Sanctification - Romans 5-6

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. This is the reading of the words of the Lord. And as I said to you, brother, sister, dear soul, my friend within the sound of my voice, I want us to consider this passage and speak about the topic of sanctification.

By no means we're going to be addressing a particular verse, but rather I want to speak to you in a general sense on this topic of this experience of sanctification. So brothers, sisters and friends and dear children, when we're speaking about sanctification, we're speaking about this experience of the Christian, this progressive experience of the Christian in which we become more like the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear children, to be sanctified is something that happens to genuine believers. A person that is not a Christian cannot be sanctified or be made holy. So, children, when by the grace of the Lord you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, when you hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you repent of your sins, and you build your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, from that moment, it does not matter how old you are, if you're 5 or if you're 10 or whatever your age is, children, In that moment, the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ starts to work in you in such a way that you receive this promise that by the end of your life, it does not matter how many days or years the Lord has given you, you are going to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you're disobedient to your parents, if you lie to your parents, and there's nothing that you can do about that. If you are burdened or offended by your parents and the commands of your parents, and sometimes you do the things that you're not supposed to do. It is only the Lord Jesus Christ, children, the one that can liberate you. from the bondage of sin, by trusting in Him and putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you will start with this process of sanctification, of conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ.

A process in which every single genuine believer is. holiness, sanctification is a characteristic of being genuinely saved. There is no such a thing as a genuine believer who is not in a process of sanctification. There's no such a thing as a person who professes to be in Christ, that when they look back to their lives, their lives continue to be characterized by a bondage to sin or by serving sin in the ways they were serving them before. There's freedom in the life of the Christian and that freedom is what we call sanctification.

Now, brother and sister, the goal of sanctification is the person of Jesus Christ. Sanctification is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Sanctification is not to become a better you according to your own standards. Sanctification is not defining some religious standard of what I want to be and the things that I want to leave behind. And then you try to put yourself in such a mindset in which you're going to try just to tick those things that you have defined for yourself and then calling that Christ-likeness or sanctification.

The goal of sanctification is the person of Jesus Christ, not conformity to your own standard of what you want to be. On top of that, sanctification is not conformity to the standard of the people of the church that you attend. To be sanctified is not to develop the type of life that somehow agrees with the type of life of the church members of the church that I attend or that I belong to. So that I try to conform myself to them in the way that they dress, in the way that they speak, in the way that they do things, so that I will fit into that religious environment. That is not sanctification.

The goal of sanctification is not what you have in your mind. The goal of sanctification is not the standard of Christianity. The standard of sanctification is not your brother or sister that is seated next to you. The goal of sanctification is the Lord Jesus Christ, to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And how are you going to be conformed to someone that you do not know?

See, if we want to be sanctified, if we want to be made holy, if we want to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, then we need to know this Lord Jesus Christ. Not only with a prayer that I prayed 20 or 25 years ago, or not with a religious commitment in which I engaged 10 or 15 years ago, but rather with genuine fellowship and communion with the person of Jesus Christ. Sanctification has as its goal the person of Jesus Christ. Not the statements that we find in the Bible that describe Jesus Christ. Not the doctrines that we find in the Bible that describe the person of Jesus Christ.

Not the theology that is put together and describes the person of Jesus Christ. But rather, the person, Jesus Christ. A person can only be sanctified, a person can only grow in holiness when that person is becoming like Jesus Christ in the way that he thought, in the way that he spoke, in the way that he felt, in the way that he preached, in the way that related to others, in the way that he was him. That requires that all of those genuine believers who have been visited by the Holy Spirit will have in them the seat of God, as the Apostle John says in 1 John chapter 3, verse 9 and 10. And that seat will genuinely and organically move them to depend upon the Lord Jesus Christ and to desire to be like Him.

Sanctification is found in the decree of the Lord. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, says the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1, verse 3 and onwards. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, even as He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself. We were chosen for the purpose of holiness.

