:
if your teacher didn't grade your homework, would you still do it?
2
:
If you, have you ever been in a class like
that or if you knew your teacher wasn't
3
:
gonna, oh, she doesn't grade the homework,
I'm not gonna bother doing it right.
4
:
If my teacher doesn't, doesn't grade this.
5
:
No point.
6
:
Right.
7
:
I knew a guy, um, he was in a class where
his professor wouldn't read his essays
8
:
and so he just started putting random
stuff in the middle of his essays just
9
:
to see if a professor would read it.
10
:
Never, never got caught.
11
:
He would just put random sentences.
12
:
You just start like in the
middle of page three, just like.
13
:
Whatever.
14
:
I love chocolate ice cream, or this
class is the worst class ever, and
15
:
just put random stuff in there and
professor had ever read the essay.
16
:
So anyway, but the whole point, right?
17
:
If your teacher doesn't do your
homework, you wouldn't do or
18
:
doesn't grade your homework.
19
:
You wouldn't do it because the
consequences are gone, right?
20
:
You can't, you're not gonna, you're
not gonna lose points for it.
21
:
You're not gonna fail the class.
22
:
You're not gonna, you know, get
in trouble with your parents
23
:
because the teacher isn't great.
24
:
It doesn't matter, right?
25
:
Um, what I found with school is that
once the consequences get removed.
26
:
You find out if you really
like something or if you don't.
27
:
Right?
28
:
Because in school, the teachers force
you to do things by grading them, right?
29
:
Because there's consequences.
30
:
If I don't get, uh, an A on this
class, or I don't, don't do well
31
:
on this test then, or I don't turn
my homework in, then my grade's
32
:
bad and I have consequences, right?
33
:
You get grounded, you don't graduate,
and then nothing happens with your
34
:
life apparently if you don't graduate.
35
:
So things like that, right?
36
:
There's consequences and when those
consequences happen, you're like,
37
:
oh, um, those force me to do work.
38
:
Then if the consequences go away,
would you still do the work?
39
:
Well, you would if you really liked it.
40
:
But if you don't like it, no consequences.
41
:
You're not gonna do it.
42
:
Right?
43
:
That's what school taught me.
44
:
School taught me.
45
:
If there's no consequences and
I don't like it, I won't do it.
46
:
But if there's no consequences and
I do like it, I'll make time for it.
47
:
Right?
48
:
You make time for a lot of
really interesting and sometimes
49
:
really dumb things, right?
50
:
Because you like them, you
enjoy them, so you're like, oh,
51
:
I'm gonna make time for this.
52
:
Even though if you didn't do
it, nothing bad would happen.
53
:
But because you like it, you're
like, oh yeah, I'll do that.
54
:
So once you remove the consequences,
it shows you whether you really like
55
:
something or don't like something.
56
:
And that's a question that we're
running into here in the book of Romans.
57
:
A question that a lot of
people have about God's grace.
58
:
What we learned about so far
in Romans is that everyone's
59
:
guilty of their sin, right?
60
:
Romans one, we all are under God's wrath.
61
:
He, um, is righteous.
62
:
It's he's good for him to actually
oppose us and our sin because
63
:
we're rebelling against him.
64
:
We're breaking his rules.
65
:
We're all guilty.
66
:
That's what Romans two and three say.
67
:
All of us fall short of
God's perfect standard.
68
:
None of us are good enough to
make it to heaven on our own.
69
:
We're all guilty before God.
70
:
But then we see Romans three, Romans four.
71
:
We talked about Abraham,
right, and his faith.
72
:
And we saw that God justifies people
by faith, not because of what we
73
:
do, but because of what Jesus did.
74
:
And so nothing that we do contributes
to our righteousness before God.
75
:
That's what we call
justification by faith, right?
76
:
Not by works.
77
:
And a lot of people that causes them this
question, well, if God doesn't, if God's
78
:
just gonna forgive all my sin, right?
79
:
If all my sin just goes away,
why not just keep sinning, right?
80
:
If, if God's gonna forgive me
anyway, I could just keep sinning.
81
:
If God's gonna forgive me
anyway, what's the big deal?
82
:
Does God really even care
anymore about my sin?
83
:
That's the question you might have.
84
:
That's a question a lot of
people have about Christianity.
85
:
They say, well, what's the point then?
86
:
If God's just gonna justify you
because of Jesus, then you can
87
:
just do whatever you want, right?
88
:
God's gonna forgive you.
89
:
That's what a lot of people
say, and that's what a lot of
90
:
people ask about the gospel.
91
:
But what I want you to see with
that idea of if the consequences
92
:
are gone, it shows you whether
you really like something or not.
93
:
If you're okay with your sin,
if you're okay with going
94
:
on and, and disobeying God.
95
:
If you're okay with rejecting God, if
you're okay with loving other things
96
:
more than God, if you're okay with not
ever talking to God, if you're okay
97
:
with living as if God didn't exist,
just because, well now there's no more
98
:
consequences for my sin that shows
you you really don't love God, right?
99
:
If the only thing that gets you
to do things for God is, well,
100
:
I might go to Hell if I don't.
101
:
That's like you doing homework just
because, oh, I might fail the class.
102
:
But once the, the failing
the homework, right?
103
:
Your life's not being graded
anymore because you're
104
:
forgiven, you're under grace.
105
:
You're not under the law anymore.
