Thee We Greet Triumphant Now

Amen. Well, please take your Bibles and let's open them up this morning to the book of Romans.

The book of Romans. This is week three, the final week in our mini-series on the resurrection. We'll be back in Genesis, Lord willing, next Sunday.

But for this week, we're in Romans, in Romans chapter 6, verses 1 through 14.

Romans 6:1–14

Romans 6, 1 through 14. And when you found it, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning.

Amen.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who have died to sin still live in it?

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

We were buried, therefore, with Him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.

We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again.

Death no longer has dominion over Him.

For the death He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions.

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life,

and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace.

This is the word of the Lord.

Father, we thank You for this word.

We thank You for freedom in Christ.

We thank You, Lord, that for those who are in Christ, sin no longer enslaves us, no longer rules us.

That there is freedom, truly, and power.

By the power of Your resurrection, there's power to walk in newness of life.

We pray, Lord, that we would see it, take hold of it by faith this morning.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Again, this is week three of our series here on the resurrection.

Our final week looking at the resurrection and its implications for us.

Week one was Easter Sunday.

We looked at Jesus' resurrection.

We saw how His resurrection shapes our faith.

Because Christ, in fact, has been raised from the dead.

We are not in our sins.

Our faith is not futile.

We're not worthy of pity.

His resurrection changes everything.

That was Easter Sunday.

Last week we saw how His resurrection shapes our future.

We look ahead and see that because He is risen, we too, who are united to Him by faith,

we too will be risen, resurrected to be with Him and like Him.

We will be raised up with new, glorified, resurrected, perfected bodies,

made fit for eternity with Him.

This week, today, as we look here to Romans chapter 6,

Romans 6 · chapter mention

we get to look at the implications of His resurrection for life in the in-between.

Right now.

And we get to see how His resurrection shapes our fight with sin.

In other words, church, His resurrection, it matters for us right now in our fight with sin.

Because Jesus Christ has raised from the dead,

those who are united to Him by faith are also raised to walk in newness of life.

Because Jesus Christ is raised from the dead,

then those who are united to Him by faith are right now empowered to live right now in resurrection power.

Victory over sin.

Now, I assume that you recognize that we are in a war with sin here and now.

Do we understand this?

J.C. Ryle, the bishop, J.C. Ryle, he says,

We must not conceal from ourselves that true Christianity brings with it a daily cross in this life,

while it offers us a crown of glory in the life to come.

The flesh must be daily crucified.

The devil must be daily resisted.

The world must be daily overcome.

There is a warfare to be waged and a battle to be fought.

And all this is the inseparable accompaniment of true religion.

Heaven is not to be won without it.

Never was there a truer word spoken than the old saying,

No cross, no crown.

If we never found this out by experience, our souls are in a poorer condition.

He goes on.

The true Christian is called to be a soldier and must behave as such from the day of his conversion to the day of his death.

He is not meant to live a life of religious ease, laziness, and security.

He must never imagine for a moment that he can sleep and doze along the way to heaven,

like on traveling in an easy carriage.

If the Bible is the rule of his faith and practice,

he will find his course laid down very plainly in this matter.

He must fight.

So this morning, as we look to Paul in Romans chapter 6,

Romans 6 · chapter mention

we get to see how we are to fight.

And we'll see three ways that the resurrection shapes our fight with sin.

This will be our outline this morning if you're taking notes.

There's three ways that the resurrection of Jesus shapes our fight with sin.

First, we see the resurrection of Jesus gives us a new identity.

The resurrection of Jesus gives us a new identity.

Look, they're starting in verse 1.

Paul says in chapter 6, verse 1, he says,

What shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

Now, obviously, I need to give a little bit of context here

because we're jumping into the middle of a book,

in the middle of an argument.

Paul, in the first five chapters of Romans,

has been laying out the riches of the gospel of Jesus Christ

in these first five chapters.

And he has just finished insisting that we are saved,

not by our works, not by our effort,

and not by our birthright, not by anything in us,

but sheerly by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

We are justified, declared righteous in the sight of God,

not by our goodness, not by our effort,

not by our law-keeping,

not by our cultural identity, as the Jews insisted,

but rather, Paul's been saying here,

we are declared righteous in the sight of God

apart from anything in us,

completely apart from our own obedience,

separate from it.

We are declared righteous in the sight of God

simply by receiving Christ's righteousness in our place.

