Mike Bickle emphasizes the transformative power of grace as outlined in Romans 5:20-21, urging believers to understand and access the wealth of righteousness they have received through Christ. He explains that many Christians live in spiritual poverty despite having a rich inheritance in Christ, and he encourages them to engage with the truths of Romans 3-8 to experience true transformation. Bickle highlights the importance of a heart connection with Jesus, which enables believers to reign in life and overcome sin and trials. He stresses that understanding one's identity as the righteousness of God is crucial for living victoriously and confidently before God.

Turn to Romans chapter five. Father, we thank you for the grace of God, and we ask you to release your blessing on the speaking and the hearing of your word, even now, Lord. We ask for living understanding, for the spirit of grace to touch us, even as we hear about the grace of God. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, I'm gonna continue where I left off last week on the subject of the grace of God from Romans chapter five. So for those that are new with us, I'll give a little bit of review, and just the recognition of the fact that you can't repeat these foundational themes too often, because it's more than head knowledge, it's when it comes alive in us, and it becomes living understanding. That's when it becomes effective. So we hear it over and over and over, and there's a time where it ignites, it comes alive in our heart, living understanding, or you could use the word, it becomes revelation to us, and that's when the blessings are activated in our life. Now, this subject is, I'm gonna call it the reign of grace. That's a phrase from Romans 521, walking in victory or living under the reign of grace. It's one of Paul's principal concepts in the book of Romans. Now, Romans chapter three to eight, I'm just gonna identify this for those that are new with their Bibles. Romans three to eight is the classic place in the scripture where Paul the apostle systematically outlines what our privileges are in Christ and who we are in Christ. Romans chapter three to eight. It's like line by line, concept by concept, he tells us who we are in Christ, what we received in Christ the day we were born again, what our rights are, what our privileges are. He describes how the power of God functions in us or is available to function in us from the day that we met the Lord. So Romans three to eight's a really important passage in the Bible. Though many believers never really get into that passage or if they do, they kind of skim the surface of it. They don't kind of plumb to any of the depths of it. And that has a significant negative consequences because that's where Paul lays out the principles that are true about, that relate to our transformation, the way that our lives are changed and transformed. So I wanna advertise, so to speak, Romans chapter three to eight to you. I want you to identify those chapters and say to yourself and before the Lord, hey, I wanna more than skim the surface, I wanna understand these concepts. Now these next couple of weeks and months, we're gonna be working our way through some of the key concepts of Romans three to eight, just the time to restrengthen foundations in the grace of God. We won't look at it verse by verse per se, but kind of we'll look at a key themes of which some of those themes are repeated a number of times in Romans three to eight. Now I remember the first time I heard somebody say this, Romans three to eight, it will change your life if you get ahold of it. They said it's stronger. If you don't get ahold of it, you will never be changed. That was kind of alluring. I remember it vividly. And I'm saying this kind of as a qualifier with a little bit of a warning to it so that as I say that to you, that you approach it in the right way. So I heard this guy say this, I was only 18 years old, long time ago. I was really on fire for the Lord when I was 18 years old and didn't know much about the Bible at all. But I really loved Jesus. And this guy said, you'll never have your life transformed if you don't understand these principles. So I said, wow. So I was sitting in there, you know, in the congregation and I decided on the spot, Romans three to eight is officially as of today, my favorite passage in the Bible. Of course, I'd never read it, but I declared it, I made a resolve. It is my favorite passage. It's gotta be if it's the one that changes you because the Lord knows I need to be changed. So I went home from that meeting, all excited. Wow, because I didn't know anything about the Bible. And I read Romans three to eight and I was utterly discouraged. And that's why I'm saying this to you because the guy didn't tell me to be patient and to take some time. And there were some challenging concepts in there that took a little explanation. He didn't say that. He just said, it's the key passage in the Bible, these five chapters that will transform your life. And so I jumped in with excitement and I read it. I mean this, I'm not exaggerating. I was utterly depressed. I didn't understand one thought. I think the word God loves you, I saw there once or twice, that was about it. And I remember I closed the Bible. I was very discouraged because this guy said, this is the key. And I said, if this is the key, I don't have a chance because I don't understand anything that I just read. Of course, in those days, I didn't understand almost anything in the Bible. I really loved Jesus, but I did not like prayer, fasting or Bible study. I mean that, I really loved Jesus. I was really on fire. I didn't like prayer. I did not like fasting and I did not like Bible study. And I told the Lord, I said, apart from those three things, I can do everything else. And it took, you know, over time, I began to enjoy each, I don't know if I've ever enjoyed fasting, but I began to enjoy prayer and the word. And so as I say this bold statement, Romans three to eight, is this important to you? These five chapters, I wanna put that qualifier. I wish that guy would have told me that day. It kind of, I went into despair. I mean, it was not funny. It sounds kind of cute now, but it was really, I said, if this is that important and I couldn't understand one phrase in the whole five chapters, I don't have a chance. Well, throughout these next few months, we're gonna be kind of going through these chapters, giving key concepts. We'll be doing a lot of repetition