Well, in 2003, the United States invaded Iraq.
In Saddam Hussein, his regime, his tyranny was toppled.
He had no more authority in Iraq.
But if you're familiar with that time,
it was months before Saddam Hussein was actually captured.
So for months, he was on the run in Iraq,
exerting all sorts of mayhem in that country.
Though he was in hiding, he was exerting influence.
Despite not having any authority, he was still wreaking havoc.
It's a great picture of indwelling sin in the life of a believer.
The cross of Jesus Christ has paid the penalty of sin.
The cross of Jesus Christ has broken the power of sin.
And yet the cross of Jesus Christ has yet to eradicate sin from the life of a believer.
We are simultaneously justified in God's eyes, and yet we still sin.
And we have this little tyrant called indwelling sin wreaking havoc in our lives.
Today we're going to be looking at the second half of Romans 6.
And what you need to know going into Romans, the second half,
is that the Apostle Paul is assuming that a Christian is experiencing the influence of indwelling sin,
and that that sin exerts influence,
and it's wanting you to obey its passions, its desires, its cravings.
You know what I love about my Bible?
It's the best explanation for reality.
It explains my experience as a Christian to a T.
And so what we have here in Romans chapter 6, especially the latter half here,
is a way in which we are to think about our relationship with sin
now that Jesus has radically changed us by His grace.
Last week I asked you, as the close of the sermon,
to be thinking about a particular sin that you,
in the vein of Romans 6, 12, and 13,
that you regularly offer the instruments of your body to.
Where are you tempted to sin?
It would be very appropriate to be asking,
okay, how am I presenting my body to sexual lust?
How am I presenting my body to covetousness,
to greed, to the fear of man,
to this anxiety that can suffocate me,
this pride that thinks I'm better than anybody else,
or I'm not as good as anyone else?
What is this thing in me that causes these outbursts of anger,
and I end up giving myself to it?
Brother, sister, God's will for you is your sanctification,
for you to become more and more like Jesus in your everyday life.
One old timer said it this way.
Be killing sin,
or sin will be killing you.
There's no such thing as indifference with regard to indwelling sin.
If you're indifferent to it,
you are already serving it.
Christians, we no longer serve sin.
We slay sin.
And sanctification is the process of being ruled less and less by indwelling sin
and becoming more and more holy like our Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, God's grace isn't an excuse to sin.
God's grace compels us, trains us to be holy.
So we're going to move forward,
as we have been over the next couple of last Sundays.
We're going to look at doctrine defined.
So we're going to circle back to this thing called sanctification.
I'm going to walk you through that chart I showed you last week
just to remind those of you who are here,
and if you weren't here,
so those of you who weren't here
see a very important distinction
between the doctrine of justification and sanctification.
And then we're going to dive into Romans chapter 6, 15 through 23.
I'm going to help you see that this doctrine of sanctification is biblical.
We just can't agree to it.
We must be engaging in it.
And then finally, I'm going to apply this doctrine in two ways.
A holy mindset, we've got to be thinking a certain way,
and a holy skill set
in which you are equipped to slay your sin
and bring to life godliness.
Hey, have you been using grace as an excuse to sin?
Let's look at this doctrine defined.
Two weeks ago,
I preached a sermon on justification,
and I think it ministered to many of you.
Oh boy.
Just, I know, I got it.
Okay, this is my sanctification.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah.
I'm a graduate of Thompson Junior High School.
And yes,
I got a massive dry erase marker for this moment.
Okay, justification, just to remind you.
The doctrine of justification teaches this.
We see this in Romans 5, 1.
That God, in a one-time legal act,
declares an unrighteous sinner righteous in His sight,
based upon that sinner's faith
in the finished work of Christ.
And so, the moment a sinner believes in the gospel,
they are now declared righteous legally by God.
They're in right standing with Him.
They were, at one point,
they were without excuse, under God's wrath,
unrighteous in every way,
whether they were a moralist,
or they were a hedonist,
and then God changed them.
Remember this illustration?
Here is you,
with your unrighteousness.
You had a fat list of that.
