Death to Sin, and Resurrection — Robert B. Thompson

How great you are Lord, and how you watch over us in such faithfulness. It's just great Lord. Watching over the details of our lives. We appreciate it so much more. We pray that you will be with each family represented here Lord give them peace and grace in their homes.

Love you and serve you to be protected Lord against the destroyer. We pray Lord as we continue tonight that you will guide what has said what is perceived Lord. That each one may receive something from your table Lord.

Pursuing the Resurrection

We pray that you will do this Lord and we trust you in Jesus name. Amen. Now we have been Pursuing a topic for the last three weeks, but you don't hear every day if I were to put a title on it, I'd call it pursuing the resurrection and a Good scripture on that is Philippians 311 many of us know it.

Very well, but nonetheless it is a shocker. It is a shocker. Philippians 311 and here the Apostle Paul says He said and so somehow To attain to the resurrection from the dead. Well, that's really Not something that you think about a great deal.

I guess we kind of take the resurrection for granted. Whatever it is out there. Something that will happen someday well in our day. The Spirit of God is going to make it the center of our attention. Because this really is evident from the way Paul writes.

That this was his goal. And I read the preceding verses and the verses that follow and you'll see that Paul was Toward the end of his life had made attaining to the resurrection his goal. Well, we're all Bible believing people and so we are to make it our goal.

Historically, it has not been the Christian goal. But that's all right. We're in a new day maybe and this is the Bible goal. There's to attain the resurrection. It's something that has to be attained.

And as we study the context the preceding verses we see that Paul was laying aside Everything that he might attain the resurrection. Interesting, you know easily think of that, but that's what the book says.

So Let's take a look then at what is and this is what we've been on for three weeks. So let's go back and see what there is to this in the sixth chapter of Romans in my opinion that the sixth chapter of Romans is probably The most the most succinct.

Pertinent chapter. Explanation of what salvation is all about and if you add chapter seven and eight, I mean, you've really got it. You've really got an explanation of what it means to attain to the resurrection from the dead is found in Romans chapter six seven and eight just spells it out and When he starts off he says what shall we say then shall we go on sinning?

He's reacting of course to his comments in chapters three through five that we're not saved by works, but by Faith in Christ. There has been some misunderstanding of that in that when we hear works we think of upright behavior.

But Paul is not talking about upright behavior when he says works. What is he talking about? He's talking about the first five books of the Bible the law of Moses and That includes many things that we don't think about as Gentiles.

We don't think about the kosher laws. We're not troubled by eating shellfish for example that we have can only eat that which has fins and scales. You cannot eat any seafood under the law. Except that which has fins and scales.

You can't eat anything any Anything on the hoof unless it divides the hoof and choose the cut. It's not enough that it just do the cut or divide the hoof. It must do both and This you have to observe Scrupulously.

You cannot work on Saturday. It's very important if you have skin disease in general leprosy in particular you must tear your clothes go away from the Christian population and Cry unclean unclean when anyone comes near you keep the lower part of your face covered.

If you practice witchcraft you're to be stoned to death. If you curse your mother or father you're to be stoned to death. It's all part of the law. You don't break it and the the rule was if you break any part of the law willfully that is if you set out to despise God not if you're overtaken in a Temptation and you fall, but if you set yourself out to deliberately Break one of God's laws you're to be cut off from Israel.

If you sin through ignorance or Because you're overtaken then you have the animal sacrifice. Which is also part of the law a very important animal sacrifice. When you sin you bring the prescribed animal and you offer it.

Now you say I never heard of that. Well, that's what Paul is talking about. In Romans chapter 3 through 5. When he says we're not saved by works, but by faith. He's not talking about doing good. He's talking about the law.

Which in Paul's day was in full force. That's been a tremendous understanding on the part of Christian people. They think we're saved by grace. See the Bible contrasts grace and law. Not grace and godly behavior.

Never because grace produces godly behavior. But you see it says for the law was given through Moses. But grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The contrast is between the law and the law consists of those things that I just told you.

Along with how you deal with slaves and how you deal with a thief how you deal with jealousy. And a number of other things that's the law and Paul was very learned in it and it was a very oppressive thing because.

