“Building a culture of grace”

Do Christians Still Have a Sinful Nature?

Fully Revised Study Guide Edition.

Copyright © Ryan Rufus, 2011

First published in 2009 by New Nature Publications.

ISBN: 978-988-19848-1-4

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from both the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

Scripture quotations are from New King James Version ®

unless otherwise indicated.

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

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Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission.

All rights reserved worldwide.

Other books by Ryan Rufus include:

Sanctification by Grace.

Extra Virgin Grace – The Olive Tree vs. The Fig Tree.

Thanks to:

Cover design: Lisa Ackerman

Editing: Bev Tivin

Formatting: Jan Boshoff

For more grace resources please visit:

www.newnaturepublications.com

THANKS TO:

My beautiful wife Kylie, your thoughts and perspectives, while wrestling through the concepts of this book, were priceless. What a delight it is to be sharing this life with you.

My father, Rob Rufus, who firmly established and set the tone of grace in my life.

Bev Tivin, an amazing editor, who has worked meticulously on the revision of this book.

Jan Boshoff, for so many things! You are a gift to New Nature Publications and a true friend.

PREFACE

If believers throughout the world were asked, “Do Christians still have a sinful nature?” most would not be able to categorically say yes, or no. The majority are confused about this and simply avoid the question altogether. Though their confusion stems from a misinterpretation of Scripture, the fact is that Scripture does not allow for any confusion on this subject. It is crystal clear on the matter and provides the answers that will settle this issue once and for all. Confusion on this subject weakens us, making us more vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks. The enemy wants to keep us in a dark cloud of confusion so that we accept anything that comes our way.

One of the most perplexing questions that Christians secretly ask themselves is, “Will I ever be free from sin?” Maybe it’s just my ignorance, but I have not heard much preaching or read any books that actually answer this question. It’s about time that people start hitting the nail on the head and hitting it hard, even if it flies in the face of hundreds of years of teaching that is an offense to the cross. Grace and truth came through Jesus, the light of the world (John 1:17; 8:12). Therefore, all the darkness in your mind and in your life will be overcome when you open your heart to His light, grace, and truth. The result? You will be set free.

True believers don’t want to sin, so they look for ways to stop sinning. If they could flick a switch and stop, they would. Many are baffled and bewildered as to why they still sin, while others just accept the idea that they will be slaves to sin until the day they die. Whenever the whip of sin cracks, they hopelessly obey. To them, freedom has become nothing more than a myth or vain hope, but the good news is that Jesus promised that those who know the truth will be free!

At the end of each chapter you will find study questions that can be used by individuals or small groups. These questions will help maximize your grasp and retention of this vital foundational teaching.

This book is not about keeping the law and trying to be perfect, but about understanding what has already happened to you in Christ. It is about grace, truth, and freedom. And I pray it absolutely blesses you!

CHAPTER 1

DO WE STILL HAVE A SINFUL NATURE?

The Bible explicitly states that the sinful nature was completely removed and taken out of us when we were born again. Though many adamantly believe otherwise, I am not writing to those who desire to engage in a theological debate but rather to those who desire to be free. Let’s allow Scripture to speak for itself and settle the issue.

Scriptural foundation #1

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

- COLOSSIANS 2:11-12

Verse 12 tells us that we were united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection referring to our “being born again”. Verse 11 tells us what happened in this transaction: Our old, sinful nature, or “the body of the sins of the flesh”, was circumcised and put off. To misunderstand this verse is to misunderstand, firstly, what “the body of the sins of the flesh” is and, secondly, that it gets circumcised when a person comes into Christ. The word “body” here is not referring to our body, but to the entity of sin or that indwelling nature of sin, that we received through the fall of Adam, and that drove us to sin.

The circumcision “made with hands” is to cut off the foreskin (the flesh) and throw it away. The circumcision “made without hands” is to cut off the sinful nature (body of sin) and throw it away. Tragically, many Christians talk about their old self with its old sinful nature still “rattling around in the coffin” and making them sin, believing they need to continually die to their old self. I used to believe this and teach this but I was so wrong. What happens to the foreskin when it is cut off? It shrivels up, rots, and dies, never to reattach again. In the same way, that is exactly what happens to the sinful nature once it’s circumcised - it shrivels up, rots, and dies, never to reattach again.

Contrary to what many teach, you do not have two natures dwelling together; you have God’s nature alone. This confusing “Yin Yang” or “white dog/black dog” theology teaches that though you have the new God nature, you also still have your old sinful nature that you must learn to live with and die to. That is heresy and an affront to the cross! At the cross, your old self died and was buried, the sinful nature was completely removed forever, and God raised you up in Christ with His nature.

Scriptural foundation #2

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

- 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

If you are born again in Christ, you are a new creation and old things have passed away. What are the “old things” that are being spoken of? Your body? No, that is still the same and hasn’t gone anywhere. Your mind? No, that is also still the same and hasn’t gone anywhere. Your old self that was dead to God because of the sinful nature? Yes! It died with Christ, and God has raised you up with Christ with a new nature. You are a new creation, not on the outside but on the inside. Your body is not new, your mind is not new, but your inner man is new.

