
and squandered his inheritance,
and even lost his home,
because he was consumed with driving.
And his friends intervened,
and held him hostage in his own home,
saying, Toad, you can't drive anymore,
you're going to hurt yourself or others.
And then he snuck out.
And then he found himself in jail,
and then he broke free,
and then he lost his home,
because he was devoured
by his obsession with driving.
That seems really silly,
that he's unable to restrain himself about driving.
You see, sin had made him a slave,
reigning over every part of his life.
Driving had consumed him.
That seems really silly,
but we do the same thing.
This children's story reminds us
that sin consumes all of our lives,
and reigns over all of us.
Fairytale toads and humans alike.
The reign of sin is not just an automobile obsession.
It has its claws in all of us.
It can be pretty innocuous,
whether it's, you know,
touching the car,
turning the crank on the handle,
you know, an old-timey car,
that's how you started it,
putting your key in the ignition,
or thinking to yourself,
I wonder what it sounds like.
I wonder what it's like to sit in the seat
and grab the steering wheel.
It's pretty innocuous, right?
Doesn't everyone think well of themselves
before others?
I spoke to that person in that way
because, you know,
that's how they act.
It begins subtly,
and then it cascades into something different,
when our love of good food never stops,
not when we're full,
but we just keep eating.
Maybe our allegiance to alcohol
drives out everything else in our lives.
Our security is not in the one who is sovereign,
but in all these nice and neat boxes
that we create for our lives
and ourselves and our children.
I will never feel afraid
because I've controlled everything.
I will never risk anything.
Uncertainty?
Because I control it
with my job,
my life,
and my home.
What about health?
Above all else.
Order,
organization,
cleanliness,
sex,
power,
money,
relationships,
toys at Christmastime,
Christmas presents,
or the perfect holiday party.
It starts with just a little,
I wonder what it sounds like.
I wonder what it feels like,
and yet it lurks in everything.
Sin reigns in the hearts of men,
and it might look different
for each and every one of us.
It might be large and flagrant
and find us in prison.
It might be socially unacceptable.
It might land us in jail,
or it might rot us
from the inside out,
so that the aroma
of the good news of the gospel
isn't present for our children,
isn't present for our neighbors.
It never comes to bloom,
and instead,
we're seen as nasty
and disgusting
because we allow sin to reign.
You see,
sin reigns in all of us,
in all of mankind,
but it doesn't reign anymore
for those who are in Christ.
That's the argument
Paul is making here.
The gospel has broken
the reign of sin,
and we're free from it,
and that's part of the problem
because we know deep down
as we leave this place
that we will still sin,
and so what do we do with it?
Matthew's talked at length
about this threefold aspect of sin,
the power,
the penalty,
and the presence of sin.
The presence of sin still remains,
so how does it not reign over us?
That's the question
for the Christian,
and that's the question
that Paul is addressing
in verses 12 through 14.
How does sin reign,
or does it reign,
in the life of the Christian?
First, we're going to look
at these three verses
in a series.
A command,
a continuation of that argument,
or continuation of that command,
and then the cause
of that command.
First, the command.
So look with me at verse 12.
Often Christians come to verse 12,
and we forget
what's happened
in verses 1 through 11.
Paul's reminded us,
as we heard last week,
that we are dead to sin,
but alive in Jesus Christ,
and we struggle
because we know
that we still have sin,
so how is it dead
if I still know
that it's there?
But that all-consuming nature,
that reign of sin,
Paul says,
is broken.
That's why he can say
in verse 12,
let not sin,
therefore,
reign in your mortal body
to make you obey
its passion.
Now, is he saying
that sin is still reigning?
It seems like
if he's saying that,
he's talking out of both sides
of his mouth.
He's saying,
be free from sin,
and don't let it reign,
but yet it still reigns.
That you're dead to sin,
but it's still,
you're free from it?
How does that work out?
That would be a contradiction
if he said that.
He's saying this
in this command.
Do not let it reign
any longer.
Do not let it reign
in your mortal body.
