The Reign of Sin

Romans 6 verses 12 through 14.

Romans 6:12–14

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.

Let's pray.

Lord, we're thankful for your word this morning to remind us of who's truly in control,

who's in charge, who has dominion.

May you remind us as those who trust in Christ that you rule over all things,

even in our lives now.

And Father, we thank you for your word and may it speak to us this morning.

We pray in Christ's name. Amen.

Have you ever found yourself wondering, how did I get to this place?

What decisions did I make that led me to where I am right now?

Whether it's a series of mistakes that I've made or good decisions.

I've made a good decision here and a little decision here.

And all along the way, and I've arrived at this spot,

I found myself reading those words to my kids.

But not asking them of myself, but reading from Mr. Toad.

You see, Mr. Toad had gotten to this spot, in this position,

because of decisions he had made.

He had lost his ancestral home, Toad Hall, because of bad decisions.

And now he found himself without a home and overrun by varmints, weasels to be in fact.

His story is a winding path through a train of escape, evading the police,

jumping off of a train, wrecking a number of cars,

and then alienating his friends.

And then finally, crashing that car at the bottom of the lake and losing a home,

and dressing up like a woman, and all these things, cascading effects of all these bad decisions.

He had made them, and then now he found himself in a spot where he asked,

How did I get here?

What did I do to find myself without a home?

You see, despite all the best efforts of his friends,

he found himself drawn back in to his one singular obsession.

Cars.

Motor cars.

It reads like this, the story of the wind in the willows.

It says,

Toad, halfway through his meal, heard a familiar sound.

He trembled with joy.

It was the sound of a motor car.

He heard it stop.

The inn's doors opened,

and as he sat, he saw the car's passengers entered in,

talkative and happy.

Toad slipped out quietly.

There can't be any harm, he said to himself.

And just looking at it,

he inspected it carefully,

and then his eyes lit up.

I wonder, he whispered,

I wonder if this sort of car starts easily.

And before he knew it,

he was cranking the handle,

and pop, pop, pop went the car.

And once again, Toad was possessed,

as if in a dream,

and he found himself in the driver's seat.

He swung the car on the road,

and faster and faster it went.

And as the car devoured the highway,

Toad felt large,

and again, he was Toad the Terror.

Toad was consumed by driving cars,

and he had wrecked a number of cars,

and squandered his inheritance,

and even lost his home,

because he was consumed with driving.

And his friends intervened,

and held him hostage in his own home,

saying, Toad, you can't drive anymore,

you're going to hurt yourself or others.

And then he snuck out.

And then he found himself in jail,

and then he broke free,

and then he lost his home,

because he was devoured

by his obsession with driving.

That seems really silly,

that he's unable to restrain himself about driving.

You see, sin had made him a slave,

reigning over every part of his life.

Driving had consumed him.

That seems really silly,

but we do the same thing.

This children's story reminds us

that sin consumes all of our lives,

and reigns over all of us.

Fairytale toads and humans alike.

The reign of sin is not just an automobile obsession.

It has its claws in all of us.

It can be pretty innocuous,

whether it's, you know,

touching the car,

turning the crank on the handle,

you know, an old-timey car,

that's how you started it,

putting your key in the ignition,

or thinking to yourself,

I wonder what it sounds like.

I wonder what it's like to sit in the seat

and grab the steering wheel.

It's pretty innocuous, right?

Doesn't everyone think well of themselves

before others?

I spoke to that person in that way

because, you know,

that's how they act.

It begins subtly,

and then it cascades into something different,

when our love of good food never stops,

not when we're full,

but we just keep eating.

Maybe our allegiance to alcohol

drives out everything else in our lives.

Our security is not in the one who is sovereign,

but in all these nice and neat boxes

that we create for our lives

and ourselves and our children.

I will never feel afraid

because I've controlled everything.

I will never risk anything.

Uncertainty?

Because I control it

with my job,

my life,

and my home.

What about health?

Above all else.

Order,

organization,

cleanliness,

sex,

power,

money,

relationships,

toys at Christmastime,

Christmas presents,

or the perfect holiday party.

It starts with just a little,

I wonder what it sounds like.

I wonder what it feels like,

and yet it lurks in everything.

Sin reigns in the hearts of men,

and it might look different

for each and every one of us.

It might be large and flagrant

and find us in prison.

It might be socially unacceptable.

It might land us in jail,

or it might rot us

from the inside out,

so that the aroma

of the good news of the gospel

isn't present for our children,

isn't present for our neighbors.

