Discipleship 101

By Bobby Blakey on February 19, 2023

Romans 6:12-14

AUDIO

Discipleship 101

By Bobby Blakey on February 19, 2023

Romans 6:12-14

I wonder what would happen if somebody walked up to you after this service, when we get done here today, somebody you don't really know. Maybe you've seen him here before, maybe even know him well, but they walk up to you, and they say, “hey, I just recently got saved. I just recently became a Christian. I'm a new disciple. Will you teach me what it means to be a disciple?” Somebody walked up to you, and they said that, what would you say to them? What would you say? Well, this is discipleship 101; this is what you're going to now do. As a believer in Jesus, this is how I'm living my life. I'm happy to pass it on to you, if a new Christian… and let's just take a moment to praise the Lord. We’ve got some new Christians walking around here at Compass Bible Church, running, we’ve got people, I think, even at this service, saved this year in 2023, everybody, and I'm praying that we're going to see many more new disciples in the years to come. And that's why we're building a bigger auditorium over here. So, this hopefully isn't a hypothetical situation. Hopefully, if you keep going to church here, somebody is going to come up to you and they say, I see you here. I'm a new Christian, how am I supposed to now live? Will you teach me how to be a new disciple of Jesus? Are you ready to say something to them? And what you would say to them is what you're doing yourself. I want to share with you Discipleship 101, what I would teach that person if they came and asked me that question, and it's in Romans 6: 12-14. So, I want to invite everybody, let's open our Bible, because, hey, maybe you're a new Christian, and you need to know this, maybe you've been a Christian for a while, you need to be reminded about this. And you need to be equipped to pass this on to somebody else because there is now an expectation on all of our lives as disciples of Jesus. And we need to have it clear in our own hearts. And then we need to be ready to share it with somebody else. So, we're going to study together right now, Romans 6:12-14. And out of respect for God's word, I'm going to ask if we would all stand up for the reading of Scripture. If you're watching this in overflow or online, and wherever you are, let's stand up. This is just three verses, is all we're going to be able to handle here together today. This is Romans 6:12-14, please follow along as I read.
“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.”
That's the reading of God's Word. Go ahead and have your seat. And if you've got a handout, you can take some notes with us. You could see those verses right there on your handout. But we've been going through Romans 6, and we've learned some things at this point. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? “By no means!” We've learned that we're not supposed to continue in sin because we're going to continue in our new relationship with Jesus. And, in fact, we've learned a way to think about ourselves so far. I don't think of myself as just keep living my old life; I have been placed into Christ. When the gospel happened, it didn't just happen with Jesus 2000 years ago. The Gospel has now happened to me. I've been placed into Christ; therefore, I've died with Jesus, I'm now dead to sin. And just as Jesus rose from the dead, I now walk in newness of life. So, I now have learned a way to think about myself, that I see myself as dead to sin and alive to God. And it's all because of my union with Christ, that I am in Christ Jesus, I am a new creation. So, we've learned a way to think because of who we are in Christ. Well, now if you pick it up with me here in Romans 6:12, it's going to tell you what to do. It says, a sermon with some homework, everybody, because this isn't just something you can know or a way to go, and think there are things that you and I are told to do in these three verses. Some things we're told not to do, and some things we are told to do. So, these are not indicative that just tell us who we are in Christ. These are imperatives that command us what we should go and do in Christ and look what it says in Romans 6:12. It says, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body.” Okay, so you now need to change the way that you think about sin; sin no longer reigns over you. And this is picking up a thought.
Go back to Romans 5:21. This was kind of the thought that launched us into Romans chapter 6. Remember that in Adam, we all sinned, and in Adam, we all die. And so, it says here in Romans 5:21, “so that as sin reigned in death,” and now it talks about grace reigning, and we'll get to that more later. But there was a time where sin did reign in all of our lives. Sin had some level of power and authority over us. We were slaves to sin. But now that we are in Christ, we have been declared righteous by God, we've been set free from sin, we're dead to sin. And so, sin doesn't need to reign over you anymore. That's what this is saying. Don't let sin reign over you. In fact, go back to Romans chapter 6. Look at Romans 16:14. This isn't a command, this is just telling you how it's going to be. Sin will have no dominion over you. Sin has no power or authority over you now because you're now in Christ. So, the whole way that you now have been crucified with Christ, and it's no longer you who live but Christ now lives in you, you should really change the way you think about sin. Sin should reign, sin should have dominion.