One of them I think it's an axe says which neither we nor our fathers to their actual Asians were able to bear. Don't put a yoke on the Gentiles that neither we nor our fathers. Were able to bear as much as a singing and rejoicing over the law.

It was nevertheless a very heavy yoke to bear it controlled every part of your life and you had to remember it and do it and so we cannot appreciate as Gentiles Paul's teaching about grace because we're not we don't contrast it With the law we contrast it with righteous behavior.

Well, you can see what a sheer disaster that is. Because it leaves you the impression that that grace is another way of pleasing God other than by behaving yourself in particular. Keeping the commandments of Christ and his apostles only can see what I'm talking about.

Can you see what a monumental difference there is between? Saying That grace is the opposite or the replacement for the law of Moses the first five books in the Bible particularly beginning with Exodus or Grace Which it is or grace is in place of keeping the commandments of Christ and his apostles.

Which is not Because that would make all most of Paul's writings Absolutely non sequiturs because what he gave was commandment after commandment after commandment after commandment. But none of them were commandments of the law of Moses.

They were commandments according to the eternal moral law of God which existed before the law of Moses and Continues after the law of Moses and never will change because it's the nature of God himself the eternal moral law Which is summed up in Do unto others as you would have them do unto you and love God with all your heart soul mind and strength as your neighbors yourself which capsulates the more eternal moral law which Existed from eternity and will continue to eternity because it's the nature of what God is and so the law of Moses is Covenantal dealing with the Jews it was temporary until Christ should come.

It's it doesn't include by any means all of the moral law and it tends to be Negative thou shalt not thou shalt not thou shalt not. So you can see that if you Confuse the eternal moral law and the law of Moses It comes out that Christ saves us by grace meaning.

We don't have to do good Because we're saved by grace meaning. It's an alternative to doing good. This is as you can see is a Monumental error not only is it a monumental error it has destroyed the witness of the church.

Because the witness of the church is doing good works. Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works. So if grace does away with good works it does away with the testimony with the light of the world.

So it is truly an awesome awesome Misunderstanding. Are there any questions? So Paul understood that his doctrine Could be Misinterpreted. Peter also commented on that and one thing that greatly added to the problem was the prevailing Greek philosophy of Gnosticism which in fact does teach That we're saved by our mental set regardless of our behavior.

So you can see how Paul's writings in Romans 3 through 5 were immediately Polluted by Gnosticism, and it was a great problem in the first century for that reason. Because Paul's writings in 3 through 5 if you don't relate it to the law But relate it to godly living then it becomes Gnosticism.

That's what Gnosticism is. So we're saved by our knowledge of certain facts. And these bring us to heaven and it's nothing to do with how we behave any questions and evidently. For James and 1st John have many things to say that are a pure reaction to Gnosticism.

So but Paul covers it at these people and even today would not See 3 through 5 of Romans is the basis of the Protestant Reformation. But if you if you don't add chapters 6 through 8 You have Gnosticism you don't have the gospel at all and so this is why Paul starts off as he does.

It's because he saw the danger of what he was preaching. And he said what what shall we say then that is what how do you what do you conclude? From what I've just taught you about grace and He said shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase.

Is this the Conclusion he said by no means by no means. That's about as far from what Paul was saying as could ever be imagined and so he said and this is this becomes very critical because starting with We died to sin from this point forward Paul begins to explain how you attain to the resurrection from the dead.

This is the beginning of the explanation. All that grace does the kind of Gracie. There's many kinds of grace, but the grace he talked about in Romans 3 through 5 is The grace that moves you from the law of Moses to faith in Jesus Christ.

Which is the beginning? I mean you can't continue with the law of Moses people do in fact we just heard from a brother that he used to attend this church he's been worshiping in a messianic congregation because They're godly, and he loves it and now this congregation is going back under the law.

The people have been confused on this for 2 ,000 years. They can't see the difference. They cannot see the difference and the difference is in Romans 3 through 5 we are not under the law we are under Jesus Christ.

