Scofflaws
September 6, 2021 at 3:28 pm | Posted in Inlaws, Outlaws, and Scofflaws | 2 CommentsTags: 1 John 2, antinomianism, Colossians 2, Exodus 20, Jeremiah 31, John 14, John 15, Jude, Psalm 119, Romans 6
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
I John 2:3-5
I called the first lesson in the series on legalism “Inlaws” because it dealt with the false belief that a person could be justified before God by keeping “within” His law – by obeying God’s law well enough to earn salvation, eternal life, and a home in Heaven. This is a false view of the Law and salvation because no one can keep the Law, and because it spurns the only means of salvation given by God to mankind: Christ and His Cross.
I called the second lesson “Outlaws” because it dealt with the belief that outside, or beyond, God’s laws, additional extrabiblical safeguards are needed to prevent people from breaking them – or from coming too close to breaking them. This type of legalism promotes a false, outward view of spiritual maturity, and it always tends toward hypocrisy. Although perhaps well-intended, it infringes on the liberty won for us by Christ, and it hinders our fellowship with God in the Spirit and our relationships with other believers.
I could have used the term outlaws for this third lesson in the series because we think of an “outlaw” as someone who breaks the law and tries to live outside of it, but I think the better term is scofflaw, because someone who scoffs at the law isn’t necessarily seeking to have a wrong relationship to it; he instead behaves as if the law is irrelevant to him: he scoffs at it. This is not a type of legalism, but it is often the result of an unbiblical condemnation, or a wrong view, of legalism. Its common name is “antinomianism.”
Anti = against; nomos is the Greek word for law. For example, “astronomy” = the laws of the stars or heavenly bodies. “Economy” = the law of household management. Legalists are people who are wrongly oriented toward the law of God. Antinomians are people who believe that the law of God can be ignored.
Exodus Chapter 20 contains the 10 Commandments, which are the clearest summation of the Law in the Old Testament. Although they are found in the Old Testament, they also have an application for New Testament Christians. Classically, there are thought to be three “uses” of the Law. The first use is to use it like a mirror (which I like to call the reflective use). The Law shows us what we are really like when our lives are held up to God’s standards of righteousness. It shows us we are wicked sinners who need a Savior, so I believe that it is the most important use of the Law. The second use of the Law is sometimes called the civil use of the law. (I like to call it the restrictive, or restraining use.) If adopted by society, the Law will not prevent crime or sin, but it will hinder it and produce a culture where we have the freedom to preach Christ. The third use is the one that condemns the scofflaws (the antinomians). Some people call it the teaching use or the didactic use; I like to call it the revelatory use. The Law reveals God’s nature, character, and attributes, and it can also serve as a guide as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our sanctification to help us know that we truly belong to Christ and that we are making progress in our sanctification – which is a valid ground for assurance of regeneration/salvation. This is why we can’t, although we must avoid legalism, turn into scofflaws.
Scofflaws make an artificial distinction between love and duty.
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:15
Love and duty are inextricably linked: duty and devotion. If you are a parent, do you love your children? Of course you do, but does this mean you do not also owe a duty to them as their parents? Again, of course you do. Even within the Trinitarian Godhead itself there is this combination of love and duty and obedience.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
John 15:10
We do not “have to” obey God’s law in order to show our love for Him. That’s a backward understanding of our duty. We “get to” obey God’s law because He first loved us. So, let’s try to make sure we don’t cavalierly disregard God’s law just because we are not – nor should we desire to be – “under it” when it comes to salvation.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 6:14
What does it mean here to say that, as New Testament Christians, we are not “under the law?”
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Colossians 2:16-17
Those laws were for a certain people at a certain time and place. We are not bound to obey the Old Testament ceremonial laws. They have been fulfilled in Jesus. They were intended to keep God’s people holy and undefiled in preparation for the Messiah, and they were always intended to point to Him even before He appeared. However, the “moral” laws are still applicable. We hesitate to use the word “binding” on Christians today, because the moral laws are graciously given to us by God in order to please Him, and because they demonstrate to a lost world that we are becoming something which we could not be apart from God’s power: holy.
O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
Psalm 119:97
This is not bondage to the law. This is joyful meditation – a way to get to know God better and draw closer to Him. Look at the jubilant exclamation. A true Christian rejoices to know and to do God’s law.