The Apostle Paul puts it in other words that those whom he foreknew he has predestined to Be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the firstborn among many brothers. It is of such importance, brother and sister, that independently of all religious things that we do, that all religious activities that we engage into, that all things that we want to do as Christians, as members of the church, or as just simply part of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, that when we look back in our days, that when we take the time to consider our pilgrimage on this world, and we look back to whatever that is, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, or 50 years, whatever time that we have been walking with the Lord, that what we see is not that we are a better person. It's not that we're a better self. It's not that now the people around me consider me to be a good person. But rather, when I look into my mind and into my heart, I can see Jesus Christ, the one with whom I have been communing for all of these years that I have professed to be a Christian.

We are to be very careful, brothers and sisters, to be in love with a religious personality that makes us and separates us in such a way from the rest of the world, that feeds our ego and makes us feel just as special and different to the rest, and to derive satisfaction from those things. Because moral people who are walking without Christ will end up in hell in the same way that the person who is openly wicked and unrighteous. Religious people who give themselves and please themselves with behaviors and words will end up in hell in the same way that unrighteous, open, black people that are doing black things will be in hell. So, brother and dear sister, The self-examination process is a duty of the Christian, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to consider our ways, as the prophet says, to consider our ways to see if we are walking, not in ways of religion, but walking in the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to strive, he says, the author of Hebrews, remember in Hebrews chapter 10, we are to strive to have peace with all men and to have holiness without which No one shall see the Lord.

We are to diligently seek to be holy, to be like the Lord Jesus Christ, that we are not going to be found on that day receiving the words from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ, Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, ye doers of iniquity. And my dear brother, my dear sister, sanctification is, from all the doctrines of salvation, the one that is closer to the experience of the Christian. Our life is experienced in our different degrees of sanctification. When we speak about justification, for instance, the fact that we have been forgiven, this is a legal statement that exists outside of us that we do not experience. But when it comes to...

sanctification, to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ, this is what abides in the heart of the Christian, in the experience of the Christian. And because of the way in which we have been conceived that is in sin, and still the remaining sin that is in us, the experience of the Christian at times is going to be confused and difficult to discern as we progress to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the Apostle was facing with the Romans, and this is what the Apostle was facing with the Galatians. That Christians may tend sometimes to be confused about what their lives is supposed to be now that they have been forgiven. Here in chapter 6, we have two questions that point us to some of the issues that Christians may experience.

If you have your Bible there in verse 1, it says, What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. Of course, we know that. But the important thing here, brother and sister, is the Apostle Paul seeing the need to address this for the church.

He says, are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? The Apostle knew that genuine Christians are going to be confused at times to think that just because they have been forgiven, now they can live lives of sin and lives of unrighteousness. Being not only enough to ask that question in verse number one, he asked that question once again in verse 15. It says, "...what then?

Are we to sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? Brother, sister, many times in our walking with the Lord we are going to be tempted to be confused to discern what is righteous and holy living." And at times, our flesh and the things that we have in our minds are going to trick us into believing that just because we have been forgiven, we can give ourselves into certain types of lives. And the problem that the apostle was facing here, or at least in his mind, trying to address to the Romans in chapter 6 and chapter 7, is that because of the abundance of grace that Christians have received, they might be tempted to believe that they can be like the world, that they can be living lives like the rest of the people, that they might continue in sin so that the grace may abound. This is one extreme of the problem.

But with the Galatians, he was addressing the other extreme of that problem. If you remember and quickly go to Galatians chapter 3 or 5, any of those will do, but let us go to Galatians chapter 3. The apostle was facing the other extreme that Christians may face. And that is that they are going to now try to live their lives in righteousness that is not the righteousness of Christ, but that is the righteousness of their own works, that their own deeds. In other words, to be trying to live lives according to their own strength.

Chapter 3 of Galatians, it says, "...so foolish, Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit?

Are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, and if indeed it was in vain, Does He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by the works of the law or by hearing with faith, just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness?" Now, brother and sister, we will be very silly and very prideful, I think is the word, very prideful to believe that these experiences are only experiences that the saints in the first century could experience. By virtue of the weakness of our faith, we will find ourselves at times trying to live lives in the abundance of grace, sometimes mingling so much with the things of this world in our own flesh, almost being hardened to the convicting power of the Spirit and saying, Grace, I have been forgiven, I have been justified. I'm not paying attention, hardening our ears to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit on this side.