And God's wrath was over you for that.
And then here's Jesus Christ
with His 33 years of perfect righteousness.
And what God does,
the moment a sinner believes,
is He thinks differently about this.
He considers your righteousness
as now being placed on Christ.
And He applies Christ's death from 2,000 years ago
all the wrath poured out on Christ
is now poured out on Christ
for all of your sin.
So it's completely forgiven.
That's how He thinks about you.
But that's just half that.
Because now, God also thinks of Christ's righteousness
as the fancy word is imputed to you.
It's legally true of you the moment you believe.
All of Christ's righteousness.
And so at that moment,
He sees you and thinks of you
as completely forgiven,
all of His wrath poured out on Christ
for your sake.
And now all of Christ's righteousness
imputed to you.
It's yours now.
And at that moment,
you are justified in His sight
at peace with God.
That's why that verse,
2 Corinthians 5, 21,
and He, God,
made Him, Jesus,
who knew no sin
to become sin on our behalf,
that we might become
the righteousness of God.
That's what that's talking about.
That's double imputation.
That's the internal workings of justification.
And so,
now,
a justified sinner
has an imputed righteousness
in which they stand.
This doesn't change.
It's a work of God alone.
It's immediate
at the moment you believe.
And it's not just immediate.
What was the word
I wanted there?
Immediate
and
this 51-year-old brain.
It was immediate.
And it was complete.
Because it's
the righteousness of Christ
imputed to you,
there's no more
additional righteousness
of Christ
that needs to be imputed to you.
It's all yours.
It's complete.
The moment you believed.
And therefore,
it's unchanging.
So now,
if I came to Christ
as a 19-year-old,
for the rest of my days
on this planet,
I am fully righteous
in God's sight
because of the finished work
of Christ.
Imputed to me.
Do I have an amen?
Okay.
This is justification.
This happens
the moment
of your salvation.
God alone,
we add nothing to it.
It's immediate,
complete,
unchanging.
For by grace,
you've been saved
through faith.
It's not your own owning.
It's the gift of God.
God.
Now,
when we get to
sanctification,
where justification
is that one-time
legal declaration
of God,
sanctification
is a cooperative
between God
and a justified sinner
in which
we are working together
to work out
what God
has started in us.
It's a process
of being less
and less ruled by sin
and more and more
like Christ
and His holiness.
And so this,
we can call it
practical
or experiential
righteousness.
It's right living,
showing up
day by day
in your life.
It's living for God,
obeying Him.
It's an outworking
of your right standing.
This is right
walking
day by day.
This is the basis
of it all.
You're justified
by God's grace,
period.
This is the outworking
of it.
You are now
walking by God's grace,
dot, dot, dot.
So this is
a cooperative
between God
and the justified,
oh, bad writing,
sinner,
a.k.a. a saint,
where this is immediate,
justification is immediate,
this is ongoing,
where justification
is complete,
you've been given
the full righteousness
of Christ.
This is incomplete
because
it's not until
you are in the very
presence of God,
whether you breathe
your last
or Jesus returns,
that you will now
no longer
need to put sin
to death
and bring to life
what is pleasing
to God.
So you're not
going to be
righteously perfect
this side of glory.
It's incomplete
and therefore
it's changing.
Sanctification is,
some theologians
call it progressive.
It's like the Dow Jones
Industrial Average
over decades
where you're seeing it
gradually increase,
but if you come into
like a three-month period
you see that like
really sharp dips
and rises
and stuff like that,
but the trajectory
over time
is gain.
And so
both are true
of a Christian.
a Christian
the moment they believe
is justified,
that's never going
to change,
it's God alone,
He doesn't revoke it,
and they're being
sanctified,
which is a progress,
progressive,
cooperative with God.
Last week I told you
what happens
when people confuse
these.
Do you know what happens
when someone thinks
that their justification,
your right standing
with God,
depends upon your
sanctification,
your right walking
with God,
do you know what happens?
Misery!
Because you're living
in fear.
Because you think
that your obedience
earns your right standing
with God
and that is just
not biblical.