So then the objection that he anticipates

to such free grace is this.

Well, if that's how this whole thing works, Paul,

then I guess I can just keep on sinning.

In fact, Paul, if grace is the whole deal,

if grace is what magnifies the glory of God,

if God is so eager to show sinners grace,

why don't we just keep on sinning

so that God can be gracious to us,

and then He gets the glory?

Why not just walk in sin if we're so covered by grace?

You see the issue here.

How does Paul respond?

By no means.

No.

Absolutely not.

That's not how Christians ought to think.

That's not how Christians ought to live

or how they ought to act.

We don't just keep on living in sin.

Why?

Because if you are united to Christ by faith,

then you have been given a new identity in Christ.

That used to be who you were who walked in sin,

but now, if you're in Christ,

that's you no longer.

In fact, he says in verse 2,

the new you is now dead to sin.

There in verse 2.

How can we who have died to sin still live in it?

In other words, it doesn't add up here.

It doesn't make any sense.

Paul says there is something fundamentally off,

something fundamentally inconsistent

with somebody who claims to be a Christian

and yet lives in unrepentant, persistent sin.

Why?

Because that old person who once lived in unrepentant,

persistent sin, who walked in it,

that old person is dead.

We've died to it.

We no longer live to sin.

We no longer live for sin.

That's what it means to be a Christian.

That you have died to sin.

Now, let me be clear because I want you to notice

what I said and what I did not say.

I did not say that if you're a Christian,

you will never sin again.

Raise your hand if you've known that to be true

in your own life.

That's every one of us.

Clearly, Christians still sin.

You're looking at a Christian who still sins.

In fact, the more I walk with the Lord,

the closer I walk with Him,

the more I see His holiness,

the more I see the depth of my sin in my life.

Every single week, I mean, my goodness,

I see my attitudes to be sinful.

The way I respond to my wife and my children

is often sinful.

I see the depth of my selfishness,

the way I allocate my time.

I am a sinful, sinful person.

I am not without sin and neither are you.

Paul is not demanding perfection here.

Okay, I want to be clear.

There is a difference, though,

between battling with sin

and living in sin.

Do we see the difference?

There is a difference between wrestling with your sin

and walking in sin.

There is a difference between recognizing sin in your life

by the grace of God

and repenting of it

and grieving it when you see it

and saying,

Lord, I need your help with it

and saying,

well, this is just who I am.

You have your own flaws.

I have mine.

Nothing to see here.

I can do what I want.

I can live what I want.

I'm covered by grace

because I can live however I want

because I prayed a prayer at VBS

when I was six years old.

I can live however I want

because 20 years ago,

I walked down an aisle

and said,

I want to be a Christian.

Paul says,

if you are in Christ,

if that's genuine,

then you have died to sin

as a power over you.

It doesn't reign over you any longer

if you're in Christ.

In fact, he says,

don't you know that your baptism

is a picture of this new life?

Look at verse 3.

Do you not know,

verse 3,

do you not know

that all of us

who have been baptized

into Christ Jesus

were baptized into his death?

We were buried with him,

therefore,

by baptism into death

in order that,

just as Christ was raised

from the dead

by the glory of the Father,

we too might walk

in newness of life.

Now,

I can't miss this opportunity

to teach a little bit

about baptism.

Okay,

so we're going to divert here

just for a second.

We'll come back.

Notice here

that he just assumes

that everybody

in the church of Rome,

every member of the church

in Rome

has been baptized.

That's the assumption.

Now,

what is baptism?

Baptism is the public initiation

into the church community.

It's marking you off

from once belonging

to the world,

now to belonging

to Christ.

And not just to Christ,

but it's affirmed

by a community

of believers

to say,

you belong to this

local body of Christ

here in this place.

Also notice

that clearly

these Romans

have been baptized

as believers.

This isn't a children's book.

These people,

these Christians,

are capable

of understanding

this teaching.

By the grace of God,

they're capable

by the power

of the Holy Spirit

in them

of walking

in newness of life.

They are capable

by the grace of God

and the Holy Spirit

in them

to look back

on their baptism

and reflect

on the meaning

and the message

of what it means

for them in Christ.

So what does it mean?

He says,

look back

on your baptism

and remember

your identity

in Jesus.

Remember,

you're going down

into the water.

That's symbolic

of Jesus' death

and not just

Jesus' death

but your death

in Him.

