How Does a
Christian Actually Live Free From Sin’s Control?
By Reckoning Some Things
Romans 6:6-14
July 9, 2023
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I. Introduction (Romans 6:1,2)
A. (Romans 6:1) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
B. Paul asks, “shall we continue in sin since grace continues to cover it all?”
C. His answer is emphatically “NO!” (Romans 6:2) God forbid.
D. He answers, “How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?”
E. God’s Grace does not free us to sin, but from sin!
F. So how do we get victory over temptations and sinful lifestyles we are so used to?
1. Know, Reckon, and Yield
2. A work of the Mind, Heart and Body of the Christian
II. Review
A. Paul expects us #1 to KNOW the following things, and understand them with our mind (not a blind faith, but reasonable, fact upon fact). You need to know the following things and be reminded of them constantly, in order to not continue in sin – you cannot be ignorant of these things and live free from fears and temptations!
1. Because Jesus died for sin, We who are believing in Him, ARE Dead to Sin (Romans 6:2) God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
a. It is a FACT: We are dead to sin
1) We are dead to sin, not to our problems, but to the pull of sinful desires
2) Part of us is not attracted to sin anymore
b. Salvation does not mean we do not sin anymore (1John 1:8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
c. It means we don’t HAVE to sin anymore
d. We should not continue in sin
1) Continue in bitterness or anger
2) Continue in lust and porn
3) Continue a life of lying and deceit
e. Sin is NOT our master controlling our heart and thoughts and actions anymore
f. JESUS IS!
2. We are “in Christ” now (Romans 6:3) Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
a. FACT: We are no longer living “in sin”
b. Yes, we still sin, and break God’s laws, and do our own thing instead of God’s
c. But we don’t live in a sinful lifestyle now – not if we are born again!
d. We are in Christ now, living like HE lived
3. Because Jesus rose back from the dead, We are living a New Life – a Resurrected Life (Romans 6:4,5)
a. Romans 6:4,5 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
b. FACT: We have a brand new life in place of the old life for us to live now!
c. It is a different life! The resurrected life is different than the old life
1) To sin we have died…
2) But to God, we are finally ALIVE!
3) What is alive right now is a new nature, given to you – it was given life by the Holy Spirit of God when he came in you
4) The most important truth you have to believe is that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself dwells in your body, and that He is the power you need to overcome temptation and to live in victory
5) Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
6) So, if you are in Jesus Christ:
a) You – the old you died to sin’s power, and you are buried with Christ’s burial, and have experienced a resurrection to new life, because of Him!
b) We ought to be living like we are alive from the dead, in newness of life
c) Free from sin’s grip on us!
d) It may have owned us in the past, but not now, and not anymore!
4. Our old man is crucified with Jesus on the cross
a. Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, ...
b. FACT: Our old nature, what makes us sinful people, has been crucified with Christ
5. Our bodies will be destroyed
a. Romans 6:6 … that the body of sin might be destroyed,...
b. AMEN!
c. FACT: This body of mine will be replaced one day, with a new, perfect body, just like Jesus’
6. Dead people are free from sin.
a. Romans 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
b. FACT: Since I am dead to sin, I am free from sin’s power over me
c. John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
7. Just as Jesus lives forever now, We will live with Jesus forever too
a. Romans 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
b. FACT: We will now live forever, just as Jesus does! He cannot die again!
8. Greatest fact… Death has no more dominion over Jesus! Conquered it!
a. Romans 6:9,10 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
9. Everything Jesus went through is applied to us now (Romans 6:14) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
10. Water Baptism shows all that
a. Baptism is a great picture of identifying with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection
b. But that is ALL it is!
1) Water baptism is ONLY a picture of what JESUS did to save us
2) Baptism is a visible picture of what we are trusting to save us!
3) Water was never meant to be part of a person’s salvation
4) JESUS saves… full stop!
5) To add baptism, or joining a church, or getting circumcised to your cry to God to save you, is a work, and will not work!
B. Know the bondage of sin – Add it up as real slavery!
1. Sin is not just things we do that are wrong that are wrong and against God's law
2. Sin is a power over us that is in everyone of us, as we will learn in Romans chapter 7
3. Sin enslaves us
a. Yes we are free to sin, we can choose our sins, and we are free to enjoy our sins
b. But we are never free from the consequences of our sins
c. Every one of us are free to drive at 160 kilometres an hour down a 50 kilometre an hour road. And we can drive as long as we want, and drink beer while we're driving, and listen to whatever music we want while we're driving karma but none of us are free from the disaster of the consequences of breaking the speed limit law!
d. Sin is both a lure and a trap and the ruin of every human who has ever lived
4. Sin must be paid for by those that sin
a. Even though someone never exceeds the speed limit, and never breaks that law, they will break other laws.
b. And all of the law breaking that we do is part of the book of evidence that will one day be read out loud and expose us as the sinners that we all are
c. And there are no sins allowed in heaven, and no sinners allowed in heaven, so sin must be and will be paid for by the sinners who have committed them
5. Unless they accept the free gift of forgiveness provided by Jesus Christ
6. Most people do not know this because they are kept busy with all the constant world news pouring into their smartphones, and the instagram posts, and the hours upon hours spent being entertained!
