The Model Prayer – 15

Sermon on the Mount - 32

Deliver Us from the Evil One

Believers have been uprooted from the kingdom of darkness and transplanted into the kingdom of light.

We have been delivered from evil and the evil one, when we were born again.

Why does sin and evil seem to affect us after we’ve been born again?

Romans 7:21–25 (NIV84)

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;

23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Romans 7:24 (NIV84)

24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Wretched = ταλαίπωρος talaipōros 2x (Rev. 3:17) = miserable, distressed condition.

Body of death = σῶμα sōma ἤ ē θάνατος thanatos = the physical body, as that body in which the sinful nature dwells and through which, when it is in the ascendancy, it operates.

Romans 8:1–2 (NIV84)

1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Condemnation = κατάκριμα katakrima = does not denote merely a pronouncement of guilt, but the adjudication of punishment. There is no death-sentence for those who are in Christ Jesus.

A legal decision of guilty in a criminal case; often with the ensuing punishment understood.

A judicial pronouncement of guilt and punishment, indicating a sentence rather than mere guilt.

Condemnation is more than a guilty feeling. It is also more than just being declared guilty.

Condemnation includes the ensuing punishment that accompanies those declared guilty: the death sentence.

John 16:8–11 (NIV84)

8When he comes, he will convict (not condemn) the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:

9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;

10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;

11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Convict = ἐλέγχω elenchō = to prove or show to be guilty.

show (someone his) fault or error, convince (someone) of (his) fault or error.

To convict, to show to be wrong.

A sense of guilt and shame leading to repentance.

The Holy Spirit reveals people’s sins and teaches them the ways of God.

Conviction for sin results when the Holy Spirit awakens a person to a sense of guilt and condemnation because of sin and unbelief.

When the Holy Spirit convicts a person of sin, He shows them what they did wrong and then leads them to repentance to restore their relationship with the Lord.

When the law of sin under the rule of Satan condemns, the sinner is shown their real or perceived error that is accompanied with the hopelessness that they are destined for punishment in hell.

There are a lot of Christians who don’t know the difference between satanic accusation and Holy Spirit conviction.

Satanic Accusation: The devil is condemning them with past sins. He’s trying to make them think they’re not saved, they’re not good enough to be saved, they don’t feel right.

Holy Spirit Conviction: aims to present truth clearly, potentially leading to repentance, while condemnation is associated with a final negative judgment.

1 John 1:9 (NIV84)

9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Confession is supposed to free people to enjoy fellowship with Christ. But some Christians do not understand how it works.

They feel so guilty that they confess the same sins over and over; then they wonder if they might have forgotten something.

Other Christians believe that God forgives them when they confess, but if they died with unconfessed sins, they would be forever lost.

When people come to Christ, he forgives all the sins they have committed or will ever commit.

They don’t need to confess the sins of the past all over again, and they don’t need to fear that God will reject them if they don’t keep their slate perfectly clean.

God Is Faithful and Just. Oecumenius: To say that God is faithful means that he is reliable, for faithful is a word which is not just applied to those who believe but also to those who can be relied upon. It is in this second sense that it is applied to God. He is also just in that he does not refuse anyone who comes to him, however seriously they may have sinned.

Psalm 103:8–14 (NIV84)

8The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

9He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;

12as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

14for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

Will God continue to forgive you if you commit the same sin over and over again?

One of the most effective tricks Satan plays on Christians is to convince us that our sins aren’t really forgiven, despite the promise of God’s Word.

If we’ve truly received Jesus as Savior by faith, and still have that uneasy feeling wondering whether or not there is true forgiveness, that may be coming from demonic influences.

One of Satan’s biggest strategies is to constantly remind us of our past transgressions, and he uses those to prove that God couldn’t possibly forgive or restore us.

God not only forgives our sins but removes them completely from His presence.

This is a difficult concept for humans to grasp, which is why it’s so easy for us to worry and wonder about forgiveness instead of just accepting it.

We must rest in His promises of forgiveness.

1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

God forgives His children when they sin if only they come to Him and in an attitude of repentance and ask to be forgiven.

Even when we stumble, we can be forgiven still.

Romans 6:6–7 (NIV84)

6For we know that our old self (man, kjv; old unrenewed self, amp) was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with (rendered powerless, niv78), that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

When Adam sinned, he received a sin nature as a result of his sin. All his offspring, in turn, received that same sin nature. This is also called the body of sin.

Self = ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos = the old or former pattern of behavior, in contrast with a new pattern of behavior which people should conform to; old self, old pattern of life.

Body = σῶμα sōma = the human body considered as the seat and occasion of moral imperfection, as inducing to sin through its appetites and passions.

Body, living body; dead body, corpse.

ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos, self):

ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) = complete human person (including both material and immaterial aspects)

Means "human being" or "person."

Refers to the complete human - body, soul, mind.

Encompasses both male and female humans.

Root of words like anthropology and anthropomorphic.

σῶμα (sōma, body):

σῶμα (sōma) = physical body, material aspect

Means "body" or "physical body."

Refers specifically to the physical, material aspect of a being.

Can also mean "corpse" in some contexts.

Used in compounds like "somatic" in modern terminology.

Key differences:

σῶμα body is more specific to the physical body, while ἄνθρωπος self refers to the whole person

ἄνθρωπος self includes the concept of humanity and personhood, not just physical form

σῶμα (body can refer to any physical body (even non-human), while ἄνθρωπος specifically refers to humans

Our old self and the body of sin are two separate entities. One was crucified; the other rendered powerless.

Our old self was crucified with Christ.

Our old self refers to our old life, that is, to what we were in Adam before God saved us.