106
:
Your life's not being graded anymore.
107
:
By God, you're, you're
forgiven, you're righteous.
108
:
And if you say, well, that's
fine, I'll just keep sinning.
109
:
It shows you that you don't
really love God that much.
110
:
Maybe you might not even love him
at all because the only thing that
111
:
motivated you was the consequences.
112
:
So if, if you're looking for.
113
:
If you're, if you say you're a
Christian, you're saying, well, how
114
:
much can I sin and still be a Christian?
115
:
Or how much can I get away
with and still say, saved?
116
:
You're asking the wrong question.
117
:
What you're showing about yourself is
you don't really love God that much.
118
:
Maybe you might not even love him at all.
119
:
'cause what you're trying to do
is, is keep your sin and just
120
:
take the consequences away.
121
:
You don't actually love
what you're living for.
122
:
You don't love God.
123
:
If there's no struggle against your sin
in your life, if you're just out there and
124
:
you say, yeah, I'm a Christian, but my sin
is just, it's here and I'm okay with it.
125
:
It doesn't bother me.
126
:
It doesn't bother me that I disobey God.
127
:
It doesn't bother me that I gossip.
128
:
It doesn't bother me that
I have impure thoughts.
129
:
It doesn't bother me that I'm selfish.
130
:
That's showing you, you.
131
:
You don't really love God.
132
:
You're okay with your sin.
133
:
A real Christian is.
134
:
Not just getting rid of their
sin because there's consequences.
135
:
They're getting rid of their sin
because they actually love God.
136
:
And that's what we're gonna
see here in Romans six.
137
:
We're gonna, our points
are gonna be questions.
138
:
They're gonna be questions to ask
yourself, am I following Jesus because
139
:
I want to, or am I just trying to
follow Jesus because I have to, because
140
:
my parents are making me or because
I think it's the right thing to do?
141
:
Am I following Jesus because I
want to, because of who I am?
142
:
I love Jesus.
143
:
Am I following Jesus?
144
:
Just because all the outside forces,
my parents, my friends, my church
145
:
is just making me do it right.
146
:
My life's being graded, so
I feel like I have to do it.
147
:
That's what these questions are
going to help us figure out.
148
:
Alright, so we're actually
gonna start, um, not at the
149
:
beginning of this paragraph.
150
:
We're gonna start at the
bottom of the paragraph here.
151
:
So open your Bibles to Romans chapter
six, and instead of starting in verse one,
152
:
we're actually gonna start here in verse.
153
:
13.
154
:
Okay.
155
:
This is gonna be a little
different than what we normally do.
156
:
We're gonna start in verse 13.
157
:
So what's happening here in verse 13
is Paul, the writer of this letter
158
:
of Romans, he's, he gives, uh,
don't do this, but instead do that.
159
:
A lot of times in the
Bible you'll see a command.
160
:
It says, don't do this.
161
:
Instead do this.
162
:
Here's what he says, don't
present your members.
163
:
That means like your body, right?
164
:
Your arms, your thoughts, your decisions.
165
:
Don't give those to sin.
166
:
As an instrument, like a, a weapon.
167
:
That word could be translated weapon.
168
:
Um, don't give your members your,
your, your body yourself to sin as
169
:
a weapon for unrighteousness, for
bad things, but present yourself.
170
:
Give yourself to God as people who have
been brought from death to life and
171
:
your members, your body, parts to God,
goddess instruments for righteousness
172
:
as weapons for righteousness.
173
:
So what what's happening here is.
174
:
We're seeing that people are
always giving themselves to someone
175
:
like that word present, right?
176
:
Like a present is a gift, right?
177
:
Like Master Uwe said the
present is a, today is a gift.
178
:
That's why it's called the present, right?
179
:
Um, that's what Master Uwe told me, right?
180
:
Present.
181
:
You're, you're always giving
yourself as a gift to something.
182
:
Remember, last week we talked
about how sin is like a, a power.
183
:
We talked about sin is reigning.
184
:
Over people.
185
:
And then when Jesus came, he breaks the
reign, the ruling power of sin and death.
186
:
So you're either giving yourself
to sin to do whatever it wants with
187
:
you, or you're giving yourself to
God to do whatever he wants with you.
188
:
So those are your only two options.
189
:
You're either giving yourself
to your sinful desires or
190
:
you're giving yourself to God.
191
:
That's what people do.
192
:
We're always giving
ourself to serve someone.
193
:
So the first question I want
you to ask yourself tonight
194
:
is, what am I giving myself to?
195
:
What am I giving myself to?
196
:
Am I giving myself to sin?
197
:
Am I following my sinful desires?
198
:
Am I saying, Hey sin,
here's all my thoughts.
199
:
Think about whatever you
want with my thoughts.
200
:
Here's all of my feelings.
201
:
Feel whatever you want with my feelings.
202
:
Here's all of my decisions.
203
:
Do whatever you want through my decisions.
204
:
You're either doing that or you're,
you're doing the opposite and
205
:
you're, you're going to God and
you're saying, God, here's my body.
206
:
Do whatever you want with my words.
207
:
Do whatever you want with my thoughts.
208
:
Do whatever you want,
God with my feelings.
209
:
I wanna feel the way you want me to feel.
210
:
I don't wanna feel the
way I want me to feel.
211
:
I don't wanna give myself
to my sinful desires.
