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Bro. Otis Fisher
The atoning death of Christ and the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit are the only means of divine appointment for bringing men to repentance. Now in the case of them that perish, these means have been rejected and therefore there remaineth no other sacrifice.
Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. Identification with Christ for justification is also the grounds of our sanctification. You cannot be sanctified without first being justified.
We are in Christ. These are two different subjects, but they are not mutually exclusive. We're starting chapter six, eventually. Justification is the foundation on which all of the superstructure of sanctification rests.
Justification is an act. Sanctification is a work. Justification took place the moment you trusted Christ. You were declared righteous. The guilt was removed. Then God began a work in you that will continue throughout your life.
I do believe in the instantaneous salvation, but sanctification is a lifelong process. In other words, justification is the means. Sanctification is the end. Is anybody listening to me? Justification is for us.
Sanctification is in us. Justification declares the sinner righteous. Sanctification makes the sinner righteous. It removes guilt, penalty of sin. Sanctification removes the growth and power of sin. God does not leave us in the sin when he saves us.
This does not imply that sanctification is a duty that is derived from justification. It is a fact that proceeds from it, or rather, both justification and sanctification flow from being in Christ, crucified and risen.
The sinner obtains Christ by faith for both his salvation and his sanctification. Up to chapter six, Paul does not discuss the holy life of the saint. From chapter six on, Paul does not discuss the salvation of the sinner.
It's important that you make that division. He wasn't talking about the saint and the life he is to live when he was discussing salvation. Now he is discussing salvation. They are discussing sanctification.
Therefore, the subject of this chapter is the ability of God to make sinners, whom he has declared righteous, actually righteous. He shows that the justified sinner cannot continue in sin because he died and rose again in Christ.
To continue in sin leads to slavery to sin and is the additional reason for not continuing in sin. The believer has a new nature. Now, he is to obey God. This section delivers from the popular idea today that a believer can do as he pleases.
Union with Christ in his death and resurrection means that he is now our Lord and our master. He gives us freedom, but that freedom is not license, which we're going to see. The suffering of themselves has no tendency to purify the soul from sin or impart spiritual life.
It makes no difference about your suffering. The atoning death of Christ and the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit are the only means of divine appointment for bringing men to repentance. Now, in the case of them that perish, I said, remember, there is no other sacrifice.
Now, to start chapter 6. We started last week, but we're going to start it again. I will remind you, in this chapter, every place you see the word sin, read it, sin, nature. Alright, is everybody now ready for chapter 1 of chapter 6?
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in the sin nature that grace may abound? If you think that Christ has given you freedom of righteousness without a new life, then you rend Christ asunder. God has provided a way for us to sin.
What is it? Purge. Yes. No, but we sin. He made it, therefore we have it. Joy, what is it? No. God has provided a way for us to sin. What is it? Roger. Alright, he put in us. You haven't dug deep enough yet.
You simply leave the walk with him. Second verse. God forbid, how shall we that are dead to the sin nature live any longer therein? It's impossible, folks. The adjective verb is an imperfect adjective.
The adjective dead is imperfect. Now, David, what do I mean by being imperfect and perfect? You want to say something.
God forbid that we get out of the walk. Yes. Yes. I know that. God forbid, how shall we that are dead to the sin nature live any longer therein? God forbid, how shall we that are dead to the sin nature live any longer therein?
That's good. God forbid that. Yes. Roger. That's right.
That's right. That's right. We have the option all of the time to sin or not sin. That's right. My option. Now, when it comes to the doing, the physical part, God regulates that. I don't, even though I think I do.
So, being imperfect means that it's an action that goes on and on and on and on forever. We're dead to the sin nature. We cannot resurrect it. How can a cow give fresh milk? She can't. So how can you any longer live in the old man?
You cannot do it. You can sin, but you cannot any longer live in sin, habitually. That's impossible. Not that you want to, but just go at it knowing it's impossible. Three, know you not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized or placed into his death.
Now what kind of a baptism was this, Greg? Spiritual or material? It's a spiritual baptism. I don't know how he does it, but he placed me in Christ. Now for those that would take this verse and apply water to it, there's no water in this verse whatsoever.
Paul says, do you not know? It's common knowledge. Why is it you don't know? You were baptized. You were placed into Christ. It was done to you, a passive verb. You receive the action. In 1 Corinthians 12, 13, turn to that, Greg.
Will you read for me? All right. In 1 Peter 3, 21, the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, not by taking a bath, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the baptism does now also save you.