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jeremiah 31:33
This is a prophecy of the Old Testament concerning the New Covenant. Obedience to God’s law would not be external righteousness, nor a failed attempt at meritorious righteousness. New Testament Christians have new hearts, and God’s law is written on their hearts. A lack of concern about obeying God’s law could be a sign of false conversion. A belief that God’s law is irrelevant because salvation is by grace alone through faith alone can be a symptom that licentiousness is disguising the absence of real grace.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jude v.4
Douglas Wilson: S.W.I.M. to Obey
October 13, 2016 at 12:49 pm | Posted in Quotes | 1 CommentTags: Douglas Wilson, Douglas Wilson quotes, Joshua 24, obedience, obey, quotes about swimming, Romans 6, swim quotes, the deep end
As we begin to obey, the Lord may continue to give us more obedience. But in order to wade in from the shallow end of the pool, we do have to get into the pool in the first place.
Douglas Wilson, The Neglected Qualification
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Romans 6:16
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.
Joshua 24:22-24
Catechism Question 18
February 26, 2015 at 1:05 pm | Posted in Children's Bible Catechism, Resurrection | 10 CommentsTags: 1 Corinthians 15, Acts 10, aseity of God, Bible catechism, children's catechism, John 19, Resurrection, Resurrection power, Romans 6, the Resurrection of Christ
Question 17: How did Jesus die?
Answer: He was crucified.
Prove it.
John 19:18
Question 18: What happened to Jesus after He died?
Answer: He was buried and then rose again on the third day.
Prove it.
Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
Acts 10:40
A child who is familiar with CPR or some kind of medical resuscitation, or who perhaps has heard of someone in a coma making a recovery, may question the validity of Jesus’s death. In other words, “Did He really die?”
This is easily resolved from the Scriptures. Chapters 5-8 of the Book of Romans, as well as Chapter 14, stress the reality of Christ’s death emphatically.
Furthermore, the Gospel accounts tell us plainly that Jesus willingly laid down his life and truly died.
A child might also ask, “How did He come back to life?” The simplest answer to this is that God the Father raised up Christ (God the Son) by His power, but this is probably a good place to explain that Jesus died only as touching His humanity. He did not die as touching His Deity, for this would be an impossibility, because God has the immutable power of self-existence, and is eternal.
Other verses to consider:
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
I Corinthians 15:4
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Romans 6:9
Catechism Question 8
June 25, 2014 at 3:02 pm | Posted in Children's Bible Catechism | 4 CommentsTags: Bible catechism, children and death, children's catechism, death, Ezekiel 18, James 1, Romans 6, soul, the sin curse, wages of sin
Question 8: What is the punishment for sin?
Answer: The punishment for sin is death.
Prove it.
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Ezekiel 18:4
If this is true (and it is!) then why don’t we die the very first time we sin? God in His grace and mercy does not immediately kill everyone who sins, although that would be just.
How can the sinner’s punishment be eternal if death is the end? Just as the gift of God for those who trust in Christ is eternal life, so the punishment for sinners who die apart from Christ is eternal death, which means the soul consciously existing in torment forever, experiencing the eternal wrath of God.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23
God has woven into the curse of sin a natural progression toward death, although He is free to intervene in the process and rescue sinners.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
James 1:15
Snakes on a Plain (Part 2)
October 12, 2012 at 9:25 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 4 CommentsTags: effects of sin, Kool-aid, manna, Numbers 21, poison, Romans 3, Romans 6, sin, venom, venomous snakes
Snakes on a Plain: Snakes Produce Paranoia
Snakes Among the People
And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Numbers 21:6 (emphasis added)
These snakes were the result of the people’s sin. The Israelites didn’t want God’s way, and they didn’t want God’s Word.
And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Numbers 21:4-5 (emphasis added)
They showed their contempt for the manna God provided by calling it “this light bread.” I grew up drinking Kool-Aid. Good old-fashioned green Kool-Aid with lots of sugar in it. My wife prefers Crystal Light. When she makes Crystal Light I say that “my soul loatheth this light Kool-Aid.” But the fact is, for God’s people in the wilderness, the manna was exactly what they needed – especially for traveling. They were remembering the heavy, spicy food they had gotten used to in Egypt, but were forgetting their bondage. Isn’t that what happens when God’s Word doesn’t suit our taste? When God’s way isn’t comfortable enough? We begin to grumble and complain and dispute – and the snakes of sin are released among the people.
