In this sermon, the preacher focuses on Romans 6 and discusses the mechanics of the Christian life. He emphasizes the importance of knowing that we have died with Christ, been buried with Him, and are now alive with Him. The preacher also highlights the need to count these truths as real and to stop yielding ourselves to sin, instead yielding to God. He emphasizes that victory comes from cooperating with God and having faith in Him. Additionally, the preacher discusses God's way of righteousness, emphasizing that it is not based on our own righteousness but on the righteousness that comes from God.

The Navigators is an international, interdenominational Christian organization whose objective is to help fulfill Christ's commission to make disciples of all nations. They individually teach the basics of the Christian life to new believers, who then teach others. They work on campuses, military bases, and among lay men and women on every continent. Moreover, the law entered that the fence might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, and that word is abound and superabound and much more. That is, sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace, through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. And the first point that we'd like to cover today on the proper view of sin and grace is God's solution to the sin problem. And we find that in Romans 1, 15 through 17, God's solution to the sin problem. And God's solution is the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 14, Paul said, I am a debtor both to the Greek and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. He said, I'm ready to preach the gospel. That's the solution for the sin problem. And then in verse 16, he says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. So we notice in verse 15, the solution is the gospel. Down in verse 16, he uses the gospel twice, and one time he refers to the gospel as it. For it is the dynamite of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. That word salvation, it means that he's solution for the penalty of sin, for the power of sin, and for the very presence of sin. That's past, present, and future. All in this word salvation. It doesn't mean just save from the penalty, but save from the power, and also it's a future salvation, where our total body, soul, and spirit will be saved. And then down in verse 17, For in it, in the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed. Where is the righteousness of God revealed? He says in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's the righteousness of God. Our righteousness as is filthy rags, but God's righteousness always stands up. For in the gospel is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, and is written that just shall live by faith. The solution to the sin problem is the gospel. And he said salvation, it saves you from the penalty, from the power, and then from the very presence of sin. And that's an interesting word there, the gospel. If we look back in the first verse, in Romans 1, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. His main objective was to get out the gospel of God. And then down in verse 9, For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son. We see it again. In verse 1, we see it in verse 9, we see it in verse 15, we see it in verse 16, and he says it's by faith. He said it comes from faith, it's through faith, it's by faith, and the conclusion is faith. I was just reading a little something the other day that I thought I might pass on to you about this word faith. That this word, first one means it's springing from faith. The first word we see in 17, it's springing from faith. It's leading to faith. It is disclosed by the way of faith. And then he says that the conclusion is in faith, more faith. So it's faith, faith, faith. So really the solution to the sin problem is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith, these four different things, faith is springing from faith, it's leading to faith, it's disclosed by the way of faith, to make more faith. It's all by faith. It's believing, it's by embracing the gospel by faith, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. He says in 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4, For I deliver unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. So the answer to the sin problem is the gospel. That's our first point. The second point, legalism is not God's solution to the sin problem. Legalism is not God's solution. And we'll be moving right through the book of Romans, and this is a terrific book on sin and grace. And down in the last two verses in 28 and 29, he says externals, outward righteousness is not God's solution to the sin problem. Down in verse 28, For he is not a Jew, and we can put the word Christian in there without any problem whatsoever. For he is not a Christian who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which was outward in the flesh. But he is a Christian or a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the Spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. He says God doesn't honor the externals. It's not the ordinances. It's not rules and regulation. But he said a Christian life is to be lived from the inside out. It's not like a Christmas tree that you're hanging a bunch of ornaments on a Christmas tree without any root. But he says you've got to have a root if you're going to have any fruit. In verses 28 and 29. And it's so close, externals a lot of times are so close, that you can't hardly tell a counterfeit from the real. Now just look at this for just a moment. Let's look maybe at 17, 18, 19, and 20 for just a moment. And see how close this really is. Here's a person that just has all the externals. But he doesn't have the internal Christ. Verse 17, But if thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God. Man, I can see a man who says, Man, I'm trusting in Christ, I'm resting in Christ. He makes his boast of Christ. And knoweth his will. Boy, we in the Navigators, we heavy on that, knowing God's will. Approves the things that are most excellent. Boy, we