You were buried

with Him

by baptism

but you didn't

stay down

in the water,

did you?

Praise God.

I haven't lost one yet.

We brought every one

of them up.

They don't stay

dead down

in the water.

They are raised

up to walk

and newness

of life.

Just as Jesus Christ

didn't stay

in the grave

but was raised

and resurrected

by the power

of God

just as Jesus Christ

has now victory

over sin,

victory over the grave,

Paul says,

you believer

in Him

share His victory

over the grave.

He says,

Christian,

remember what

your baptism

represents.

It's just like

a married man

might look down

at his wedding ring

and see

in this physical

visible sign

a picture

of his union

with his wife.

It's a reminder

of the vows

that they've made

to each other.

It's a reminder

that his identity

now is I am

a married man.

That's who I am.

So now the believer

looks back

on their baptism

as a picture

of their union

with Jesus Christ.

A reminder

of the vows

that are made

of Him

to us

and us to Him.

It's a picture

of their new identity

in Him.

Yes, Christian,

of course,

we will wrestle

with sin.

We will fall

into sin

and the more clearly

you see the holiness

of God,

the more clearly

you will see

your own sinfulness.

And yet,

Paul says,

if you are in Christ,

your identity

is no longer

sinner.

By the grace

of God,

you are no longer

sinner.

You are saint.

You're no longer

a child of the enemy.

You're no longer

a child of wrath.

You are,

by the grace of God,

a child of God.

By God's grace,

you are no longer

dead to God

and alive to sin.

By the grace of God,

you are now

dead to sin

and alive to God

in Christ.

That's your identity

in Him.

Paul says it like this

in Galatians 2,

Galatians 2:20

verse 20.

He says,

I have been crucified

with Christ.

Therefore,

I no longer live.

But Jesus Christ

now lives in me.

The life I live

in the flesh,

I live by faith

in the Son of God.

who loved me

and gave Himself

for me.

The resurrection

of Jesus

gives us

a brand new

identity

in Christ.

Not only that,

but second,

second,

the resurrection

of Jesus

gives us

a new victory.

A new victory.

And that new identity

in Christ,

it comes with

a new position

in regards to sin.

it comes with

Christ's position

in regards to sin.

If you are in Christ,

you have a position

of victory

over sin.

Not just in the future.

Right now,

in the present,

you have a position

of victory

over sin.

Do you believe it?

Look there

to verse 5.

It says,

for if we have been

united with Him

in a death like His,

we shall certainly

be united with Him

in a resurrection

like His.

And we know

that our old self

was crucified with Him

in order that the body

of sin

might be brought

to nothing

so that we

would no longer

be enslaved

to sin.

One who has died

has been set free

from sin.

Now,

if we have died

with Christ,

we believe that we

will also live

with Him.

We know that

Christ being raised

from the dead

will never die again.

Death no longer

has dominion over Him.

For the death He died,

He died to sin

once for all.

But the life He lives,

He lives to God.

I want you to notice

there's two words here.

Two images

that give us a picture

of the power of sin

over the non-believer.

Did you see those?

He says in verse 6,

Christ has died

and risen

that by faith in Him

we may no longer

be enslaved

to sin.

That's the first word.

Enslaved to sin

outside of Christ.

The non-believer

is enslaved

to sin.

That's number one.

And then there's

another here

in verse 9.

Christ died

and rose from the grave

never to die again.

He is right now

in the present,

in this moment,

totally alive

to God.

Paul says

death no longer

has dominion

over Him.

That's the second word.

It's dominion.

Outside of Christ,

the non-believer

is under the dominion

of sin.

There is no

neutral territory

here in the spiritual realm.

There's no

Switzerland

in the spiritual realm.

Okay?

No neutrality.

And so,

Paul says it again

here in verse 14

to the believer.

He says,

sin will have

no dominion

over you

since you are not

under law

but under grace.

It's one or the other.

Let's just think

about these images

for a minute.

We should realize

here the way

Paul's talking

about sin

is not just

the bad things

we do.

Okay?

It's not just

isolated bad thoughts,

bad actions,

mean words,

bad things that we do,

isolated mistakes.

Paul says,

Paul describes it

as a power

over us.

He says,

sin enslaves people.

People walk in sin

because they are

slaves to sin.

Sinful actions,

they flow out

of a sinful condition.

They are the result

of sin

waging authority

over us.

