Sin is devious & infectious and will ultimately lead us to death. Yet, we are called and equipped by God, through Jesus Christ, to put a stop to the rule of sin in our lives. Although sin will continue to show up, it ought no longer control us as a master.
Observations: Preliminaries
- The Personification of Sin – Sin is an agent or virus of evil in our bodies
- The Subjugation of Man – “Man is slave to whatever has mastered him.”
- Conditional Unity – Man’s ontology requires the Gospel’s affect upon the whole person
Conclusions:
- You have been given authority over sin in Christ
- Sin is an enslaving ruler
- Sin is not dead
- This is war!
- The critical issue is “desires”
Application:
- Stop making license for sin
- Prepare your mind for war by training in Christ
- Be killing the mortal deeds of the body
- You must exchange your affections
Romans 7:14-20
“For we know that the law is spiritual—but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate. But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.”
Romans 6:16
“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
2 Peter 2:19c
For “man is slave to whatever has mastered him.”
Romans 1:1
“From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.”
2 Peter 1:1
“From Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted a faith just as precious as ours.”
1 John 3:8
“The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
Romans 6:23a
“For the wages of sin is death…”
James 1:14-15
“Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
Romans 7:21-24
“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”
1 Peter 2:11
“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.”
Ephesians 4:22-24
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
James 1:14-15
“Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
Galatians 5:17
“For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do what you want.”
Romans 13:14
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”
Romans 8:13
“For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
Colossians 3:5
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”