If you were to say this
to someone
who didn't have faith in Christ,
it would kind of be unfair,
wouldn't it?
He's saying to someone
who's dead in sin
that can't rise up and walk
to not let it reign,
even though we know
it reaches every corner
of their heart.
He's talking very specifically
to a Christian
that is dead to sin,
as verse 11 tells us,
and alive to God
in Christ Jesus.
He's saying
it cannot reign
in the sense
of its power
and its penalty
like it once did.
The Christian is free
from that reign of sin.
And the only reason
Paul can command this,
the only reason
he can give it
as an imperative,
kids, if you remember
in English,
an imperative
is saying something
like do this.
He's saying
don't let it reign.
And he can say that
because of verse 14,
which we'll come to
in a minute.
It's an indicative,
something that's done
for you.
So this command
is to Christians
saying,
do not let sin win,
do not let sin reign
like it once did.
All of this
is a command
wrapped up
to Christians.
If you think about
where we are
in the book of Romans,
we spent a number
of weeks,
months,
leading up to this point.
This is the first time
Paul is saying
to his audience,
do this.
So it's all these weeks
and verses
and chapters
of what has been done
on their behalf,
that God has met them
in their sin,
that God has given
them salvation.
All of these things,
all of this has been
done for the Christian
and now Paul is saying
to them,
do not let sin
reign any longer.
It's the first time
he gives a command
in the book of Romans
for them to follow.
The interesting part though
is this nuance
that he says.
He says,
let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body.
He's pointing out
that Christians
are both body
and soul.
He's not saying
we're divided beings
where our body
does one thing
and our soul
does another.
We are together.
But he's testifying
to the reality
that we're caught up
in something.
It's something
that we've talked about
in the weeks past
that we live
in this overlap
of already,
the fact that we're
united with Christ
as we heard
a couple weeks ago,
we're united
with Christ in faith,
that's what's
already happened.
And then not yet.
We don't yet
have our glorified bodies.
So not everything
is perfect.
There's a sense
in which we live
in that overlap.
We're not yet
in the fully glorified bodies.
And so,
our mortal bodies remain
and sin still affects it.
But the command
is to stand firm
and not let it reign.
Now,
I warned Matthew
I was going to do this,
this quote,
a heretic.
All right?
Now,
it's interesting
in the life
of heretics
where they agree
with those
that are faithful.
And Augustine,
as we've,
we've kind of talked
about Augustine
as we've walked
through Romans
in original sin.
And Augustine
championed this idea.
He was an early church father
and his main
bad guy opponent
was this guy
called Pelagius.
But when they come
to this verse,
they both agree
about this.
Pelagius said
that sin reigns
by obedience
and consent.
That means
the sinner
consents
and allows it
to have reign
over the sinner.
The sinner
that is still
having faith
in Christ.
Augustine agreed
with him
and said,
we still have desires
but by not obeying them,
we don't let sin
reign in our members.
We don't let sin
reign over us
if we have faith
in Christ.
These two opponents,
one heretic,
one faithful,
agree about the fact,
agree with Paul
in saying
that we consent
to it.
Paul is challenging us
to not let sin
reign in our mortal bodies.
We can't let it
go on any longer
because when we do consent,
we allow it to remain.
We allow it to reign
even still.
Now the language
throughout this verse
is one of obedience
and reign.
It's very kingly.
It's a unique idea
for us as Americans.
We don't like anyone
telling us what to do
but a king
rules over all things
and rules
and directs
his subjects.
If we think about
what we've heard
thus far in Romans
in chapter 5,
Paul talks about
the reign
and this reversal
of a reign.
For if because
one man's trespass,
death reigned
through one man,
much more will those
who receive
the abundance of grace
and the free gift
of righteousness
reign in the life
through the one man
Jesus Christ.
Is the king Jesus
or is the king sin?
Sin cannot reign
over the Christian.
This idea of having
a king that rules
over us,
forcing its subject
to obey
whether it's towed
with the motor car
or whether it's us
and rooting out sin.