If you're taking notes on that handout, let's get it down like this for point number one: Stop letting sin tell you what to do. Stop letting sin tell you what to do. If sin is trying to say, if your body is trying to say, if your own temptations are rising up, and they're trying to say, you need to do this because you feel like it, or you need to do this because that's just the way you are, you can now stop listening to sin; you don't have to obey it. Sin doesn't call the shots; you don't need to let sin be the boss of your life. That's what it's saying here. And this is a command for you to now change the way you think about sin. Stop listening to it specifically. Look back at Romans 6:12. It says that sin doesn't reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions that were there in the Greek epithymíes, desires, you're going to have these temptations that rise up and your body's going to say, this will feel good, or you're going to be like, well, this is what I've always done before and tough times to make myself kind of cope or to get through. And so, you're going to have these desires rising up within you. And when those desires rise up within you, you don't have to have to let even your own body tell you what to do. You don't have to let sin be the boss of you. You can get away from all of that. In fact, these words here are very interesting. Like if you look at Romans 6:12, where it says, “Let not sin therefore reign.” That's kind of an interesting way to say it. Like, who really reigns? It's like saying, don’t let sin be your king, or in Romans 6:14, where it says, “sin will have no dominion over you.” The way you could translate that there is like, don't let sin be lord over you; sin is not able to lord it over you anymore. So, there's, I think the words here where sin reigns as king, or sin is the boss, as Lord, like no! If you're a believer, if you know Jesus, you're trusting that Jesus, he didn't just die for your sin. He didn't just rise again. Jesus has been exalted to the name that is above every name. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Jesus is going to come back, he's going to be king, he's going to reign in the kingdom, because Jesus Christ is the Lord of heaven and earth. Can I get an Amen from anybody on this?
So if you're still acting like sin is your boss, what you’ve got to realize is, what are you saying about Jesus? Is Jesus the King of all kings? Is Jesus the Lord of all lords? Then stop letting sin try to be your king, or your Lord. Now I understand sin is real temptation, is a struggle for all of us. This is something that we can all relate to. But you got to be careful that you don't think sin is so powerful, you're actually putting sin in the place that Jesus should have in your life. There is only one Lord of heaven and earth, there is only one who has dominion and reigns, and his name is Jesus Christ. And if you believe in him, you're now living to obey Jesus, not your own body. How about that? So, you’ve got to be, I understand sin is intense, it's real. I understand. If we don't apply what we learned today, we're going to end up in sin. Yeah, be careful that you're not giving sin more power in your life than it really has. Jesus is the one who calls the shots in your life now. And so, stop letting sin tell you what to do because Jesus, he's telling you what to do. And Jesus is a way better master for your life than sin ever was. Sin promised you life, and all it did was take life from you. Sin acted like it was going to be a good time, and it didn't let you know that it came to steal. And he came to take and he came to destroy and to kill you. Jesus came. He laid down his life for you. He promises now you can have eternal life through faith in him. And Jesus actually gives you life. He gives it to you abundantly. Jesus gives you love, joy, peace, all that you need for your soul, to overflow with the goodness of God, to celebrate his grace, all that you need Jesus, he delivers on his promises. All sin ever did was lie to you, anyways. And so why are you listening to those lies when you've got a real king, a real Lord, someone who actually cares for his people and wants them to prosper and be blessed? You should be listening to Jesus in your life
Go to 1 John 3:4 and look how it says it's one way or the other. We've already learned this in Romans 6, you're either going to continue in sin, or you're going to continue in a relationship with Jesus. Those are the two options. And 1 John chapter 3, starting in verse 4 makes this abundantly clear. 1 John 3:4, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning,” that means you keep on continuing in those same old sins. Well, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness, sin is lawlessness.” And you know that he, that is Jesus, Jesus appeared in order to take away sins. And in Jesus, there is no sin. No one who abides in Jesus, no one who continues in that relationship with Jesus keeps on sinning. Okay, so notice here, 1 John 3:5, it says that Jesus “appeared in order to,” what does it say there everybody? “[T]ake away sins.” not just so you would sin a little bit less in your life, not just so you don't feel so bad when you do sin in your life, not just to kind of diminish sin a little bit from how powerful it was. It says that Jesus came to take your sins away, to pay for them in full, not just to forgive you for them, but to give you his very righteousness, to give you a whole new life. Jesus came to save you out of your sin. So, you don't have to keep listening to it anymore. You don't keep having to act like sin is boss because Jesus came to deliver you out of the domain of darkness and to transfer you into his kingdom of light. You are no longer under the realm of sin. You now live in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. He came to take sin away. And here we are acting like, I’ve still got to do what sin tells me to do. That's a lie. No, you don't. Jesus already took sin away. Look what it goes on to keep saying 1 John 3:7. It says “Little children, let no one deceive you and people are going to deceive you.” People are going to say to you the exact opposite of the Scripture we're studying in this sermon, people are going to act like sin is normal, sin is standard operating procedure. We all still sin. It's no big deal. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as Jesus is righteous, and whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. For the devil has been singing from the beginning. And the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one who's really born of God makes a practice of sinning for God's seed. God's life abides in him, he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. The devil wants you to believe that you have to keep on sinning that you're still a slave to sin. What did Jesus come to do? Jesus came and destroyed the work of the devil. Can I get an Amen from anybody? Like, he came to defeat Sin and death and Satan for once and for all. So why are the people who believe in Jesus still living defeated when Jesus has already destroyed our enemy?
Jesus, right now, reigns as King and Lord, we're the people who believe it. We need to go and live like it, which means we can't keep acting like sin is the boss. Our eyes have been opened, we see who the boss is. There he is in all of his glory. Jesus. He's the one we're now living for. We're going to continue in our relationship with Jesus. We're not going to keep continuing in since you got to make sure that you have learned this new way to think about sin in your life, that you don't have to obey sin, when that temptation rises up within you, and it's going to, you're going to be tempted to sin. You don't have to obey those desires. You don't have to think about sin that way anymore. Because Jesus is Lord, and you believe in him. And he's already taken away that sin, he's already destroyed the work of the devil, you can now continue in a new life in Jesus, and you don't have to continue in sin. This is good news for everybody here today.