It's a recipe
for misery.
That's what all
the other religions
in the world
propose.
Our faith,
the Christian faith,
starts with grace
that justifies.
And then it moves
to grace
that sanctifies.
So when you do
get this relationship
clear and right,
now you're positioned
to start putting
sin to death
and bringing to life
godliness,
realizing that
your salvation
doesn't depend on it.
It's not working
of what God
has begun in you.
You guys tracking
with me?
Nods?
Okay.
This,
20 years ago,
in the life
of Mike Salvati,
rescued me
from a life
of just
heartache
and misery.
I actually thought
my salvation
depended on me.
And it's just
not true.
It's not biblical.
And so when I learned
this,
it was like,
what?
This is God's grace?
It's amazing.
So as a result,
Christian,
you know what you can say?
You're as justified
as you ever will be.
You're as justified
as the Apostle Paul
because you've both
been declared righteous
with the imputed
righteousness
of Jesus Christ.
But when it comes
to our sanctification,
we're working that out.
And some of us
who've been fighting
for a while
are going to be
down the road
a little longer
than some of us
who are just
starting out.
But here's what
I want you to hear.
The grace
that justified you
is the same grace
that is sanctifying you.
The grace
that justified you,
period,
done,
is the grace
that is sanctifying you
ongoingly.
So,
sanctification
is the cooperative
process between
God and a Christian
to be ruled
less and less
by sin
and become more
and more like Christ
in holiness,
day-to-day holiness.
So,
the question now
we've got to ask,
is this biblical?
Do our Bibles
actually teach this?
And that's where
I want you
to turn in your Bibles
to Romans chapter 6
verses 15 through 23.
In your pew Bible,
I think it's like
around 1120.
I forgot to check.
1121.
Thank you, Petey.
I'm going to read
this for us.
Romans 6,
15 through 23,
Paul makes
a really compelling
case here
and he starts
using a language
he hasn't used yet
in the book of Romans.
Not this explicitly.
What then?
Are we to
sin?
Because we are not
under law
but under grace?
By no means.
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?
But thanks be to God,
this is the Apostle Paul
writing,
to a church in Rome,
Christians in Rome.
Well, 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
and having been set free
from sin
have become slaves
of righteousness.
I'm 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.
For when you were slaves of sin
you were free
in regard to righteousness
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.
But now,
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.
For the wages of sin
is death
but the free gift of God
is eternal life
in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Is sanctification biblical?
Well,
the word shows up twice
in these verses.
In verse 19,
so now present your members
as slaves to righteousness
leading to sanctification
and then in verse 22,
but now
that you've been set
free from sin
and have become
slaves of God
the fruit you get
leads to
sanctification.
Being less and less
ruled by sin
and becoming more
and more
like Jesus.
In fact,
in 6.4
Paul uses
a very different phrase
to describe sanctification.
It's the last phrase,
we too might walk
in newness of life.
Walk,
live,
carry it out.
Sanctification.
So,
here's what's happening
in Romans chapter 6,
15 through 23.
On one level,
it's a simple Q&A.
He asks a question
in verse 15
and 16 through 23
he answers that question.
Very simple.
But what is he addressing?
Paul is seeking
to correct
a possible
misunderstanding
of grace.
Look at verse 14.
For sin will have
no dominion over you
since you are not
under law
but under grace.
And the apostle Paul
knows how people
like us think
under grace.
Did God just write me
a free check to sin?
And so he says,
what then?
Are we to sin?
Go on sinning,
continue in sin
because we're not
under law
but under grace.
If grace is ruling us,
if we're under
the dominion of grace now,
can we sin all we want?
Is being under grace
licensed
to sin?
Well,
what we see here is
his argument is,
no,
grace is not
licensed to sin.
grace trains us
in holiness.
You know,
a lot of evangelicals
think about grace
in terms of
fire extinguisher
from the wrath of God.
True.
They think about grace
as God's safety net.
He'll never let you go.
True.
As God's
kind of
healing balm
on our wounds.
That's true.