212
:
I wanna give myself to your
desires, God, what you want from me.
213
:
What I want you to ask yourself
is what am I, what am I doing?
214
:
Am I giving myself to sin or
am I giving myself to God?
215
:
'cause you're giving
yourself to one or the other.
216
:
Those are your only two options.
217
:
You're always giving
yourself over to someone.
218
:
Everything you do is almost promoting one
thing or the other thing I want you to
219
:
think about, almost like everything you do
is voting either for God or against God.
220
:
Almost, almost like you're
casting a vote, right?
221
:
I'm gonna either vote for God,
God is great, or I'm gonna vote.
222
:
God.
223
:
Isn't that important?
224
:
God isn't worth my time.
225
:
God isn't trustworthy.
226
:
Every time you decide something,
that's what you're doing.
227
:
You're voting either
for God or against God.
228
:
And so I want you to ask
yourself, what do I do?
229
:
What does my life look like?
230
:
Am I someone who's voting for God or
am I someone who's voting for myself?
231
:
Who am I giving myself to?
232
:
The way this passage is gonna describe
people is probably a way you've
233
:
never really thought about before.
234
:
Um, but we see it here in verse
14 when we continue reading.
235
:
It says, sin will have
no dominion over you.
236
:
Dominion, right?
237
:
Think of the word dominate, right?
238
:
Um, dominion.
239
:
It has power control over you.
240
:
So he says, don't let it do that.
241
:
Since you're not under the
law of under Grace, we talked
242
:
about this last week, right?
243
:
Um, grace has power and um, that power
is what frees you from the power of sin.
244
:
So, um, the point here is sin is trying
to dominate people and sometimes it's
245
:
successful and sometimes it's not.
246
:
What you give yourself
to is a big part of that.
247
:
Am I giving myself to sin and being
dominated by sin or am I giving
248
:
myself to God and being, being.
249
:
Following him, right?
250
:
Is he ruling me or am I
letting my sin rule me?
251
:
Because here, so to help you kind
of picture this, um, I didn't come
252
:
up with this, but here's like a
kind of a illustration or like a
253
:
word picture of how this works.
254
:
Okay?
255
:
So I want you to imagine that
you're like a fortress, okay?
256
:
So you're like a fortress or a city.
257
:
Um, and in that city there's a throne.
258
:
And on that throne.
259
:
Is either God or sin.
260
:
They're, one of them is ruling,
one of them is reigning, one of 'em
261
:
is in control, dominating, right?
262
:
Um, so God is obviously the rightful
ruler, and sin is like a rebel, like a,
263
:
who came over and, and conquered the city.
264
:
Now,
265
:
in this city, there's um, you can call
'em generals, you can call 'em governors,
266
:
you can call 'em whatever you want.
267
:
Um, and these are your desires, and
they serve whoever is on the throne.
268
:
So whoever's on the throne, they're in
control of these generals and they tell
269
:
the generals, Hey, you should do this.
270
:
You should do this, you should do this.
271
:
And so these generals, these
desires, they make things happen.
272
:
They're, they're the things
that run the city in your life.
273
:
Your desires are the
things that run your life.
274
:
You always do whatever you want.
275
:
You ever thought about that?
276
:
You always do exactly what you
want to do, even if you don't think
277
:
you want to, don't wanna do it.
278
:
Right.
279
:
Even if you're like, oh, I really don't
wanna do my homework, but I did it anyway.
280
:
Well, you did your homework because
you didn't want to suffer the
281
:
consequences of not doing your homework.
282
:
So really you wanted to do your homework
because you wanted to not get punished
283
:
for not doing your homework, right?
284
:
So you, you always do what
you really want to do.
285
:
'cause if you really wanted
to do it, you would do it.
286
:
If you really didn't wanna
do it, you wouldn't do it.
287
:
So you always do what you want,
kinda like, like working out, right?
288
:
Um, you don't necessarily like the
process of working out, but you like
289
:
the results of working out, so you
think it's worth it so you do it
290
:
right, or practicing your instrument.
291
:
Whatever.
292
:
Right.
293
:
You, you do the practice, the thing
you don't like to do the thing you want
294
:
because that's what you really want.
295
:
So you're okay with doing
the thing, the mini thing.
296
:
You don't want to get to the
big thing you want, right?
297
:
Anyway, all I have to say, your desires
rule, so there's the throne, there's
298
:
the, the generals, the desires that, that
make everything happen and these desires.
299
:
Control what we called.
300
:
Remember our, um, instruments, the
weapons, so your desires, um, they
301
:
control your, your, these instruments,
your weapons, which is like your body,
302
:
your thoughts, your decisions, right?
303
:
You, those are always under the
control of what you want, right?
304
:
Your body is under the
control of what you want.
305
:
Your thoughts are under the
control of what you want.
306
:
Your actions are under
control of what you want.
307
:
And so these, um.
308
:
Desires can make these weapons in the
city serve either God or serve sin.
309
:
Okay.
310
:
Does this make sense?
311
:
It's okay if it doesn't.
312
:
You can shake your head and
say, no, it doesn't make sense.
313
:
Please explain it better.
314
:
But no one's doing that, so great.
315
:
Alright.
316
:
Um, you don't have to nod by the way, if,
if you don't, if something's confusing,
317
:
please look confused, shake your head.
318
:
That's helpful to me.