Snakes Among the People: Snakes Produce Poison
These were fiery serpents. They were poisonous. Sin is like a poisonous snake. Everything is fine and fun, until you find one hiding where you least expect it. Satan chose the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden because the serpent is subtle. It’s sneaky. It knows how to hide and wait, and how to ambush. Then the poison goes in its prey, and it affects the body and the mind.
The venom of most poisonous snakes attacks the central nervous system. It causes the brain to stop telling the heart to beat. It’s the same with sin. That old wood pile looks fun – like a good place to play. That stand of trees with trails and streams looks inviting – but it’s outside our boundaries.
Sin will keep you longer than you wanted to stay
It will cost you more than you wanted to pay
It will teach you more than you wanted to know
And it will take you farther than you ever wanted to go
The first day of sin is the best day of sin. It’s all downhill after that. Trouble is easy to get into, but hard to get out of. The poisonous venom of the snakes among the people – these “snakes on a plain” – was deadly venom. There was no antivenin. It’s the same with sin.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Romans 5:12
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23
There is a payment due for sin, and the payment is death.
So the people went to Moses and said, “We’ve got snakes on a plain, snakes among the people – what can we do!”
Moses prayed to God…
…and he prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Numbers 21:7-8
God said the remedy – the only remedy – for snakes on a plain, for snakes among the people is…
The Snake on a Pole – which we will look at next time.
Get a Life
October 19, 2011 at 9:24 am | Posted in Common Expressions, John, Resurrection | 9 CommentsTags: 1 John 5, common expressions, Ephesians 2, John 11, John 14, life, Matthew 10, real life, Romans 6, Romans 8
“Get a life.” Has anyone ever given you this strange piece of advice? Maybe you were speaking to someone about receiving Jesus as his Savior, or about his relationship with God, or about coming to church or getting involved in Sunday School. Obviously exasperated, he told you, “Get a life! Stop bugging me about all that religious stuff.”
Christians are more interested in the Life than “a life.”
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6 (emphasis added)
Those who have the Life want to tell others to get the Life. When someone tells you to “get a life,” it is a snide way of saying there are many choices about how to live, and you are choosing the wrong way. But the born-again believer knows there are only two choices when it comes to eternal life. You will trust Christ and receive it or you will reject Christ and be denied it.
There are a number of ideas in the Bible which seem paradoxical from an earthly, finite point of view. For example, those who have been redeemed from slavery to sin have true freedom even though they are slaves to Jesus Christ. At the same time, those who are enslaved to sin often believe themselves to be free. It works much the same way with the concept of spiritual life and death.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Romans 8:6 (emphasis added)
The “dead” do not know they’re dead.
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Ephesians 2:1-2 (emphasis added)
I couldn’t find the expression “get a life” in the Bible, but the Bible does talk about “finding” life and “losing” life.
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Matthew 10:39 (emphasis added)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23 (emphasis added)
The Bible says very specifically that Jesus is the way to the kind of life that is stronger than death.
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
I John 5:11-13 (emphasis added)
Jesus is not only the way to life. He is the Life.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
John 11:25-26 (emphasis added)
The issue is not whether you will “get a life.” The real issue is whether you will believe and receive THE Life.
Key Words for Bible Teachers: Truth and Type
June 20, 2011 at 12:17 pm | Posted in Biblical Teaching, James | 16 CommentsTags: Acts 20, Apostolic doctrine, didache, James 3, John 14, Judges 17, Romans 6, Romans 8, teachers
If someone takes on the responsibility of being a “teacher,” and if what he is teaching is itself important, then the job of teaching becomes a very important job. If a teacher of anything “important” carries a great weight of responsibility, then a Bible teacher carries the greatest weight of responsibility of any teacher.