But grace is more
than that.
grace is like
the best coach
you will ever have
in your life
who will say,
okay, Mike,
I want you to push
the envelope
of holiness.
You go now, boy!
Grace is muscular.
Grace is gritty.
Grace rescues
and it compels.
And we're going to see
that now played out
with very interesting language.
In 15 through 23,
Paul makes clear
that Christians
are not to use grace
as a license to sin.
Rather,
God's grace
is an empowerment
to obedience.
The grace
that justified you,
Christian,
is the same grace
that is sanctifying you.
So in verse 15,
he starts by saying,
okay,
if we're under grace now,
are we free to sin?
And he says,
by no means.
Salvati translation
is what are you
are you kidding me?
This grace
that you've been
brought under,
you're going to use
that as an excuse
to sin?
Behind this,
Paul knows
that if you think
that about grace,
you've misunderstood grace.
So now he's going
to make a case.
Verse 16,
starting,
verse 16,
he shifts gear.
He's like,
okay,
I'm guessing
you have a hard time
understanding
what I'm talking about,
being under grace now,
so I'm going to come
at this from a different angle
using kind of language
you're going to understand,
verse 19.
Let's talk slavery.
And Paul's point
in verse 16
is that
you become a slave
to the one
you obey.
If you're presenting
yourself to sin,
you're doing something
that's no longer
true of who you are.
He's now going
to make a case
that grace
has made us
slaves
to righteousness,
to God.
So stop presenting
your members
to slaves
to sin.
That's the argument.
It's like,
do you not know?
Do you not know
that who you present
yourself to
as slaves
you obey?
So in verses 17
through 22,
Paul sets out
to remind
the Christians
in Rome
and the Christians
in Kenosha
of three things.
Who we are now,
what we're to be doing now,
and what is our trajectory
now.
So let me just
draw these out
to you.
There's a device
that he uses
that will help us.
Throughout this passage,
not only is he talking
in slavery,
but he's using
a kind of
a literary device
that is a before
and after technique,
a then and now
technique.
So let me show you.
In verses 17
and 18,
he says,
but thanks be to God
that you
who were once
slaves of sin
before,
have become
now
obedient from the heart
to the standard
of teaching
to which you were
committed.
He's talking about
the apostolic gospel.
Christ,
Jesus,
died and raised
God's kingdom.
And he says,
and having been
set free from sin,
you were a slave
once,
have now become
slaves
of righteousness.
So he's using
this device
of before
and after,
then and now
to help us
understand who we are
in our relationship
to sin.
And did you notice
that little phrase
in verse 17,
have become
obedient from the heart?
Do you know
what that's getting at?
Your conversion.
The moment you got
flipped by God's grace.
The moment you went
from darkness
into light.
The moment you went
from following
the prince of the power
of the air
to now living
for Jesus
because you're
in him now.
You went from
the proxy of Adam
to the proxy
of Christ.
The point he's making
is you were
once slaves
to sin,
but you're slaves
to sin no longer.
You are now
slaves
of righteousness.
Oh, I hope
you are a little
uncomfortable
right now.
Slavery is not
the easiest thing
to talk about,
right?
But here's what
he's getting at.
For many of us
Christians,
we think when we've
been set free,
we've been freed men,
freed women.
Now we can do
whatever we want.
That's not what
he's saying.
What he's saying
is God's grace
transfers you
from one kind
of slavery
to another
kind of slavery.
You used to be
a slave to sin.
Now you're a slave
of righteousness
to God.
God's grace
freed you
from slavery
to sin
so that you can
start obeying God.
God's grace
is not
this is slave
talk.
It's redemption
talk.
It's slave
market talk.
This is talking
about this
process back
in the first
century of
when slaves
would be sold
to slave
masters and
they would go
from being
property of one
to property
of other
to serve.
God's grace
flipped you
brother and
sister.
you used to
be a slave
to sin
and now
you're a slave
of righteousness.
In 1 Corinthians 6
the apostle Paul
is writing this
church in Corinth
and they
were just
messed up.
They had a real
sexual immorality
problem.
And so Paul
writes to them
and he says
to them
you are not
your own.
