Putting Sin to Death
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16 I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
What is the greatest hindrance to personal and collective revival?
SIN
Sin: Is a transgression of God’s will either by doing what He forbids or failing to do what He requires.
The task of the true believer is to put his sin to death wherever he finds it.
The true believer doesn’t wait for sin to find him out, he is searching for it, looking for opportunities to root out that which separates him from his Savior.
What I am saying about sin may seem radical to some, but let me show you that I am not overstating my case. This is in alignment with the words of our Lord specifically, and with the words of Scripture as a whole.
People will say, “Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners” That is true, but He didn’t allow them to stay that way long.
I could take you to many places in Scripture to prove my point, but I will take you only to one.
27 “You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. 28 But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
There is no way for us to twist the words of our Lord here to make them fit the current contemporary view of sin.
For Christ, the only way to deal with sin is to kill it.
Behavior modification won’t work, trying harder won’t do it, replacing it with something else won’t work, we mustn’t presume upon His grace when it comes to our sin.
What would it look like if we took sin as seriously as Jesus did!?
Pastor Rick, spoke a couple weeks ago about Jesus driving those out of the temple with whips because they were using His temple for sin, when it was created to be a house of prayer.
Have we forgotten that our body is now the temple of the Holy Spirit, and does He not take sin in this temple much more seriously than that!
19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.
I tell you Christ will not allow sin in His temple, He will drive it out with whips if He must.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. 13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.
Everywhere you turn in Scripture God is addressing sin, even more in the NT.
Just look at Paul’s letters to the churches!
Most of what he writes is addressing sin in the lives of those who make up these communities of believers.
Read through these letters, and see how often Paul addresses the specific issues of sin in each church, and He does this with great boldness and clarity, not generally, he points out the particular sins that these believers are struggling with and he calls them to lay them down.
You would have to be very skilled in Biblical gymnastics to teach the Bible without addressing the issue of sin, yet in churches all across our nation you won’t here this word spoken from the pulpit. Ever.
Should not this alone cause us to be completely broken over the state that we are in.
The role of the Shepherd is not to make the sheep feel good, it is to protect them from danger. And there is nothing more dangerous to you than unrepentant sin.
But why? Why does the Bible have this infatuation with sin?
Hasn’t Christ paid for our sin?
Can’t we just move on?
Does it really matter if I put sin to death in my life?
Aren’t we all going to sin?
Won’t I go to heaven anyway?
Let me try to answer these questions with a couple points:
God is so focused sin because this is the one thing that separates us from Him.
And yes, this is just as true for the believer.
2 But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.
God is holy, He can’t be near sin!
The closest God ever got to sin was when He hung upon the cross, and it killed Him.
If we want to be close to God, sin has to die.
Second, God is so focused on sin because it prevents us from being useful for His Kingdom.
If we really want to be used by God, sin must be laid aside.
1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
What is it that is hindering you from running the race?
Illustration
God doesn’t just save people so that they will go to heaven. He saves them so that He can make them useful for His Kingdom.
God saves us, then He sends us!
What sin is it that continues to rear it’s ugly head again and again in your life?
When is the last time that you were utterly broken over your sin against God?
Have you grown complacent, just accepting that it is what it is?
Disobedience to God has severe consequences, even for the Christian.
26 For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who has said, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, and again, The Lord will judge his people. 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
"It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”
A.W. Tozer
1 How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How joyful is a person whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit! 3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat. Selah 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah 6 Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to you immediately. When great floodwaters come, they will not reach him.