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
James 3:1
Those who would teach the Bible are held accountable. They are responsible for wanting to see their students grow – and I don’t mean “grow” in the sense of an increased number of students, although that is often a good goal to have as well. Bible teachers should want their students to grow in faithfulness. They should also want the time of teaching to be “fun” (or at least enjoyable on some level). But most of all they should have a goal of being able to stand before God one day knowing that they have actually taught the Bible – regardless of the results.
Noah, Jeremiah, and many of God’s teachers and prophets did not see the earthly “results” they would have liked to see – but today they stand vindicated before God because they faithfully proclaimed and taught the Truth of God’s Word.
There are three principles that have helped me stay motivated, encouraged, energized, and focused as a Sunday School teacher: Truth, Type, and Treasure.
Truth: Realize that, when we teach from the Bible, we are teaching the Truth. If what we are dealing with is not absolute Truth – Truth personified (“I am the Truth…”), then we are wasting our time. We would be better off just entertaining people and keeping them busy instead of worrying about our Bibles if we are not committed to Truth.
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
Acts 20:22
Paul was speaking to the Church and he was giving sort of a farewell address. He had been with them, teaching them for some time, and he was about to go on a missionary journey. We usually think of being “free in the Spirit,” but the gift of the Holy Spirit comes with a great responsibility. He frees us from disobedience. He does not free us so we can engage in self-indulgence. This is real freedom, not the world’s idea of freedom. The world’s “freedom” is the worst type of slavery – slavery to self and to sin.
Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Acts 20:23-27
As a Sunday School teacher, when someone leaves my class for good, I want to be able to declare truthfully before God that I am “pure” (innocent) of his “blood.” How can I do this? Only by declaring the whole counsel of God. If you are a Bible teacher can you say that you have talked to your class about the uncomfortable things of the Bible? Sometimes it’s relatively easy to tell students that “all things work together for good,” but have you told them about the sinfulness of boys and girls, of men and women? Have you told them about the holiness and righteousness and justice and wrath of God? Have you tried to explain what it meant for God to sacrifice His beloved Son? Of what it cost – and what the realization of that cost should mean in our lives – so we can be the children of God? When I presume to teach the Bible my attitude should be influenced by the thought that the students’ lives are in my hands.
Now if that sounds like an instance of inflated ego or boastfulness, let’s remember that, if they are in my hands, I am in God’s hands. I would rather be able to say that their lives are “in my hands” than that their blood is “on my hands.”
Type: We must realize that when we teach we are to make a “type,” an “imprint.”
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Romans 6:17
The “form of doctrine,” the “type of teaching” handed down from the Apostles was known in the Greek language as the typos didache. A good illustration is the way old typewriters used to make an imprint on a piece of paper – or the way the seal or signet ring of an ancient king or Roman official would make an imprint in hot wax on a document. Bible teachers should deliver messages from God’s Word with such passion that it makes an imprint on the students – in such a way that they are “stamped” with orthodox teaching. Unless you are teaching a group of students that have an unusually large amount of Bible knowledge, or unless they are already under the teaching of someone else who does, they will not get the didache anywhere else. Children certainly do not get get it in school. It is not taught on television. Sadly, more and more these days, it is even absent from religious instruction. Your students will be prone to seduction by what “seems” good, by what “looks” good, by what “sounds” good, and by what “feels” good. We are living in a time when almost everyone does what seems right in his or her own eyes. A lesson plan can be erased, an arts and crafts project can be erased, a prize for being the best student can be erased. But a “type,” a permanent imprint, can not be erased.
A “type” must be pressed down hard. For a teacher this is hard work – the type must be held down for a while. It requires endurance, persistence, and determination. God has called you to deliver the typos – the imprint. Therefore, He will give you the strength and the ability – even the stubbornness or steadfastness – to do it.
We have seen the Truth and the Type. Next time, we will look at the Treasure.
Discipleship Lesson 7: Sin
March 11, 2011 at 10:11 am | Posted in Discipleship Lessons | 26 CommentsTags: 1 Corinthians 10, 1 Corinthians 11, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 John 1, 1 John 2, 1 John 3, 1 John 5, 2 Corinthians 10, 2 Corinthians 5, 2 Corinthians 7, Biblical discipleship, Colossians 3, definition of sin, discipleship, discipleship lessons, Galatians 5, Galatians 6, God's Law, Hebrews 12, Hebrews 4, James 1, Jesus Christ, Proverbs 28, Psalm 119, Psalm 139, Romans 13, Romans 14, Romans 5, Romans 6, Romans 7, Romans 8, sin
If you are a Christian, when you were born again (regenerated by the Holy Spirit), you became a new “man,” (or new woman if you are female). But the old man did not disappear. The old man – in the image of Adam – has a sinful nature. The new man – in Christ Jesus – has God’s nature. These two men are at war with each other. It is an intense struggle.