We're not neutral here.

Outside of the freedom

of Christ,

we can't do anything

other than be a slave

to sin.

Why?

Because that enslaving

power of sin

has dominion

over us

if we're outside

of Christ.

Outside of Christ,

it has authority

over us.

If you're not in Christ,

you are in sin.

If you're not submitting

to Christ,

you are submitting

yourself to sin.

You have no power,

no freedom

in this situation.

You know,

people fool themselves

into thinking

that they're free

as they live in sin.

They say,

I'm free to live

and do

and act as I want.

How in the world

if I can do

whatever I want?

I can choose

to live

however I want.

How in the world

am I a slave?

I have the power here.

Friend,

that is a lie.

The Bible says

even your wants

are controlled

by sin.

Even your very desires

that are the impulses

that your actions

flow from,

that is under

the dominion of sin.

Sin is the master

and you are the slave.

He tells us later on

in verse 16,

you are slaves

of the one

whom you obey.

This is the natural state

of every single person

outside of Christ.

What they need

more than anything.

It isn't behavioral control.

It isn't moralism.

It's not

to hear somebody tell them

do this,

don't do that.

Stop doing that.

Try harder.

Be better.

Clean yourself up.

That's not going to help anybody.

What they need

more than anything

is to hear

the good news

of the gospel of Christ.

That Jesus Christ

has come

to set sinners

free

from the power

of sin.

And that is only

by coming to him

in faith

that one is set free

from the bondage of sin.

And so,

Paul tells us in Romans 10,

if you confess

with your mouth

that Jesus is Lord

and you believe

in your heart

that God raised him

from the dead,

you will be saved.

All who are outside

of Christ

are slaves

to sin.

But Paul

isn't talking

to non-believers here.

He's talking

to believers.

He's talking

to those

who are professing

to be in Christ.

And so,

he says,

don't you get it?

Christ has come

to set you free.

Don't you understand

what Jesus has done

for us?

That's who you used

to be.

You used to be

enslaved to sin.

You used to be

under his power

but no longer.

Christ died

to set you free

from the power

of sin.

Christ raised

from the grave

to give you

new life.

How can you

submit again

to the powers

of sin?

You're free

from it.

His victory

is your victory.

His life

is your life.

His death

to sin

is your death

to sin.

If you are united

to him by faith,

everything

he's earned

is yours.

Christian,

I wonder

if you realize,

Christian,

that you

can walk

in resurrection

victory

over sin

right now.

If you are

in Christ,

you can walk

in resurrection

victory

over sin.

This is

incredible grace

towards us

who believe,

isn't it?

Do you realize

that if you

are in Christ,

you have

all the

authority

over sin

that Christ

himself has

over sin.

I remember

when I first

realized this,

it was like,

the lights

went on.

You're telling

me I don't

have to,

I'm not

controlled by

this anymore.

You're telling

me I actually,

I can have

the freedom

to resist

this temptation?

You're telling

me I have

a position

of victory

over sin?

Paul says,

yes,

in Christ,

sin doesn't

rule you

anymore.

Yes,

you can choose

to slip

those chains

back on.

Those chains

leave grooves

on our hearts

and make it

too easy

to slip

right back

on.

You can

choose to

slip them

back on,

but you

don't have

to.

Christ

has purchased

freedom

and victory

for his

people.

One day,

Christ will

return or we

will go to

be with him

and we'll

be finally

done with

the fight,

but until

then,

Christian,

we fight

from a

position of

victory over

sin because

of his

victory at

the cross

in the

empty tomb.

So I want

to close

third point

this morning,

finally.

I just want

us to consider

some ways

practically we

put this

into practice.

So third,

let's see the

resurrection of

Jesus.

Jesus,

it gives us

a new

strategy.

Let's talk

strategy this

morning a little

bit.

How do we

actually put

this into

practice?

What can

we do

tomorrow,

this afternoon,

to fight

against sin

and resurrection

power?

So let's read

these final

verses one more

time and he

gives us three

keys here in

these final

verses for

fighting sin

and resurrection

power.

Paul says

verse 11,

in light of

Jesus' death

and resurrection,

he says,

so you also

must consider

yourselves dead

to sin and

alive to God

in Christ Jesus.

That's number

one.

Consider,

consider,

reckon

yourself dead

to sin and

alive to God

in Christ.