We are not under the law of Moses. But this is this fellow wrote to us this past week. It was very distressed about it. He's going to have to leave the congregation because they're going back and observing the law of Moses.

And that's not the only messianic congregations. That's doing this the reason of course is evangelical teaching. After it leaves forgiveness has nothing to offer or very very little whereas The teaching of the law the Torah has much to offer.

It's substantive. There are things you can get your teeth into it's really rich in meaning the law is and the way the rabbis interpret it. It's very satisfying for the person who wants to be moral nonetheless it's It's.

One person wrote to me on the internet, and it says how dare you say? That the law of Moses. What was the word he used. Brian's Brian remember the law of Moses is not passed away, but Obsolete how dare you say that he says are you trying to take the place of God to say a thing like that don't you?

Know that that the gospel was added to the law and all I did in reply. I just said Him one verse from Hebrews in the same verse that says two times in the NIV it says the law is obsolete. Dad are you?

In Hebrews in the 10th chapter I believe in the NIV uses the very term obsolete so It is obsolete for all of its richness. It doesn't compare with the riches that are in Jesus Christ. But those riches Start when you are forgiven apart from the law.

But then they continue to attaining the resurrection from the dead and that is infinitely richer and more Substantive than the law ever could be because the law was only a stopgap as Galatians 3 tells us.

It was added until the seed should come to whom the promise was made. It just puts it on ice as it were. So beginning with verse 2 of Romans 6 we begin to see the root the practical doable root. R-o-u-t-e to attain the resurrection.

Attaining to the resurrection from the dead which was Paul's goal. First of all we died to sin. He said how can we sin any longer because we died to sin. Now how you interpret that. You can interpret that several ways.

You can interpret that as some have some teachers of sanctification have taught that meant that the Christian does not have a sin nature. The early Nazarenes taught Sanctification root and branch that you could you could get at the sin nature, and it would be dead, okay?

They carried the Nazarenes for many years picked up the baton of holiness and carried it from the Methodist. Until Pentecost came and that came out of the Nazarene Church by the way. How can we live in it any longer.

Well, we can't live in it any longer, but what does it mean we're dead to sin. You can say We can't we have no sin nature which obviously is incorrect because that would make the rest of the New Testament useless an exercise in Fugility if we don't have no sin nature.

Secondly you can you can treat it this way. It doesn't matter if we do sin because we're covered by the blood and. That's probably the prevailing interpretation. Today in Evangelical theology by the way to my knowledge the expression covered by the blood does not exist in the New Testament.

I'll be glad to be proven wrong, but I don't think it does because it gives a false impression. It gives you the impression that there's a blood screen over us and God can't see our actions. And if that were the case much of the New Testament wouldn't make sense.

The blood doesn't screen us from God's sight it forgives our sin. First John 1 7 if we walk in the light. That's the light of God's will as he that is God is in the light. We have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son Cleanses us from all sin.

Then it says if we say not we have no sin. We deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Can you see how different that is from the concept that the blood covers our sin in the sense that God can't see our behavior? It's totally different, and I just quoted to you first John 1 7 through 9 it doesn't say that's our tradition that God doesn't see our sin.

Many verses belied. Put that to the line. Many verses alive of course God sees our sin. And he reproves us and if we don't change he judges us first Corinthians 11 if we still don't repent. It says some get sick and some die so this doctrine and many of our doctrines are being put to the test today.

They're not in the Bible. They're not in the Bible. They're venerable. They've been believed for years by many people, but listen people if they're not in the book. We can't trust them. Especially when they're contrary to what the book teaches.

So the interpretation of we who have died to sin. It's not that we have no sin nature. We know we do. Is there anybody in here that does not have a sin? Or is not aware. There's something wrong. Okay, we know we have a sin nature.

And as Paul said we beat our body and keep it under for that very reason unless we should be disqualified. Secondly that God doesn't see our sin is probably the prevailing interpretation. The problem with that is it is completely opposite to the rest of the chapter.

Outside of that is fine, but when you read down in the chapter It's exactly the opposite which is a consideration. Don't you agree when it comes to interpretation? All right, so then what does it mean?