C. Now We Learn The Second Thing to Do to Live in Victory - Reckon Those Truths To Yourself Now!
1. The Second thing you need to do after you have understood these great facts, is…
2. Add it all up and conclude these things now apply to you… (like a SPREADSHEET)
a. Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
b. It's called reckoning. It means believing these things are true for you.
3. Reckon means: To understand, compute, account, conclude, add up what you know, become convinced of something
a. Data and information mean nothing until you can add it up and come up with a truth, a number, a reality, a conclusion
b. EXAMPLE: Imagine living like a poor man or woman, always stealing to get money, and then you take the time to add up your bank statement to find out how much money you have left, and discover an hundred million euros in the bank! It would change your life! You get the point!
c. A Christian has to learn what Jesus accomplished and understand it all, and then add everything up as an absolute fact, that has been given to you!
d. That is what it means to reckon
e. Realize that all the works of Christ are now added to your account
f. And when you reckon your place in God's eyes… when you look at yourself and add up what is true and what is real, and what is good, all because of Jesus Christ, it will change your life for the better.
III. Message - Reckon Yourself
A. Reckon Yourself to be Dead to Sin (Romans 6:11)
1. There are those words again
a. Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
b. Romans 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
2. This is BIG!
a. Not just know it in your head, but believe it with all your heart!
b. Believe that, part of you is dead now!
3. Paul is now describing something you will only understand if you know about the trinity of the human.
4. There are THREE parts of you.
a. 1Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
b. What you and I see is the body of a person
c. But beneath this skin is a soul, an invisible you. That's the real you. That's your emotions, your heart, how you feel. That's the part of you that makes a decision about what to do hour by hour
d. And there's another part of you called your spirit. That's what God sees.
e. So. When God looks at you and He sees a body and a soul, guess what He sees?
1) If you're not saved, God sees your spirit as DEAD. It's not alive towards him. It hasn't been resurrected. You were born with a dead spirit. You are born in sin, and so when he sees you, you are dead to him.
2) When you get saved, your spirit is regenerated. It is born again.
3) Your soul is not born again. Your soul is eternal. God made the real you to live forever, but your spirit gets resurrected.
4) And now God sees you as ALIVE. And guess what He sees when he sees your body? HE SEES IT DEAD. Now he sees it legally dead. Just like a divorce.
5) The relationship is legally dead, even though feelings come and go still after the divorce, but we have to reckon ourselves in our body to be dead to sin and alive to God. That's our spirit.
f. Switch your attention from how your body feels. To how your SPIRIT feels.
5. So, Don't just believe it, but LIVE LIKE IT IS TRUE. Like you have an entirely new life now beyond just eating, sleeping, working, hair colours, tattoos, paying billes, watching movies, etc
a. It is like reckoning yourself to be married to one person
1) Employed – that makes you overrule your desire to sleep in on Mondays
2) Saved – it gives you great joy when you reckon it to be finished, real!
3) And Free! Someone who was a slave and has been freed has got to become convinced that they really are free
b. EXAMPLE: Old elephant that was captured and kept in a 12 foot by 12 foot cage for 5 years, and then taken back to Africa and released… only to still live in that cage in their mind! THAT is how most of you live still!
6. And Reckon Yourself Alive unto God - If we are no longer dead towards God, then we are alive, and live unto God
a. Just like a sunflower lives under the sun and moves throughout the day in the direction of the sunlight
b. We live for God’s words, God’s help, for God’s people, for God’s will, for God’s joy, God’s blessings, instead of the world’s!
B. An Example of the POWER of reckoning…
1. I went scuba diving with my youngest son Joshua about 8 or 9 years ago.
2. Had 4 hours of intense lessons
3. Then a small group of us when out into the ocean on a boat
4. I had a heavy oxygen tank on my back, goggles, wet suit and a breathing respirator over my mouth.
5. I was told we would be diving to 20 metres depth. I was also told I would be able to breathe underwater, and would be fine! It was terrifying at first - every breath I took was against my nature. But as I reckoned it to be true, and just breathed normally, I started enjoying the freedom to move and explore the marvellous realm of the ocean floor!