319
:
If I know you're confused,
that will help me.
320
:
Okay?
321
:
Anyway.
322
:
Um.
323
:
So you are so God's on the throne, right?
324
:
Or sin is on the throne.
325
:
And then there's these generals,
these desires that run the city and
326
:
those desires control these weapons.
327
:
And the weapons can be used
either for God or against God.
328
:
So, um, and those weapons are
like your actions, your thoughts,
329
:
your body, all that stuff.
330
:
Okay?
331
:
Now how do you know?
332
:
What desires are calling
the shots in your life?
333
:
What generals are in control
of your life, of your city?
334
:
Well, you, you asked the
question of our point.
335
:
What am I giving myself to?
336
:
Because you give yourself
to whatever you want, right?
337
:
Just, just evaluate yourself.
338
:
Think about what do I do?
339
:
What do I think about, what do I feel?
340
:
How do I feel about these things?
341
:
That's what you're giving yourself to.
342
:
Your desires will show you.
343
:
What you really love and what you
don't love and what your desires do is
344
:
they take control of your actions, the
weapons in your city, and they use them.
345
:
And so you look at your life and
you say, how is my life being used?
346
:
Is my life being used to vote
for God or vote against God?
347
:
Does my life make God look good?
348
:
Or does it make God look boring?
349
:
Does my life make God look
uninteresting or not worth it?
350
:
Right?
351
:
If you're, if you're anxious all
the time, maybe it's your life
352
:
is making God look untrustworthy.
353
:
If you, um, are really angry
all the time, maybe your life
354
:
looks like God isn't in control.
355
:
If you are always looking to make yourself
happy with video games or watching
356
:
things on online or whatever, maybe your
life is saying God isn't good enough.
357
:
I need all these other
things to make me happy.
358
:
Your desires show you what's
really important in your life,
359
:
so.
360
:
When you ask yourself, what
am I giving myself to, right?
361
:
Who's on the throne of my life?
362
:
Your desires serve
whoever's on the throne.
363
:
What you want is a product of
who's controlling your life.
364
:
And so if you aren't a Christian,
sin is on the throne of your life,
365
:
and so all your desires are sinful
desires, and so your sinful desires
366
:
these sinful generals in your city.
367
:
They're just running around
telling you what to do.
368
:
You're a slave to sin Your body,
your thoughts are enslaved to sin.
369
:
So when we talked about
that option of either sin is
370
:
dominating you or not, right?
371
:
If you are an unbeliever, if you're not
a Christian here, you're really not free.
372
:
You're not free from God doing whatever
you want, living however you wanna live.
373
:
Your sinful desires are
telling you what to do.
374
:
You're almost, in a sense, you're
almost like an animal because you
375
:
have no control over what you want.
376
:
Your heart is sinful and just taking
you wherever it wants you to go, right?
377
:
Your sinful desires are just
ordering you around, telling you
378
:
to do exactly whatever you want.
379
:
You're, you're not free.
380
:
You're stuck.
381
:
You're enslaved to your sinful desires.
382
:
And the only way for someone if
sins on the phone of their life to.
383
:
To get free from that slavery
of, of those generals, right?
384
:
Ordering them around those sinful
desires is they need God to
385
:
come in and take over the city.
386
:
They need something to happen to them.
387
:
They need God to come in and take
over the sinful, de the sinful
388
:
city and change those generals
and, and make them godly desires.
389
:
You need new.
390
:
God Godly desires.
391
:
I need desires from God.
392
:
I don't just need to start
reading the Bible more.
393
:
I don't just need to pray more.
394
:
I don't just need to start
going to church or start paying
395
:
attention better in the sermons.
396
:
I don't just need to
memorize books of the Bible.
397
:
You need God to come in and
and take over your life.
398
:
And maybe that's not a way you've
thought about how salvation works,
399
:
but that's the picture we're seeing
here is you're either a slave to sin
400
:
or you are under God's management.
401
:
Either sin is on the throne or
God is on the throne, and that's
402
:
where your desires come from.
403
:
So the second question I want you
to ask is, who controls my desires?
404
:
Who controls what I want?
405
:
Are my desires controlled by sin
or are they controlled by God?
406
:
What's the biggest
influence on what you want?
407
:
Is it, I want whatever I want?
408
:
Right?
409
:
Because we talked about.
410
:
How that's actually you saying,
God, I don't want you, I want me.
411
:
Right?
412
:
So that's sin.
413
:
Rejecting God who controls my desires.
414
:
Let's look at verse 12.
415
:
I know we're going backward here,
but verse 12 says, don't let
416
:
sin reign in your body, right?
417
:
Don't let sin be on the throne of your
city to make you obey its passion.
418
:
So sin right has these sinful desires,
these passions, these generals
419
:
that control and make you obey.
420
:
Sin is reigning sins in control.
421
:
If you're an unbeliever and it's making
you do whatever it wants you to do,
422
:
right, whatever you want to do, your
sinful desires, you just carry 'em out.
423
:
So who's on the throne of your city?
424
:
Who's on the throne of your heart?
425
:
Is it sin or is it God?
426
:
Those are your only two options.
427
:
If you say me, that's, that's
probably means your sin is in control.
428
:
Right.
429
:
And it's the same thing we see here in
these two verses here in the middle.