Or at times, in the flesh also, living or lacking our own strength, we may find ourselves defining set and rules of righteousness from which we derive Religious and spiritual satisfaction, changing the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that loved us and saved us, initially giving us His Spirit and trying to be perfected in our own strength. And this is related to sanctification. The one who sees the abundance of grace and wants to live their lives in the way that they live, they're going to end up in sin. And the one that now tries to define ways of righteousness, or their own standards, and their own laws, and doing things in their own strength, are also going to end up in sin. Not growing in Christlikeness.

Not growing in conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the experience of sanctification. An experienced brother and sister that either is going to bring joy, freedom and power and, let me add, rest to the soul of the Christian, or on the other side is going to bring bondage and spiritual depression and suffering and lack of joy. And yes, that is possible to face for Christians. 2 Peter chapter 1 speaks about having forgotten that we were cleansed from our former sins.

And brother and sister, returning to Romans chapter 6, let me just simply tell you here something that I think sometimes as reformed people we might make a big mistake. We are to acknowledge that our brothers and sisters can fail in such a way either in the abundance of grace or either in the way of the Galatians, and not be so quick to say to a brother or sister who finds themselves in that situation, well, you were never safe to start with, and that's why you find yourself in that particular situation. Because many times as Reformed people, as Calvinistic people, we try to define the sins of a person just by simply saying, well, that person was not safe to start with. So that's why they ended up living that type of life. And removing ourselves from the duty of spiritually restoring our brother and sister who needs to be helped and who needs to be supported.

Who needs to be looked after. Who needs to be admonished. Who needs to be taught. Who needs to be led. Who needs to be guided.

Brother and sister, our heart with a professing person that has said that they are Christians, that they are in the Lord, is not to dismiss them as a person who was not a Christian to initiate or to start with. They never actually were genuine believers. And that's why they ended up doing the things that they ended up doing. But rather, as the Apostle will say in Galatians chapter 6, if you think that you're spiritual, then just be careful, but restore the person who has fallen. Sanctification is important not only for the individual, namely yourself, brother and sister, but for the life of the church.

Here we have people gathered together as professing Christians. In your vessels, in your hearts, there's either freedom and joy with the fact that you are a Christian, and that freedom and that joy has brought you to victory over sin, sins that you were enslaved to as an unbeliever and even as you were growing in your faith. But there might be also here with the faces that we have and the clothing that we have on this Sunday, brothers and sisters whose lives now at this very time, this very hour, are characterized because they have lack of joy, lack of freedom, lack of peace. And even though they have been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, they are not resting in Him. Why?

Because perhaps of many reasons, but sin is, of course, one of them. We need to learn, brother and sister, to know how we relate to sin. Because salvation, let me tell you, brother and sister and children, is as much a new relationship with God as it is a new relationship with sin. And we are to understand those things. And for that reason, let me just point you to the first thing that I want to show you from Romans chapter 5 verse 12 specifically.

If the Christian is going to understand the experience of sanctification, brother, sister, and children. If you are going to understand the experience of sanctification that is a genuine qualifier of the Christian, you are to understand the problem that we are dealing with. You are to understand the problem that we are trying to solve, at least dealing with, because we're not able to solve it, the Lord Jesus Christ that. But you are to understand it. And brother and sister, let me tell you, it is incredible how you can get many things wrong from the New Testament if you don't understand this, which I have explained now a multiple amount of times when it comes to the nature of sin.

Pay attention there in Romans chapter 5, verse 12. This is the problem in sanctification. Once again, brother and sister, we are going to be sanctified. We're going to be made more like the Lord Jesus Christ insofar as we learn how we relate as Christians to sin. Our relationship to the Lord is as much defined by this existing relationship to the Lord as it is with our relationship to sin.