because I wanna like kind of remind you what I said the week before and bring you back to those passages and then take you on to some new ideas. Well, last week we started with Romans chapter five. We think it started Romans three, you know, Romans three to eight. You think it started Romans three, well, we didn't. We started in Romans five, kind of the key core concept. And the idea is if we understand these concepts and not just understand them, if we would apply them, if we would engage our heart with God according to these truths, I wanna assure you, your emotions will be transformed. They will be changed over time. I'm not saying instantaneously, but I'm saying little by little, if you will engage in the truths in these five chapters of the book of Romans, over time, your desires and your emotions, which are nearly the same, will be transformed little by little. I'm not promising instantaneous. Though that will happen to some, there'll be a big breakthroughs, but I'm saying over time, you will feel different and you will stand before sin and before trials with a different feeling. And that's called transformation. And that's what we desperately want. It is possible to have these truths, these privileges available to us in Christ, and yet never access them. It's possible for someone to put millions of dollars into your banking account and you never to write a check. I mean, it's ridiculous, but it is technically possible. And the day we were born again, it's like the Lord gave us great wealth into our spiritual bank account. Great wealth, the day we were born again. He put tremendous wealth, but we have to write checks. We have to draw on the account in order to enjoy the benefits of that wealth in our everyday life. And what happens is that we've been, we've received tremendous wealth that is described in Romans 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. That wealth is described systematically, very clearly. Yes, in theological terms, but we're gonna break those terms down so they can make sense. They seem easy, because they are easy, actually. You get a couple of the terms clear, you can understand all five of those chapters. Those five chapters describe the wealth that God put into our spiritual bank account. But having the money in the account is not the same thing as writing a check, drawing on the account, and that wealth actually translating into benefits in your everyday life. I've been pastoring over 30 years. And one thing that I have seen that pains my heart is that many believers have received so much wealth the day they were born again, although they did not know the wealth they received, but they lived decades, decades in poverty while having a full bank account. And they even heard about their bank account, but they've relegated it to, well, that's idealism, that's not really realistic. I know in theory, I received a new power the day I met Christ, but not actually. I mean, come on, let's be real. And they did not know how to consistently draw on the account, write the check, so to speak. And so though they received a new position before God, new power before God, and new rights and new privileges, they almost never drew on them or they never engaged in the biblical process to where those benefits actually change their emotions, as well as some of the other events that are happening in their life. Matter of fact, I would say after 30 years of pastoring that, oh, incidentally, for fun, today is my, the first Sunday that I pastored was June 6th. So it's 1976, however many years that is. Today's my little birthday for that or something. So it just came to mind. I was just telling somebody out there, an old friend, Chuck Schmidt, I just saw him there. And I said, hey, back, he's talking about back in my old church. I said, yeah, back on June 6th. Hey, that's today. Anyway, that was just a little, I didn't want to clap. I was just, I was saying that for me, for me to enjoy. Oh, that's cool, Lord. Okay. But one thing I've seen in this 30 plus years of pastoring is that it is very common for people to receive this new wealth, this new position and never draw on it. I mean, fervent believers, they love Jesus. They love him, but loving Jesus is not the same thing as accessing your spiritual bank account. You can love Jesus and still live like the homeless beggar under the bridge. You can live in poverty, though you receive great wealth. And so that's what I'm wanting to do systematically in these next few months is go through some of these key concepts, Romans three to eight, but I want you to read it ahead of time. But read it with the qualifier that if you don't get any of it, say, well, at least I'm like Mike, you know, he didn't get any of it. But don't be discouraged like I was, because I've told you ahead of time that some of it might be challenging to your thinking. But at the same time, the spirit of God, you know, I can just imagine the spirit of God whispering, hey, don't tell them to, they're not gonna understand nothing. I'm gonna visit them. I'm gonna give them more than I gave you back then. So there you have it. Romans chapter five, this is where we were looking at this last week. Paul makes a very dramatic statement, a very important statement as well as dramatic one. Verse 17, those who receive the gift of righteousness, they will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. Verse 18, through this one man's act, the free gift came to all men. There are so many implications in this one statement that we looked at last week, but I'll just kind of review a few of them. Verse 17, those who receive the gift of righteousness. Now the gift of righteousness is the core truth surrounding our new position in Christ. In other words, it's the position we have, our position before God that we get the day we're born again. We get it because we receive the gift of righteousness. We receive the gift of righteousness instantaneously as a total free gift the day we're born again. Now it's a free gift. Paul goes on to say in verse 18, it's a free gift. It's a gift you receive instantly. And it's Jesus's righteousness, the righteousness that he has, perfect righteousness. He, God gives it to us as a gift. He clothes us with it. And the Bible talks about being clothed in the garments of righteousness. The day that you and I were born again, God the Father took the righteousness of Jesus and put it around us like a garment, like a coat. And every time the Father looks at us, he sees us through that