430
:
Um,
431
:
so our old self was crucified with Jesus
in order that the body of sin might
432
:
be brought to nothing, um, so that we
might no longer be enslaved to sin.
433
:
So we'll talk about this part
later, but right here, um,
434
:
everyone starts out like this.
435
:
This is the default setting.
436
:
We talked about this the
last couple weeks, right?
437
:
Romans five.
438
:
Everyone starts out
under the power of sin.
439
:
Everyone's born wanting to sin.
440
:
Everyone's born with sinful
desires in control of their life.
441
:
And so if this doesn't happen to you,
if, if God doesn't come in and take over
442
:
your city, this is, you're not neutral.
443
:
And then, oh, well, I grew up in
church, so God was in control of
444
:
my life, but then now I'm really
starting to not want God anymore.
445
:
Actually, you started out enslaved to
sin and you probably just hung around
446
:
church people and kind of enjoyed it
'cause your friends were there and then
447
:
now sin is actually saying, guess what?
448
:
I've actually been in
control this whole time.
449
:
That's probably what's happening.
450
:
So everyone starts out enslaved to sin.
451
:
Everyone needs to be set free from sin.
452
:
The default setting starts out, sin is
on the throne, so God has to come in and
453
:
and do something to free you from that.
454
:
The reason Christians are free from sin
is not because Christians are good people.
455
:
It's not because
Christians try really hard.
456
:
It's not because Christians
read the Bible a lot.
457
:
It's not because Christians
have good parents.
458
:
It's because God came
in and did something.
459
:
God took over the city.
460
:
That's why Christians are free
from sin because God came in
461
:
and did something about it.
462
:
Someone else is on the throne, right?
463
:
Jesus came in and and killed sin.
464
:
He put it to death, right?
465
:
And so if you are a Christian,
you're not enslaved to sin anymore
466
:
because your desires changed there.
467
:
There's new generals in the city
now, and so then they take the
468
:
weapons of your life, right?
469
:
Your body, your thoughts, your
emotions, your your decisions.
470
:
They take those weapons and
instead of using them against
471
:
God, they use them for God.
472
:
So you're whoever's on the
throne of your life, right?
473
:
God comes in and he takes over and
he puts in new desires in your heart.
474
:
That's what changes you.
475
:
That's why Christians live
differently than before.
476
:
It's not because they tried really hard.
477
:
You do have to try really hard, but you
try really hard because you have these
478
:
new desires that came from God, right?
479
:
The Holy Spirit comes in
and changes what you want.
480
:
The fancy word for that is regeneration.
481
:
You're born again.
482
:
So that's why if you're a Christian,
sin isn't in charge of you anymore.
483
:
So if you feel like you're stuck in a sin.
484
:
That feeling isn't true
485
:
because sins dead.
486
:
God kicked him out.
487
:
God killed him, right?
488
:
He's not on the throne
of your life anymore.
489
:
So if you're a Christian, you are
free from sin right past tense.
490
:
This is why grammar in
the Bible matters, right?
491
:
Whoever for the one who has died has
been set free from sin, not will be
492
:
set free from sin, not is starting to
become set free from sin is has been.
493
:
Past tense.
494
:
It's already done, right?
495
:
So if you're a Christian, you feel
like, man, I'm really stuck in this sin.
496
:
I can't beat this sin.
497
:
I can't stop watching that.
498
:
I can't stop thinking about this.
499
:
I can't stop feeling this way.
500
:
It's not true.
501
:
It's not true.
502
:
And that's the first step in killing
sin is admitting that, you know what?
503
:
This sin doesn't control me the
way I feel doesn't control me.
504
:
Mm-hmm.
505
:
The way I feel isn't in
charge of my life anymore.
506
:
God is in charge of my life now.
507
:
Sin isn't in charge of Christians anymore.
508
:
So why do Christians still sin then?
509
:
Right?
510
:
Maybe that's the question you're thinking.
511
:
Why do Christians still sin if sin
isn't in charge of Christian's life?
512
:
I know plenty of Christians and they sin.
513
:
So what's up with that?
514
:
Well,
515
:
if you're a Christian, uh,
remember this verse from verse 12.
516
:
Let not sin, therefore
reign in your mortal body.
517
:
So Paul is telling Christians, he's
saying, Hey, don't let sin take back over.
518
:
Your, your desires anymore, right?
519
:
Sin is gonna come and try, try
to come back into the city and
520
:
take control of, of the generals.
521
:
These generals, the desires
can be turned against God.
522
:
God stays on the throne.
523
:
But in a Christian's life, sin
can come back and, and try to turn
524
:
the generals into double agents.
525
:
In your city, God still runs the city.
526
:
You're still a Christian.
527
:
But what happens when you sin is.
528
:
Your desires get captured by sin,
and instead of using their weapons
529
:
for God, they use 'em against God.
530
:
But this time, God's not outside the city.
531
:
He's inside the city, right?
532
:
So every time a Christian sins,
they're willingly allowing, right?
533
:
They don't have to.
534
:
They're free.
535
:
They're willingly allowing a
desire to be captured by sin.
536
:
Your willingly desire, you're willingly
allowing your desire to be captured.
537
:
By sin.
538
:
Think about it like this, right?
539
:
Um, you have a good desire to rest, right?
540
:
God made you as a limited human being.
541
:
You have to sleep, you have
to eat right, you have limits.
542
:
You need to rest.
