How to Overcome Sin

That’s a tremendous statement, that final statement. “Sin shall not be your master.” Sin is no longer going to dominate you and control you. There’s a way of deliverance from sin and all its evil consequences. And that way is through our identification with Jesus Christ in death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Now, I’ll go back and briefly point out to you the successive phases of this Romans recipe that I’ve read out to you from God’s divine cookbook, the scriptures.

First of all, we notice at the beginning of that passage the successive points of identification. Verse 1 says,

“We died to sin.”

When did we die to sin? When Jesus died. That was our death. He died. We identify ourselves with His death. Verse 6 says it again,

“Our old self was crucified.”

When did that happen? When Jesus was crucified, our old self, that rebel that lives inside every one of us, inherited from Adam, that old rebel was crucified when Jesus was crucified.

Second, it says,

“We were buried with Him.”

How?

“By baptism into His death.”

So, we not only die with Him, we are buried with Him. And then verses 4 and 5, it says,

“We are also united with Him in resurrection.”

Following Him through death and burial, we move out into His resurrection life. We share His life with Him.

Then the next section, verses 6 through 8, tells us the practical successive consequences of this identification with Jesus in death, burial, and resurrection. Verse 6, it says,

“The body of sin is rendered powerless.”

That old, corrupt, evil nature, which enslaved us, which made us do the wrong thing, even many times against our desire to do the right thing, that body of sin is rendered powerless. It no longer has power. Why? It’s been crucified. It’s been put to death.

The next consequence,

“We are no longer slaves to sin.”

The most terrible slavery in the universe is the slavery to sin. Being compelled by sin to do things you don’t want to do, things which are harmful, things which are destructive, things which will ultimately bring tremendous disasters upon you, both in time and ultimately even in eternity. That’s the slavery of sin. But through this identification with Jesus, we come to the place where we are no longer slaves of sin.

And the next consequence, verse 7 says,

“We are freed from sin.”

More literally, “We are justified.” We’re acquitted. Jesus paid the final penalty for our sin. When that final penalty is paid, there’s no more penalty to pay. There’s no more condemnation. We’re not even guilty. We’re not merely released from the power of sin, we’re released from the guilt of sin. We have a good conscience. We can stand even before the throne of Almighty God without fear. We’re acquitted. We’re justified. Christ’s righteousness has become our righteousness because, first of all,

“He was made sin with our sinfulness.”

And then the final consequence in verse 8,

“We will live with Christ.”

What tremendous words! We will share His eternal resurrection life. “In that He died, He died once to sin.” He can’t die again. Now, He lives forever to God. And we enter into that eternal life that Christ lives toward God. We share His eternal resurrection life.

The third part of this Romans recipe is found in verses 11 through 13. This is the practical how-to. This is where I want you to focus your attention with me now for the remainder of this talk. There are five steps in this how-to, as outlined by Paul. First of all, in verse 11,

“Count yourselves dead.”

Believe it. Reckon yourself dead. The Bible says you’re dead. Believe you’re dead. Talk about yourself as dead. That’s what Paul did. He said,

“I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”

So, he counted himself dead. He saw Christ’s crucifixion and death as his own crucifixion and death. Not merely did he think that way, but as I pointed out yesterday, he talked that way. He reckoned it true. He reckoned himself dead, but also alive. You have to do the same. Count, believe, reckon yourself dead, and also alive.

Second, we have now, two and three, steps two and three are negative.

“Do not let sin reign in your body.”

And the next,

“Do not offer the parts of your body to sin.”

There is a very important negative in this recipe. You must not yield to sin. Before, you couldn’t help yielding to sin. Now, you have the choice. There’s a power in you that’s greater than sin. You’ve been liberated. You’ve been justified. But you still have to exercise your will. When sin comes, when temptation comes, you have to say a firm and final no. No, I will not. I will not yield my body. I will not yield my members. I have been freed. I belong to Jesus. I’m living Jesus’ life. Sin, you have no more power over me. I do not yield to you. Satan, I do not yield to you. And you know one thing I’ve learned by experience about the devil? He knows when you mean it. And when you really say it and mean it, he’ll leave you alone. But if he thinks he’s got any chance of persuading you, just temporarily, to change your mind, he’ll keep on bothering you. This is the way we recultivate our will, which has been weakened and enslaved by sin. It’s by saying no. No to sin, no to Satan. Satan, you can’t have my body. You can’t have the parts of my body.

And then the next two, the last two steps in this recipe, the positive ones, steps four and five,

“Offer yourself to God.”

You can’t remain an independent agent and be free from sin. That’s not a choice that’s valid. You have to choose whether you’ll serve Satan or whether you’ll serve God. Delivered from the service of Satan, you have to offer yourself as a sacrifice to God. In Romans 12, Paul says,

“Present your body a living sacrifice to God.”

Give yourself totally, all you are and all you have, present it to God. Hold nothing back. And then he says,

“Offer the parts of your body to God.”

Yield every part of your body to God for Him to use it as He wants, for His glory.

And then this glorious promise, which is the result, that which the recipe promises to accomplish,

“Sin shall not be your master.”

You will be set free from the shame, the degradation, the agony, all the evils that sin brings. You’ll be delivered from them if you’ll follow this Romans recipe, if you’ll work through your identification with Jesus in death, burial, and resurrection.