You were
bought
with a price.
So glorify God
with your body.
It's redemption
language.
It's slave
language.
You're not
your own
anymore.
You never
were.
But you've
been bought
by the blood
of Jesus
and now
you belong
to him.
And now
you use your
body for him
for his fame
for his glory.
And so what
Paul is getting
at here with
all this slave
talk this
before and
after you
were this
now you're
this.
Brother
sister
do you know
why you don't
present your
body to sin
anymore?
You're not
owned by sin
anymore.
You're owned
by Jesus
now.
Property
of
Jesus.
You belong
to him.
He didn't
save you
so that you
can do
anything you
wanted.
He saved
you so that
you could
now live
a life
for him.
So this
passage starts
out with
who you
are now
as a
slave of
righteousness.
You were
a slave
of sin
now you're
a slave
of righteousness.
And now
we go to
what are we
to be doing
now?
Verse 19.
Verse 19
after he talks
about speaking
in human terms
because of
their natural
limitations
he says
for just as
you once
presented
your members
as slaves
to impurity
and to
lawlessness
leading more
lawlessness
so now
present your
members as
slaves to
righteousness.
So there's
the before
and after.
Before
this is what
Paul's saying
hey Romans
you know
before you
became Christians
you were
just excellent
slaves to sin.
You excelled
at your slavery
to sin.
You just
presented
yourself to
sin and
impurity
with just
exceptional
force
and
consistency.
and
then
he says
in fact
you did
it so
well
you went
from one
kind of
lawlessness
to another
kind of
lawlessness.
You pushed
the envelope
of lawlessness.
You were
so good
at sinning
that you
blew through
any kind
of restriction
that was
put on you
and you
graduated
from one
degree of
lawlessness
to the
next.
You were
really good.
And he
uses that
as an
argument.
Just as
you excelled
at presenting
yourself as
slaves to
sin,
so now
present
yourself
all in
as a
slave
of
righteousness.
All of
who you
are
for all
of who
Christ is
all of
the time.
And so
what are we
to be doing
now?
So now
present your
members as
slaves to
righteousness
leading to
sanctification.
Because you're
now, by
God's grace,
a slave to
God and
righteousness,
now what you
do is present
your members
to him,
leading to
sanctification.
Less and
less ruled by
sin, more
and more
like Christ.
And so now,
do you know
what envelope
we push,
Christian?
we push
the envelope
of holiness.
We press
into becoming
more like
Christ in
what we
crave, in
our character,
in our
conduct.
We seek
to, by
God's grace,
push into
greater degrees
of holiness,
to excel
at that,
to prioritize
that.
That's what we
do now.
Grace is
not an
excuse to
sin.
Grace
compels us
to holiness
because you
now are a
slave of
God.
The last
piece, he's
told us who
we are now
and what we're
to be doing
now,
sanctification,
presenting our
bodies to
God, to
righteousness.
And finally,
in verses 20
and 22,
he reminds
us of our
trajectory now.
And again,
there's the
before and
after.
Look at
verse 20.
Before, when
you were
slaves of
God, you
were free
in regard
to righteousness.
In other
words, you
were not a
slave of
righteousness,
you were
not a
slave of
God, you
were dead
to God
and alive
to sin
outside of
Christ Jesus.
But now,
that has
changed.
Look at
verse 21.
He uses
the word
fruit.
When you
were a
slave to
sin,
what fruit
were you
getting at
that time
from the
things of
which you
are now
ashamed?
Fruit is
talking about
the produce
of your
sinning.
When you
were sowing
to sin,
you were
reaping things
that you're
now ashamed
of.
He's like
saying, hey,
do you remember
back in the
day, in the
years, the
slave to sin
years?
Do you
remember what
you were
doing?
And you
remember how
ashamed of
that you're
now?
It's not
like back
in the
slave to
sin years,
you were
now eager
to tell
your kids
about that
time, eager
to post on
Facebook for
everybody to
see.
It's kind
of like that
phrase you
hear about
Las Vegas,
what happens
in Las Vegas
stays in
Las Vegas.