Many of the dark and difficult moments of the Christian happen because either a misunderstanding of the nature of sin, and second, because of that misunderstanding, a lack of fighting that sin in the proper way. There are three things, as I have said before in verse 12 of Romans chapter 5. Three important things that we need to understand about sin, brethren. I don't know if this is what you do with your life as a Christian, but sometimes I try to think to myself about those main things that I have learned from the scriptures that define my theology and that define the way that I understand the scriptures. The reason why I do that is because by identifying those pillars of my theology, I'm able to make sure that those pillars are biblical and I'm able to question them.

There's nothing worse than having a person, a man or a woman, that has a lot of information, but are not able to understand what that information is rooted or based upon, the foundations of knowledge. This one that I'm going to mention here is perhaps one of the top five distinctions in the scriptures that define, at least to me, the understanding of the New Testament. If someone gets this wrong, there's going to be a lot of confusion, not only in theology and doctrine in the New Testament, but more importantly, in the experience of the Christian life. Now, brothers and sisters, distinctions are not wrong. I'm going to give you the distinctions of sin.

Distinctions are not wrong. I'm not saying that, or perhaps do not think that distinction is taking something and breaking and dividing it into categories. Well, the Bible does not divide things into categories. That's many times the problem that people have with distinctions. That they say, well, the Bible does not divide that in those categories.

When I'm talking about distinctions here of what I'm going to present to you, I'm not speaking about dividing something into parts, but rather just seeing the same thing that the Bible teaches from different perspectives, that if you have those perspectives clear in your mind, then you will be able to understand not only the doctrine of the Scriptures, but also your experience as a Christian. Let me just give you a quick example before I move on to that, just for the sake of my conscience, and then we get back into Romans chapter 5, verse 12. Pay attention to verse 9. of Romans chapter 5. Pay attention to that verse.

It says, "...since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God." Here, the apostle is making one of those distinctions that I'm referring to. Salvation happens only once. Salvation happens when you have faith.

Once you have faith, you're justified and you're saved once for all. There's nothing to do. You're saved. But here, the apostle does have a distinction of salvation in his mind. He says, "...

since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. He's speaking of a future salvation from the wrath of God. And according to my understanding here, the apostle has in mind the eschatological wrath that will come upon the world. So then Christians will be saved from that judgment of that wrath that is going to come. upon the world.

I'm not speaking about... don't think about ruptures of any of that, please. I'm just simply speaking about the wrath of God that will come. So here the apostle has a distinction in his mind which the apostle has, brother and sister. I mean, you know, so much in the book of Romans that My desire is that we will see this in the mind of the Apostle.

The Apostle has this important decision going in chapters 6, 7, and 8, that if we understand the brethren, we will understand the joy and the freedom of what it is to be a Christian. Let me now go back to verse 12. These are the three categories that I have mentioned now many times, and I'm tempted to ask you what they are, but I don't want, because perhaps you're not going to give the answer, and I don't want not to receive the answer from those things that I have mentioned two or three times in the past. Brother and sister, three important things that you need to understand, distinctions of sin that will help us understand the doctrine of the New Testament and the experience of the Christian. The first one is the presence of sin.

Remember? The presence of sin. Now I call that the cosmic presence of sin. That is the first one, the first P, the presence of sin. Second, the power of sin.

Now I call this the reigning power of sin. So we have the presence of sin, the power of sin, and finally, the penalty of sin. By understanding these three distinctions which the apostle has in mind, You will be able to understand not only the glory of the gospel, but also the experience of the Christian on a daily basis. And you're able going to understand the problem of the Romans and the problems of the Galatians. The presence of sin, the power of sin and the penalty of sin.

We have those three in verse 12. When I say the presence is the fact that sin is now in the world. And I call that the cosmic presence because the sin is present in the cosmos, in the whole world, we're told. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through all sin, and so death is spread to all men because of sin. Sin has come into the world.

This is the presence of sin, the cosmic presence of sin. This means, brother and sister, that there is no created place in which sin is not present. There is no created category in which sin is not present. Sin has entered into the world. And when I'm speaking about created or the world, I'm referring to the world that is under the headship of Adam, right?