That king directs
his subjects.
The same could be true
of a Christian
that allows sin
to come into their life
and doesn't actively
work against it
but instead allows it
to go unchallenged.
That it controls
all of its interests.
And that's why
they find themselves
asking or why we
might find ourselves
asking,
how did I get
to this spot?
How did I get so low?
There's a man
that I've been sharing
the gospel with
over a series of years
really
and he made some decisions
in his life
that landed him in jail
and as I met
with him in jail
he was brought
to the point of tears
because he had lost
his career.
He thought he had
lost his family.
He had for a time
and he kept asking
how did I get here?
And I reminded him
that in that moment
the decision
that he made
to land him in jail
had begun long,
long ago
many, many years ago
to allow sin
to go unchecked
in his life
and think
oh it's not that
big of a deal.
It's just touching
the steering wheel.
It's just wondering
how the car sounded.
But instead
that decision
those decisions
over a period
of time
land us
very far
away from home
and asking ourselves
how did I get there?
Christian
the command
is to us
to not
let sin
reign.
We cannot let it
reign in our lives
and we must root it out.
Paul continues
this idea
through a continuation
of this argument
a continuation
of this command.
Let's turn our attention
to verse 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.
So often
we talked about this
in Sunday school today
Paul makes
an argument
and then he advances
that argument
or he clarifies
or he applies it.
He's doing the same
thing here.
He's kind of circling
back and providing
more context
to what he means
in verse 12.
He pivots
from this analogy
of a king
and reigning
and subjects
to forces
that slavishly
do his bidding
but it's not
immediately obvious
what he pivots to.
It's not slaves
and a king
it's not subjects
but he says this
do not present
your members
or do not allow
your members
as instruments
is often what
your Bible might say
but the instrument
here is like
a weapon of warfare.
So he's saying
do not let
your members
be weapons
in unrighteousness
of unrighteousness.
Members
is not members
of the body of Christ
like members
that we've just received
but all your faculties
as a Christian
your body
your will
all of those things
that make up
who we are.
Do not allow
your body
do not allow
your will
do not allow
yourself to sin
do not let
them be instruments
of this grand
plan
this grand
army
of evil
and when he
says that
he's reminding
us that sin
cannot be our
captain
or our general
to order us
to go this way
or that
or allow us
to be
ones
set under
sin's authority.
no
our members
are instead
to be obedient
to God.
That's the reverse
of what he says
but before he says
that he reminds us
of this status
not as members
or slaves
or members
of this other army
to go and do sin
but we are alive
to God
in Christ Jesus.
He reminds us
of this source
of power
is the spirit
working in us
to change us
to bring us
from death
to life.
We're not
left alone
depending on
our own
works
and our own
efforts
that we're called
to be abounding
in good works
and to do all
those things
but God has equipped
us with the spirit
that's changed us
that's brought us
from death
to life.
He is doing
that in us.
Paul will write
this later
in Romans
that a Christian
is called
to present
your body
as a living sacrifice
holy and acceptable
to God.
That's a snapshot.
This is a snapshot
of what's to come
in Romans 12
that our mortal bodies
though we may struggle
against sin
that there should be
a longing
for good
and right
that we're being
drugged down
by our bodies
because we live
in this overlap
where we have a body
of this world
and it's not yet glorified
and that our members
can't get with
its program.
If we walk a day
as a Christian
we know that struggle
and Paul uses
this picture
of a king
and its subjects
for us
to remind us
of how
serious it is
and how pervasive
it is
and how
he can use
evil
can use us
as a weapon
of unrighteousness
and these soldiers
have taken off
the uniform
of one army
and put on
the colors
of another.
There's a famous
British scholar
that said this
about this idea
that's armies
and sin
that sin
is regarded
as a sovereign
so a king
who demands
military service
of subjects
and leaves
their quota
of arms
and gives them
their soldiers
pay of death.
Do we really
believe that?
Do we really
believe that sin
merits death?