I. What is sin?
A. Sin is breaking God’s law.
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
I John 3:4
B. Sin is any unrighteousness.
All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
I John 5:17
C. Sin is anything done apart from faith.
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Romans 14:23
II. What causes sin?
A. My inherited sinful nature causes me to sin.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Romans 5:12
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
I Corinthians 15:45-49
B. My old nature draws me into sin.
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
James 1:14-15
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 7:14-25
C. We are tempted in three major areas: we like to feel good; we like to look at that which is pleasing to the eyes; we like to feel important in the eyes of others.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
I John 2:16
III. How does God deal with sin in the life of a Christian?
A. God judged at our sin at Calvary.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
II Corinthians 5:21
B. God chastens His children when they continue in sin.
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Hebrews 12:6
C. God allows us to reap what we have sown.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Galatians 6:7-8
IV. How can a Christian get the victory over sin?
A. By accepting responsibility for his own sin.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
B. By refusing to allow sinful thoughts to control his mind.
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
II Corinthians 10:5
C. By not giving the flesh an opportunity to achieve its desires.
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Romans 13:14
D. By remembering that he is dead to sin in Jesus Christ.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:11
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Colossians 3:1-10
D. By agreeing with God about his sin (judging it).
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.
I Corinthians 11:31-32
E. By confessing his sins to God.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I John 1:9
F. By recognizing that God has made a way to escape from every temptation.
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
I Corinthians 10:13
G. By remembering God’s Word.
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Psalm 119:11
H. By trusting God’s promises and praying.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:15-16
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
II Corinthians 7:1
I. By walking in the Holy Spirit.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16
J. By being led by, and following after, the Holy Spirit.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8:1
K. By submitting himself to regular examinations by the Holy Ghost.
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24
V. Memory Verses
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Psalm 119:11
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 4:15
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:11
The Deep End 
Failure to Yield
December 27, 2010 at 10:36 am | Posted in Romans | 15 CommentsTags: 1 Corinthians 6, commentary on Romans, freed slaves, freedom in Christ, power of sin, power of the Resurrection, practical Christian living, Romans 6, Romans commentary, Sunday School lessons on Romans
Sin as a “power” was defeated by the power of the Resurrection. Therefore, Christians are free from sin (Romans 6:7) – not free to sin. Now, let’s look at the practical application of that in our lives. How do we practically “get the victory” over submitting to our old master?
First of all, we need to believe the facts. Freed slaves have to believe they are free in order to get the benefits of freedom.
Romans 6:11
Second, after we “reckon” we are to yield.
Romans 6:12
Note the relationship of “reign” and “obedience.” We do not yield to our old ruler. We yield to our New Ruler.
Romans 6:13
My members are “instruments” or “weapons,” and they are not to be used for my own cause. They were formerly used to fight against God, but now they are to be used to fight for God.
As a Christian I recognize that I do not really own “my” house. My car is not really “mine.” “My wife” does not really belong to me in an ownership sense. “My” kids are really God’s kids.
I Corinthians 6:19
“My” members are not really mine. They are a gift from God, but they come with the responsibility to use them for God. Many of the sins which afflict the body of Christ today stem largely from a failure to yield, and the failure to yield stems from a failure of truly believing to Whom we belong.
Romans 6:19
We need to yield our members to righteousness even more enthusiastically than we formerly yielded them to sin.
Here are some motivations for yielding:
1. As a response to God’s grace. We should love God because He has been gracious toward us, and the result of love toward God is obedience to God.
2. Because of our freedom. Freedom brings about responsibilities. The easiest way to lose our freedom is not to exercise it in doing good.
Romans 6:20
3. To bear good fruit.
Romans 6:21
Justification is by grace through faith. Being justified, we encounter the problem of how practically to stop sinning. First we reckon, then we yield.