Just to make distinctions there. So this is the presence into the world. Second, we can see the power of sin. And the power of sin, my dear brother and sister, is a power to subdue. And it's a power to kill.

We have there in verse 12, "...just as sin came into the world through one man, and death spread to sin, so death spread to all men because of old sin." So sin is not only present in the world, but sin has the power to make people sin and to make them slaves of sin. This is the reigning power of sin upon people that make them sin. And of course, we also have the penalty of sin.

That is more clearly stated, not so much in 5.12, but rather in 6.23. That is the penalty of sin. That is the result of sin.

That is the consequences of sin. In verse 23, we have, "...the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." This is the penalty of sin. What is the penalty of sin?

Death. Now, brother, sister, If you do not understand sin from those three categories, you're going to have a lot of issues and a lot of difficulties understanding the Apostle Paul and understanding your Christian experience. Sin is present in the world and is going to be present until the end. Only fire and final judgment will remove the presence of sin from the world. People, when they are born in Adam, they are under the reigning power of sin, and there's absolutely nothing that they can do to remove themselves from the reigning power of sin.

This is like Pharaoh and Israel. This is sin with the power, not only present, but also having the power to make them do what sin does, and that is to sin. So people are under the bondage of sin. And because people sin in the presence and power of sin, they receive the due of sin, and that is death, that is penalty. Understanding those categories is important, not only to understand the nature, brother and sister, of those who are born in Adam, but also to understand the experience of the Christian.

The apostle is going to... speak about these three categories in chapter 6, 7 and 8, primarily speaking about the power of sin and the penalty of sin in chapter 6 and 7. Pay attention how the apostle now will mention this, comparing Adam and Jesus Christ in verse 18. Pay attention to this. Go to verse 18.

Now the apostle has in mind, and if you don't understand those categories, you will not be able to understand what he says in chapter 6. If you pay attention there, let me now show you the power and the penalty. It says in verse 18, Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, So one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. The category that the Apostle has in mind in verse 18 is the penalty of sin. Because the penalty of sin is that which leads men to condemnation or to death.

The wages of sin is death. The result, the penalty of sin is death. And the Lord Jesus Christ, when He gave us eternal life, when He forgave us, Instead of having condemnation being the penalty of sin, the Lord has changed that to justification. And that's why the apostle has there in verse 18, "...as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men."

In verse 19, now the apostle is going to speak not so much about the penalty of sin, but now he's going to speak about the experience of what that sin does in the person. Pay attention in verse 19. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. will be made righteous, when he says in chapter 5, verse 1, that we have been justified already by faith and we have peace with God, shall be made righteous. When he has said that we are already righteous in chapter 5, when he has already said that we are justified already, that we are forgiven already, is the apostle contradicting himself?

No, he's speaking from different perspectives. The justification perspective is the penalty of sin. Sanctification is from the power of sin perspective. And the promise that we have through the apostle is that those who have been justified, brother and sister, shall be made righteous. They will be sanctified.

They will receive the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the first important thing that we are to note here is that the means of sanctification is not coming to church. Oh, let me change that. The ultimate means or the ultimate cause of your sanctification is not what you do. but it is what Christ Jesus has already done.

And that's why sanctification is a qualifier of a genuine believer. Sanctification, yes, it is accomplished by the things that you do. You are to come to church, you are to pray, you are to fast, you are to read the Scriptures, you are to meditate upon the Scriptures. But sanctification is ultimately accomplished upon the cross, just as justification has already been accomplished. That's why we have in verse 19, that through the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, the many will be made righteous.

Brother and sister, this is the glorious promise that the Christian has. That it does not matter if I'm strong or not. It does not matter if I actually understand what the Colombian is saying or I don't. Just by virtue of what the Lord Jesus Christ did upon the cross, and if that has been genuinely applied to your soul, you have the promise that the many will be made righteous. That is that you have the promise that whatever sin you were enslaved to in your previous life, or even whatever sin you're still enslaved to, the Lord has promised that you will be made righteous.