And sin
is no longer
for the Christian
at the head
of the army
in which you serve
but instead
we're serving
in God's army.
So what are we
supposed to do
with this transition
from unrighteousness
to righteousness?
What are we
supposed to do
with the fact
that sin
still remains
and if we're honest
it often feels
like it controls
every aspect
of our life.
We're told
not to do this
but as we walk
out these doors
we definitely
feel like
this is true.
The Puritan
John Owen
said this.
He said
something like this
be killing sin
or it be killing you.
It's this idea
that there's a
binary nature
in this fight
against sin.
It's either a zero
or a one
and we have
to be killing sin
or it
will be destroying
us.
That idea
comes from
this little book
he wrote
called
The Mortification
of Sin.
It's the great
Christian duty
he writes
not to be
embarrassed by sin
but to be
killing it
in every area
of our lives.
Not your neighbor's
sin
not your friend's
sin
not your mom's
sin
or your dad's
sin
not the sin
that's out there
but your own
inside of you.
That's what
not letting sin
reign
means.
It's rooting
it out
bringing it
to the life
to the light
so that we
can kill it.
What's in view
here is this
idea of sanctification
the idea that
we're becoming
more and more
holy
be ye holy
is the charge
in the Old Testament
and the duties
that are required
in that
are hunting it out
and rooting it out.
Now that seems
like
a really big task
to not let
your enemy
gain an inch
of ground
in your life
to not
be like
toad
and just
want to know
what it feels
like or sounds
like
to not let
a look
linger
to not let
a drop
of a hint
of gossip
reign in your life
to not just
cheat a little bit
pretending like
it's an honest
mistake.
This feels
weighty
because this
is the great
Christian task
is to kill
sin
because we
want to be
like Christ
but God
doesn't leave us
to do that
on our own.
God fuels us
with his spirit.
He is the one
that made us
dead to sin
and alive
to God
but often
we feel
like we should
just give up.
Right?
That's a struggle
in the beginning
of Romans 6.
Why does this
all matter
if we're
covered by
grace anyway?
How can I
do this
because this
feels hard
and yes
it goes well
at times
but often
it feels
like I'm
losing this
battle.
You are still
called to fight
in this battle
no matter
our age
or no matter
if we are
a second
from glory
or that's
long in the
future
that we are
called to fight.
A Christian
that doesn't
care about
sin in his
own life
doesn't really
understand
the gospel
we have
to remind
ourselves
to never
give up
but know
that we will
sometimes lose
in this fight
against sin.
It still
rages
that battle
still rages
in our hearts.
Now
as we do
that
we can
sometimes
do this
in a way
that is
really sad
right?
Because we
feel
and know
in our bones
that we've
grieved
a holy God.
We can do
this in a way
that is
kind of
not fun
to be around
to be real
frank
but we are
called to do
so with joy.
David says
this
restore to me
the joy
of your salvation.
We should
execute all
of this
with joy.
We should
be rooting
out sin
knowing that
joy
comes from
the gospel
and that joy
infuses
everything that
we do
even killing
our own sin.
That seems
really weird
but that's
what we're
called to.
The
shorter
catechism
tells us
this
that if
we're
becoming
more
and more
holy
and as
we're
being
renewed
that if
we're
becoming
more and
more like
Christ
that is
the thing
that should
produce
joy in
our hearts
that we
can see
in one
another
and in
ourselves
maybe not
today
maybe not
next week
but after
years
and know
God
is at
work
and that
should
make
us
joyful.
John
Owen
describes
this
process
like a
forest.
The
forest
is
overcome
with
vines
and branches
and as
we walk
and we
root out
sin
and become
more holy
year after
year
those branches
and vines
that cover
the forest
floor
become less
and less
and the
light comes
through
and those
trees
either
remain
but there's
less and
less
undergrowth.