It saves us from inward questioning. That's good. It provides you with a good, clear conscience and inward peace before God because you are demonstrating what you know to be yours through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now we come to verse 4. First of all, I want to go back to verse 3. We were placed in Christ. That signifies a spiritual death. Why was that necessary, David? Absolutely. We were a servant of Satan. We were not the seed of Satan, just a servant of Satan, and we knew no difference.
And it takes a death. The word doulos is used. That's a bond servant. And it is in force until what, Joy? Until there's a death. A bond servant relationship between you and your master. One of you has to die.
In verse 3, we have that death. So Christ died physically, literally, spiritually. Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Now, the phrases with him and we also tell us quite a bit. These phrases carry with them the meaning of Siamese twins. What do I mean by a Siamese twin, Burge? We're joined together with Christ in his death.
We are in him, not because of anything that we've done, but we are in him by the choice, which was never made, of God. When God raised up Jesus, he also raised us up for we were in him. Now, what happens to a thing that caused you to want to bury it?
It dies. Why bury something that dies? It stinks. That's right. So our old nature died. Now, if we leave it exposed, it's going to stink. For we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also in likeness of his resurrection.
Now we come to the word planted. We had buried because we were dead, now Greg, we're planted with him. What do you plant? All right. So there must be something new coming. Planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection.
The word likeness, that which has been made like something, a figure, image, representation, likeness, resemblance, such as amounts almost to equality or identity. It doesn't completely, but we are like Christ.
Now, we plant the things that we want to live. They're going to grow. So you see how we grow with him, meaning we're in him from the very beginning. This is what makes it possible for a five-year-old to be saved or an 85-year-old to be saved.
When a five-year-old, I remember our daughter, when she looks at Christ, she could not look with the same eyes that I had, impossible. So she looks at him as five-year-old. An 85-year-old can be saved the same way.
He looks at him as one of his. All this takes place just at the right time in history. I wonder what my life would have been like if I had been saved 10 years earlier or 30 years later. You see, each one of us, since it's a personal thing, each one of us is notified exactly when he's supposed to be.
Only God knows that. So don't lament the fact that you've wasted a lot of years that you could have been. No, you couldn't have been. Yes. Yes. We have the perfection, but we're not perfect yet. Six, knowing this, that our old man, which is crucified with him, that the body of the sin nature might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve the old sin nature.
Jesus the Christ died twice. The physical death is easy to see. In John 19, 30, we have when Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.
Now, it's important that you notice he bowed his head, then gave up the ghost. Not the other way around. He sent his spirit back to be with the Father. Ecclesiastes 12, 7. Yes. Yeah. I can look at my past life, which wasn't much by the way, but I look at it to having, it having brought me to that moment.
We look at our life past as having brought us to this moment. You know, we look at things in this world, the things that involve me in this world, and we have a logical reason for it. I went to the store and we bought groceries and I went home.
All of that had a logical reason. When all of the time, God is working his reason behind that. We don't see that. Yes. That's right. That's right. We cannot afford to do that. Look at Paul. How old was he when he was saved?
He wasn't looking for it. He was living his life as he thought he should. He rose as high as he could. What if God had not prepared him? We wouldn't have the rest of the Bible. The second death is a little harder.
Matthew 27, 46. At about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthano. That is to say, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? This was the second death, the spiritual death.
He had to separate spiritually because we were. He came to save, rescue, restore, renew everything that belongs to God, the Father, and he did just that. He offered himself as a sin sacrifice to get all of the cosmos back under God, part of the cosmos.
Now, Greg, why did he ask the Father, why have you forsaken me? Did he not know? All right, if it hadn't been for that one little phrase, there's a whole library that we wouldn't know. This was for our benefit so we would know that he was completely, totally, absolutely alone.
That's where we were. Romans 7, 6 and 7. For he that is dead is freed from the sin nature. Now, explain that, Roger. Okay. For he that is dead is dead. You and I, he is dead. Eight, and if, B, we died with Christ, we believe we shall also live with him.
We are to live in such a way that it makes it possible for Christ to use us. Is that right or wrong? Listen to the question. We are to live in such a way that it makes it possible for Christ to use us.
That's false. It doesn't depend on us. Nothing ever did or ever will. It does not depend upon us. We cannot please him. We must be in Christ, and then we will please him being in Christ. Any questions?
If we be dead with Christ, in other words, if we are one of his and know it, we believe, and belief is a decision at which you arrive based on facts outside of yourself, we believe we will also live with him, life everlasting.