543
:
Good desire to rest, right?
544
:
It's a good thing sin can come capture
that desire in a Christian and turn it
545
:
into an evil desire to be lazy, right?
546
:
So now instead of that desire serving
God, that desire, serving sin,
547
:
it's, it's become a double agent.
548
:
That general has turned against God.
549
:
God's still the throne, but Christian
being lazy means, hey, the desire
550
:
to rest has been hijacked, double
agent ified to rebel against God.
551
:
So good desire gets captured by sin, and
now it's using the weapons of your body,
552
:
your emotions against God to be lazy.
553
:
Right.
554
:
That's kind of how that works.
555
:
So the point here is that sin is, if
you're a Christian, sin is trying to
556
:
convince you that you're still a slave.
557
:
Sin is trying to convince you,
Hey, you're actually not free.
558
:
You're stuck, right?
559
:
You're hopeless.
560
:
You can't actually stop being anxious.
561
:
You can't actually stop
thinking impure thoughts.
562
:
You can't actually stop
being angry and impatient.
563
:
That's just who you are.
564
:
That's just how you're made.
565
:
You're stuck.
566
:
Sin is is telling that
to you all the time.
567
:
All the time.
568
:
That's why verse 11 says,
you must consider yourself
569
:
dead to sin and alive to God.
570
:
This is really interesting.
571
:
So basically what happens, we're
going backward, but one verses
572
:
one through 10 are just a bunch
of like information in theology.
573
:
This right here is the first command Paul
has given in the entire book of Romans.
574
:
The first command Paul gives
after six chapters is, Hey.
575
:
Believe what I just told you.
576
:
Why does he, why, why
does he have to say it?
577
:
Right?
578
:
You think if Paul just wrote, Hey,
here's all this information, he,
579
:
he kind of expects you to do this.
580
:
He kinda expects you to believe it, right?
581
:
But he thinks it's so important.
582
:
He makes this the first time.
583
:
He tells you to do something
in this whole letter.
584
:
Hey, you need to believe this.
585
:
You really need to believe this.
586
:
You're not a slave descend anymore.
587
:
Who you are is changed.
588
:
You don't have to keep thinking
those anxious thoughts.
589
:
You don't have to keep
saying those unkind words.
590
:
You're not stuck in that anymore,
591
:
and that's because of Jesus.
592
:
He came in and conquered your
city, and we'll talk about more
593
:
about how to do that next week.
594
:
Next week we're gonna
look at just 11 to 14.
595
:
How does it look like?
596
:
What do I do to consider
myself the dissent?
597
:
How do I present myself to God as a, uh,
for righteousness and not for unright?
598
:
We'll talk about all that next week.
599
:
The specifics.
600
:
This is more of how do people work?
601
:
Well, we have desires and they're either
serving sin or they're serving God.
602
:
The only way to get those desires to
serve God is for God to come in and
603
:
do something to take over my city
and change my desires to serve him.
604
:
And how that happens is that we
get connected to Jesus, right?
605
:
So we look at verses five
through seven here, okay,
606
:
being connected to
Jesus, United with Jesus.
607
:
Or maybe the Christian
needs is in Christ, right?
608
:
Is how this change happens.
609
:
How does God come in
and take over the city?
610
:
How does he do that?
611
:
How do I get free from
all my sinful desires?
612
:
Well, right here we have been
united with him connected, right?
613
:
That's what it means to be in Christ.
614
:
I'm united with him.
615
:
Something happened to me, right when I
became a Christian, something happened.
616
:
We, me and Jesus, we got, we got
stuff together somehow, right?
617
:
Not literally, obviously, but we got
united and there's specifically some
618
:
things that I got connected to Jesus in.
619
:
Okay.
620
:
First thing is his death.
621
:
I got connected to Jesus' death.
622
:
And the picture of this is water baptism.
623
:
Right?
624
:
That's how you visualize it.
625
:
So think about when someone gets
baptized, they go down into the
626
:
water, it's like they died, right?
627
:
What's that supposed to symbolize?
628
:
Why do we do that?
629
:
Why do, why have Christians
done this for:
630
:
Because what they're showing is, hey,
the old you, the, the you, that's
631
:
enslaved to sin, that you's dead.
632
:
He's gone.
633
:
She's, she's dead.
634
:
She doesn't exist anymore.
635
:
Not enslaved to sin anymore.
636
:
That's what we mean when
you say We died with Christ.
637
:
United, with Jesus in his death,
and then also we're united
638
:
with him in his resurrection.
639
:
That's why you come back
up outta the water, right?
640
:
That's why they don't just
leave you down there to die.
641
:
You come back up out of the water because
it shows us that now the new me is alive.
642
:
Old me's dead.
643
:
New me is alive.
644
:
And that's what these
verses explain, right?
645
:
If you're dead, you're free.
646
:
The old you's dead.
647
:
You're free from sin.
648
:
You're not enslaved to sin anymore, right?
649
:
If you, if, if a slave dies,
are they still enslaved?
650
:
No.
651
:
Right?
652
:
So old you is dead.
653
:
New you is alive.
654
:
And that's because of
your connection to Jesus.
655
:
'cause it happened to Jesus.
656
:
And so it happens to
you spiritually, right?
657
:
Your, your old you is dead new.
658
:
You is alive.