Go back to Romans chapter 6 because now it's going to get even more specific as to what that's going to look like. We’ve got to change our thinking. We’ve got to stop letting sin tell us what to do. When that temptation rises up, it comes from our mortal body, there are passions, there are desires within us that want us to give into them, to obey them. We’ve got to say no to that, we’ve got to stop thinking that way. Well, how are we going to do that? Okay, look at Romans 6:13. If somebody was a new Christian, this is what I want to teach them. This is Discipleship 101. And there are many places we could turn to in the Bible. It's right here in one verse, Romans 6:13, “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness.” So, first of all, here's something you don't do, and then it gives you something to do. It says, “Do not present your members to sin as unrighteous, as instruments for unrighteousness. but present yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” So, your members here are the parts of your physical body that you can't control. So, it says that you don't have to let sin reign in your body anymore, that you can actually control your own body. And so don't go and present the members, your eye, your arm, your parts of your body, don't go present them to unrighteousness, don't do that. No, instead, present your whole body to God and present the members of your body, the faculties of your body that you can control, present them to doing now righteousness. That's what it's saying. It's saying, this is something you're going to go do, you're going to go and not present yourself to sin, and you're going to present yourself to God instead. Now this is a famous idea from the book of Romans, that we present our bodies as living sacrifices before God.
Go over to Romans 12:1, maybe you've heard this verse before, because it's a famous verse, it gets quoted a lot. Romans 12 is like the key transition, we're going to get to someday, Lord willing, right? Maybe in the new auditorium, we'll get to Romans 12. Someday. And that's when the book of Romans makes a big transition from the doctrine that Paul's teaching to practical application. And in that key moment of transition, it says in Romans chapter 12, verse one, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Have you heard that verse before? It's the idea of wow, look at all that God's done for me, God gave his one and only Son for me, Jesus gave his life for me. In Jesus, I have a whole new life. What should I do with this new life I have in Jesus? I'm going to give, there's only one thing that makes sense to do. And I know all that God's done for me, I'm going to offer this life that I have, this body that I have, I'm going to offer myself as a living sacrifice. And so maybe you know that from Romans 12:1. Did you know that it already told us to do that in the book of Romans, in Romans 6:13. Romans 6:13 already says this, like, by the time you get to Romans 12:1, it's review because in Romans 6:13 it's saying you should take this life that you now have, where you're now dead to sin, and you're alive to God, you have a relationship with God. And it's all because you've been placed into the death and resurrection of Jesus. You should now take this life that you have, and you should present yourself to God, God, here I am. This is my whole life. This is all that I am. I'm yours. Do whatever you want with my life. I no longer am living for myself. I'm now living for you. Here's my life. I present it before you. I'm standing before you, take my life. Because I've gone from death to life and I'm giving you my new life. That's what it's saying in Romans 6. And it's saying if you're giving your life to follow Jesus, if you're giving your life to worship God, if you're really now going to live as a Christian, well, you’ve got to learn the sanctification two-step.
Let's get this down for point number two: You’ve got to learn the sanctification two-step. That's right. We're all learning how to dance here today, everybody. You didn't realize you came to a dance class? And you definitely didn't realize I would be the guy teaching a dance class. But that's what we're here to do. Okay, so the sanctification two-step, to present yourself before God, there's going to be something you don't do, step one, and something you are here to do now, step two. So, we're learning how to dance. The two-step is a kind of dance. There are many different kinds of dances, you’ve got to learn the steps. And some of you are already are feeling this whole dancing thing I'm talking about right now. Because some of you, you like to get out there on the floor, and you'd like to boot scootin Boogie and you know who you are. All right. When the circle comes, and it's time to bust a move, you've got moves to bust, you know what I'm saying? You've got game, most of us here in the room, we're just the people in the circle clap and you on, all right. And we don't want to get called to be in the middle of the circle, Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? Right? I'm going to guess that many are like me. And we don't want to, we're not dancing anywhere publicly, not where people can see me dance, right? I ain't doing any of that. In fact, I like to say that when the dancing starts, the pastor departs. That's my line that I like to use. All right? Oh, dancing is breaking out at this wedding; looks like my job here is done. I'm going to go, right. So, I'm not personally, there's only one thing that will get me out on the dance floor. There's only one reason I could see myself trying to move rhythmically in front of other people. And the reason is because somebody I love invites me to dance with them. And Jesus loves you. And now he's invited you to do the sanctification two-step with him, you now have a dance partner in Jesus Christ. And he has done all the work to save you. He has given his life for you. Because of Jesus, you really are dead to sin. And you really do have a new life in God. And it's all because of Jesus. But now Jesus expects you to learn this two-step, so you can dance with him, so you can have this relationship with him. So, yes, we're learning something, something we would not normally do in and of ourselves. But we're learning something because I'm now in this new relationship with Jesus, I need to learn how this works. And it says that because I'm now in Christ, I do not present my members as instruments of unrighteousness. I don't let my body be used as an instrument or as a weapon to sin.