righteousness. And because we receive that righteousness instantaneously, it put us in a new position before God, a position of privilege, a position of authority, a position of power. It's a position of privilege, authority, power. We receive new privileges by virtue of being in a new position. But again, it's like somebody put a lot in your bank account if you don't draw on it, if you don't write checks on it, the wealth that you have in that account will not benefit your everyday life. So we receive the gift of righteousness. Now, most believers so far, they say, okay, I've heard that before. Yeah, that makes sense. I understand that. But you can understand it, but it not really get a hold of you by revelation. Because it's not just we receive the gift of righteousness, therefore, we are now forgiven. It's more than that. This changes the way God sees us, the way God relates to us. It gives us tremendous new possibilities in God in our relating back to Him. But it has to be more than just Bible information, head knowledge. When the revelation of how God views us because of the gift of righteousness, when that hits us, and it doesn't hit us once, that revelation, we get a little bit and that revelation grows over decades. And the more that we get really deeply impacted by that revelation, it changes our identity, the way that we see ourself before God. The way we stand before God, we have confidence. We have a new sense of boldness. We have a new sense of authority before Him because we know we are the righteousness of God. It's not just that we're wrapped in the garments of righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5, 21, we looked at last week and I have it on the notes here as well. It says that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. It's more than we're forgiven. He puts a new nature in us. He gives us a new position before Him. He gives us a new access to His heart. When that begins to dominate our identity, the way we see ourself, the way we think about ourself, we approach God very differently. We don't approach God as homeless beggars pleading for a little help. We approach God as sons and daughters of the king, as royalty that we belong in the family. We are comfortable in the palace. We belong in the palace. We have the right to have access. The king's treasury, it's ours because we're in the king's family. It changes the way we think of problems. It changes the way we process our failure. It changes the way we respond when the also familiar impressions of sin hit us, when the impressions and promptings of sin hit us. In the old days, we just yield to them. But now we say, wait, wait a second, wait, wait. Those impressions still touch us. They still draw us after sin. But when those impressions and those promptings, which are the same thing, when they touch us, we go, wait, wait a second. We're not defenseless. We can answer back in a different way than we used to. And we do answer back differently once this new identity in the righteousness of God begins to touch us by revelation. We're not just yielding to the enemy when he comes and attacks us or yielding to sin because the familiar promptings of sin touch us. We go, wait, wait, I've got an answer now. I didn't used to have an answer. I'm not defenseless before this mighty force. There is another force, the Holy Spirit. Yea, more than a force, a person lives in me. I have access to the throne of God. But again, though this is true of every believer the day they're born again, most believers do not access this reality. They don't write checks on that new spiritual bank account. So they live in poverty. So when the promptings of sin with anger, bitterness, jealousy, covetousness, all various manners of lust touch them, they're just so used to giving in and going, oh, here we go again. And the Holy Spirit would whisper to us. He goes, you can answer in a different way. And it's not that the impressions will all go away instantaneously. But over weeks and months, our emotions, and years, our emotions actually change. And God begins, we begin to see there's a new response on the inside. That we can challenge these promptings. We can challenge these old familiar lusts that rise up in our members, in our being. We do have an answer. Again, they don't go away instantly. And those temptations will touch us all of our life. But having temptations with an answer, with a new mindset is very different than having these same temptations with no answer. We just yield to them like we did in the old days. And that's what many believers do. Let's read verse 17 again. To those who receive the gift of righteousness. Again, it's a free gift. It's a legal position. It's the righteousness of Jesus. It happened instantaneously. Whether you feel it or not, it was yours the day you were born again. Now what the enemy wants us to do, he wants us to relate to God based on how we feel or what our performance has been the last few weeks or months. Meaning we receive the gift of righteousness. We don't feel like we have. Or we look at the last few weeks and go, oh, I've had such a hard time. My follow through on my obedience has not been very good. And so what happens is that the enemy gets us to relate to God based on our feelings or our performance. So we draw back and we draw back from God. And we draw back in guilt and condemnation. But what Paul's saying is no. When you stand before God, stand before God based on the truth of the word. The word of God says you have received the gift of righteousness. I don't feel like I have. And certainly the last few weeks proves it doesn't look like there's much righteousness. And the spirit would say to us, take your stand on this new position you have before me. I have given you my son's righteousness. The father could say, I've given you my son's righteousness. You have access to my heart, access to my power. Don't back up. Because if you back away and yield to condemnation, then you've lost your position of power. You've lost your position of advantage in the war. And that's what the enemy wants. He gets us into guilt or even a defeatist mentality. I always yield to that lust when it touches me. When they desire to do this or to do that or respond in anger, fear, jealousy, bitterness, rejection, insecurities, covetousness, pornography, immorality, drunkenness, whenever those things rise up in me, what the Lord wants, the Lord wants his people to say this. When it rises up in me, we say back to the Lord, but yes, but