6. I didn’t just “believe” it
7. It was true. And I just needed to believe it is true.
8. My faith didn’t make it true. It was true and I believed it
C. Reckon that sin has been dethroned in you. Hallelujah!
1. Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
2. Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
3. Sin has been knocked off the throne of your life/heart!
a. Yes, sin is still there in your body, in your flesh, in your old nature, but it has been dethroned. It's no longer in charge, so do not obey sin anymore!
b. You will struggle with temptation.
1) You'll still just give in to a rude feeling, saying something that is wrong, just like you do.
2) When you are on a diet, you still are tempted and you still give in because the body's still quite alive.
c. But you and I should not obey our body anymore. As a matter of fact, God says it is powerless over you now. It has no authority.
d. Even though the body lusts for something, wants something, has to have something in order for it to be happy.
e. Still Tempted, but NOT Enslaved
f. So, let not sin reign in your body. Do not obey the lusts thereof
g. You do not have to obey it. You don't have to give into it. You don't have to yield to it. That body is not important anymore.
h. Yes, you still feed it. Yes. You still rest. Yes. You still take it for walks, but it doesn't dominate your life and you do not obey it. You obey God.
4. So, Accept the FACT that Grace now reigns over your life, and NOT Sin
a. Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
b. It is like finding out that the old tyrant that used to rule has been chased off the throne, and has been replaced by the rightful KING of kings!
c. Grace is God's overpowering kindness ruling us now!
d. Sin has no more dominion over you - it has been dethroned
e. A believer is NOW dead to sin - salvation did that to you! Jesus did that for you, not your church not a magical prayer, and not your willpower - Jesus
f. A believer is alive to God - God resurrected that part of you called your spirit
g. Yes, Sin is still in you, but not in charge of you
h. And death cannot win any more over you
i. Because you have the power of the spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, in You, giving you THE VICTORY!
D. Don't Let Sin Reign in You Therefore!
1. Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
2. Don't let it continue to reign like it always has
3. The truth is, since sin is not reigning over you now, you don't have to obey its pull, or it's pressure! We don’t have to obey sin’s whispers, its lusts, its demands on us anymore! DO NOT GIVE SIN PERMISSION TO RUN YOUR LIFE!
4. You can live in victory, doing the will of God, instead of your friends and the devil!
5. You have a new Lord - a master, a boss – better than your conscience or your mother
6. EXAMPLE: If a criminal gang was in your neighbourhood
a. It would have power and would cause fear and destruction but no one should let that criminal gang be free to run the streets, into rule over your lives
b. Sin is like a crime boss, that wants to run the entire city. When the people rise up, and the government and guarda are adequately empowered, that crime boss goes into hiding.
c. And then one day that crime boss is not just imprisoned but his cast out of the city in his reign of terror comes to an end
d. Until that day it is up to those of us who are free to stand up to the crime boss and the crime gangs and never let them have power over our lives, over our families anymore
7. This is why some Christians never get victory over habitual sins and over the past and continue to live in fear…
a. It is because they are letting sin and the past and their feelings lie to them, and make them think sin is still in charge of their life
b. Example: habitual bitterness
1) Habitual Pornography - rampant
2) Thievery
3) Lying – and not caring that they constantly lie
4) Disrespect
5) Habitual anger and wrath
c. Sin still fights for control
d. It still traps and enslaves Christians
e. And it still kills even Christians - please be aware, that's in never stops being deadly
f. A Christian is dead to sin, but sin is not dead to us
g. Don’t let any sin tell you what to do, how to react, what to think, how to feel...
h. Don't obey sins’ many lusts
8. We have been given advanced spiritual weaponry, tools, defences that allow us to arm ourselves against fleshly lusts that war in us (1Peter 4:1,2) Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
E. This great truth leads to the next point of freedom... Yielding (Next Week)
IV.Conclusion
A. Everyone in this room still does wrong, says wrong things, sins, and breaks God’s clear commandments of how to live right
B. God’s Son has it all covered
C. And because of GRACE, we can live free from the control of sin in our thoughts, in our emotions, in our words and actions!
1. This does not mean we are free from the pull of temptation
2. It does not mean you won’t give in to temptation
3. It does not mean you are free from depression and discouragement, and sorrow and pains, and heartaches, and defeats
4. It does mean, everything is well with your soul!
D. And that you can live in victory over sin’s dominion
E. Start learning Bible truths, and reckoning them!
F. All the sorrows and suffering and persecutions and losses, will be made up for – will be worth it all!