Now, you will you have your temptations. Everybody here has temptations, all right. And some of you your response when you get tempted, and you give into that sin. And then the temptation keeps coming up in your life, your response is, oh, Lord Jesus, take this temptation away from me. Oh, why do I keep wanting to do this? Why do I keep having this desire with the Lord Jesus, come and save me and take away this desire? What you need to hear very clearly here today is Jesus has already saved you. Stop asking for Jesus to save you all over again. He's already done that. And he's now saying that because you are saved, you need to step away from that temptation. So, people are asking Jesus to do something that the Scripture is saying, that's your part. That's your move. That's your step. You are the one who doesn't present your eye, to look at that, that you, you're the one who looks away. See, you are now being given something to do. Because of all that Jesus has done for you, you now have something to do in response. So, I have a lot of conversations where people are very honest, they're very open, and people will start telling me what their temptations are, even what sins they end up doing. And they'll start revealing things that people don't always talk about, the secrets of their soul, what's really going on in their thoughts, and in their heart. And I always appreciate it when people are so honest and open with me. And they say I do this, or I do that. And I regularly hear people say, and I keep asking God to take it away from me. We just read a verse in 1 John that said, Jesus did take it away from you, and so now you've got to step away from it. There's a part that you play here in sanctification is how we live our Christian life. Okay, so justification is when we believe in Jesus. God declares us righteous by our faith in Jesus, all the work that God does. Sanctification is now the process of being set apart where God sets us apart, and we're not who we used to be. And now we're in Christ and sanctification, so we start putting off who used to be, and we start becoming more and more like Jesus. So, sanctification, it's still God's work. It's still by his grace. It's still for his glory. But you now have some steps that you need to take. And the first step is when that temptation comes up, you don't have to give in to that temptation. You can tell yourself No, since not the boss of you, your body doesn't have to tell you what to do. You now are empowered in Jesus Christ, to take a step away from sin, any temptation that comes up, there is always a way of escape that you can take.
Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 9:27. See what I'm saying here to you today is like heresy in America. All right. What I'm saying to you that the Bible says, very clearly is how we're supposed to live as disciples. They don't agree with this in America anymore. See what they're telling our young people, our high schoolers and our junior higher, if your body wants to do something, that we're at 1 Corinthians 9:27. And they're saying, if your body wants to do something you should do whatever your body wants to do. Don't repress yourself, don't, don't, don't deny yourself, you should express yourself, you should go if you feel like doing something, and this gets down to sexuality. This gets down to all kinds of decisions our young people are making, you should do whatever it is that you feel like doing, man, what needs to be heard very clearly, in our modern American culture is what Paul says right here in 1 Corinthians 9:27, but I discipline my body and keep it under control. Less after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. You do not have to do what your body feels like doing. You can discipline your body, you can control your body. I mean, wouldn't it be great if people were at our high schools, and our junior high's all around here saying, hey, young people, I've got good news of great joy for you, that your body's going to keep telling you, you’ve got to do stuff. And you're going to feel like a prisoner to yourself, you're going to feel like you're in a cell in your own skin, that this is always the way you have to operate. And the good news is you can tell yourself, no, you can learn a new way to live. And it's all by the power of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we should be saying in America today. That's what we should be teaching the next generation.
And see the idea that you've got to listen to your body is so prevalent, even church going people are believing it these days. And you can step away from what your body wants you to do. You can discipline your body; you can keep it under control. What he's talking about here is the race, with her running to win souls, doing all things to reach all people. And he uses the analogy. Look back at 1 Corinthians 9:24. “Do you not know that in a race, all the runners run?” Well, let's go to the Olympics would be the idea here, only one's going to receive the prize, only one is going to win the gold medal. So run that you may obtain it, that you may win. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things and they do it to receive a perishable wreath, they do it to get a gold medal. We are going for an imperishable goal. We're going to save somebody's eternal soul. So, I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. So, he uses an athletic analogy. You want to run in the Olympics, you want to set a new world record, you want to be the fastest person on planet Earth, well, you're not going to be able to do these things with your body. And you're going to have to discipline your body and train your body and really work hard. And he says, hey, let's take that idea of athletics. Let's now apply that to how we are in our own lives, that we need to stop thinking our bodies going to do these things. And we've got to get ourselves under control. Can you tell yourself No. Can your body feel something or want something, can a temptation rise up? There's that temptation. There's that feeling you’ve could do that sin? Yeah, first move. I'm stepping away from that right now. I'm not going to do that sin right now. I'm making a decision. I'm not going to do that sin. I see it. I feel it. Yeah, first step. I'm stepping away from that.