Water Baptism and Death to the World

We have died to sin and this is very important to understand. It means that we as a Christian. It has to do with water baptism and it means that When we are baptized in water. What we are saying by faith is That we have died to the world.

That's what we're saying when we go down in the water of baptism. What we're saying is that my life in the world is over. The reason Christians have the trouble that they do and Find that there are sins in their life.

That they cannot shake no matter how hard they try and no matter how many times they confess them. The reason is they are not oriented properly to the gospel. Okay? Now, let me give you another one-liner.

Deliverance from Sin and Obedience

Deliverance from sin is a reward and if you have something in your life that you have wrestled with and Is harming you? And yet you can't stop it. Then what I'm telling you is that God can deliver you it is his will to deliver you and He shall deliver you when you do what he wants.

To get a devil off your back. It's not in your power to do. It's only in God's power. But God has given you things in the Bible that you can do and If you will do what God has commanded you to do Then God will do what he alone can do and the interesting thing about Deliverance from sin is it's a double whammy in this respect.

When you obey God as a reward he delivers you spiritually and Sometimes physically as well. That's scriptural Pray one for another that she says confess your sins one to another pray one for another that she may be healed is talking about physical healing.

That's in James Confess your sins one to another Armatea and the Greek I think King James is false verse sins confess your sins one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed and the context is physical healing.

Okay now It's a double whammy for this reason when you obey the commandments of Christ and his apostles and God will help you to do that then your reward will be to be delivered from sin and then God rewards you for being delivered.

It's a double whammy. The deliverance itself is the reward for your obedience to the gospel. God delivers you. The result is you live a godly life that you never did before and you get rewarded for it.

So it's all hinges on Obeying the words of Christ. How many times in the Gospels did Jesus say if you love me? Keep my word keep my commandments if any men keep my word and so on keep the word of my patience.

The reason that people do not get delivered is They're waiting for God to do something. He can do but will not do. And he will not do it because they have not done what he said. They have not presented their body a living sacrifice.

They have not denied themselves and taken up their cross they haven't done the things they can do and Therefore they pray and they don't get delivered. Does that make any sense to you? That's a very important thing to understand if you're dealing as pastors do and some of you do too I know Lynn does and others that have a ministry of dealing with people when you're dealing with somebody is going right down into the pits.

And they know what they're doing. They know it's wrong can't help themselves. It's a good thing bag a good straw to have in your mold to be able because when they come to you and say All right, you prayed for me and you prayed for me, but I'm not delivered.

What do I do? I'm being destroyed. Because I'm drawn into this thing that I don't want to then you can then if you know what you're talking about. You can say look the reason you're not getting delivered is because you're not oriented properly to the gospel.

You're not doing what God told you to do. He's told you to take up your cross and follow Jesus and you're not doing that. And therefore you're not going to be delivered. Do you see the sense of that? You know, that's it's a lifeline to people who want to be free.

Drugs alcohol homosexuality rage. Adultery. Fornication people are bombing these things. We look at gays is it? Oh, I'm terrible. Listen. Homosexuality is a is is a bondage as heavy as drugs and alcohol.

It's a terrible bondage that people get it and they can't get out of it. Gambling is another one. Sometimes you pray and God delivers you. Some people just pray and God delivers them from smoking. Others go through a nightmare trying to kick smoking.

But God can just Take all the urge for smoking out of all the urge for gambling out of you all the urge for adultery out of you all. The urge for his snap his fingers gone. They're demons. They're spiritual bondages.

Gossip and slander. How many of God's people are know that gossip is wrong and can't stop it. How many of God's people know that criticizing others is wrong and they can't stop it? You know why you've got a demon sitting on both shoulders talking in your ear.

It's a spiritual problem. What you do when you you tried to. I've tried and tried and tried to stop gossiping and criticizing people and I can't stop it. Okay, you're not oriented properly to the Lord.

What am I doing wrong. Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Follow Jesus. Wrecking yourself dead. Present your potty living sacrifice. Obey the commandments. Pray. Gather with the Saints. Give. Serve. Do what you can do.

You can't heal yourself. But you sure in the world can call up the elders. See. There's things you can do and God will reward you for doing what you can do. Then God will do what he alone can do. Does that make sense?