It never comes to bloom,

and instead,

we're seen as nasty

and disgusting

because we allow sin to reign.

You see,

sin reigns in all of us,

in all of mankind,

but it doesn't reign anymore

for those who are in Christ.

That's the argument

Paul is making here.

The gospel has broken

the reign of sin,

and we're free from it,

and that's part of the problem

because we know deep down

as we leave this place

that we will still sin,

and so what do we do with it?

Matthew's talked at length

about this threefold aspect of sin,

the power,

the penalty,

and the presence of sin.

The presence of sin still remains,

so how does it not reign over us?

That's the question

for the Christian,

and that's the question

that Paul is addressing

in verses 12 through 14.

How does sin reign,

or does it reign,

in the life of the Christian?

First, we're going to look

at these three verses

in a series.

A command,

a continuation of that argument,

or continuation of that command,

and then the cause

of that command.

First, the command.

So look with me at verse 12.

Often Christians come to verse 12,

and we forget

what's happened

in verses 1 through 11.

Paul's reminded us,

as we heard last week,

that we are dead to sin,

but alive in Jesus Christ,

and we struggle

because we know

that we still have sin,

so how is it dead

if I still know

that it's there?

But that all-consuming nature,

that reign of sin,

Paul says,

is broken.

That's why he can say

in verse 12,

let not sin,

therefore,

reign in your mortal body

to make you obey

its passion.

Now, is he saying

that sin is still reigning?

It seems like

if he's saying that,

he's talking out of both sides

of his mouth.

He's saying,

be free from sin,

and don't let it reign,

but yet it still reigns.

That you're dead to sin,

but it's still,

you're free from it?

How does that work out?

That would be a contradiction

if he said that.

He's saying this

in this command.

Do not let it reign

any longer.

Do not let it reign

in your mortal body.

If you were to say this

to someone

who didn't have faith in Christ,

it would kind of be unfair,

wouldn't it?

He's saying to someone

who's dead in sin

that can't rise up and walk

to not let it reign,

even though we know

it reaches every corner

of their heart.

He's talking very specifically

to a Christian

that is dead to sin,

as verse 11 tells us,

and alive to God

in Christ Jesus.

He's saying

it cannot reign

in the sense

of its power

and its penalty

like it once did.

The Christian is free

from that reign of sin.

And the only reason

Paul can command this,

the only reason

he can give it

as an imperative,

kids, if you remember

in English,

an imperative

is saying something

like do this.

He's saying

don't let it reign.

And he can say that

because of verse 14,

which we'll come to

in a minute.

It's an indicative,

something that's done

for you.

So this command

is to Christians

saying,

do not let sin win,

do not let sin reign

like it once did.

All of this

is a command

wrapped up

to Christians.

If you think about

where we are

in the book of Romans,

we spent a number

of weeks,

months,

leading up to this point.

This is the first time

Paul is saying

to his audience,

do this.

So it's all these weeks

and verses

and chapters

of what has been done

on their behalf,

that God has met them

in their sin,

that God has given

them salvation.

All of these things,

all of this has been

done for the Christian

and now Paul is saying

to them,

do not let sin

reign any longer.

It's the first time

he gives a command

in the book of Romans

for them to follow.

The interesting part though

is this nuance

that he says.

He says,

let not sin therefore

reign in your mortal body.

He's pointing out

that Christians

are both body

and soul.

He's not saying

we're divided beings

where our body

does one thing

and our soul

does another.

We are together.

But he's testifying

to the reality

that we're caught up

in something.

It's something

that we've talked about

in the weeks past

that we live

in this overlap

of already,

the fact that we're

united with Christ

as we heard

a couple weeks ago,

we're united

with Christ in faith,

that's what's

already happened.

And then not yet.

We don't yet

have our glorified bodies.

So not everything

is perfect.

There's a sense

in which we live

in that overlap.

We're not yet

in the fully glorified bodies.

And so,

our mortal bodies remain

and sin still affects it.

But the command

is to stand firm

and not let it reign.

Now,

I warned Matthew

I was going to do this,

this quote,

a heretic.

All right?

Now,

it's interesting

in the life

of heretics

where they agree

with those

that are faithful.

And Augustine,

as we've,

we've kind of talked

about Augustine

as we've walked

through Romans

in original sin.

And Augustine

championed this idea.

He was an early church father

and his main

bad guy opponent

was this guy

called Pelagius.