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him, for in that he died, he died unto the sin nature one time. But in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
The two words died are in the perfect tense. Past, active, imperative. Jesus died once, and that was enough. Once for all. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead, past tense, indeed unto the sin nature, but alive, present tense, unto God, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
It's always through Jesus Christ. The word reckon, I reckon it to be so. Clarence Watts reckoned me. All right. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves. The word reckon has a force of being done. If I logizima, that's the Greek word, or if I reckon that my bank book shows I have $25 in the bank, I have $25 in the bank.
Otherwise, I'm deceiving myself. This word refers to facts, not supposition, but facts. Let not the sin nature therefore reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in the lust thereof. Stop letting the old sin nature rule your thoughts.
The word let puts it in our ballpark. It means you can do it. Thirteen. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto the sin nature, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Used to when I was commuting to Dallas, after I go across the first bridge out here, Chambers Creek, I don't know what it is, but they had sunflowers in the big field there on the left. Now, how is a sunflower like a Christian, or better, how is a Christian like a sunflower, Katie?
I heard her. Well, let me tell you. When I would go to Dallas, the sun was in the east, and all of those flowers were facing east. As the day wore on, they were still facing the sun. They didn't pay attention to east or west.
They just faced the sun. And they would do this each day. They would just very slowly turn with the sun. When they were ready for harvest, they wouldn't move anymore. A Christian should always be facing our Lord.
When the sunflower is ripe and ready to be harvested, it no longer moves with the sun, but is stationary. This is a Christian. After he has left the body, he faces Christ. For the sin nature shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
And everybody that's not under grace is still under the law. And the law demands what, Verge? Death. God did not intend for our bodily appetites to rule over us, even if they're God-given. But as long as we're in this body, we'll have a struggle with the flesh.
If we did not have a struggle with the flesh, we wouldn't grow. Explain that, David. That's right. We must go to God every day. I don't mean 8 o 'clock in the morning and again at night. We must be in Him.
Now, you are in Him if you live like Him. That's not possible. My saying, it's not possible, reinforces the fact that it's not possible. In Galatians 5 and 1, Stand therefore, stand fast therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Don't go back to the old law. It's served its purpose. It's over. It's done. We now are in Christ, serving His law. 15. That then, what then, shall we practice sin nature, because we are not under the law, but under grace?
And again, he says, God forbid such a thought that we would sin in order to give God a more abundant showing of His grace. You don't go at it like that. Shall we sin, and they shall, if they shall abuse the doctrine of salvation by grace and take occasion from it to live in unknown sin, it would show that they loved sin, that they were its slaves, and continue this course would reap wages, eternal death.
If someone says they're saved, they'll live like it. Now, they may not live like you or the neighbor or Mr. So-and-so, but they'll live the best that they allow. 16. Know you not to whom you yield yourselves, servants, to obey?
His servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of the sin nature, unto death, or obedience unto righteousness. Before salvation, we were the servants of Satan. First, did we know that we were servants of Satan?
A lost person doesn't know they're lost. They will not know they're lost until they're not lost. But God, be thanked that ye were the servants of the sin nature, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you.
We've been freed from being servants of sin. Now that we're free from the bondage of sin and are under grace, it doesn't make sense to sin. Instead, we can yield ourselves to God as his instruments for righteousness.
Just as we yielded our members servants of Satan when we were servants of Satan, now God is our master and we should yield the same way. Being then made free from the sin nature,.
Yes, that's right,.
After salvation, after salvation, you know when you've yielded to Satan. We know when we've sinned. Greg, what would it be like if we didn't know? What would it be like now that we're saved. What would it be like if we didn't know when we sinned?
Greg, it's hard for you to think like that because you know. If we come back to sin, we come back to what we've done, what we've done and rejoined,.
That's right, that's right. Yes.
We'll get back on.
That's right. Then, in verse 18, being then made free, made is passive. Can you see that? We don't make it. We were made by someone else. Servant, one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master and a servant, attendant, minister, the servant of a king.
A deacon, one who by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church cares for the poor and has charge of the distribution of money collected. One who serves food. 19, we'll stop with this. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh.
For as you have yielded your member servants to uncleanliness and iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. I find, he says, I find that I've got to talk like, talk to you like I would talk to a man that you understand, and you understand very little, Paul says.
Because you are yet so carnal, for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanliness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. In other words, as you served Satan, now serve God the same way.
Just as before, you sinned even without thinking about it. God wants you to yield yourself to him without thinking about it. Let it become your way of life. All right, we must stop here. Is there anything from anybody?
That's right. When I sin, I know immediately that that's not right. Anything else from anybody? Roger, will you dismiss us please?