It's kind
of like, hey,
what happened
back in the
slave to sin
years, it's
going to, I
don't want to
talk about
those years
because I'm
ashamed of
those now.
And that
fruit that
you were
bearing, you
were sowing to
sin and you
were reaping
things that
look at the
end of verse
21.
For the
end, the
telos of
those things
is death,
spiritual death,
without excuse,
under God's
wrath, judgment,
condemnation.
That's what that
was waiting.
that's who
you were
doing those
kinds of
things.
You're not
proud of
those now.
You know, if
you open up
your Bible, I'll
just read this
to you.
Back in the
slave to sin
years, you
were just
reaping all
sorts of
works of the
flesh.
Now, the
works of the
flesh, Galatians
5, 19,
are evident.
Sexual
immorality,
that was
me.
Impurity,
sensuality,
idolatry,
check,
sorcery,
enmity,
strife,
definitely,
jealousy, for
sure, fits of
anger, a lot,
rivalries, yes,
dissensions,
divisions,
envy, uh-huh,
drunkenness, not
so much,
orgies, and
things like
these.
you want to
go post those
on Facebook?
You're ashamed
of those things
now.
Why would you
ever go back
to giving
yourself to
those things?
That's who you
were.
Look at verse
22.
but now
that you've
been set free
from sin and
have become
slaves of God.
There's this
great redemptive
work of grace
in which he
flipped you.
fruit.
And he says,
the fruit you
get, same
word, fruit,
that you get
now, it's
not the stay
in Vegas
stuff.
It's the stuff
that you don't
need to be ashamed
of.
It's the stuff
that pleases
God.
For the fruit of
the Spirit is
love, joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
goodness,
gentleness,
faithfulness,
self-control.
Against such
things there is
no law.
God delights
in these things.
You don't have
to be ashamed
of these things
now.
This is the
fruit of
sanctification.
You're being
less and less
ruled by sin
and becoming
more and more
like Christ
because that
fruit of the
Spirit forms
a profile of
Jesus.
You want to
be like him.
And the end
of that,
the telos of
that is
eternal life.
That's the
trajectory we're
on,
brothers and
sisters.
We're on the
grace trajectory
of becoming
more and more
holy which
results in
eternal life
because we've
been justified
by his grace.
We've been
united with
Christ in his
death and
resurrection.
We've been
redeemed.
So we don't
go back to
that stuff.
life.
You're no
longer a
slave to
sin but a
slave to
God on a
grace trajectory.
The fruit is
sanctification and
the end is
eternal life.
That's who you
are now.
Period.
So Paul's
making this
argument in
Romans 6,
15 through
23.
It's like,
hey, you
know what?
We're not,
we don't come
under grace so
that we can
keep sinning.
No, it's not
who we are
anymore.
We're slaves of
God, slaves of
righteousness.
What we do now
is offer our
bodies to him
unto sanctification,
holiness, and
we are on a
whole new
trajectory.
We're going to
glory.
And so we live
like that now.
The point is,
is that we don't
offer ourselves
to sin anymore
because we're now
slaves of God.
It's all by his
grace.
And at the
heart of this,
what flipped
the script
is the
redemptive work
of God
in Christ Jesus
for you.
He bought you
with his blood.
You are not
your own.
You've been
purchased by the
blood of Christ.
So present
yourself
to God
as slaves
of righteousness.
Anybody
asking,
how do I do
that?
What does that
look like?
How can I
present myself
to God
day in,
day out
as a slave
of righteousness?
Well,
let me tell you.
Doctrine
applied.
Would you
quickly look
at Titus
chapter 2
verses 11
through 14?
Listen to
this.
As my friend
says,
peep this.
Look at that.
for the grace
of God
has appeared,
bringing salvation
for all people,
training us.
The grace
of God
is training
us
to renounce
ungodliness
and worldly
passions
and to live
self-controlled,
upright,
and godly lives
in the present
age now,
waiting for our
blessed hope,
the appearing of
the glory of
our great God
and Savior,
Jesus Christ,
who gave
himself for us
to redeem us
from all
lawlessness
and to purify
for himself
a people
for his own
possessions
who are zealous
for good works.