But when they come

to this verse,

they both agree

about this.

Pelagius said

that sin reigns

by obedience

and consent.

That means

the sinner

consents

and allows it

to have reign

over the sinner.

The sinner

that is still

having faith

in Christ.

Augustine agreed

with him

and said,

we still have desires

but by not obeying them,

we don't let sin

reign in our members.

We don't let sin

reign over us

if we have faith

in Christ.

These two opponents,

one heretic,

one faithful,

agree about the fact,

agree with Paul

in saying

that we consent

to it.

Paul is challenging us

to not let sin

reign in our mortal bodies.

We can't let it

go on any longer

because when we do consent,

we allow it to remain.

We allow it to reign

even still.

Now the language

throughout this verse

is one of obedience

and reign.

It's very kingly.

It's a unique idea

for us as Americans.

We don't like anyone

telling us what to do

but a king

rules over all things

and rules

and directs

his subjects.

If we think about

what we've heard

thus far in Romans

in chapter 5,

Paul talks about

the reign

and this reversal

of a reign.

For if because

one man's trespass,

death reigned

through one man,

much more will those

who receive

the abundance of grace

and the free gift

of righteousness

reign in the life

through the one man

Jesus Christ.

Is the king Jesus

or is the king sin?

Sin cannot reign

over the Christian.

This idea of having

a king that rules

over us,

forcing its subject

to obey

whether it's towed

with the motor car

or whether it's us

and rooting out sin.

That king directs

his subjects.

The same could be true

of a Christian

that allows sin

to come into their life

and doesn't actively

work against it

but instead allows it

to go unchallenged.

That it controls

all of its interests.

And that's why

they find themselves

asking or why we

might find ourselves

asking,

how did I get

to this spot?

How did I get so low?

There's a man

that I've been sharing

the gospel with

over a series of years

really

and he made some decisions

in his life

that landed him in jail

and as I met

with him in jail

he was brought

to the point of tears

because he had lost

his career.

He thought he had

lost his family.

He had for a time

and he kept asking

how did I get here?

And I reminded him

that in that moment

the decision

that he made

to land him in jail

had begun long,

long ago

many, many years ago

to allow sin

to go unchecked

in his life

and think

oh it's not that

big of a deal.

It's just touching

the steering wheel.

It's just wondering

how the car sounded.

But instead

that decision

those decisions

over a period

of time

land us

very far

away from home

and asking ourselves

how did I get there?

Christian

the command

is to us

to not

let sin

reign.

We cannot let it

reign in our lives

and we must root it out.

Paul continues

this idea

through a continuation

of this argument

a continuation

of this command.

Let's turn our attention

to verse 13.

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.

So often

we talked about this

in Sunday school today

Paul makes

an argument

and then he advances

that argument

or he clarifies

or he applies it.

He's doing the same

thing here.

He's kind of circling

back and providing

more context

to what he means

in verse 12.

He pivots

from this analogy

of a king

and reigning

and subjects

to forces

that slavishly

do his bidding

but it's not

immediately obvious

what he pivots to.

It's not slaves

and a king

it's not subjects

but he says this

do not present

your members

or do not allow

your members

as instruments

is often what

your Bible might say

but the instrument

here is like

a weapon of warfare.

So he's saying

do not let

your members

be weapons

in unrighteousness

of unrighteousness.

Members

is not members

of the body of Christ

like members

that we've just received

but all your faculties

as a Christian

your body

your will

all of those things

that make up

who we are.

Do not allow

your body

do not allow

your will

do not allow

yourself to sin

do not let

them be instruments

of this grand

plan

this grand

army

of evil

and when he

says that

he's reminding

us that sin

cannot be our

captain

or our general

to order us

to go this way

or that

or allow us

to be

ones

set under

sin's authority.

no

our members

are instead

to be obedient

to God.

That's the reverse

of what he says

but before he says

that he reminds us

of this status

not as members

or slaves

or members

of this other army

to go and do sin

but we are alive

to God

in Christ Jesus.

He reminds us

of this source

of power

is the spirit

working in us

to change us

to bring us

from death

to life.

We're not

left alone

depending on

our own

works

and our own

efforts

that we're called

to be abounding

in good works

and to do all

those things

but God has equipped

us with the spirit

that's changed us

that's brought us

from death

to life.

He is doing

that in us.

Paul will write

this later

in Romans

that a Christian

is called

to present

your body

as a living sacrifice

holy and acceptable

to God.