The battle

with sin,

it often

begins with

the mind.

So Paul

says,

fix your

mind daily

on the

glory of

God and

the gospel

of Christ.

Remember,

fix your

mind daily

on what that

means for you

as a Christian.

I can think

of no better

strategy to

give you this

morning for

fighting sin

than to

daily remember

the gospel

of Christ.

Every single

day,

remember the

gospel.

gospel.

We're six

chapters into

this book.

I know we

didn't cover the

whole book this

morning,

but this is five

chapters of

gospel that's

leading to this

application this

morning.

Remember the

bad news that

yes,

all have sinned

and fallen short

of the glory of

God.

Remember the bad

news that yes,

you are deserving

of the wrath of

God.

But remember and

praise God for the

righteousness of

God through faith

in Jesus Christ

for all who

believe.

Remember and

praise God that

you are justified

by his grace as

a gift through

the redemption

that is in

Christ Jesus,

whom God put

forward as a

propitiation by

his blood to be

received by faith.

Remember and

praise God that

Christ was

delivered up for

our trespasses and

raised for our

justification.

Remember and

praise God that

God, since we

have been justified

by faith, we

have peace with

God through our

Lord Jesus Christ.

We have access

into the grace in

which we stand.

Remember and

praise God that

God's love has

been poured out

into our hearts

through his Holy

Spirit who's been

given to us.

Remember the

gospel.

Remember who we

are in Christ

and who we are

because of Christ.

Remember daily

that Christ has

lived and died

and risen from

the grave in

victory over sin

and death and

so you by faith

in him are also

dead to sin and

alive to God in

Christ.

That's number one.

Fix this in your

mind.

Remember that's

number one.

Second, second

strategy.

Refuse.

Refuse.

as one who is

dead to sin and

alive to God.

Verse 12.

He says, let not

sin therefore reign

in your mortal

body.

Don't let it.

Let not sin

therefore reign in

your mortal body to

make you obey its

passions.

Your body is no

longer under sin's

dominion if you're in

Christ.

But that doesn't

mean that it won't

try and take it back

under his control.

You know this.

Don't let it.

Let me ask you

something.

Imagine that you

were sitting at home

one night, sitting

there just relaxing,

watching TV, and you

look out the window

and you see somebody

pull up in your

driveway.

Now I already know

because I know you

guys, right?

We live out here in

the country.

You're on itch.

All right?

You're ready.

You're alert.

But imagine you see

this guy come up your

driveway.

He parks.

He turns off the

car.

He gets out.

He comes right up to

the front door

uninvited, unannounced.

You think, okay, it

might be nothing.

Probably nothing to

worry about.

Maybe my wife made

an Amazon purchase

and he's coming to

drop something off.

That's usually what it

is.

But now imagine he

starts letting

himself in.

What are you

thinking now?

I know you guys,

again, because we're

here and you're in

your right mind,

you're probably

reaching for the

gun or reaching for

the telephone,

call the police,

but say for some

reason this particular

evening you are

feeling unusually

welcoming that night

and so you let him

in.

He kicks off his

shoes, pushes you

aside, he goes and

sits in your chair.

He starts telling

you how he wants

the house set up.

He gives his order

to your wife for

dinner and then he

kisses her goodnight.

He starts to tell

you, I used to live

in this house, this

was my home.

I used to be the

king of this castle.

How would you

respond?

You would get that

guy out of there,

right?

Immediately.

He doesn't own the

home anymore.

Maybe he used to

take up residence

there, but now

that's your home.

You kick him out.

Paul says that is

exactly how we

ought to handle sin.

It used to reign

in your body, but

no more.

It doesn't belong

in your body

anymore.

If you are in

Christ, sin is an

unwelcome intruder

into Christ

occupied territory.

Christ reigns over

this body now,

not sin.

Chase it off the

porch.

Don't give it one

foot inside the

door.

You refuse it.

You reject it.

You stand your

ground.

You let it know

it's not welcome

here anymore.

Let not sin

therefore reign in

your mortal body to

make you obey its

passions.

It can't tell you

what to do anymore.

You tell it to get

lost.

lost.

Which means,

Christian, the

moment it comes

creeping into your

mind, and by God's

grace you see it,

you recognize it for

what it is, the

moment it comes into

your mind, that

lustful desire,

that jealousy,

that anger,

that pride, that

selfishness, whatever

it tends to be for you,

the moment you see

it, you say with

all the authority of

the risen Lord

Jesus, get out and

never come back.