I have a new position before God. I have a new power in me. I don't have to yield in a defeatist mentality just to yield to those impressions and those promptings. I'm getting a little ahead of myself. That's what we're gonna break down a little bit later, a little bit today for a minute, and then more in the weeks to come, how we actually respond. But what I'm interested in now is laying the foundation so that we have clarity about the bank account we've received, this new position before God, this new wealth we gained instantaneously. Because once we get clear about the new wealth, then we can learn how to write checks on it and to draw it. And so we just don't yield in a defeatist mentality every time a prompting or impression of sin rises up in our members. Well, Paul said, those who receive the gift of righteousness, they will reign in life. What a phrase, will reign in life. Now that's a statement of fact. And reigning in life means victory. That means victory before temptation and victory before trials. That doesn't mean all the trials will go away. I mean, some of them by the power of God will be changed and other trials, they won't necessarily all go away, but our response in the trials, we can have a supernatural help in our response. So when trials come against us and we just want to just yield in discouragement and just give up and give in, or the promptings of sin rise up in our members, we just want to give up and give in. Our confession, our statement to God, that's what the Bible calls it, our confession. It's what we say to God. It's the way we carry our heart with God. That's what our confession is. And all of us carry our heart with God in a specific way. You may not even know how to define. You say, I don't know. I don't really quite know how I carry my heart with God. I'll tell you, the way that you carry your heart with God is what you say before God when you're under temptation or trials. If when you're under temptation or trials, your basic answer is, I quit, I give in, I can't take it, I quit, I give in, I can't take it, or some version of that. That is your confession before God. It's the way you carry your heart before God, even if you're not talking to Him. You're not probably talking to your best friend on the phone or something, but you're saying it before the Lord. And what we need to do is we need to take our confession, the way we carry our heart before God, and make sure it's based on the Bible and it's not based on our emotions. We have to move from an emotional confession, and I mean that in the negative sense, meaning our emotions that are stressed out. I mean, because emotions aren't bad, but I'm talking about a negative emotional confession. I'm overwhelmed, I wanna quit, I'm gonna sin anyway, I'm just gonna give in, I always yield to this. And the Lord is saying to us in the Word, don't make your confession what your negative emotional experience is. Make your confession be based on the Word of God. And here's what the Word of God says right here. It's a great phrase to use. I've used this phrase through the years. I just been saying it, just really loving this feeling, saying before God, I will reign in life. And reign means victory. Reign means triumphing over the opposing powers. That's really the essence of what reigning means. And we will confess it, and as we confess it, we take our stand before the Father. This is what your Word says. This is what is true about me from your point of view. My emotions say opposite. Even my friends might say opposite. It doesn't matter, this is what you say. That I can reign in life because I have received the gift of righteousness. If you're born again, you've received the gift of righteousness. And if you have, you will reign in life. Not just in the resurrection, in this life. We can have victory, we can feel different before trials and temptation and before fears. We can feel differently. Paul goes on to say, I will reign in life through the one Christ Jesus. The phrase through Jesus, which is used repeatedly through Romans. Through Jesus. Through Jesus talks about through a heart connection as well as the legal transaction that happened at the cross. It's a heart connection. It's not just that I will reign in life, I'm just gonna declare it, I'm gonna confess it, that settles it. It's through a connection with Jesus, a heart connection with Him. Which means, very simple, I'm gonna be very simple about this, is that throughout our day, I don't mean every minute of every day, but just intermittent throughout the day, we carry on a soft conversation with Jesus, just in the background of the business of our everyday life. There's a ongoing conversation that goes five and 10 and 20 seconds at a time and pause and a little bit later, we just kinda, I love you, thank you Jesus, I've committed my heart to you and it's the recognition that His eyes are on us, that we're living life together with Him in a dialogue with Him. And when we confess that we will reign in life and we do it through Jesus, not disconnected from Jesus, actually in just kind of a, I call it a soft, kind of intermittent conversation throughout the day. I'm not talking about five and 10 minutes, long conversations, every five minutes, you know, you talk to Him for four, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about just in the background of the business of your life, this conversation is kind of continually unfolding throughout the days, weeks, months and years and there will be times it will increase that conversation, other times you won't do it as much and you commit yourself to re-engage in it. This phrase, through Christ Jesus, is a critical point because some people will hear a teaching like this and they'll say, okay, I reign in life. Okay, so now they feel temptation, whether it's they're tempted with pornography or bitterness or anger or drunkenness or covetousness, whatever, they're tempted. Okay, I will reign in life, I will reign in life, I will reign in life, I will reign in life, I didn't reign in life, I failed. And they're saying it didn't work. I said, no, I'm not talking about rapid fire confession for three months, for three minutes, one time and then see if it worked. I'm talking about a long-term, the way you carry your heart with God confession and it's through Jesus. It's in context to a intermittent, soft conversation with him, again, in just the background of your life, of the business of your life. There's nothing wrong with focusing on the task