go for the excellent, not the good. Being instructed out of the law, or being instructed out of the word. And art confident that thou art a guide to the blind. Boy, can't we really help the babes? And a light of them that are in darkness. We know how to get out the gospel. An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, who hath the form of knowledge, and of the truth in the law. He's got the externals, but there's nothing internal. Then verse 21, Thou therefore who teaches another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest the man should not steal, dost thou steal? In other words, if it's internal, you're going to stop stealing. It's not trying to tack something on, but it'll come from the inside out. In verse 22, Thou that saith the man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhors idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that maketh thy boast of the law through breaking the law, dishonors thy God. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, and it is written. And then we go down to 28 and 29 again. For he is not a Christian who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Christian who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. Well, let's turn over to Philippians for just a moment. Philippians 3, verse 3. For we are the circumcision, or the born-again believers, who worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Boy, it's not the external, it's the internal Christ that's the solution to sin. Let's turn in 2 Corinthians, the 4th chapter and the 7th verse. But we have this treasure, this Christ, in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of else. See, we are interested in the internal Christ. And the internal Christ is in you through the Holy Spirit. You indwell by the Holy Spirit. And if you have Christ, you indwell by the Holy Spirit, you have the Word of God, then all you have to do is just do what you're told. It's not external, it's internal, and then the outside is surely going to be different. And then we're going to have a lot of how-tos, but first we've got to get on that solid foundation, and that's the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Third, God's view of sin, Romans 3, 9 through 19. Let's just take a look at this word sin in the 3rd chapter of Romans. It's a horrible picture. We'll read 9 through 19. What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way, for we have before proved both Jew and Greeks, they are all under sin. He says the whole world is guilty in chapter 1. And then a little later in chapter 2, he says, well, the Jews are guilty. And then he turns around and says the Greek and the Jew both are guilty. And he says then for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. He says creation showed the Gentile that he was guilty. The moral man, he says, his conscience tells him that he's guilty. And the Jew had the scripture to tell him that he was guilty. Down in verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understand it. There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. And here in verses 9 through 12, we see God as the judge. He says there is not one good. And that word unprofitable, they are all together become unprofitable, it means it has the value of rotten fruit. That's what our righteousness is outside of Christ's work. It's rotten fruit in the sight of God. All have sinned. There is none profitable, no, not one. Total depravity without Jesus Christ. Then the second section, 13 through 15, we see God here as a physician, a divine physician. And then he tells us about our throat and our lips and our mouth and a lot of our members. In verse 13, their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asp is under their lips. He said their throat is in bad shape. You go in and the doctor says, open your mouth, he sticks something on your tongue. And he says, man, you're in bad shape. He looks down your throat. Well, God looks in our throat and he said, we're in bad shape. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have used deceit. They lie with their tongues. The poison of asp is under their lips. Boy, he said we're bad. And then we look down in verse 14, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. As you look out into the world system, is the mouth full of cursing and bitterness? The characteristic this day is rebel against everything. And then 15, their feet are swift to show blood, to shed blood. So here it says we have a bad throat, bad tongue, bad lips, bad mouth, and we have bad feet. He said, boy, we're unhealthy. We are unhealthy. So here he's speaking to us as a physician. Then he talks to us as a historian in verses 16 through 18. Destruction and misery are in their way. There's a promise. For a man whose physical condition is like this spiritually, here's a promise for him in verse 16. Destruction and misery are in their ways. That's a promise from the Word. If they never get out of Adam into Jesus Christ, all they've got to look forward to is destruction and misery. Look at verse 17. And the way of peace have they not known. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. No peace, saith my God, to the wicked. And then in verse 18, there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now, that's not too good a picture, is it? As he tells us, he's the judge. He's going to be our judge. He says he's the physician, and he says he's the historian. And then he concludes in verse 19, Now we know that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. He says the Gentile is lost. He says the moral man is lost. And he says the Jew is lost. And he says the whole world is lost. They're under the power and domination of sin. Not too good of a picture, is it? All right, let's look down to our next point, God's way of righteousness, Romans 3, 21 through 31, and 4, 1 through 5. This is a different type of righteousness we find in the third chapter, starting with verse 21. This is the kind of righteousness that God honors. It's not our righteousness. It's not what we hang on the outside, but it's Him being on the inside. Verse 21, But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. He says there's a different type of righteousness. That's the righteousness of God that comes through our embracing the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the kind that counts. That's the kind that wins over sin. Then verse 22, Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. You see the word righteousness in verse 21, the word righteousness of God in verse 23. And then 23, He says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We've all missed the mark. We're not as holy as God. We're not as good as God. We're not as gracious as God. We're not as kind as God. We're not as holy as God. We all missed the mark. 24, Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We've been bought out of the market of sin by the blood of Jesus Christ. 25, Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, our eternal sin covering, our reconciliation back to God through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God. Practically every verse here talks about the righteousness of God. Verse 26, To declare, I say at this time, His righteousness that He may be just and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus. And then what's His conclusion in verse 28? Therefore we conclude that a man is not made righteous or justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. That a man is justified or made righteous by faith apart from the deeds of the law. That was His conclusion. The righteousness of God is the solution to the sin problem. And then we look at the fourth chapter, verses 1 through 5. What shall we say then that Abraham, our father, pertaining to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he has something of which to glory, but not before God. Maybe some of that outside righteousness, somebody may come up and say, Man, you're a pretty good fella. You live in a pretty good life. But he said that's before men. How about before God? Verse 3, For what saith the Scriptures, what does the Bible say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh not is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of death. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. We have to have the righteousness of God. It's the righteousness we obtain when we put our trust in the gospel, in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's pretty clear the type of righteousness that we need. And then God's way of peace and access is in Romans 5, 1 and 2. We're going to have the peace of God, and then we're going to have access continually into the very presence of God by faith. Therefore being justified or made righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Man, the battle is over, the war is over, there's no more enmity, there's no more rebellion, and now God and I are at peace with one another. That's a powerful statement. But look at the next verse. He says, Also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only do we have peace, but he says through this Christ that has already caused us to get the very righteousness of God placed to our account, he says we can come to him any time, any moment, continually, through the blood of Jesus Christ. We have an entrance. We have access. We are always in his presence. We can get to him immediately. And then as we look down in verse 9 through 11, he says, Much more than being now justified or made righteous by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Boy, there's no eternal condemnation for us. There's no judgment for us. There's no hell for us. He says the wrath has been taken care of by the blood of Christ. We have been placed to our account now. The blood has been placed to our account. We have the very righteousness of God. There is no judgment, no condemnation, no future wrath for us. Then down in verse 10, For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life. The first verse there in verse 9 says that you've been saved from the guilt of sin from the penalty of sin. Down in verse 10 he says you're being saved from the power of sin. Saved by his resurrected life. Christ is in you. He said I am the resurrection and the life. We are resurrected ones. And that's why we can have the victory over the power of sin. We don't have to sin. We choose to sin as Christians. And then down in verse 11 he goes a step further. And not only so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I think that's present and that's sure going to be a picture of the future. We're saved from the past and from the present and from the very future. In the presence of God there's joy forevermore. There's rejoicing in the presence of God. Now we're getting down to verse 20 and 21. And I think here's where we'll start making our comparison and really getting into our subject. Verse 20. More were the law entered that the offense might abound but where sin abounded grace did much more abound. He said man there may be just gobs of sin everywhere but he says grace is so much better. In the Greek this word abound has to do with sin. But the word for this grace abounding is abounding and abounding and super abounding and more. And then we're going to see why people might have a problem here. They say well I need to sin more then I'll get more grace. And Paul's going to say God forbid. Never let that happen. And then down in 21 he said as sin has reigned unto death. Boy it was king. It reigned unto death. He says grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. He says when you were the natural man sin reigned in your members. But now since you're saved grace ought to abound and super abound and much more through your life. Grace is just God's riches at Christ's expense. That's the resurrected Christ in your life really working. That's grace. And then we see that the person runs into a little problem. Down here in 6 and 7. Two important questions asked and answered. In Romans 6, 1 and verse 15. He has two questions. Verse 6, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Now I think this is either lost person talking or an uninstructed Christian talking. You know would a Christian really say well man I'm saved now I'm going to live in the hogwall of sin? Would that be a conversation of a Christian? One who has the inward Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit in his life. Should I move that down one? Okay. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Now what he's really saying here asking this question. He says now since we are saved. Since we are born again. Should we continually and habitually start keep drawing out of the old sin nature? Should we keep drawing out of the flesh? And look at his answer down in verse 2. God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? He said man that's an asinine question. That first one. He says either the Christian is uninstructed on the gospel. Or either he says that he's a natural man. And the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. So he says boy the answer to that question. Shall we continually draw out of the flesh? Out of the old nature. Out of the sin principle. All that we were in Adam. Shall we continue to draw out of the old man? He says God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? That's like you know God dealt with the thing sin on the cross through his son the Lord Jesus Christ. He dealt with the thing sin. He condemned sin in the flesh on the cross. And he says now if you've been released from the bondage and the slavery of sin. Why are you going to keep living in sin? That's his thought here. If I died in Long Beach. Why am I living here in Anaheim? That's what he's saying now. You're dead to sin. Now that doesn't mean sin is dead. But you're dead to sin. You don't have to sin anymore. You've been emancipated. You've been separated from that dominion of sin. So you don't have to sin. We choose to sin. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer in it? And then he goes into the solution now. He goes into the solution. Something that we really have to know. Down in verse 3 he says know ye not. And when Paul uses this know you not. He always concludes that we don't know. When he asks this question. He says know you not. As many as were baptized into Jesus Christ. Were baptized into his death. He said don't you know. That if. That you've been baptized into Jesus. By his death. That wherever Jesus went you went. That if he died you died. If he were buried you were buried. If he arose you arose. If he's on the right hand of the Father. You're on the right hand of the Father. And here's the right translation. Know you not. That as many as us were placed into Jesus Christ. Were placed into his death. All that we were in Adam. Was buried. Not only were we crucified with Christ. But we buried with Christ. We've been placed into his death. Now verse 4. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. That as Christ was raised up from the dead. By the glory of the Father. Even we should also walk in newness of life. He said if you're crucified with Christ. You've been buried with Christ. He says also you've been raised with Christ. Three good thoughts. You died with him. You were buried with him. And you resurrected. You are resurrected one in him. So you're to walk in newness of life. Now here I think people run into a problem. They say well boy I serve Satan with all my strength. And all my effort. And man I was 100% for Satan. Now I'm going to be 100% for God. But you won't be unless you know the gospel in the full. That he died for you. And then he also died for what you are now. For what you did is that saves you from the penalty. But knowing that he died for what you are. Is going to save you from the power of sin. You know we think once that we just received Jesus in the heart. We got it made. Have you experienced that? You've got it made just when you received him into your heart. You've got to know the gospel. Both sides of the gospel. Not only that he died for you. But he died for what you are. That's my problem and that's your problem. Is what you really are. Not what you've done. But what you are. And walk in newness of life. That's in the very resurrected life of Jesus. Galatians 2.20 Paul said I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live yet not I. But Christ liveth in me. It's not the old man. It's the new man. It's the resurrected man. That's now living. Philippians 1.21 For me to live is who? Is Christ. For me to live is Christ. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. That the excellent might be of God. And not of us. That's clear in the scripture. Walking in newness of life means. That his very life is flowing through you. The resurrected life of Christ is being seen. The resurrected life of Christ is bearing fruit. That's newness of life. It's his life being lived out of you. Alright. Down in verse 5. He said for if we've been planted together in the likeness of his death. We shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Now that word planted goes a little further. That means you'll be enlifted in Christ. You've been grafted into Christ. Boy, there's union. There's identification with Jesus Christ. You died with him. You were buried with him. And you are alive in Jesus Christ. You engrafted and enlifted in the person the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright. And then down in verse 6 here. The first no there says well. I believe you're kind of ignorant of these facts. And then down in verse 6 he says. Now you're getting to know these facts. Enlifted in the person the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright. And then down in verse 6 here. The first no there says well. I believe you're kind of ignorant of these facts. And then down in verse 6 he says. Now you're getting to know these facts. In verse 6. Knowing this. That our old man is crucified with him. That the body of sin might be destroyed or put out of business. That henceforth we should not serve sin. Alright. Now he's bringing up three facts here. He says do you know you were crucified with him. You were buried with him. That you're alive in him. Knowing this. That we should not be a slave or sin. Sin should not dominate our lives. Sin should not ruin our lives. We've been emancipated from it. We've been released from sin. We've been separated from it. Now you can go back and live that type of life. But God dealt with sin at the cross through his Son. The Lord Jesus Christ. So you've got to know some facts. Now look at verse 7. For he that is dead. And the thought is has died with Christ. Is freed from sin. You are justified from sin. You've been released from the power and the dominion and the reign of sin itself. You're not a slave to sin any longer. You have the right now to live for God. And then down in verse 9. He says knowing and progressively. This word knowing means progressively. More and more. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more. Death has no more rulership or dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once. But that in he liveth, he liveth unto God. He said do you know this? That sin doesn't have any more power over Jesus. He says now you know he's just serving God. And he's going to turn around and say don't you know that you're in Christ? And that you were buried with Christ? And that you were resurrected one in Jesus Christ? So he's given us some solutions here. Now look down in verse 11. After he gives us all the facts. You have to know this. That you died with him. You were buried with him. That you're alive in Jesus Christ. And your relationship to sin is exactly what his was. And your relationship to God is the same as Jesus's is. Down in verse 11. He says likewise because of these facts. Reckon or count ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. But alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He says now these are facts. That you died with him. You were buried with him. And that you're alive with him. And that your relationship to sin is broken so that you might serve God. And he says alright now I want you to count this soul. He says I want you to count it soul. Now that's just faith. That's faith in something that's already happened. You know if I were to hold this up here and I said hey you know these are keys. You say yeah I can see those are keys. But if I say well now this is a banana hanging up here. I might not ever prove to you that that's a banana. He says just believe the facts. I say those keys. You look at those. You say well they are keys. I never would persuade you that that's bananas. Because it's keys. He said now the same thought that Jesus died. That he was buried. And he rose again. You died with him. You were buried with him. You're alive in him. That's the facts. You don't have to say well man I've got to believe it. He says it. All's left for you to do is to reckon on it. To count it soul. If you want sin to be dealt with in your life. You've got to count what God says as soul. Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. It doesn't have the reign and power over you. But alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now up to this point I don't see that any demands have really been made. We've been laying the foundation. Now he starts to say something to you in verse 12. He says let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. That you should obey it in its lust. Now he says don't sin. He says stop sinning. Weiss translation says stop sinning. You say well I like to steal. He said quit stealing. Stop stealing. Whatever you're doing. Stop lying. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. That word let means don't give it permission to work in you. Here you have a tongue you're going to criticize or you're going to bless a fellow. You can criticize him with it. You can bless him with it. He said don't hand over your tongue to Satan and let him do that. To tell that lie. Or hand your hand over to sin that you might steal. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies. This one we have. That you should obey it in its lust. The old sin principle is sending up this evil all the time and asking you to do it. And he has to have your mouth or your eyes or your ears or your feet or your hand to carry it out. Or maybe your mind. Just thoughts. He said don't let him have any of your members. Don't let him have your members in for sin. And then down in 13 he says let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies. That you should obey it in its lust. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. But yield yourself unto God as those that are alive from the dead. And your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. The first word we picked up was no wasn't it? The second word we picked up was what? Let not sin reign in your body. Then he says here I don't want you to yield to sin. So you know something. You reckon something. And the third is don't yield. Don't yield. But hand over your members to God. Don't hand over your members to sin. Neither yield ye your members as instruments. And that means as weapons of war. As instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. But yield yourself unto God as those that are alive from the dead. And your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. He says you can only do that recognizing that you are resurrected one. You can do that being resurrected. You have the power to do that being a resurrected one. Another question then that he's going to ask here a little later is in this second one. Down in verse 15. What then shall we sin because we're not under law but under grace? You know the first one said are we to live just like we lived before we came to Christ? And Paul said God forbid. How could you live in sin when you've been released from sin? You've been emancipated from sin. Don't draw out of the old sin principle. Don't draw out of the flesh anymore. Draw out of God. And this second thought here. What then shall we sin because we're not under law but under grace? God forbid. Now the second thought is not habitual continually drawing out of the old nature. But this thought has well every Tuesday at 9 o'clock I'm going to lose my temper. Every Thursday I'm going to steal. Or every Saturday I'm going to do something. This means that you're going to plan to sin once in a while. And that's not a foolish question. Because a person will come to me and say how good are you supposed to be? I mean can't you sin a little bit? I mean just on Thursday or Friday or Saturday? Maybe Sunday after you've already gone to two services? He says God forbid. You don't habitually practice sin and you don't plan to sin once in a while. Now we're going to fall and we're going to use 1 John 1 9 and we're going to get up and then we're going to start moving again. But he said you don't even plan to sin once in a while. What then shall we sin because we're not under law but under grace? God forbid. Now look at verse 16. It's a warning. Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, His servants you are to whom you obey, whether sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness. 16 says you look where you are living out of which person you are drawing continually and you'll find out who your master is. Who are you serving? That's verse 16. He says you can find out who your master is by just looking who you're serving. Is it God or is it Satan? Who are you obeying? And then verse 17. He says but God be thanked that where as you were the servants of sin, you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Now that 17th verse, it covers two aspects. That you know that when you embrace the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, you were saved from the penalty of sin, from the guilt of sin. There's no doubt probably in most of your minds you've been saved from the guilt and the penalty of sin. But the second thought in there is the doctrine, do you know you died with Him, that you were buried with Him, that you arose with Him? Have you embraced that, the identification truth? Someone told me 15 years ago, never see yourself separated from Jesus. Never see yourself separated from Christ. So Christ dying on the cross saved us from all that we've done. But when we identify with His death, burial, and resurrection, and we're in union with His death, burial, and resurrection, He saves us from the power of sin. And when He comes back and splits the skies, He's going to save us from the very presence of sin. Boy, the grace and the gospel and the righteousness of God does, it really gives a death blow to sin. It won't give it any quarters. Verse 18, being then made free from sin, you're not under the domination of sin or the reign of sin, you became the servants of righteousness. Is that true in your life? You've been emancipated from the slavery of sin. Now are you serving God? In verse 18. Then in 19, He makes it practical. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity or weakness or frailty of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members, servants, to uncleanness, unto iniquity, unto iniquity, even now yield yourselves, servants, to righteousness, unto holiness. He said, boy, as you served old Satan, now knowing these truths, these doctrines, He says, serve God. Bear fruit unto God. Not the works of the flesh, but the fruit unto God. Verse 20, for when we were servants of sin, see that's in the past. When you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. In other words, you weren't doing any good. You weren't producing anything. It was like rotten fruit. For when you were the servant of sin, you were free from righteousness. No righteousness coming out of you. Verse 21, what fruit had you then in these things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of these things is death. But now being made free from sin, emancipated from sin, released from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruits unto holiness and the end everlasting life. All right, there's four words that I'd like to go over for just a moment in this chapter. We call Romans 6 the mechanics. Romans 6 is the mechanics of the Christian life. You've got to know, number one, you've got to know that you died with Him, you were buried with Him, that you're alive with Christ. You've got to know that. That's facts. Number two, he says, count it so. Count it so. Reckon it so. It is so, so believe it. Number three, quit yielding your members to sin and yield your members to God. And number four, he says, obey your master. Obey your new master. All right, then we'll go down to the seventh. Our next point, let's see, down in verse 9, the sure way to defeat, Romans 7, is a sure way to defeat. And I think a lot of Christians live here. They're trying to serve God with their flesh. Or they do the best they can. Or they just try to do it through discipline. But they're not counting on that God is the author of all blessings, that Jesus is the basis of all blessings, that the Holy Spirit is the producer of all blessings, so they only have to do is to cooperate. That's God's formula for victory. God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and your cooperation. And he says in 7, 1 through 4, he says, don't you know that death breaks a relationship? He's talking about marriage. And he says in here, you know, when one of the partners dies, the other one is free to remarry. Death breaks a relationship. When did I die? Galatians 2.20. When I received Jesus, I died on that cross with Christ. I died with Jesus Christ. I'm dead, see, to the world, to sin and the domination of sin. The world, the flesh, and the devil. I've been emancipated. So he said, don't you know that death breaks a relationship? But yet we don't really count on that. Look down in verse 6. I see a lot of Christians who embrace the gospel through grace, and they go scooting under the law. They say, give me something to do, and I will do it. And they think that's going to get marriage with God. Boy, it's the death, burial, and resurrection, it's the identification truths that's going to release you. Don't go running under the law. I've never been under the law as a Gentile. I was an outlaw. I've never been under the law. The Jew broke the law. I've never been under it. I'm a plain outlaw, and then I was in-lawed to Jesus Christ. That's a different law altogether. I'm under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. I've never been under the law, and I'm not going