Turn with me to Colossians chapter 3. This is how it says it here in Colossians 3:5. In fact, I want you to write down two great passages that really develop the idea of Romans 6:13. One of them is Colossians 3, the other is Ephesians 4. These two chapters really will teach you this sanctification two-step, that there's always something we're stepping away from, and there's always something now we're going to step two in Colossians chapter 3. It's the same idea as Romans 6. It's talking about your new life that you have through your union with Christ. Look, Colossians 3:1. If then or since then you have been raised with Christ. Hey, are you dead to sin? Are you alive to God? Do you have a new life in Jesus? Okay, well look at Colossians 3:5. Here's how we're not going to teach you how to live, “Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you,” because you are dead to sin. You can now put that sin to death. You don't have to keep doing that sin anymore is what it's saying. Put it to death, be done with it. What does it mean? What kind of sin are we talking about? Colossians 3:5, right there in the middle, “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
You can now put to death sexual immorality in your life. That is the promise of Scripture. That is the teaching to the Christian, to the disciple. Step away from that. And look, it gets more specific. Colossians 3:7 says, “In these you once walked,” you used to do that sin before you weren't in Christ, when you were living in that sin, but now you must put them all away. Now what are you putting away here? “[A]nger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth,” it says, put to death, sexual immorality, put all that anger, put all that all that rage that rises up from within you, let's just put that all away, those foul words that are coming out of your mouth, you don't need to keep saying those in Jesus, you need to take a step away from talking like that. One thing we need to get honest about is, people are not going to become better drivers. All right? It's not going to change, okay? And some of us are regularly getting angry on the 405 freeway. Some of us are regularly saying words, we are in our car, going to work, going to church, going somewhere, living our lives, and somebody else drives a way that we don't like. And now obscene talk is coming out of our mouth because of how somebody else is driving. We're now getting angry. And maybe you're thinking, well, it's righteous indignation, when you see the way some of these people drive these days. Look, I'm right there with you. Regularly, every single week here in Huntington Beach, someone pulls in front of me. And if I don't hit my brake, I'm going to hit them, right? We were all there. We all know how it is. They're not going to become better drivers. Okay. You're going to have to take a step away from getting angry, you're going to have to take a step away from saying those words. You’ve got to put that all away. That's what it's saying here today saying that kind of anger, that kind of speaking. Like you're driving down the road, you see something you want to look at with lustful intent? Are you going to take that double look, are you going to keep looking? Or are you going to keep driving, right down the road, like, hey, you’ve got to put that look to death is what it's saying. Like, there's a step you’ve got to take now, Jesus has taken away your sin. Jesus has destroyed the work of the devil. Okay, there's a chance for you to sin. Yeah, I see that I'm going to step away from that right now. I mean, it's a freeway. If the other person wants to go in front of you, how about just letting them go in front of you. You don't necessarily need to get angry and start cursing at that person. See, this is what the Scripture is saying. In fact, look at Colossians 3:9. It says, “Do not lie to one another.” See, you see some people in your life, they ask you questions, you just lie to cover how things are really going on. You can't let that person know the truth. You can't let them know what's really going on at work or at home. So, you just lie. It says, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.“
Let's get this down for our first dash under the sanctification two-step. Don't take the old step of SIN. Don't take the old step of sin. The first step is a step back away from temptation, to put it to death to put it all away to put the old off like you're changing your clothes, you're taking the old clothes off, and you're putting them away. That's the idea here. This is a step for you to do. Jesus has already done it all for you. Now you need to step away from that sin. So first important point is, stop asking Jesus to do something he's already done. And now take your step away from that temptation. In fact, you could write down Matthew 6:13 that Jesus taught everybody here how to pray. And he taught us to pray, “lead us not into” what, everybody? “[T]emptation, but deliver us from” what? “[E]vil.” Okay, so when it says lead us not into temptation, are we going to be tempted? The answer is, you see, it shouldn't surprise us. It shouldn't be like, wow, I can't believe people are driving bad on the 405 today, I've never seen this before. I'm feeling angry now. No, we've been there. Okay. Many of you have been living life for some time now. Your temptations should no longer be a surprise to you. You shouldn't be caught without your guard up. You shouldn't be caught unawares. You shouldn't be like, I can't believe I was tempted to look at that person today. I can't believe I was tempted to get angry with that person today. I can't believe I was tempted to lie to that person today. No, those temptations, we should already be praying about them in the morning, before we get in the car. Before we leave our house. Here I am in the secret place with the Father saying I know the temptations are coming. And when they come, I'm ready to take that step away. lead me not into temptation today. I'm already preemptively praying God, I know they're coming. And when they come help me to be ready to take that step away that I need to take. And when it says deliver us from evil, or deliver us from the evil one, yeah, there are people are going to be driving like maniacs, people are going to be doing all kinds of inappropriate things. There's going to be sin all around you, you've already been saved out of that; the Lord will continue to rescue you out of that. Just because everybody else is sending today doesn't mean you have to. You can put that away; he'll deliver you out of that. Whether it's rising up from within you, whether it's all around, you know, you've already prayed about it. Oh, here comes that temptation, that same old temptation that wants me to give in to that same old sin. Yeah, I know what to do with that temptation. I'm stepping away from that right now. I'm not giving any of my members to that right now. That's my first step is I'm stepping away from the sin that used to define me now. You’ve got to be very careful, though. At this point. This is so critical because what some people are now going to do because he got convicted all you road rage warriors out there, I know who you are, right? Now you're convicted. So, you're going to be driving and you're going to be like, don't get angry, don't get angry, and somebody comes in front of you. And you grip the steering wheel tighter, right? And your head starts shaking a little bit, right? Don't get angry. Don't look, okay. Just trying not to sin is not going to work.