at hand. Matter of fact, I encourage you to focus on the task at hand. Some folks might say theoretically, if I talk to Jesus all day, I can't do nothing. Well, the conversation is in the background of the tasks that we do and I have found you can maintain that conversation and it's intermittent, it's little here, a few moments here and there just throughout the day, sometimes more, sometimes less. Now verse 18, now we receive this new gift, this new position through the one man's righteous act. Now the one man is obviously Jesus, the righteous act is his death on the cross. And now Paul said, we receive the free gift. Now the free gift is the same as the gift of righteousness. In context, the free gift in verse 18 is talking about the gift of righteousness. Okay, let's look at paragraph B and we're not gonna get very far on these notes and the point of having them is that you could read them on your own and look at some of the truths and I'm never worried about getting too far because Sunday comes every seven days. So I'll have you in just a minute anyway. We could pick up where we left off. Paragraph B, receiving the gift of righteousness, it has legal and emotional implications, the gift of righteousness. Now the gift of righteousness again is the core truth describing our new position in Christ, the position we receive the day we were born again. It's based on a legal exchange. This new position is based on the fact that Jesus, the innocent one became guilty and the guilty one, you and I became innocent and the father took our guilt, put it on him, took his innocence and his righteousness, gave it to us. It's a legal transaction that took place at the throne of God. Now, again, you may not feel that. You say, well, I didn't feel like it happened and certainly the last few weeks or months of my life, don't bear witness that it's happened. Don't go by your feelings or by your performance. This is a fact that has been recognized at the throne of heaven and if you begin to declare that fact, that becomes part of your confession. The way you carry your heart before God, you begin to declare that fact to him, it will change your identity, which means the way you see yourself. You will begin to see yourself more and more in the light of that truth and when you see yourself possessing the gift of righteousness with nothing hindering God's heart and your heart from connecting, when you see yourself this way, it begins to embolden us and invigorate us to go deep after God, to be hungry for God like we never were before. It will increase the hunger. Now, this gift of righteousness is the, again, the core truth in the new covenant. Now, when I think of the new covenant, we think the old covenant and the Old Testament, the new covenant is what we received the day we were born again. We just took communion today. We were affirming the reality of the new covenant, that Jesus's blood forgives us, but the covenant's much more than forgiveness. We have a new position before God. We have new power. We have new privileges. We have a new relationship with God. The new covenant is in itself a legal document that's honored at the throne, at the court of heaven, the court of God. In God's courtroom, this new covenant is a legal document, but it's more than a legal document. It's a love letter too. It's a love letter that's backed up with legal, unmovable, unchangeable truths that can never be undone. So it's a love letter based on truth that can never ever be reversed, but it's also, it's a legal document that's based on love. You could talk about it either way. Most people, when they think of the new covenant or the book of Romans, they think of the legal document, the legal status, but beloved, it's a love letter as well as a legal document. It's both. You separate one from the other, you will miss part of the truth. The end of paragraph B, that it not only is this gift of righteousness, does it have legal implications? It has emotional implications. Because we've received the gift of righteousness, the Lord enjoys us and delights in relating to us from that day forward. This is remarkable because the day before, though God so loved the world, God loves every unbeliever, but he does not enjoy relating to them because he doesn't have a relationship with them. God loves unbelievers, but does not delight or enjoy relating to them. There is no relationship. The day we're born again, he begins to delight and enjoy the relationship. That's the emotional implications of receiving the gift of righteousness. Now, because God enjoys us, doesn't mean he enjoys everything that we do. God can enjoy a relationship while being in disagreement on specific attitudes or actions of the person in that relationship with him. And of course, the parallel we see in parenting. You can have, I mean, a mom and a dad, they're children, they can love their children, their little five-year-old or their 15-year-old or whatever age, they can love their little one. I mean, I really love my son or my daughter, but that doesn't mean that a few of the actions and attitudes that they have that I'm not displeased with. So, because some people have the idea that God's either pleased with you or displeased with you, and the truth is, he enjoys the spirit of the relationship of a sincere believer. I'm only talking to sincere believers now. Though he can be against specific attitudes and activities that he is targeting to expose, to help us remove them from our life. And sometimes that can be painful, it's called the discipline of God. But when he disciplines us, it's not because he ceased to enjoy us, it's because he actually does enjoy us. That's why he's coming after us. Okay, let's go to Roman numeral two. Roman numeral two, Romans five, verse 20 and 21. Let's look at that passage. This is the key passage. That I want to look at. Of course, we're almost out of time, but that's okay. Because Sunday will be here in seven days. We can pick it up again. But I want to at least get your mind around it. This is one of the most glorious statements in the entire Bible, Old and New Testament. Romans five, verse 20 and 21. It is a summary of the gospel. It's a summary of what Paul has been saying all through the book of Romans up to this point. He gives the clearest summary of the gospel, of really the whole book of Romans in some ways. It's the briefest, most precise summary of the gospel I know of. Although I could think of a few other verses I would put equal to this. Verse 20, Paul