to start running under it now. Because what, can the law give life? Can the law give righteousness? No. He says in Romans 3.20, all it can do is to show you all the sin. It can't make you any better. But it can make you a lot worse. And then as we look down then in verse 6, he says, but now we are delivered... Now, Paul is speaking as a Jew here. But now we are delivered from the law, emancipated from the law, the Jews have been emancipated from the law, that being dead in wherein they were held, that we should serve in unison spirit and not in the onus of the letter. Boy, he said the Jew, what was he under? He was in Adam lost, and he was lost because of the law. And you and I are just lost because we are in Adam. And he says they are dead to the law, they've been discharged from the law. Boy, how can you get it much better than that? You're dead from it, and you're discharged from it, so why should you go back under it? Let's look at Romans 10 verse 4. Romans 10 verse 4. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe him. Boy, a Christian has no place whatsoever under the law. He wasn't under it from the beginning, and he's not to go running back under it now. All he has to do is to embrace the gospel, identify himself with the gospel, and with God, with Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit. All right, we'll go back to Romans 7 for just a moment. Now, I'll show you the kind of experience you're going to have if you're not really relying on the identification truths and realizing that the Spirit of God is the one in there that's going to make you Christlike. He's going to keep sin down, and he's going to live out the life of Christ. Let me show you what a struggle you're going to go through if you've got to go back under rules and regulations and a lot of externals. Down in verse 15, and I'm sure that Paul was out there in the desert for about three years, and that he really got to getting a picture of himself, and he said, I'm going to do all in my power to serve God. Let's see how he came out. Boy, you've got to make a discovery. You've got to make a discovery. You've got to know that you've got a sin principle in you. You've got to know you've got two natures. You've got the old nature that you had when you were a natural man, but now you have a new nature. You have Christ indwelling you by the Holy Spirit. But he said, boy, you've got an enemy inside, and you've got to make a discovery. Now, then it is no more I that do it. He was trying with all his power to do good and not to do evil. And then he said, man, I discovered the problem. But sin that dwelleth in me. Indwelling sin is going to defeat you. And you're not going to get rid of that cesspool until you are caught up to be with the Lord, or you die and then you're caught up to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. That old nature is going to be there. Some people say you don't have one. You don't have an old nature. Just imagine you don't even have one. Well, that's like telling the guy that's going through the jungles and all kinds of snakes, just imagine there's no boar constrictors, there's no poisonous snakes out there. You just say there's none there, and you go walking through. And whoop-oh, they got you. See? You better know you've got a sin nature, and that you've got a cesspool here if you're going to win. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, in my old nature, this old sin principle, dwelleth no good thing. To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. He said, I made a discovery. I still got that old nature. I still have that old sin principle. And then, in my old flesh, he says, I just can't hack it. You're going to have to relate yourself to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Like Mary said, whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it. There in Luke, the first chapter, in the 38th verse. Be it unto me according to thy word. Then in verse 19, he says, I don't know the solution. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Is he in a rut? Verse 19, same problem. Maybe he's a little older. Maybe he's 50 now, about my age. Verse 20, now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Man, twice he's got it. He's latched on. You've got to know what the problem is if you're going to deal with it. He said it's sin, S-I-N. Not sins which comes out of sin, but the sin principle, the very sewer, the factory itself of evil. And then 21, he said, I find in a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. He said, now this word law means that it happens the same way every day. Every day, Monday through Sunday, it's the same principle every day. He said, I define a law that is in me that when I would do good, evil is always present. That when I would do good, evil is present with me. Now look at verse 22. For I delight or rejoice in the law of God after the inward man. He said, I know I want to do right. I know I want to do right. I want to do what God wants me to do. And you see, that's the law of the mind. That comes out of your new nature. The new nature wants to do what's right. The old sin principle, the old nature, wants to do what's wrong. But he said, I know I delight to do the will of God. I'd say most people in here says, I want to be used of God. I want to please God. I want to bear fruit for God. I think that reaches down where we are. Verse 23, But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Boy, he says, this new law of the mind, he said, I want to do right. I want to hate evil. I don't want to do evil. But I end up doing evil. And then he said, But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Boy, they are going to battle each other to the end of you. They are going to battle each other until you are out of the way. They are opposed to one another. They stand for different things. They are in a combat to death, these two. The old nature and the new nature in you. And then let's see what Paul says. Trying just to do the will of God, not relating to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Verse 24, he said, O wretched man that I