And brother and sister, how hardened a heart should be, how hardened a conscience should be, not to rejoice in the fact and in the hope that you can overcome sin. How hardened should we be and taken by the distractions of the world should we be if we do not rejoice in the fact that we have this promise given to the Christian, that you shall be made righteous, that if you are a slave to putting your eyes in things that you're not supposed to, that if you're a slave or you were enslaved to say things that you were not supposed to say, or if you were enslaved just to love yourself and not to love others, if you were enslaved to be prideful and to put yourself in a pedestal over everyone else, that in the cross, what was accomplished is a promise for your future righteousness, namely the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. and brother and sister, that you may not be tempted just to jump into your mind and say, yes, but that only happens when we are glorified. Yes, but that only happens when the Lord takes us and we are conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because this is absolutely contrary to what the apostle says in Romans chapter 6.

The apostle says that the hope of the Christian is, brethren, that we can be made righteous in this present life, and that we will not be living according to our own sins. And that happened, and that was accomplished upon the cross by the Lord Jesus Christ. How does that happen? Perhaps the two most important things that I want to share with you today. How does that happen?

The first one is called freedom, and the second one is change of kingdom. Freedom and change of kingdom. Pay attention in verse 1, brother and sister. It says, "...what shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin?" The grace may abound by no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? And we're not even going to continue reading there, but pay attention to the assumption of the apostle in relation to the life of the Christian. What is the assumption of the apostle in verse 2?

How can we who died to sin still live in it? The Apostle does not say, how can we who are dying to sin still live in it? The Apostle does not say, how can we who will die to sin still live in it? But rather, the Apostle puts it in a very clear past of something that happened in the past, saying that the genuine Christian has already died to sin. that the genuine believer, by virtue of receiving the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ and being genuinely converted, the Christian has already died to sin.

Now, how has the Christian already died to sin? Well, if you don't understand the presence, the power and the penalty of sin here is when you're going to be confused. Because the way that the Christian has already died to sin is with the second word, kingdom. The Christian has been taken from the kingdom of death and placed under the kingdom of grace." Pay attention to the words that the Apostle uses many times speaking of reigning and about dominion and about kingdoms.

Pay attention to verse 17. It says in chapter 5, "...for if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through one man, through the disobedience of Adam, death was reigning above all men, If you continue to read, it says, "...much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the man Jesus Christ." If you go and jump to verse 21, we still have the language of reigning and kingdom and dominion.

It says in verse 21, "...so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And even if you go to verse 6, the apostle continues to have in mind this language of dominion and kingdom and reigning. It says in chapter 6, verse 6, "...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."

Sin was reigning and we were enslaved to sin. It says in verse 9 of the same chapter, We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over Him. And hence, because of this language of kingdom and dominion, the apostle gives the instruction in verse 12 saying, Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Brother and sister, the person who is not in Jesus Christ is under the dominion and the reigning power of death and sin, and there's absolutely nothing that that person can do.

Death and sin is the master of that person. When a person has been genuinely visited by the grace of the Lord, that person is transferred from the reign of death and sin into the reign of grace that is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And now this person has a different master. And the master is God Himself. This person is still a servant, this person is still a slave, but now the master is different.

The master was Satan and sin and death, and now the master is the Lord Jesus Christ, grace itself, and brother and sister. The Christian now has freedom from the dominating power of that sin, And by virtue of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is empowered to live lives of righteousness. And hence, the apostle can call and gives us the commandment in verse 12, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies. Why would the apostle call us to not let sin reign in your mortal bodies if we have died to sin? Why would the apostle call sense in verse 12 not to let something that is death to still operate in us that are not under the dominion of that?