said, where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. And here's the point. So that as sin reigned in death, so grace may reign through righteousness to life. Verse 21 is the key phrase. That in the same way that sin reigned as a king, as a tyrant in our life before we knew Jesus. And I'm going to give you four ways that sin reigns. I'm going to give them ever so brief. Paul's point is that in the same way that sin reigned as a tyrant, as a dictator with evil intention to destroy us, grace reigns in the same way, but far more power. But the practical message to the book of Romans is yes, we have a new bank account. That's kind of message one. We have a huge new bank account with the day we were born again called the grace of God. But the second message, not secondary, is that we have to access that account. We have to access it. We have to draw on the account. We have to engage in the process to where the good of that account happens in our everyday life. So Paul said in the same way that death reigned as a tyrant. So the day you were born again, you received a new bank account, a new position. You are now welcome in the king's palace. And you're welcome to the king's treasury. And you have the king's authority. And the king put his signet ring on your hand. You can actually speak in his name and you can declare things and cause many things to change by speaking in the king's name. I mean, what a huge thing that happened the day we were born again. Paul said grace will reign. Grace will triumph over this foreboding power, the tyrant's sin. There's a greater king. He goes, praise be to God. Though the king's sin is so powerful, there is one reality that is even more powerful if accessed. If accessed, that's the key phrase. Because again, many believers, decades later, they don't access it. They've even heard these kind of messages. They kind of go, yeah, I kind of know that. But I heard I have a big bank account. Have you written any checks? Well, I did once back in 1980. I haven't really done that much in the last 10 or 20 years because it didn't seem to work that. And then I kind of gave up and gave in. And if I've been rich the whole time, yeah, you've been rich the whole time. Oh, you're kidding. I've been going through all this. I didn't have to go through it in the way I have. No, you didn't have to. I mean, yes, the struggle's there. Yes, sin still rises up in our members. But having an answer, an adequate answer to where the power of it, it touches us, the sin I'm talking about. It's real, but it's no longer dominant. It's no longer the last voice. It's not, it doesn't have the last word. There's another word. There's an answer that we can give to it now. And over time, our emotions change. I want to say it that way. It's not instantaneously everything is different. I don't want to present it that way. But over time, the transformation takes place. So the reign of sin, paragraph B, I have four summary statements that when we, before we knew Jesus, there's only two positions in the Bible, the reign of sin, the reign of grace. In Adam or in Christ is another way that you could speak about it from a biblical point of view. Every unbeliever in the earth is under the reign of sin, whether they like it, whether they believe it, whether they, doesn't matter, they're under this tyrant. Every believer is under the reign of grace, though most live still like they're under the reign of sin. I'm talking about at the mindset level. I don't mean they're not sincere with God, but mentally they still respond in their thinking like they're still under the reign of grace. I mean, like they're under the reign of sin. They've been under slavery so long that when they stand before their former master, they just automatically yield to the sight of the master. They just bow their head and say, bow down and yield, yet they've been set free. The proclamation has gone forth. It's like the Emancipation Proclamation that happened in 1863, when Lincoln pronounced the slaves were free in one day, January 1st, 1863. They're free, it was a legal edict. The US government was bound to back it up, though there was a lot of failures in that, that's in side note. But the slave, been under this master for 50 years. The next day, January 1st, he's free. He sees the master, mentally he yields. Just, well, not all of them did, thousands of them didn't, but many of them, I'm just saying that it would be a natural thing to be so familiar to that old voice of the former master that the day you're set free, the whole US government theoretically would back up the slave looking at the former master saying, no, I don't have to obey you, but I'm sure that many of them just emotionally, the mindset would be just to yield because they're so used to that familiar voice of that tyrant that they've been with for so many years. And a lot of believers, they live that way. The proclamation has gone forth of their freedom. The government of God will back them up, but they have to, in their mind, buy into it. And it has to be the confession of their mouth. And when the old master comes, I'm talking about the day later, and he says, I tell you to do this, you better obey me. They must stand on the document, the legal decree from the government and say, I no longer have to yield. The government, again, in theory, they didn't do it so great, but in theory backs me up. But the government of God will back us up. But it's a mindset, the battle is in the mind. The battle is a new paradigm, a new mentality based on the new creation, based on the righteousness of God. It's a new identity. It's a new way of looking at ourself before God. Well, here's paragraph B. I'll just say it briefly without breaking it down. We looked at this a little bit last week. We'll look at it more even next week. Under the reign of sin, where everybody under the reign of sin, they're under condemnation and guilt. They're guilty before God. The reason they feel guilty, because they are. And so people felt guilty for so many years. Now they hear they're in Christ. Someone says, you're not guilty. They go, I still feel guilty. I still hear the voice of the former master, I'm guilty. And the Lord says, you're not. But I still feel guilty. I want to yield to that old master. And he says, don't, don't. There's a new decree. It's a new day. There's a new liberty. It's a legal proclamation. It's a legal proclamation. You're free. The government will back you up. The government of heaven. Number two, under