You're in
grace training,
brother and
sister in Christ.
When you
were flipped
by God's grace,
you went into
grace training.
The grace
that justified
you, period,
is the same grace
that is making
you holy,
dot, dot, dot.
It's training
you.
It's going to
train you in
two ways,
a holy mindset
and a holy
skill set.
Here's the
holy mindset.
The holy
mindset is a
way of
thinking about
yourself through
the lens of
the Bible.
This morning's
passage calls
you Christian
to believe
something about
yourself.
It calls you
to trust in
God's word,
what God's word
is saying about
you more
than how you
feel about
yourself.
You are a
slave of God
now, a slave
to righteousness.
That's what
God's word
says.
He bought
me, he
bought you
with his
blood.
It's done.
I'm his.
You're his.
And so now
call to mind
the sin that
you're tempted
to present
yourself to.
What did I
just get hooked
on?
Call to
mind that
sin that you
regularly offer
your body to,
your mind to,
and bring it
against that
mindset.
So when you're
tempted to
obey the
passions of
lust and greed
and pride and
anger and
anxiety and
fear, you say
to yourself,
but that's not
who I am.
These things do
not rule me
based upon the
authority of
God's word.
this is not
me anymore.
This is that
tyrant kind
of making
things messy
in me.
And so now
Titus 2.11,
I renounce
these things.
I say no to
these things.
I say to my
sin, you don't
own me anymore.
Jesus does.
You know how
to do that?
You get your
nose in your
Bible every
day.
So if you
think, you
know what, I
should be
reading my
Bible because
other Christians
read their
Bible, that's
going to last
like two days.
When you start
seeing it this
way, I've got
to read my
Bible, otherwise
I am going to
drift back into
some kind of
slavery to sin.
Do you know
why I read my
Bible?
I miss two
days and all of
a sudden I'm
walking by sight,
not by faith.
I forget who
I am.
I forget who
so I read a
passage like
Romans 6 and
I say, yes, this
is God's grace.
This is who I
am now.
So brother and
sister, one of
the things that
you can do to
develop this
mindset is to
renew your mind
on truth of who
God says you are
by His grace.
You stand on it.
That will help
you fight.
God.
That's grace
training.
Training your
mind to
believe what
is true of
you.
The second
type of
training is a
grace, a
holy skill set.
I alluded to
this last week.
It is the two
aspects of
sanctification.
It's putting
sin to death
and bringing to
life godliness.
Godliness.
The old
timers would
call it the
mortification of
sin, mortify,
mortician, death,
and bringing to
life, vivifying
godliness.
So let me help
you take a step
in each of
mortifying your
sin because you're
a slave of
righteousness now.
It doesn't
rule.
You've got to
slay that tyrant
wreaking havoc in
your life.
The old
timers, here's
where to start.
How to mortify
your sin.
This is where it
begins.
Pick that thing
that you're
tempted to give
yourself to and
start here.
The old timers
called it loading
your sin.
You're loading
your sin with
the way that God
sees your sin and
feels about your
sin.
I am going to
seed my lust the
way that God
through his word
tells me he sees
my lust and how
he feels about my
lust.
I'm going to
load my sin
that way.
I'm going to
talk about lust in
terms of Matthew
5, 28.
I'm going to talk
about greed in
terms of Colossians
3, 5.
I'm going to talk
about anxiety in
terms of Philippians
4, 6.
I'm going to talk
about fear of man
in terms of
Proverbs 29, 25.
The anger of man
in terms of James
1, 19 through 20.
I'm going to talk
about the sins of
my mouth in terms
of James 3, 1
through 12.
I am going to see
these things the
way that God sees
them.
That's loading your
sin.
And you know what
happens?
You start to hate
it.
You're like,
this does not
belong here.
This is grievous
to my God.
What fruit will this
produce?
What end does this
result in?
Would Jesus do this?
How does this
affect others?
Does this advance
the gospel?
Will I be ashamed
of this?