659
:
So the third question to ask
yourself is, well, why do I keep
660
:
sending over and over, right?
661
:
Why do I not love God very much?
662
:
Well, I want you to ask yourself,
have I been connected to Jesus?
663
:
Has God really come in
and taken over my city?
664
:
Right?
665
:
Because if you find yourself thinking,
man, I, I just don't love God very much.
666
:
I just don't have any
righteous desires in my life.
667
:
I don't get excited about singing the God.
668
:
I don't get excited
about reading the Bible.
669
:
I don't enjoy sharing
the gospel with people.
670
:
Maybe it's because your desires
are still under the control of sin,
671
:
because sin iss on the throne, not God.
672
:
So we start, right, evaluate your life.
673
:
What?
674
:
Who am I giving myself to?
675
:
Well, maybe the reason you're
giving yourself over to sin all
676
:
the time is because your desires
are still under the control of sin.
677
:
Because sin is on the throne of your life.
678
:
You're not connected to Jesus.
679
:
Your old self is still your yourself.
680
:
Currently, there's no new you.
681
:
There's just the old you.
682
:
And maybe that's because you've
never been connected to Jesus and
683
:
that's how this passage starts.
684
:
Should we go on sinning?
685
:
That Grace May abound, right?
686
:
Increase.
687
:
Should I keep sinning?
688
:
Because it doesn't matter anymore, right?
689
:
If God forgives people and God
loves to forgive people, shouldn't
690
:
I just keep letting him forgive me.
691
:
Shouldn't I just keep, if God's
so excited about forgiving me,
692
:
shouldn't I just let him do that?
693
:
If I sin more, there's more grace, right?
694
:
This is why you don't keep sinning
just because the consequences
695
:
of sin are gone, right?
696
:
Like we talked about in the beginning,
this is why you still do your homework,
697
:
even though there's no consequences
for not doing the homework right?
698
:
Even though your homework's not graded,
you still do it as a Christian, even
699
:
though your life's not graded, you still
live for God because you're different.
700
:
Who you are is fundamentally different.
701
:
You're dead to.
702
:
Right.
703
:
When someone's dead to you,
you don't keep talking to them.
704
:
Right.
705
:
You know, when someone, like you said,
you know, you have that like fight
706
:
in fourth grade on the playground
and you're like, you're dead to me.
707
:
You know, like, you probably
did sin in fourth grade.
708
:
Hopefully you didn't.
709
:
But the point is, you're dead to
sin you and sin cut off no more
710
:
relationship instead, right?
711
:
You died with Jesus.
712
:
That's what this phrase baptized
into Christ Jesus means.
713
:
Um, the word baptized, it just kind of
means like, think of like dunked dipped.
714
:
Right.
715
:
Um, I always think of
like, so it's just weird.
716
:
I always eat chicken nuggets with a fork.
717
:
Um, because chicken nuggets are
like, 'cause chicken strips are
718
:
way better than chicken nuggets.
719
:
One, there's more chicken, right?
720
:
Obviously you can, you can weigh it
way more chicken in the chicken strip.
721
:
Like if you go to Chick-fil-A,
should I get the chicken
722
:
strips or the chicken nuggets?
723
:
Obviously the chicken strips because
one more chicken, two more dips.
724
:
Per chicken, right?
725
:
Chicken nugget.
726
:
You get like one dip and it's super
awkward and sometimes you drop the
727
:
nugget in the sauce, you know, and
you can't get it out and it gets all
728
:
your fingers and it's really messy.
729
:
And anyway, that's why I eat
it with a fork 'cause I don't
730
:
wanna deal with that, right?
731
:
Chicken strips way better.
732
:
You get like three dips per strip.
733
:
Way more.
734
:
Way more.
735
:
Anyway, all that to say, I
think of a chicken nugget
736
:
when I think of this passage.
737
:
I want my chicken nugget fully
covered in the sauce, right?
738
:
That's why I use the fork.
739
:
I don't want half the chicken
nugget covered in the sauce.
740
:
I want the whole chicken
nugget covered in the sauce.
741
:
When you think of being
baptized now, you're always
742
:
gonna think of chicken nuggets.
743
:
Hopefully for better or for worse,
you're placed into Christ Jesus, right?
744
:
Jesus is right.
745
:
The the ketchup or the ranch or
whatever, and you are the chicken nugget.
746
:
Or Chick-fil-A sauce.
747
:
There you go.
748
:
Cane sauce is better, but that's fine.
749
:
Um, one time I tried putting
cane sauce on a Chick-fil-A
750
:
sandwich, which sounds amazing.
751
:
Not good.
752
:
No, it just mentally threw me for a
loop 'cause it was like I was expecting
753
:
Chick-fil-A sauce and it just didn't work.
754
:
One time also, I ate, um, a double double
from inn out with fries from McDonald's.
755
:
Because I was like,
that's good, that's good.
756
:
That's good.
757
:
I was like, this has gotta be, this
is the best fries in the world and
758
:
the best hamburger in the world.
759
:
So also didn't go very well.
760
:
No, no, no, no, no.
761
:
Because my mind associates the
chicken, the, the, the fries of inn
762
:
out with the double, double, you know,
like the more like potatoey fries,
763
:
the real potatoes, not like the, or
lab grown potatoes from McDonald's.
764
:
Right.
765
:
Anyway, I don't even know what
I'm talking about anymore.