the reign of sin, we were powerless before sin at the heart level. Now, externally, we could restrain those sins, particularly if people were watching. But internally, our heart would go to them. I mean, externally, somebody might insult you and you might smile because it's etiquette and polite. And you're in a social setting. You say, well, okay, well, maybe we'll talk later. You know? But at the heart level, you have no power. I'm talking about the person under the reign of sin. They have no power at the heart level. Externally, they can restrain it. But at the heart, absolutely, in the full sense of the word, powerless. Jealousy, fears, bitterness is rising up. No power over it at all. They have no power to challenge Satan's attack. Satan attack him. Of course, an unbeliever doesn't even know it's Satan. But even if they did, they could say, Satan be gone, and Satan wouldn't go. There's zero defense to Satan's attack in terms of their own personal life. They're under the reign of darkness or under the reign of sin. They have darkness. They can't understand the Bible. You could tell the most intelligent man, I mean, he may have triple PhDs at the best universities in the world, and you tell him a biblical truth. It doesn't make sense. It seems foolishness. It doesn't touch him. It does not move him because he's in darkness. And we must have compassion. They really do not get it. It's not just that they have no interest. They have no capacity. It says in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 14. They are not able to receive the truth until the grace of God touches them and they respond to the grace of God. They don't know how to get direction in the will of God for their life. They have no ability. And they're destitute. They have no hope of a good future in God. They don't even think about God. They don't have a thought of being pleasing to God and doing something that matters to God that will be remembered forever. Do you know, we can give somebody a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus and it will be remembered forever. And so there's relevance and power, even in an unknown act because Jesus sees it. But it doesn't end there. We're gonna have this life of relevance before God forever. And what the definition of relevance is, is it that people get excited about it? It's that God sees it and he esteems it and remembers it. That's what makes it relevant. And an unbeliever has no thought or no hope of this, of doing that which is esteemed or remembered by God. So they don't have this dimension in their heart at all. I mean, it's a horrible way to live. But I tell you these four things, I know many believers that live under the same poverty, these four things. And the reason is it because these four things have not been, they have not been given a new way and an opportunity to live free of them. They don't know about it or they don't draw on the account. They just kind of live under these four things. They're so used to it. The former slave master, they just are used to the Bible being boring, having no sense of God looking at them. They have no sense of divine assignment in their life. They're powerless before every fear, everything that bugs them. They just wait till it doesn't bug them any longer. They have no internal mechanism for their hearts to be alive and happy. Many believers, I'd go as far to say the vast majority of the believers, they just live as though they're under the reign of sin. And Paul's big statement is, you're not under the reign of sin no more. Why are you yielding so effortlessly? Why are you automatically just bowing down to that former slave master? There is a new decree in the land. Stand up and say no to that master. Well, no, I'm so used to saying yes. And I said no once and it didn't work because he hit me. How do I get hit again? Oh, you got the government behind you. Well, it didn't work that one time and it didn't seem to work. No, stay with it consistently and not just declare it, but live in connection with Jesus. Because remember, it's those who receive the gift of righteousness through Jesus. It's through connection and it's a soft connection. I'm not talking about where you're just kind of walking through the hallways with your eyes closed and the Spirit leads you through the rooms. You're in such communion. He says right, you go right and you don't know anything. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about a real just kind of a soft dialogue with the Lord throughout life. It's real and it really changes things. Paragraph C, we'll end with this. The reign of grace is different. And again, it's a summary of Christianity. And this isn't the whole of the reign of grace. This is just a introductory kind of we're starting off and because I'm wanting to lay these foundations for the next few months to kind of get us reshored up on just the grace of God. Now the grace of God, it includes forgiveness, but beloved, the grace of God is more than forgiveness of sins. The reign of grace is a king. It's a monarch. It's a very powerful king. Of course, grace is being personified as a person. And we're talking about our relationship to Jesus and the Father through the Holy Spirit is what we're talking about. It's much more than forgiveness. People say, well, I received the grace of God. They're almost always talking about forgiveness. Beloved, I don't wanna just be forgiven of my past debt. I wanna access the billions in my new account. I wanna draw money. I wanna use it. I don't wanna just be forgiven of a past debt. I wanna go deep in God. I wanna access the power. I wanna be close to it. I wanna draw on my account and change the world in as much as whatever sphere God has given me to make an impact on. I don't wanna just be forgiven. I wanna live in the supernatural dimension. And what I mean by the supernatural dimension, I don't mean just healing the sick, certainly that. I'm talking about where my heart is alive. I'm in communion with God. Devils are moving. Angels are moving. God's, I can feel his presence near me. I'm living in victory over sin, healing the sick, raising the dead, preaching the gospel, obedient in days of smallness because I know his eyes are on me. That's all part of the power of God. Well, the three things I'm gonna highlight here will add some more in the days to come in the grace, the reign of grace. It is forgiveness, but it's beyond forgiveness. The father, his affection. He enjoys us. Wow. Wow. Number two, the authority to