am. Boy, that's bad shape, isn't it? Have you ever come there? O wretched man that I am. I'm rotten through and through. Have you ever been there? I've been there a few times. O wretched man that I am. Not what I've done. What I am is what gives me problems. That's what's going to give you problems. O wretched man that I am. Who, not what. You know, we have to give a guy seven things to do. But he says here, Who shall deliver me or release me from the body of this death? And the thought in this is that when a man in Paul's day, if you kill someone, they would put that dead body on you until you rotted with him. That's how you died. With a dead body strapped to you. That's the old sin principle. Boy, you can't trust that. O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? You know, we got a dead body. Your spirit is saved. Your soul is saved. But your body is lost. And it won't be redeemed until Christ comes back and gets it out of the grave. So here, you've got an old dead body. And who you keep handing over your members to is what's going to come out. Are you handing it over to God? Or are you handing it over to sin? And you know what that word wretched means? O wretched man that I am. This means that you've tried so hard to be good and not to do evil that finally you just collapse and you fall into concrete. You stick your tongue out as far as it can go and you've had it. Have you ever been there? I've had it. Have you ever been there? O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now would you like some solutions? Look at verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord so when the mind I myself serve the law of God but with the flesh the law of sin. He said, boy, I'm going to accept. I've got two natures. And then he said he started looking outside of himself to God and to Christ and to the Holy Spirit. Let's look here. I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord. He's the author of all blessings. That's the last point there. He's the author of all blessings. Jesus Christ is the basis of all blessings and then the Spirit is the producer of all the blessings. The Holy Spirit. You've got to rightly relate yourself to the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And they use the Word of God. They never go contrary to the Word of God. Alright? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God and with the flesh the law of sin. Now let's go to verses 1-4 in chapter 8. There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. Well, we've been saved from the guilt of sin and from the penalty of sin. There's no wrath, no judgment, no condemnation, no hell. Nothing's going to be held against us. We have the very righteousness of God placed to our account. He thinks as much of me as He does of Jesus. He sees me in Jesus. I'm in Jesus, Jesus is in me, and I'm one with Jesus. So when He deals with me, boy, He's dealing with Christ as well here. Alright? Look at verse 2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. How are you released from the law of sin and death? He said it's a new principle altogether. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. He said it's a new principle. It's going to take the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit puts sin out of your life, and He's the one that can keep it out. And He's the one that can help you slay it and to kill it. Let's look at 8.13. Why we have so much problem, I think, with sin is we toy with it. We really don't deal with it. We don't ax it right between the eyes. We tolerate it. We don't deal with it rashly. In 13, He said, For if you live after the flesh, if you continually go the way of the flesh, the old nature, you shall die. But if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. He said it's going to take the Holy Spirit to help you chop sin and to keep sin out of your life. Let's look to Colossians for just a moment. In that book, He's practical. And He'll name some things that we're to deal with. See, you have put off sin and you have put on Christ. That's something that's done in the past. When you receive Christ, you put off sin and you put on Jesus. Now He says work it out. You know, like in Philippians 2.12, He says work out your own salvation with fear and tremor. He doesn't say go out and get yourself saved there. But He says let the Christ out of you that's already in you. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Okay, let's look at the 3rd chapter of Colossians. The 5th verse. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inorder and affection, evil desires and covetousness, which is idolatry. For which sake the wrath of God comes on the son of disobedience, into which you also once walked when you lived in them. But now you also put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communications out of your life. Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man that is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. He says then you have put off sin. You have put on Christ. Now he says through God and through the basis of Christ and the Spirit of God, you can be a winner. You can be victorious. Let's look at 2 Corinthians 2.14. Now thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph in Christ and make it manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place. You have the victory over sin. Believe it. You died with Him. You were buried with Him. You are alive in Him. Now rely on God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Luke 1.38. You say, well, where does the Bible come in on this thing? I've been reading it up here for about an hour. Luke 1.38. And Mary said, Behold the handmaiden of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. I found the real key to being transformed into the image of Christ from day to day. 2 Corinthians 3.18. 2 Corinthians 3.18. And what we've been seeing here, we see in one verse. But we all with unveiled face, we can look straight into the face of Jesus, beholding as in a mirror the beauty, the glory, the manifestations of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even by the Spirit of the Lord.