Okay, it's a two-step. First step is away from sin. You got to do another step. You can't just not sin, you’ve got to replace that sin with something righteous. Go back to Romans 6:13. See, it's both something not to do, and it's something to do. And so that's why we're calling it the sanctification two-step. Just trying not to sin is not going to work. That's not what we're taught to do here. Yes. When there's that temptation, and that lust coming from your flesh is trying to get you to obey it. No, you're not going to present your members as weapons of unrighteousness, or instruments of unrighteousness, you're not. You're going to step away from that sin. But because you've presented yourself to God, because you really believe you've gone from death to life, and you're now alive to God. Notice what it says at the end of Romans 6:13. It says, You “present your members,” that's your body that you're in control of you; “present your members to God as instruments, or weapons for righteousness.” See, it's not just that God is saving you’re out of the sin you used to do, God is saving you because he's got something he wants to use you to do in your life.
See, it's not just a goal of being a Christian is not to just stop being a bad person. The goal is to go do good works that bring glory to God and bless other people. So, you’ve got more to do on the roadways than just not get angry with all your fellow citizens. You've got things you can go and do for other people throughout the day, things that God created you in Christ Jesus to go and do. I'm trying to encourage you right now that God saved you for a reason. God has a plan for your life. When you wake up in the morning. There's something God wants you to do that day. And it's not just, get through the day without sin. He wants you to do something in righteousness for the name of Jesus to be glorified. See, when you believe in Jesus, that Jesus pays for all of your sin, and you receive his righteousness by faith. So positionally, God now sees you as righteous. What this is saying is, now you can go and practice that righteousness. Now you can take the righteousness you've received, and you can put it into action. There are good works, there are actually really redeeming things that God wants you to do. And he's got them before you like a beautiful path before your feet, and you have something to go and do today in the name of Jesus, you have a light to let shine, you have good works, that even your enemies will have to say, there's something about that guy, there's something about that lady, because even when we come at them with all of our malicious gossip and slander, they still respond in a right way. See, don't just try to not sin, you’ve got to replace that sin with righteousness. See, there's both a putting off and a putting on there's both a don't do this. And you’ve got to go do this.
Go back to Colossians 3:12. Look at how it develops in Colossians 3, as he gets very specific here about what are we now. Okay? We saw some very specific things to put to death or to put away, or to put off, what do we now put on? What are now the things we do present our members to I do want God to use me as a vessel as an instrument of righteousness. So, what are now the things I go and, and I do? Well, it says here in Colossians 3:12, “Put on then, as God's chosen ones,” because God saved you and Jesus, you're now alive to God as holy. He set you apart, he sanctified you, beloved. God loves you. He gave his Son for you. So, this is who you are. So put on then “compassionate hearts.” How about that? How about next time somebody cuts you off? Instead of saying a curse word at them, what if you prayed for that person? Like, what do we expect? What do we understand that we're living in a world where people are still living for themselves, where sin is still their boss, where they are still in the domain of darkness under the reign of Satan, that people who don't know Jesus, that's exactly how I expect them to drive. That's exactly how I expect them to talk. And so I don't need to get angry at them for being who they are. I need to have compassion that I will Jesus, you need to save them just like you saved me. That's who I used to be. Say we need to be kind for the blind, not getting mad at them that they can't see. So, we need to have compassionate hearts, we need to be seeing the opportunity is all around us. Look at all these people that need to be discipled. Look at all these people that need to be saved. Wow, look at this world around me where there's so much sin. And I feel so sad that people think that sins going to satisfy them when it was always lying to me. And all it did was ever take from me. And here they are still given thinking they're going to get something, I have compassion for them.
So, you can put on a genuine care for other people as souls that need to be saved. It says here you can put on and not just “compassionate hearts, but kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” I love that you can now put on, you can now actually be humble and be meek. Here's the great thing about being in Christ. You don't have to keep living for yourself anymore. You can now actually love God and love other people. And you can genuinely treat other people like they're more important than yourself. That's what humility is. Where I'm so busy thinking about others, I don't put myself in the first place anymore. In fact, people are even acting a way towards me that's inappropriate, that I don't appreciate. But instead of coming back at them with anger, instead of responding to evil with evil, I'm now responding to people with meekness. I'm now responding to people with patience. Look what it says here in Colossians 3:13. It says, “bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
See, the great thing about being in Christ is I'm no longer trapped in horizontal relationships, where because this person acts this way towards me. Now I act back that same way towards them. They get angry with me; I get angry with them. See? No, because now I have a vertical relationship. Now I'm in Christ. I'm alive to God. God has loved Me by sending Jesus. God has forgiven me for my sins through Jesus. God has been so patient, and he has bared with me when I said so many times he has forgiven me for all of them. And because God has loved me, I can now love other people no matter what they do to me. See, I'm free from the whole like, you get angry at me. I get angry at you, you say something bad about me, I say something bad about you. I'm not bound to that anymore. Because I don't have to treat other people as they treat me. I can treat other people how Jesus treated me. Because I'm now in Christ. And so maybe the people you get angry with live right there in your house. Maybe you're angry with your own spouse, because they're not doing this thing that you can see clearly, they should do, maybe you're angry with your own kids. Because these kids, they don't listen to you. And you get angry with these people. And you think that the reason that it's okay for you to be angry, is looking at what they're doing? No, the way we're supposed to think is, look what Jesus did for me. I'm going to go and I'm going to love my spouse. And I'm going to go and keep trying to teach these kids, and I don't care what they're doing to me. I know what Jesus did for me. And I got sent to this house by God to love everybody else here, no matter what. So, you can put on now love for people, you can put on now forgiveness for people, you can have that person do that same thing that would make your blood boil, but instead, you can be patient towards them. Because after all, isn't that how God has been to you, you can now keep in step with your new life.
