The Power of Lingering Sin

Introduction:

Re-walk the steps we have taken through Corinthians and remind everyone of the argument Paul has made thus far concerning the division issue. Three stages with important things to remember: The Introduction (Paul’s understanding of who the Corinthians are), the appeal (The primary issue being dealt with), the comparison (The Spiritual person versus the natural person).

Summary of Text:

Paul returns to his direct indictment of the Corinthians. The quarreling and division are the root issues, but Paul is here indicting the Corinthians for not growing in grace. Furthermore, Paul reveals that their sinful behavior, rooted in worldly thinking, is acting as a barrier to their growth.

Walk Through Text

I. People of the Flesh and Spirit

The first principle we may be reminded of this morning is the fact that we are all naturally “people of the flesh.” Thus, being “people of the flesh” or “merely human” means acting in accordance with our fallen human nature.

John 3:3–6 ESV

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Paul here refers to the Corinthians as “people of the flesh” and states that they are acting “only in a human way.” Thus, being “people of the flesh” or “merely human” means acting in accordance with our fallen human nature. Paul reveals that this is precisely what the Corinthians were doing. “jealousy, strife” “divisions, quarreling.”

Furthermore, our text this morning reveals that this fallen nature doesn’t just go away upon our being converted. (Born again) Instead, it is something that must be overpowered and killed through a process of growth in grace. (sanctification) We must seek to smother out our fleshly nature by living more and more out of our spiritual nature given to us upon conversion.

Galatians 5:16–25 ESV

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Thus, Paul reveals that the Corinthian church is made up of people who have both a fleshly nature and a spiritual nature. The same is true of every person in the room who has been converted. If you have, by God’s grace, been born again and have responded to the Gospel of Christ then you have two natures within you. Which one reigns? Which nature are you feeding each day? This is a significant question for each of us to answer this morning and leads us to our next point.

II. Sin Makes Us Stupid

Paul also reveals that how we live day to day, our obedience to Christ or the amount which we truly follow Him, can impact the our growth in grace in significant ways. . First, he reveals that he could only feed the Corinthians “with milk, not solid food, for they were not ready for it.” He also reveals that they are STILL not ready for it, meaning that have not heeded the call to grow! Second, he points to their behavior to support his point. Here we see the principle that “you can know the root by the fruit” illustrated. This is a significant point, however. It illustrates the primary point I feel like the Lord has for us in this text: Lingering sin, or lack of obedience to Christ, will always be a barrier to growth in grace. This is a biblical message that the average American Christian needs to be continuously reminded of!! Explain: See, we have come to be very familiar with what may be called the Gospel of “cheap grace.” (Bonnhoefer) The gospel of cheap grace takes the true gospel and applies it wrong. This is why we often have issues comprehending passages of Scripture that indicate we must prove our faith by bringing our lives into obedience to Christ.

John 14:15 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 14:21 ESV

Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

John 14:23–24 ESV

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

Hebrews 12:14 ESV

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

James 2:14–26 ESV

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Each and every one of these texts reveal that a cheap gospel that demands nothing from us is a gospel that saves no one. Jesus calls us to obey Him:

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

He also calls us as His people to bring more people into obedience:

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Thus, obedience is key. It is key for proving that we have indeed been born again and transformed through the Gospel of Christ. It is also key for growing in the grace that is given us in Christ Jesus and experiencing the intimate relationship with God that he intends for us. Paul indicted the Corinthians for still being infants in Christ and not being ready for solid food. This reveals that a failure to obey Christ hinders us from growing! Maybe this is where you are. Are you obeying Christ or is your lack of obedience, you lingering sin, keeping you from growing in grace and experiencing intimacy with Him? If that is you, and I am sure we could all place ourselves there in some way, there is hope for you yet!

III. Be Killing Sin

We have already recognized that those of us who have been born again by the Spirit of God have two warring natures within us. We have also, however, recognized that we are called to smother out the fleshly nature by the power of the Spiritual nature in us! That is obedience! Lastly we must recognize that doing so is a spiritual exercise that is empowered by the Grace of God! Moreover, it is one that is promised us as children of the blessed heavenly Father! Romans 8:1-17

Romans 8:1–17 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Do you daily call upon the Father as a beloved son or daughter to put to death the flesh in you that you may grow in grace and intimacy with Christ? If not, there stands the hurdle you can’t get over.

Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it while you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.

John Owen

Let us make it our daily duty to kill the lingering sin in our lives by the power of God unto the glory of God!

Conclusion:

The gospel is not cheap. It cost our blessed Lord His life, and it costs you yours as well. Jesus said, “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) Deitrich Bonnhoefer once said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” He was martyred for his faith in an internment camp in Nazi Germany. We aren’t all called to such a radical expression of obedience, but we are all called to surrender everything we have to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray.

Invite everyone to take a few moments to pray for divine assistance, eyes to see lingering sin, and the power and will to kill it. Sing.