How are we going to understand the apostle that tells us very clearly in verse 2 and in verse 6, that the body of sin has been brought to nothing, and that Christians have died in the past to sin, now calls us in the present and gives us the instruction that we are not to let that something that is nothing, and to let that nothing that is supposed to be death, and to let that something that we are not supposed to be under, not to reign in our lives. Well, brother and sister, if you understand the presence, the power, and the penalty of sin, then you will understand. Because sin before was like this giant that had a sword that was dominating over you, and you were always under this monster giant when you were not a Christian. And this giant was getting you to do absolutely everything that sin does and death does. And there was absolutely no power for you to liberate yourself from the dominating power of this giant that had this sword that, by the way, is the law, and that was killing you with the law.

But now that grace has arrived, This giant that was powerful and had the sword of the law in its hand and was killing you, now this giant has become a little baby that does not have the power to subdue you anymore. And now you are powerful and now the sword that sin had, now you have it in your hand and you have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to subdue this sin. But if you now that live in the presence of this little child that was seen, if you allow yourself to debilitate yourself or to be weak in such a way that you don't put your eyes in Christ, that you leave the sword of the Word of the Lord and you start just to grow smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller, the presence of that little baby is still there. And even though it does not have dominating power over you, it can subdue you to do whatever they want. This is the freedom that Christ has given us and the glorious transformation that He has given us.

That in Christ Jesus, by virtue of the Spirit of God, we can and we have the Spirit of Christ in us that moves us not to allow the sin that is still present, that is still there, not to reign over us. So brother and sister, when a Christian who has this reality of the Spirit of Christ in them, when a Christian is deviated and is walking in ways of unrighteousness, you know what that means? That means that they have moved themselves in such a position that now they are so small, that the sin that did not have a dominating power over them anymore, now has become so powerful that now it is making them do according to their passions of sin. And this is not the promise that the Christian has received in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the power, and not only the power, but the freedom, and more than the freedom, the ability in the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ by setting our minds in the Lord Jesus Christ to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ and to have victory over sin.

That's why the Apostle, not only to the Romans, but also to the Galatians, constantly is telling them they are to live lives in the Holy Spirit. Because when you live lives in the flesh, it is by giving them the sin, the opportunity to take advantage that is still their present, to do whatever it wants with your soul. This is the whole argument of the Apostle in Galatians chapter 5. If you quickly go there, because the Apostle mentions exactly the same there. Go there, please, to Galatians chapter 5.

And this is what the Apostle has in mind in Galatians chapter 5. It says in verse 16, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But now pay attention to the conditional that the Apostle had already given as a statement in Romans.

It says, But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Remember in Romans chapter 6, you are not under the law, you are under grace. Yes, but if you are led by the Spirit, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. That is if you keep yourself under the reign of grace. That is if you abide yourself in the person of Christ.

That is if you continue to walk in the Spirit, and you keep yourself under the dominating, glorious power of Christ that moves you to live your life. But if you fall from grace, as I think is the experience of the Galatians in Galatians chapter 5, but if you fall from this experience of the reigning power of grace, and then you move on to the things of the... flesh, now this little baby that did not have power anymore to subdue you, this little baby that did not have the ability to make you sin anymore, now you have become so small and debilitated, which is a Spanish word that I hope that exists in English, but you have weakened yourself so much. Then now you are making these that does not have power anymore to rule over you once again. And you have severed from Christ, the apostle says in Galatians chapter 5.

You have fallen from grace. Now that which you started by the Spirit, now you want to bring it to completion by the law, by the strength of your flesh, by the things of the flesh. Because now you are not keeping yourself under the Spirit. You're not keeping yourself under Christ. You're not keeping yourself being led by the Spirit and moved by the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

Now, of course, this is not something that you do in and of yourself. It's the Spirit himself that sustains you and keeps you in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. But brother and sister, as we read through the New Testament, We are called very clearly to abide in Christ, to remain in Christ, to keep our minds in the Lord Jesus Christ, to keep our vessels. Pay attention to 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 4, please. Come there with me very quickly and we'll finish with this.

1 Thessalonians, Chapter 4. which is perhaps one of the best examples of sanctification that the Apostle calls to the churches. It says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Finally then, brethren, or brothers and sisters, in chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please God, Just as you're doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification."