Okay, this is simple as that. It's no big mystery that you have to write a new book or make a new denomination is plain. Forthright and simple when things don't work. There's a reason go to God. Don't fret yourself beat yourself over the head.

Just go to God and say I need wisdom. I'm not getting delivered. What's up, Lord? They'll show you. And one of the reasons people come to church is like tonight, maybe some of you didn't realize how you're to interpret Romans 6 3.

God wants you in water baptism to declare. And it's good to say it verbally if the minister like stand or whoever's ministering water baptism. We'll get you to say I am taking this step to show that my life in the world is over.

I'm no longer Alive in my Adamic age, of course you are but you're saying that you're declaring that God works in a vision. It's very important. Remember God works in a vision when he says the thing that's true.

It's true. If it hasn't come to pass for 6 ,000 years. It's still true. God ways once God says it that's it bang and we can enter into that timelessness by doing what God said. See down there now the minute that you declare yourself dead God God counts that as death.

He says take it by faith. You take it by faith and God says done deal. Okay. That frees you from the law of Moses. Because the law of Moses has dominion over you as long as you are alive, right? Okay.

Now what you have done is you have taken your place with Jesus Christ on the cross. That's what you have done. You haven't just died and gone into a hole in the ground. You have taken your place with Jesus Christ on the cross when Jesus said it is finished He meant the whole Adamic creation is over and When you take your place on the cross with Christ Jesus says to you it is finished.

Your life is finished. Okay. What's next? Well, you don't stay under the water. First of all, they bring you up back up out of the water. And what that and what you are declaring by that is that you have two things.

You have not only been raised with Jesus Christ from the dead. But you have ascended with him to the right hand of God. See both of these things are true. You have not only been resurrected, but you have ascended.

Now when you do this by faith in water baptism God counts that as done and The Holy Spirit will begin to lead you into judgment because it's appointed on the man wants to die and after this the judgment God counts that as a real death.

No Mickey Mouse thing. That's the real stuff and. So that's what it means that you're dead to sin. So then if you continue a life of sin You're behaving Con in a contradictory manner to what you professed in water baptism, and that's what's Paul saying.

How should we that are dead to sin live any longer there and it doesn't make any sense. And then he explains what he means in the rest of the chapter all the way through to the last verse in Romans 8.

He explains what he means by this which is equivalent to Attaining the resurrection now that brings up another thing doesn't it? That when you have come out of the water you have proclaimed that you have risen with Christ and Have ascended with Christ.

Is that correct in biblical? I mean I can stop and go through and show you all the verses. You want to take me on faith? Colossians 3 if you then be risen with Christ Ephesians 2 in verse 6 has raised us up together with him.

We're already raised. And we're already ascended. Okay, so the resurrections past right? So what does it mean to attain to the resurrection? The bond. This thing is what it's all about. See we lost our body in the Garden of Eden.

We were denied access To the tree of life and so Adam died didn't die the next day. It took 900 years, but he died. The day that out there of you shall die and God speaks. That's it. He speaks in a timeless vision and Adam was a gone goose.

Right then and all of his descendants as in Adam died. We all died, right? Okay. So Jesus Christ God so loved the world That he gave his son. That whosoever believes in him Would get back there to that tree of life.

See have everlasting life. He's talking about the body. What Paul was talking about and attaining the resurrection is attaining the resurrection of the body. His inner nature was already resurrected. Romans 8 10 is a key verse.

Listen. Brian will be flashing it on the screen pretty soon. Thank God. You need to see these things as well as hear them. If Christ be in your Romans 8 10 if Christ be in you. The body is dead. Because of sin.

That's speaking of all people saved and unsaved alike. But Then he goes on to say but the spirit and that's not the Holy Spirit. That's your spirit your inward nature. Some translations catalyze it, but see that doesn't make any sense and I'll show you why.

The spirit is life because of righteousness. Well, the Holy Spirit is not life because of righteousness. It's your inward nature. Your spirit the contrast is not between your body and the Holy Spirit.