I'm not serving you

anymore.

You don't own me

anymore.

The old me that

serves sin as a

slave is dead, and

the new me that

lives by faith in

Christ lives outside

of the dominion of

sin.

Refuse it.

And third, third

strategy, present.

Do not present your

members to sin as

instruments for

unrighteousness, but

present yourselves to

God as those who have

been brought from death

to life, and your

members to God as

instruments for

righteousness.

It is not enough to

just play defense.

Defense wins

championships.

But you've got to

move the ball up the

field, right?

You have to play

offense.

Stop offering your

members to sin as

instruments for

unrighteousness.

But now, positively

speaking, he says,

now present yourselves

to God.

And you know, I

looked into this this

week, and I've got to

admit I'm a little

confused by the way

it's translated here.

I don't know why it's

translated instruments.

Because that makes me

think of like a

piano.

Or a tool or

something.

But that's not what

the word means.

This word here for

instruments, it's

interesting.

It only shows up six

times in the New

Testament.

Everywhere else it

shows up, you know

what it's translated?

It is not instruments.

It's translated

weapons.

Or armor, one time.

Armor.

War.

This is war language.

Do not present your

members as weapons of

war used for evil, but

rather lend yourself as a

weapon in the hands of

almighty God, as weapons

of righteousness.

righteousness.

Let's just do an exercise

real quick.

Think with me just for a

minute about your last

week.

Sunday to Sunday.

Okay?

All your time at work, all

your time at home, all your

time in traffic.

Ask yourself, have I

offered my mind this week

as a weapon for

unrighteousness?

Or have I taken every

thought captive and made

it obedient to Christ?

How about our feet?

Where did your feet take

you this week?

Have we walked in the

counsel of the wicked or

stood in the way of

sinners or sat in the

seat of scoffers?

Or do we walk in newness

of life going as the Lord

leaves you in paths of

righteousness for his

name's sake?

How about your hands?

Have you offered up your

hands as weapons for

unrighteousness to tear

down and to destroy, to

harm or to assault, to

desecrate your body?

Or have they been offered

as weapons of

righteousness to build up

and to serve one

another and to be used to

love your neighbor as

yourself and used to help

and not to harm?

How about your mouth?

Have we offered up our

mouth as weapons of

unrighteousness?

Do we with the same

mouth bless our Lord and

Father and with it curse

people who are made in the

likeness of God?

Do we use it to gossip or

slander or insult?

Or do we use it to to

encourage one another and to

build one another up in

Christ and and to share the

good news of the gospel with

our our friends and our

neighbors and our co-workers

and our family members?

Paul says your body.

The members of your body

are our weapons in an

unseen spiritual war.

They can be lent to the

service of sin and fired

off in the direction of

unrighteousness or now that

you are in Christ.

They can be used.

They must be used as

weapons of righteousness in

the service of the Lord.

Paul says, Christian, we

must remember that we by the

grace of God have been

rescued from the enemy's

belonging.

You no longer belong to the

other side.

Don't give them guns and

ammo.

Offer yourselves up.

Join the fight.

as those who have been

brought from death to

life.

This is the strategy church

Paul gives us.

Remember your identity in

Christ.

Walk in his victory over

sin.

Reckon yourself dead to sin

and alive to God in

Christ.

Refuse even one inch of

territory to the enemy's

sin and join the fight.

Present your members as

weapons for righteousness

sake.

The Christian life is a

war.

We all know it.

We all experience it.

But we praise God that it

is a war that has already

been won.

Thomas Watson, the great

English Puritan, he says,

soon the battle will be

over.

It will not be long now

before the day will come

when Satan will no longer

trouble us.

There will be no more

domination, temptation,

accusation, or

confrontation.

Our warfare will be over

and our commander, Jesus

Christ, will call us away

from the battlefield to

receive the victor's

crown.

That day will come.

Soon and very soon,

church.

But until then,

Christian,

are we walking in

resurrection power

over sin?

Father, we praise you.

We praise you for the

victory Christ has won over

sin in the grave.

We are helpless in this

fight apart from your

strength,

apart from your spirit in

us.

Lord, we are helpless to put

sin to death, but because

of Christ and in Christ and

by the power of Christ,

Lord, we have victory over

sin.

So we pray we would walk in

it.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.