And usually people just cut the verse there. And that this is the will of God, your sanctification. But it's something very specific that the apostle says. That you abstain from sexual immorality. That each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor.

Yes, we depend from the spiritual realm, but the instruction of the New Testament is very clear. That we abide in Christ. That we keep ourselves in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in verse 4, that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor. Not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God, that no one transgresses and wrongs his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.

For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not men, but God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you." Brother and sister, why am I saying all of these things that perhaps are even complicated and perhaps will be forgotten in the year? Brother, sister, my dear friend, children that desire to be saved and receive the gospel of Christ, brother and sister, everything that we do, is meaningless if when you walk through that door, you have in your heart blackness and rubbish that you are bringing from your secret sin that you commit with your eyes, with your mouth in the secret place. Absolutely every word that I utter from this pulpit, if it's clear or not, is meaningless if what it is inside of my heart, my mind, my eyes is darkness and is rubbish and is unrighteousness.

Christianity is not established by having just a nice building and a system of things so that they work properly. Christianity is the process of Christ-likeness really happening in each one of those who profess to be in Christ. And that requires that we will take up our crosses and that we will follow the Lord Jesus Christ dying to self. Because even though we have died to the power of sin, the Apostle calls us many times to mortify our sin and to come to the Lord Jesus Christ and to bear fruits of righteousness in Him for the glory of the Father. Brother and sister, if there's any hint or seed of sexual immorality in your life, if there's absolutely anything inside of you, in your mind, in your eyes, in your heart, that you are not dealing with, if you're not keeping your vessel with honorable use before the Lord, then brother and sister, you are going to walk a path of severing yourself from the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hardening your heart in such a way that at some point, not even the convicting power of the Holy Spirit will be enough to bring you back, but then you will fall and be severed and separated from Christ. This is what the Apostle says in Galatians chapter 5, not my words, not my theology. If you continue to walk in ways of darkness, in secret ways, The warning is very clear, not only from the mouth of the apostle, but from the mouth of all the writers of the New Testament. Brother, my dear sister, my dear brother, my dear sister, your spiritual life is the most important matter in life. Your union with Christ, your experience with Christ, your becoming like Christ is the most important duty of your life.

Remember, sanctification is not you becoming like you want to be. Sanctification is not becoming like the rest of the church. Sanctification is not becoming like the standard of conservative, reformed, Calvinistic churches. Sanctification is not becoming like the Puritans. Sanctification is not becoming like the person described in the book.

Sanctification is becoming like the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what? The Lord Jesus Christ was pure and the Lord Jesus Christ was always loving. And the promise that we have been given is that when He died upon the cross, brother and sister, even you did not exist. You did not exist, but when He died upon the cross, He did not only purchase your forgiveness, but also the promise, as it says in Romans chapter 6, verse 14, sin will have no dominion over you.

for you are not under the law, but you are under grace." Glorious promise that you shall be made righteous. You know what that means? That when a Christian genuinely, by virtue of the Spirit of God in them, genuinely desires to kill sin, when they genuinely want to become like the Lord Jesus Christ, The Lord is not going to oppose that. The Lord is going to provide the grace that is necessary for us to have victory over sin, to have victory over lack of love, to have victory over pride, to have victory over loving ourselves above others, to have victory over sexual immorality, to have victory over lack of faith.

The promise is given upon the cross that those that come to Him will have that promise of being made righteous like the Lord Jesus Christ. And take heed, as the author of Hebrews says, take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief departing from the living God. Take heed! Lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, departing, removing yourself from the living God that is the fountain of absolutely everything that we need. He is the only one, brother and sister, that can move us and take us to that place of freedom, joy and rest.

Brethren, you know what? This is possible. It is possible for us to abound in love. It is possible for us to abound in righteousness. It is possible for the Christians to abound in such a unity that is not the unity that is of the flesh, but of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is possible for us to take the promise of the Lord Jesus and to actually ask by faith that He will strengthen us to be pure, to be holy as He is holy, because He has already accomplished that upon the cross. Let us pray.