It's between your body and your spirit. Does that make sense to you? Your body is dead. But your spirit is alive if the Spirit of God is in you. Your inward nature is alive, but your body is dead. Does that make sense?

Your inward nature has been raised with Christ and has ascended to the right hand of God according to the New Testament. Okay, your inward nature is alive. Because of righteousness the righteousness. It goes back and explains in Romans 8 for That when we follow the Spirit of God that the righteousness of the law of Moses is imputed to us.

Okay? Therefore this righteousness there an eternal life always always always follows righteousness. The body is dead because of sin. The inward nature is alive because the righteousness Of Christ perfect observance of Moses has been imputed to us when we when we follow the Spirit of God Romans 8 4.

Okay, so here we are. We have declared ourselves dead with Christ on the cross. We have and we did that we dramatized our profession in water baptism we declared ourselves alive with Christ and Ascended with Christ coming out of the waters of baptism and we took this by faith.

Any questions so far? That's that's so scriptural. It's pathetic. Okay. So scriptural is pathetic. All right, that's where you are. That's where I am. You're inward if you are a true Christian praying following the Lord your inward nature has Eternal life because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to you Romans 8 10.

Cool. Okay. But your body and my body are dead. Because there's sin in it. Capiche is there sin in your body? That's why I said All right, then put it together. How do you get life in your body? Say it By By overcoming what sin and That's what the epistles are about.

There are one long drawn-out explanation of How to overcome sin in your body so that the last enemy death can be destroyed. Now think about that there's a Matrix there's a model for you to pin the scriptures on and The whole thing will make sense to you.

Oh in one place it sounds like we do nothing but believe and in another place it looks like we're running a race and fighting and and Straining every nerve one of the translation says in Philippians 3 it puts it together for explains.

What's going on your inward nature is alive? But your outward nature is dead. Well, you say. But when the Lord comes he'll automatically make my outward nature alive. If that were the case then when Paul would not say I'm striving to attain the Resurrection and that's what Romans 6 tells you that if you continue in sin, you're gonna die.

What does he mean by that? He means that God gives you life inside. But you have to take care of it if you don't you're gonna lose it. That's what he's talking about. And then when he comes you won't be raised and that's the parable of the five foolish virgins.

They hadn't killed anybody. They just didn't have what? Oil and oil in the Bible represents the Holy Spirit life. They let it run out and you say oh once you have it can ever run out. Hey, have you been around?

Have you ever seen anybody that started out as a radiant Christian and then backslid what happens to him you look at him and Like I was saying Sunday night. They're all ready for the velvet. I mean just put out the Mahogany polished mahogany box with the velvet in it lay them on their back hands folded on their chest and put a lily in their Hands because there never be any deader than they are.

You can see it in their face. Oh Oh. Eternal life is not a legal state. It's something in you. It's God's life in you and it can run out and we have that in the parable of the virgins and we have it in the path in the Parable of the sower which presents it in a little different way you bring it brings forth fruit and then it withers and dies.

That's why one of the most deadly teachings and evangelical circles is eternal security. It's deadly because it leaves people with the impression that no matter what I do I'll be saved somehow, but the whole New Testament roars.

If you sow to your flesh, you're going to reap corruption. Because the only life you have is The life of God that he put in you when you put your faith in Jesus Christ your body is dead and Therefore if you live in your body you are living in Death.

What's the Bible? I didn't write it. I just preach it All right now does it make sense to you how we died this in how can we live in it any longer? It's completely antithetical to our whole profession.

It isn't that we can't we surely can and isn't that God doesn't see it. He surely does. It's that it's not Consonant with what we have professed it just has no business in our life. And so does that mean we can just say sin be gone.

No. That's why he goes on to explain you have to choose to be the slave of God. And we know from the power from the Old Testament allegory of the wilderness wandering. That you don't get in there all at once.

There's a whole bunch of things that Lead into the land of promise and then you have to take it a city to time under the Spirit so our whole Christian life then becomes a Fight and that's what it says in first Timothy 6 12 fight the good fight of faith Lay hold on eternal life and then in first Corinthians 10. I think it is he talks about running the race and Beating his body down keeping it under lest.