use the name of Jesus to release the works of God, hinder Satan's activity. I don't wanna be just forgiven. I wanna be involved in the supernatural dimension of life. Again, I'm not only talking about a miracle of physical healing because some people say supernaturally they only think healing. Beloved, if your heart is in peace when people are insulting you and you're faithful when things are hard and you feel the joy of God, beloved, that is supernatural. Although having said that, I love the idea of healing the sick, but don't reduce the supernatural realm to one category. When the word of God comes alive in your heart, that's the supernatural power of God. Again, when you feel God's eyes on you, when you're, no one's paying attention, everyone's ignored you, everyone's rejected you, but you can feel his pleasure. You're giving somebody a cup of cold water in the name of the Lord. When you're driving the shuttle buses and you're assigned the 8 a.m. service or the 12 o'clock at the end of the awakening and the people that get on the bus have a bah humbug attitude. Can't you make this bus go faster? What are we waiting for? And you're going, whoa. But you feel God's pleasure. That's the reign of grace. Number three, the indwelling spirit. Though we have the Holy Spirit living in us. Well, that's, I looked at that last week. We'll look at that more next week. Amen. Well, let's just end with that. Let's stand. Romans 3 to 8, remember, you're gonna go study it, read it, but you're not gonna get overwhelmed. And if you understand nothing, look up to heaven and say, okay, Lord, I'm like Mike. Okay, I'm just like he is. That's how he felt. But I wasn't forewarned at all. But again, there's some of you are gonna get really touched by the Lord. Don't limit yourself to my little beggarly testimony when I was 18. The Lord has more things for you. Let's just for a moment before the Lord, I want you all just to close your eyes for a second, just so you're not distracted. And you're saying to the Lord, Lord, I want you to make a 30 second just dialogue where you're saying, I wanna get hold of this. I'm gonna study this. I'm gonna get hold of it. Just talk to him for a minute. Say, I wanna understand my bank account. I wanna draw on it. I wanna read Romans 3 to 8. I wanna start getting it. I wanna get it into my confession. So it gets into my experience because it won't get into your experience until it gets into your confession of your mouth. Just make a determination, 30 seconds. Say, I wanna do this. I wanna do this. I want more victory in my life. I just wanna give you a chance to say that to him because little 30 second things like this, that change your life. Little points of resolve, moments of resolve like this can really change you. If some of you that never have gone in this direction, you decide to go here the next few months, you will feel a little different in a few months. I'm not saying everything will be different, but you will feel different. And even in a few months, you'll go, huh, it's really, I feel different on the inside. And it could come out of a 30 second decision right now. I'm gonna go after this. So what I wanna do now is invite anybody forward that wants prayer, physical healing, spiritual, or maybe you wanna be touched according to these truths. You're saying, I just want someone to lay hands on me and pray for me to, I'll see more faster. And of course that happens, but you see more faster by reading it too and getting it into your confession. Or if you have anything you want someone to pray with you for, I wanna invite you all in the service with that, come on up to these lines. And if it's something specific, like a physical healing, then when people come and pray for you, mention it to them. Say, oh, by the way, I have a back problem. So we can pray in focus and faith with you. And in about 15 minutes, 1245, we'll have the lunch for those that have been six months, six months in less. If you've been here, you say, I've been here seven months. Oh man, you can come. We're not checking any cards at the door. Now, if I see Lou Engle and Alan Hood sneaking up there, we're gonna let them in because they're our leaders. We want them to greet you. Lord, here we are. Now remember, you're all in the ministry team. Everybody that has the gift of righteousness in them, you're on the ministry team. So I want to invite people to come up and pray for folks. You've taken my pain. You've called me by name, babe. You've taken my shame. And in its place, you give me joy. Maybe about 20, 30 more of you come on up and help. Everybody needs to pray for two or three times. Just ask grace to touch them. And if they want something specific, they'll say it to you. You've called me by name. You've taken my shame. And in its place, you give me joy. You've taken, you've taken my pain. You've called me by name. You've taken my shame. And in its place, you give me joy. You take my mourning, turn it into dancing. You take my weeping, and turn it into laughing. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. You take my sadness, and turn it into joy. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. You take my weeping, and turn it into laughing. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. You take my sadness, and turn it into joy. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. You take my weeping, and turn it into laughing. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. You take my sadness, and turn it into joy. To my soul. To my soul. To my soul. Jesus, you give me joy. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. You take my weeping, and turn it into laughing. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. To my soul. You take my sadness, and turn it into joy. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. You take my weeping, and turn it into laughing. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. To my soul. You take my sadness, and turn it into joy. To my soul. You bring inspiration. Inspiration. You bring inspiration. To my soul. To my soul. You take. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. You take my weeping, and turn it into laughing. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. You take my sadness, and turn it into joy. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. You take my weeping, and turn it into laughing. You take my mourning, and turn it into dancing. You take my sadness, and turn it into joy. You've called me by a new name.