Our old self, as a person, died. Our old person that was alive was a slave to sin and its dominion died and is no longer held in bondage to sin’s dominion.

Romans 7:1 (NIV84)

1Do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to men who know the law—that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?

Dead slaves are not obligated to obey its former master. They are freed from the master’s domain.

Romans 6:11 (NIV84)

11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Count = λογίζομαι logizomai = think, consider, understand, reason, conclude.

As Christians, we are to consider, think, conclude and act like we are dead to sin and its authority.

Our old self is not our sinful nature.

Note: verse 6 states that our old self was crucified.

The body of sin was not crucified, it was rendered powerless, but it still exists.

James Montgomery Boice: The secret to victory over sin is not the crucifixion or killing of the old self, for the simple reason that the old self has already died.

That is why the Bible never tells us to crucify the old man.

How can we crucify the old man, if he has already been put to death?

Although the Christian life is indeed a struggle, to equate killing our old self with that struggle (when the old self has already been crucified with Christ) is to miss the truth that has been given to us by God for our victory.

Might be done away with = καταργέω katargeō = to render useless or unproductive; to render powerless.

Rendered powerless is better; might be done away with can imply that our body of sin was destroyed and gone versus it still being in existence but stripped of its power.

When we were born again, the body of sin or the sin nature did not cease to exist. Its power to make us sin as its slave was abolished, because our old self was crucified (died) with Jesus.

We no longer have to sin; we choose to sin.

Romans 6:16 (NIV84)

16Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

At the cross the power of sin was broken, and we, as Christians, are set free from sin’s mastery over us.

Therefore, when a Christian sins, it is no longer out of the necessity of his nature, but because he has willfully submitted himself to sin’s dominion.

Ephesians 4:17–24 (NIV84)

17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way.

21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

Self = ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos the old or former pattern of behavior, in contrast with a new pattern of behavior which people should conform to; old self, old pattern of life.

Old self refers to the former, unregenerate person; that “which belongs to your former manner of life,”

23to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

To put off = ἀποτίθημι apotithēmi = take off; take off and lay down; lay aside, rid oneself of.

To stop oneself being in a state or condition; conceived of as divesting oneself of a garment.

Paul is not telling the Ephesians to keep putting to death the old man that is already dead. They were to avoid old habits and stop sinful patterns because they no longer controlled you and were no longer their master.

Why do we have to put off our old self, if our old self has been crucified (killed)?

In ancient times, when a person sinned, a dead body was often strapped to the person’s back and the person had to carry the dead body around as an evidence of having sinned.

The question that concerned Paul was: “who is able to keep him from carrying a dead body around on his back?” He realized that there was only one person who was able to deliver him. That person was Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is reported that near Tarsus, where Paul was born, a certain ancient tribe sentenced convicted murderers to an especially gruesome execution. The corpse of the slain person was lashed tightly to the body of the murderer and remained there until the murderer himself died. In a few days, which doubtless seemed an eternity to the convicted man, the decay of the person he had slain infected and killed him.

Much like the corpse is our old self. It is dead, but we still have to take it off.

Even though our old self (anthrōpos) was crucified, how many times have we picked it up and carried it around by going back to our old pattern and lifestyle of living?

2 Peter 2:20–22 (NIV84)

20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.

22Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

Don’t act like a fool and go back to your old manner of living.

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV84)

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Let us throw off = ἀποτίθημι apotithēmi = stop, get rid of; to cease doing what one is accustomed to doing.

That hinders = ὄγκος onkos = that which hinders one from doing something, weight, burden, impediment.

Luke 21:34-35 (NIV84)

34 "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.

35 For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.

Mark 4:18-19 (NIV84)

18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;

19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (NIV84)

23 "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive.

24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (TEV or GNB)

23"We are allowed to do anything," so they say. That is true, but not everything is good. "We are allowed to do anything"—but not everything is helpful.

24None of you should be looking out for your own interests, but for the interests of others. It is not beneficial for people to elevate their desires above God’s.

Activities that are not beneficial or constructive or that do not promote the good of others should be avoided.

It’s amazing what people come up with as to thinking something is acceptable in the eyes of the Lord.

There is rampant immorality in the lives of many people who consider themselves to be Christians.

The problem is that they have not examined their behavior in the light of God’s Word. Instead, they have fashioned their lives and presumed upon their actions as being right with God by using the plumb line of the culture they live in.

Sin = ἁμαρτία hamartia = an act or feeling that transgresses something forbidden or ignores something required by God’s law or character; whether in thought, feeling, speech, or action.

That so easily entangles = εὑπερίστατος euperistatos 1x = easily entangled, made captive.

easily ensnaring.

Let us run = τρέχω trechō = to make an effort to advance spiritually or intellectually, exert oneself.

To progress: to develop in a positive way (spiritually or in discipleship); conceived of as running.

The race = ἀγών agōn = struggle; fight; conflict; any contest or struggle.

Marked out = πρόκειμαι prokeimai = to be present or be set before someone so as to be visible (and enticing).

We are encouraged to run and not walk the race marked out for us.

There is a struggle, fight, conflict that is set before us to exert ourselves with perseverance so as to advance (or grow) spiritually.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV84)

10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Expositor: “The Christian runner must rid himself even of innocent things which might retard him. And all that does not help, hinders.

It is by running he learns what these things are. So long as he stands, he does not feel that they are burdensome and hampering.”

We are exhorted to do many things as a Christian, and yet we are reminded that we have to lean on Jesus Christ as our source of strength.

What part do we have to do and what part does God have to do in our struggle against evil and the evil one?

Next Week!!! The Lord willing.