That's a snapshot.

This is a snapshot

of what's to come

in Romans 12

that our mortal bodies

though we may struggle

against sin

that there should be

a longing

for good

and right

that we're being

drugged down

by our bodies

because we live

in this overlap

where we have a body

of this world

and it's not yet glorified

and that our members

can't get with

its program.

If we walk a day

as a Christian

we know that struggle

and Paul uses

this picture

of a king

and its subjects

for us

to remind us

of how

serious it is

and how pervasive

it is

and how

he can use

evil

can use us

as a weapon

of unrighteousness

and these soldiers

have taken off

the uniform

of one army

and put on

the colors

of another.

There's a famous

British scholar

that said this

about this idea

that's armies

and sin

that sin

is regarded

as a sovereign

so a king

who demands

military service

of subjects

and leaves

their quota

of arms

and gives them

their soldiers

pay of death.

Do we really

believe that?

Do we really

believe that sin

merits death?

And sin

is no longer

for the Christian

at the head

of the army

in which you serve

but instead

we're serving

in God's army.

So what are we

supposed to do

with this transition

from unrighteousness

to righteousness?

What are we

supposed to do

with the fact

that sin

still remains

and if we're honest

it often feels

like it controls

every aspect

of our life.

We're told

not to do this

but as we walk

out these doors

we definitely

feel like

this is true.

The Puritan

John Owen

said this.

He said

something like this

be killing sin

or it be killing you.

It's this idea

that there's a

binary nature

in this fight

against sin.

It's either a zero

or a one

and we have

to be killing sin

or it

will be destroying

us.

That idea

comes from

this little book

he wrote

called

The Mortification

of Sin.

It's the great

Christian duty

he writes

not to be

embarrassed by sin

but to be

killing it

in every area

of our lives.

Not your neighbor's

sin

not your friend's

sin

not your mom's

sin

or your dad's

sin

not the sin

that's out there

but your own

inside of you.

That's what

not letting sin

reign

means.

It's rooting

it out

bringing it

to the life

to the light

so that we

can kill it.

What's in view

here is this

idea of sanctification

the idea that

we're becoming

more and more

holy

be ye holy

is the charge

in the Old Testament

and the duties

that are required

in that

are hunting it out

and rooting it out.

Now that seems

like

a really big task

to not let

your enemy

gain an inch

of ground

in your life

to not

be like

toad

and just

want to know

what it feels

like or sounds

like

to not let

a look

linger

to not let

a drop

of a hint

of gossip

reign in your life

to not just

cheat a little bit

pretending like

it's an honest

mistake.

This feels

weighty

because this

is the great

Christian task

is to kill

sin

because we

want to be

like Christ

but God

doesn't leave us

to do that

on our own.

God fuels us

with his spirit.

He is the one

that made us

dead to sin

and alive

to God

but often

we feel

like we should

just give up.

Right?

That's a struggle

in the beginning

of Romans 6.

Why does this

all matter

if we're

covered by

grace anyway?

How can I

do this

because this

feels hard

and yes

it goes well

at times

but often

it feels

like I'm

losing this

battle.

You are still

called to fight

in this battle

no matter

our age

or no matter

if we are

a second

from glory

or that's

long in the

future

that we are

called to fight.

A Christian

that doesn't

care about

sin in his

own life

doesn't really

understand

the gospel

we have

to remind

ourselves

to never

give up

but know

that we will

sometimes lose

in this fight

against sin.

It still

rages

that battle

still rages

in our hearts.

Now

as we do

that

we can

sometimes

do this

in a way

that is

really sad

right?

Because we

feel

and know

in our bones

that we've

grieved

a holy God.

We can do

this in a way

that is

kind of

not fun

to be around

to be real

frank

but we are

called to do

so with joy.

David says

this

restore to me

the joy

of your salvation.

We should

execute all

of this

with joy.

We should

be rooting

out sin

knowing that

joy

comes from

the gospel

and that joy

infuses

everything that

we do

even killing

our own sin.

That seems

really weird

but that's

what we're

called to.

The

shorter

catechism

tells us

this

that if

we're

becoming

more

and more

holy

and as

we're

being

renewed

that if

we're

becoming

more and

more like

Christ

that is

the thing

that should

produce

joy in

our hearts

that we

can see

in one

another

and in

ourselves

maybe not

today

maybe not

next week

but after

years

and know

God

is at

work

and that

should

make

us

joyful.

John

Owen

describes

this

process

like a

forest.