766
:
Sorry for your small group time leaders.
767
:
That's my fault.
768
:
Um, we're talking about chicken nuggets.
769
:
We're talking about Chick-fil-A.
770
:
You saw chicken nugget being baptized.
771
:
That's what we're talking about.
772
:
So this isn't talking about, probably
not talking about water baptism here.
773
:
Right?
774
:
Probably not talking about wire
basket we're talking about.
775
:
Because if, if I just said, oh, um,
do you know that all of us who've
776
:
been dunked, you say into what?
777
:
Into water, into Christ.
778
:
So when you think baptized, don't
necessarily think of into water.
779
:
Like the sermon this Sunday from Pastor
pj, he talked about baptism saves you,
780
:
but not really water baptism, but like
actually getting saved is what saves you.
781
:
So, um, all of us who are baptized
into Christ, we're baptized into death.
782
:
We're placed into Christ.
783
:
We're united to Christ.
784
:
We're connected.
785
:
We, that's the whole point.
786
:
Um,
787
:
this changes who you are.
788
:
Old Jews dead, new you's alive.
789
:
That's what happens when
you get connected to Christ.
790
:
That's what it means to be in Christ.
791
:
Old me is gone.
792
:
New me is here, right?
793
:
Uh, two Corinthians five 17.
794
:
But you hold anyone is in Christ.
795
:
He's a new creation.
796
:
Old has passed away.
797
:
The newest come right.
798
:
Some of you probably should
had that verse memorized.
799
:
Um, sorry, that was the inside
joke for one person in the room.
800
:
That's okay.
801
:
Um, that happens.
802
:
Sorry, Weston.
803
:
Um, anyway, so some of you.
804
:
When, when you become a
Christian, you, you get changed.
805
:
Old you's gone, new year's life,
you're not enslaved to sin anymore.
806
:
Who you are changes.
807
:
So what you want changes.
808
:
That's the point I'm getting at.
809
:
Who you are changes.
810
:
So the things you want are different.
811
:
Um, I don't know if you've ever
heard of athletes that have like
812
:
an alter ego or like some athletes,
they do this when they compete.
813
:
Um, to get themselves like
in the zone for sports.
814
:
They'll like come up with a
fake personality to help them
815
:
be better at their sport.
816
:
So this one guy, um, his
name is Brian Dawkins.
817
:
He was a safety for the Eagles,
um, one of the like coolest
818
:
football players ever in history.
819
:
So.
820
:
This guy, he'd come outta the
tunnel and like crawl on the ground
821
:
and like yell and all this smoke
and look super cool and scary.
822
:
And he would like bark and uh,
he would like knock people out.
823
:
Right?
824
:
Very scary dude.
825
:
If you just met him, like normally
super nice, super calm, super
826
:
friendly, um, religious guy like.
827
:
Not this guy, right?
828
:
Not this dude.
829
:
Um, but the point is, is he, he
does, he called himself weapon X.
830
:
That was like his alter ego.
831
:
Um, and his, his point was to
get into this mindset of I'm a,
832
:
I'm a safety, I'm gonna get, go
out here and kill people, right?
833
:
Because he's normally a nice guy.
834
:
So to do this kind of thing
would be very unnatural for him.
835
:
Right.
836
:
Think of like if my wife
decided to play football, right?
837
:
Which she wouldn't 'cause she's smart.
838
:
Um, but think about like what
Shea would have to do to get
839
:
into like this zone, right?
840
:
The whole point is like who she is has
to change for her to change, right?
841
:
She'd have to like put on, so the
whole point is this guy is putting
842
:
on this alternate identity to help
him do the things he wants to do.
843
:
Right.
844
:
When you become a Christian,
it changes who you are.
845
:
And so instead of being right
before you're a Christian, maybe
846
:
you, you're gossiping and then you
become a Christian and it changes.
847
:
You change, and so what you want changes
instead of wanting to use your words
848
:
to tear people down, now you want to
use your words to build people up.
849
:
Right because of who you are changed.
850
:
You didn't just try really hard,
say, I need to stop gossiping.
851
:
I'm gonna start encouraging
who you are changed.
852
:
And that's why that changed.
853
:
So if you don't see any change in
your life, maybe it's because you
854
:
aren't connected to Jesus, maybe
it's 'cause you, you've never had a
855
:
relationship with God in the first place.
856
:
So these three questions hopefully
are helpful for you to, um, evaluate.
857
:
Why, why do I keep sinning?
858
:
Why am I not very excited about God?
859
:
I want you to ask yourself, am I,
am I really a different person or
860
:
am I just the same person trying
really hard to do the right thing?
861
:
Because the only way you become a
Christian is if God changes you.
862
:
So let's pray and we'll talk
about this more in small groups.
863
:
God, we're grateful that we don't have
to save ourselves, uh, because we can't.
864
:
So I pray that if anyone here
is feeling the, uh, pressure.
865
:
Of trying to escape slavery to
sin by their own effort that they
866
:
would finally admit that they
can't, they can't be good enough.
867
:
Um, they can't try hard enough.
868
:
Um, but rather they need to
trust you to change them.
869
:
And so I pray that that
would even happen tonight.
870
:
There'd be people here who would,
um, realize that they need you and
871
:
they need you to, to come in and, and
take over their life and change them.
872
:
We pray this in Jesus name.
873
:
Amen