Let's get that down for the second dash, you can now keep in step with your new life. I mean, this is super encouraging. Not only can you step away from the sin, but you can take a step. You know, when somebody's coming at you. And they're angry, you can give the gentle answer that turns away wrath when something there that you could look at it was sexual morality and lustful intent, like maybe you would have in the past, no, you can now turn away and you can turn your eyes from worthless things. And you can turn your eyes on to Jesus, you can get your eyes in the Word, you can get your heart look into God for his goodness. So you don't need sexual immorality, because you're being satisfied in your soul with your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. So you’ve got, I guarantee everybody here, if you want to make a cross chart, if you want to make a T chart on your notes, and you want to put these are my temptations, these are the things that I trip up on. These are the sins that if I don't step away from I'm going to keep falling into them. I guarantee you for every sin that you put to the left side of the cross, there is a new act of righteousness that you can put on the other side of the cross. There is something that you can do to replace the old way with a new way. There is a new response you can learn to other people, a new pattern of thinking you can apply to your mind as you get into God's Word. He will renew your mind and you will walk out in newness of life.
Go over to Ephesians chapter 4 with me, let's look at the other passage that I would want to show to a new believer, I would want to remind my friend who has been a believer for a long time, it doesn't matter how long you're a Christian. And we are always going to be stepping away from sin. And taking the next step of righteousness, we're always going to be putting off the old and we're always going to be putting on the new sometimes I talk to people and they think well, somebody who's been a Christian for a long time, they must just be like, they don't get tempted anymore. They're just like, they're just so much sure that there's no sin in their life. They're just so awesome now that this person, no, I guarantee you as long as you are in this body, you're always going to need the sanctification two-step. It doesn't matter how long you've been a Christian, and the people who are mature, the people who grow, they just get good at making this move. They just keep guarding themselves against those temptations and keep putting on the new ways to go. You're always going to need to do this here in Ephesians chapter 4. Look at how it says it in Ephesians 4:22. You’ve got to put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and you’ve got to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. So, you’ve got to get this thought, this teaching, these Scriptures in your head and then you go put on the new self, which is created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. So, look at all these things we can do. We can put away falsehood, I don't have to lie anymore. And I can go speak the truth with my neighbor. Look, Ephesians 4:26, I can be angry, I can see all the sin that's going on. All the bad driving that's going on, I can be angry. But look, don't sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger, give no opportunity to the devil. Instead of stealing. I can now go do some honest work with my own hands. And I can even share with other people who are in times of need. Instead of saying corrupting things out of my mouth, now I can say things that build up, that give grace to other people, all the grace that I have received freely. I can now freely give for every sin I used to do that used to define me in Jesus Christ. There's a new way of righteousness. I can now live. I've got to step away and I've got to step to every single one. None of us have it.
So, I want to really encourage you on the back of your handout. We have here your own personal sanctification two step project. All right? Our church is doing the Double-Double project. Well, you're doing now the two-step project. What are the temptations that you need to be ready to step away from? And what are the acts of righteousness, the new things that Christ has now and empowering you to do that you need to step to. And I want to encourage you to take this very seriously, to write some things down to share it with brothers and sisters in the faith, maybe at your fellowship group, to really share honestly and openly. All right? Maybe some of us when we got saved, on that moment that we got placed into Christ, maybe some of us there was a sin that we used to do all the time. And once we were in Christ, we've never done it again, we've never even thought about it. It's not even tempting to us anymore. If that happened to you, praise the Lord. But all of us still have temptations. All of us still have things these commands are for everybody in Christ, we all have something to put off, something to step away from. And we all have something new that God is calling us to do, instead. Every single one of us needs to learn the sanctification two-step. You can't just stop the sin; you’ve got to put on the new life that you have in Jesus Christ. So, what is this going to look like for you? There's a lot of homework from this sermon, because we've learned how to think about ourselves. Now it's telling us what to go and do.