The

forest

is

overcome

with

vines

and branches

and as

we walk

and we

root out

sin

and become

more holy

year after

year

those branches

and vines

that cover

the forest

floor

become less

and less

and the

light comes

through

and those

trees

either

remain

but there's

less and

less

undergrowth.

If we

think about

our Christian

lives

are we

rooting out

sin

so that

we can

see

glimpses

of light

maybe not

this week

but maybe

last year

compared to

last year

maybe

in years

after walking

with Christ

are we seeing

more and

more light

are we

reminding

ourselves

that we're

not doing

this on our

own effort

but God

who made

us alive

in Christ

Jesus

by the

power of

his spirit

that raised

Christ from

the dead

lives and

reigns and

works in

us

to do

so.

God

has not

simply left

us alone

for this

task but

he's equipped

us for

it.

That's the

command to

be holy

to root

out sin

not let it

rain

and continuing

saying our

members are

not used

for unrighteousness

and this

weapon

against

and this

war

but weapons

towards

righteousness

and fueled

by the

Holy Spirit

but why

what's the

cause of

that

wait Paul

are you

saying we

have to

do these

things

I thought

you said

that there

are great

promises

that it's

all been

done for

me

yes

look at

verse 14

for sin

will have

no dominion

over you

since you

are not

under law

but under

grace

the law

requires

holiness

we know

that

but man

in his

sin

was powerless

to do

anything

powerless

to fulfill

its demands

we note

that from

experience

living in

this life

but the

game has

changed

now

we are

fueled

by the

Holy Spirit

a Christian

can be

holy

because he's

equipped to

be holy

that God

has given

us

his spirit

this idea

of being

under law

or under

grace

is not

talking about

being under

the Old

Testament

or Moses

or the New

Testament

he's saying

are you

living under

the power

of the law

are you

living under

the reign

of sin

are you

living under

the promises

of the gospel

of grace

it's talking

about the

controlling

force

in our

lives

the dominion

of sin

is the

rule

and reign

either of

law

or of

grace

but we know

as a Christian

that that

rule

being under

the law

has been

broken

and now

it's under

grace

and he can

issue this

command

because

of what

has been

done

on our

behalf

we talked

about the

imperative

of a

command

do this

this is

very much

indicative

this has

been done

for you

that is

the truth

of the

gospel

if we

get those

confused

then we

confuse

the nature

of the

gospel

we don't

do the

gospel

it has

been done

for us

it has

been done

on our

behalf

Christ

has made

you alive

Christ

has moved

you from

under law

to under

grace

the spirit

has opened

your eyes

all those

things have

been done

on our

behalf

and as

we think

about that

in our

fight against

holiness

we have

to remember

that

the great

anglican bishop

j.c.

ryle

who i know

some of us

are working

through his

work said

this

that faith

in christ

is the

root of

all holiness

the first

step towards

a holy life

is to believe

on christ

that until

we believe

we have not

a jot

of holiness

and that

union with

christ

that's an

idea that

we talked

about a

couple weeks

ago

is the

secret

to both

beginning

to be

holy

and continuing

to be

holy

the command

to holiness

begins with

faith in

jesus christ

we can't

forget that

it's not as

if we're told

to go do

this

and we're

left to

our own

devices

we have to

understand

that god

sending his

son in the

form of

man

as god

and paying

the penalty

for our

sin

is the

engine

it is the

thing that

gives us

life

it is the

thing that

allows us

to be

holy

that's why

paul can

say

to the roman

church

be holy

because

christ has

died for

sin

christ has

done that

work for

each and

every one

of us

he's called

us to

faith

because you

could never

do it

you were

never able

to to

save

yourself

you're

never able

to be

holy of

your own

accord

because sin

reigned in

your members

but christian

you have been

set free

from that

free from

the reign

of sin

so we must

put our

hope in christ

because that

is the

beginning

of holiness

now

this morning

and this

week

will we

remember

to not

let sin

reign

for christ

reigns

for us

let's

pray

lord we're

thankful for

the reminder

this morning

that you

reign in the

life of the

christian

father may

you work

faith in

our hearts

so that we

would transform

that we

would be

changed

that we

would grow

in holiness

because of

what you

have done

in our

hearts

that there

is no

dominion

now of

sin in

our lives

but father

we still

struggle

against its

presence

in our

lives

and may

you equip

us for

this task

we pray

in jesus name

amen

let's stand

and sing in

response to

god's

word

do