If we
think about
our Christian
lives
are we
rooting out
sin
so that
we can
see
glimpses
of light
maybe not
this week
but maybe
last year
compared to
last year
maybe
in years
after walking
with Christ
are we seeing
more and
more light
are we
reminding
ourselves
that we're
not doing
this on our
own effort
but God
who made
us alive
in Christ
Jesus
by the
power of
his spirit
that raised
Christ from
the dead
lives and
reigns and
works in
us
to do
so.
God
has not
simply left
us alone
for this
task but
he's equipped
us for
it.
That's the
command to
be holy
to root
out sin
not let it
rain
and continuing
saying our
members are
not used
for unrighteousness
and this
weapon
against
and this
war
but weapons
towards
righteousness
and fueled
by the
Holy Spirit
but why
what's the
cause of
that
wait Paul
are you
saying we
have to
do these
things
I thought
you said
that there
are great
promises
that it's
all been
done for
me
yes
look at
verse 14
for sin
will have
no dominion
over you
since you
are not
under law
but under
grace
the law
requires
holiness
we know
that
but man
in his
sin
was powerless
to do
anything
powerless
to fulfill
its demands
we note
that from
experience
living in
this life
but the
game has
changed
now
we are
fueled
by the
Holy Spirit
a Christian
can be
holy
because he's
equipped to
be holy
that God
has given
us
his spirit
this idea
of being
under law
or under
grace
is not
talking about
being under
the Old
Testament
or Moses
or the New
Testament
he's saying
are you
living under
the power
of the law
are you
living under
the reign
of sin
are you
living under
the promises
of the gospel
of grace
it's talking
about the
controlling
force
in our
lives
the dominion
of sin
is the
rule
and reign
either of
law
or of
grace
but we know
as a Christian
that that
rule
being under
the law
has been
broken
and now
it's under
grace
and he can
issue this
command
because
of what
has been
done
on our
behalf
we talked
about the
imperative
of a
command
do this
this is
very much
indicative
this has
been done
for you
that is
the truth
of the
gospel
if we
get those
confused
then we
confuse
the nature
of the
gospel
we don't
do the
gospel
it has
been done
for us
it has
been done
on our
behalf
Christ
has made
you alive
Christ
has moved
you from
under law
to under
grace
the spirit
has opened
your eyes
all those
things have
been done
on our
behalf
and as
we think
about that
in our
fight against
holiness
we have
to remember
that
the great
anglican bishop
j.c.
ryle
who i know
some of us
are working
through his
work said
this
that faith
in christ
is the
root of
all holiness
the first
step towards
a holy life
is to believe
on christ
that until
we believe
we have not
a jot
of holiness
and that
union with
christ
that's an
idea that
we talked
about a
couple weeks
ago
is the
secret
to both
beginning
to be
holy
and continuing
to be
holy
the command
to holiness
begins with
faith in
jesus christ
we can't
forget that
it's not as
if we're told
to go do
this
and we're
left to
our own
devices
we have to
understand
that god
sending his
son in the
form of
man
as god
and paying
the penalty
for our
sin
is the
engine
it is the
thing that
gives us
life
it is the
thing that
allows us
to be
holy
that's why
paul can
say
to the roman
church
be holy
because
christ has
died for
sin
christ has
done that
work for
each and
every one
of us
he's called
us to
faith
because you
could never
do it
you were
never able
to to
save
yourself
you're
never able
to be
holy of
your own
accord
because sin
reigned in
your members
but christian
you have been
set free
from that
free from
the reign
of sin
so we must
put our
hope in christ
because that
is the
beginning
of holiness
now
this morning
and this
week
will we
remember
to not
let sin
reign
for christ
reigns
for us
let's
pray
lord we're
thankful for
the reminder
this morning
that you
reign in the
life of the
christian
father may
you work
faith in
our hearts
so that we
would transform
that we
would be
changed
that we
would grow
in holiness
because of
what you
have done
in our
hearts
that there
is no
dominion
now of
sin in
our lives
but father
we still
struggle
against its
presence
in our
lives
and may
you equip
us for
this task
we pray
in jesus name
amen
let's stand
and sing in
response to
god's
word
do