See, we had this street out here, this little circle right out here has been Jason Circle the whole time of our church. And when the owner this was a few years ago. Now, when he offered us that building over there, he said, you should just make this whole thing Compass Circle. Aren't we glad that he offered us more space right across the way here. I mean, where the high schoolers and junior highers are now. And he said, and this was years ago, this is how long it takes to change the name of a street, right? But he said you guys should change that name to Compass Circle. He said, it shouldn't be I don't know, Jason was some old business that was in that building over there. I don't know if it was Jason and the Argonauts. I don't know what it was really all about. But I just gave this we've had now Jason's at our church, like losing their sanctification trying to get these street signs. Actually note, one of them Jason St. Pierre just asked me like a month ago, if he could give the sign. He was at the nine o'clock I gave it to him. So, he was so kind to let me borrow the sign for this service. It was really nice of him. And so, some of you are just trying to stop being Jason. That's all you're trying to do is just like, let's just take down the street sign, that's no, you need a new identity. You can't just stop being you, you've got to be the you that you now are in Christ. And it turns out, they wouldn't let us do Compass Circle, because there's already a Compass Lane somewhere else in Huntington Beach. And I think it turned out even better, because now we're Revival Circle right here, right? That's actually what we're offering. That's actually what we're claiming to have better, better than just the name of our church. This is actually what we're saying. Revival is when the life of God is stirring up in your soul. Revival is when you have something new in Jesus Christ. And that's what we're saying. We're saying, we're not who we used to be. We're now new people. We're not just Jason, or whatever your name was. No, I'm now somebody who's been revived. I've now got a new life. I'm now one of God's people. I'm a Christian. I'm in Jesus Christ. And I'm telling you, I'm telling you don't go this week and keep being Jason or whoever you are. Go and be who God has now made you to be going live out the revival. Jesus already saved you. All you got to do is step away from that sin and put on that new life. You can experience the revival in your own life. Let me pray for you. Actually, before I pray, go back to Romans 6 real quick. That was too easy. Romans 6 real quick, there's one more thing I forgot to point out. I got excited to pray. Write that we need a revival. But Romans chapter 6, there's one line I forgot to get to here in the text. It's at the end of verse 14, and it's an introduction to next week. So, if you do come back next week, we're going to try to finish Romans six together, and we're going to take communion all together to celebrate our union with Christ that we've been learning about, but it says here at the end of Romans 6:14 “You are not under law, but under” what does it say there, everybody? Grace. Okay, and then look at Verse 15, it says “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!”
Okay, so if personally you don't need to continue in sin, because you've got grace in Jesus. Well, now this is like big picture. See, we're not still under the old way of sin and law. We're now under the new way of grace. And see, so, it's saying that grace is the opposite of sin, and how the law will get into chapter seven. How The law reveals our sin. The law is a standard we can never live up to without Jesus Christ. And so, the law increases sin. It exposes sin, and the law you don't want to be under the law. It's so oppressive. You're always trying to live up to something you can never do. Grace is when God gives you Jesus and Jesus fulfills the law for you. Jesus pays for your sin for you. And now in Jesus, now that you're under grace, see, go back to Romans 5:21. This is the big picture theme of all of these chapters in Romans. Notice it said in Romans 5:21, that “as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ.” Okay, so you used to be under the law where sin reigned and it was going to kill you. Now, Jesus reigns, and under Jesus, there's grace that's reigning because now you're getting goodness instead of death. See, this is now how we're supposed to be thinking. I'm not under what I used to be under. I'm now under grace.
Go to the end of Romans 6. This is how it's going to end. Next week, it's going to say, “For the wages of sin is death.” You know what your reward is for all the things that you've done in sin, but judgment, and that's what's coming. You don't want what you deserve in your sin. But the free gift of God that's God's grace is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our what's his name, everybody. See, now we're under the Lord. And how does Jesus reign? See, he's not a harsh taskmaster, like the law? No, Jesus reigns with grace. Look at what Romans 7:24 is even going to teach us when we get there, “wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death, these temptations that keep rising up within me, these evil desires, who's going to save me out of this?” Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our what's his name there, everybody. See, Jesus is the Lord. And if you believe in Jesus, you now live not under sin, not under the law, you now live under grace. So going live like it this week, don't use grace as an excuse to sin. When grace is the reason you don't have to go in sin; you can step away from that; you can take a step of righteousness because you are not under the law, you are under the Lordship of Jesus Christ where Grace reigns in your life. So, we need to worship the Lord for that. Let me pray for us.
Father, we just want to thank you for what this passage is teaching us. It's saying that nobody here has to go and be a slave of sin. Nobody has to go and do what their body is telling them. Nobody has to keep doing those same old things anymore. And so, Father, we pray that we would hear this Word and that you would put a cut to our hearts. That the reason we keep getting angry, the reason we might be sexually immoral, the reason we lie, is because we're not taking a step away from that sin and putting on the new life that we have in Jesus Christ. And so, Father, I pray that there would be some real change that would take place because of your word that we heard here today. I pray that these truths that you're teaching us in Romans six, will not stay here in this room on Sunday, but they'll change us every day this week. I pray that when that temptation rises up, there it is, again, that familiar old enemy, there it is that feeling, that desire. I pray that we would all know that we don't have to let sin be our king. We don't have to let sin lord it over us. Now we have the King of kings, we have the Lord of lords, we have Jesus, and we have his grace. And so, I can, in the name of Jesus, step away from that sin, I can put that sin off, I can put it to death. I can put it all the way and today, right now I can take a new step of righteousness, because that's who I am now in Christ. I pray that some steps will be taken today. Some steps will be taken this week that people will be sinned against but they won't sit in response that people will be cut off, but they won't get angry that there will be temptation that will rise up, but they won't be given into, because Jesus has taken away our sin. Because Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil. And we're not living under sin anymore. We're living now under grace. And so, Father, we gathered here today to worship you, to the praise of your glorious grace. You've been so good to give Jesus for us. And Jesus has been so good to give his life for us. And now you've given us the righteousness of your Son, Jesus. You've given us death to sin, and a new life forevermore. And so let us go now and live out this grace, this grace that is so much greater than all of our sin is grace that can take a wretch like us and deliver us. I pray that this week, we will live out your amazing grace. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

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