These are the things
that we ask to
load our sin.
And we're praying
all along,
oh God,
would you help me
to see this thing
in me the way
that you do?
And would you make
me feel about this
thing the way
that you do?
You're going to
have some compelling
reasons at that
point to renounce
it.
To say no.
If there was a
mic in my car
while I'm driving,
you'd hear me say
no a lot.
No, I'm not
going to think
that.
No, I'm not
going to go
there.
No, that's
not who I am.
That's how we
fight.
It's part of
the Christian
walk now.
We fight
sin,
not give
ourselves to it.
The other
side of this
is called
vivification,
bringing to
life.
Putting off
mortification,
putting on
vivification.
And so here's
how that works.
So if you
lust,
you're putting
that to death
and now you've
got to bring
something to life
in its place.
Something that
pleases God.
Oftentimes if
you're a brother
who is looking
lustfully at
women,
what you need
to do is
put on image
bearing,
dignifying,
seeing a
woman as
God sees
her.
You're asking
the question,
what would
God want to
grow in the
place of
this sin
that I'm
putting to
death?
What fruit
of the
spirit?
What craving
and desire
that would be
pleasing to
God?
What character
trait,
what conduct
needs to be
now grown
in me?
God help
me become
like Jesus.
Kill these
things and
bring to
life Christ
likeness.
Okay,
I'm going to
give you two
strategies.
You've been
great.
Two strategies
that apply to
both.
You're going to
want, if you're
taking notes,
put down 2
Corinthians 3
18.
Beholding
the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Beholding the
glory of God,
we are being
transformed from
one degree of
glory to the
next.
You know one of
the best things
that you can
do to slay
your sin and
to bring to
life Christ
likeness?
Set your
gaze on
Jesus.
Be awed
by Him.
Be amazed
by Him.
Just savor,
behold His
glory.
And you know
what?
That godly
desire starts
to crowd
out sinful
desires.
The second
thing I would
recommend,
bring in
like-minded
brothers and
sisters.
There's
little to
compare to
fight sin by
bringing brothers
and sisters whom
you trust in in
the process.
I called a
couple brothers,
had conversations
a couple weeks
ago.
I was being
tempted to lust.
I'm like,
here's the
situation.
And man,
they helped me
so much.
It was just
so helpful
talking to
Him about
it.
Bringing it
into the
light.
Walk in
the light.
Who can
you confide
your fight
to sin
with?
Not only
will you
grow in
your
sanctification,
it will
raise the
bar.
Okay.
I even
cut down
this sermon.
Man,
I started
to go
long.
Let me
wrap it
up.
Justification.
God's
legal one-time
declaration of
you that you
are in
right standing
with Him
based on the
finished work
of Christ,
that doesn't
change.
You are in
right standing
Christian with
God.
If you're not
a Christian,
that's the
next step.
Believe in
what God has
done through
Jesus and be
saved.
Sanctification
is the
cooperative between
God and a
Christian to
become more
and more like
Christ, to be
less and less
ruled by sin.
And we all
know there's
this gap between
our imputed
righteousness and
our experiential
righteousness.
Amen?
Let me close
with some good
news.
We're one day
closer.
When Jesus
comes back and
all the dead
are raised and
He distributes
our resurrection
bodies back,
and yes,
the penalty of
sin is paid
for, and yes,
the power of
sin is broken,
but you know
what's going
to be amazing?
The presence
of sin will
be eradicated.
And now,
our experience
is going to
match our
legal standing.
Is that good
news?
It's one day
closer.
So now,
we fight.
Let's pray.
God in heaven,
would you take
my fish and
loaves of
your word,
and would you
multiply,
and would you
attend to my
brothers and
sisters,
and that,
God, you would
stir in them
a hunger and
thirst for your
righteousness,
a boldness
and a courage
to fight and
slay sin,
and to become
more and more
like Christ.
Christ.
Thank you,
God, for your
justifying work
with which you've
done by your
grace for us,
and now pour out
your grace more
and more,
that we would
become more and
more like Christ
in all that we
do.
Amen.