Before you were born again, your spirit was dead to God because of the Fall of Adam. His disobedience brought sin into the world, causing every person to be born spiritually dead with a fallen, sinful nature. We inherited this nature that enslaved andcontrolled us (Ephesians 2:1-2), making us enemies of God. But then look what happened:

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

- COLOSSIANS 2:13

We were dead because of the sinful nature in us. We were born with it like a cancerous tumor attached to us, but then God made us alive with Christ! And what happened in this transaction? Our old self died and the sinful nature had nothing to attach itself to and was thus put off (circumcised). Now we are alive with Christ. We are new creations. That old sinful nature that causes death was taken out, never to rear its ugly head again. It is impossible for it to come back because it has nothing to attach itself to. It was able to attach itself to a fallen nature but can never attach itself to a righteous nature.

Though the Bible says that we are partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), this does not make us divine but means that we have the life of God in our new nature. It is now impossible to be a Christian and have a sinful nature. It is impossible for our new nature to coexist with the old nature. Jesus came to get that old nature out of us and give us a new nature. The old is gone and the new has come. How could anyone go to heaven with that old, fallen nature? Do you think God would let in that smelly thing? No way! Some say, “Well, God will take it out just before we get to heaven.” That isn’t in the Bible. No, the Bible says that the moment we are united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, we are born again and circumcised of the sinful nature. “Old things have passed away” and God gives us a new nature—“all things have become new.” The next scripture really drives this home. I hope you are ready!

Scriptural foundation #3

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.

- ROMANS 6:3-7

Before discussing freedom from sin, let’s firmly establish from Scripture that a born-again believer does not have a sinful nature. Verse 6 refers to some things that we know. The word “know” does not leave any room for vagueness but implies a full understanding and an absolute assurance. There is a big difference between hearing and knowing. Jesus didn’t say, “You shall hear the truth” but “You shall know the truth and it will set you free.” Therefore, it’s not just hearing the truth, but knowing, accepting, and believing the truth that sets you free. Do you know the number to call in case of emergency or have you just heard it and forgotten it? There’s a big difference between one and the other. One can save your life but the other can’t! The Bible says that Adam knew his wife Eve (Genesis 4:1) and she became pregnant. Obviously, Eve didn’t get pregnant because Adam knew “about” her; he “knew” her! Do I have to spell it out? Romans 6:6 quoted above also talks about knowing: it says that we know that our old self was crucified with Jesus. This “knowing” is an intimate word that causes conception and life. Have you merely heard this verse or do you know it? If you know it, you understand it by revelation. You accept and believe it, it has set you free. You always remember it, it stays clear to you and you own it. You could even teach it to others!

Verse 6 states, “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” As we examine this verse in detail, we need to ask:

1. What is our “old man”?

2. What happened to it?

3. When did this happen?

1. WHAT IS OUR “OLD MAN”?

“Anthropos” is the Greek word for “man”. Among its multiple meanings, one refers to the unregenerate man (the old man or old self). The source of sin in your life came from your anthropos (your inner, old self). Your old man was the part of you that was dead to God and under the control of the sinful nature (Romans 7:5). It was beyond help and beyond hope. Why?

First, it was born dead to God.

Second, it was born with a sinful nature that was like a systemic parasite that had infested and taken over control.

Third, it was controlled by the sinful nature and was thus unable to keep God’s law because it only wanted to act contrary to that law.

We can thus see that this old self, this old you, was an enslaved prisoner that was not right with God and had no hope of living for Him. Wouldn’t it have been awful if God had left us with that old self? Well, thankfully He didn’t. He did something about it that we need to know.

2. WHAT HAPPENED TO IT?

It was crucified with Christ! Since the Holy Spirit united us with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, it is as though everything that happened to Christ also happened to us. Despite the fact that we did not go through it physically, we reap all the benefits from it as though it actually did happen to us! The fact that our old self was united with Christ in His crucifixion means that our old self was crucified. It was not made unconscious or very badly beaten but still alive. No! It was killed! It’s dead!

3. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?

Verse 6 does not say that our old self is being crucified or that it will be crucified or that it has to keep being crucified. No! This is past tense so it has already happened - it was crucified. Now that it has taken place once for all time, it can never be repeated. Because our old self is dead and never has to die again, it is heresy to say that we need to keep dying to ourselves. Though several verses have been lifted out of context to prove otherwise, the Bible does not contradict itself on this issue. For instance, when Jesus says, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23), He is talking about dying to our will and plans for our life and surrendering to God’s will and plans for our life. Similarly, when Paul says that he dies every day (1 Corinthians 15:31), the context makes it clear that he is not saying that we must die to ourselves daily. Rather, as someone on the frontlines of the gospel whose very life was continually in danger, he recognized that every day could be his last. As a result, every day that he lived was another day that he was spared from death, so it was as if he were dying daily.

Once we truly understand that our old self was crucified with Christ, we will never again say that we need to die to self. The old self was not saved and could not live for God because it was held captive by the sinful nature. That old self is now dead and buried forever.

The rest of verse 6 tells us that we died with Christ so that the “body of sin” might be done away with. The “body of sin” is not talking about your physical body; if it were, your physical body would have been done away with and some would teach that believers don’t have a physical body but just look like we do. What on earth would the world think of us then? The “body of sin” is talking about that entity of sin that was inside us attached to our old self. That parasite that had a life of its own that was causing death in us was the sinful nature. The “body of sin” is therefore referring to the sinful nature.

Note that verse 6 makes a distinction between your old self and the sinful nature. They are different. The old self was you. The sinful nature was a parasite that you inherited and were born with. Both were a part of you and were inseparable. You could not surgically remove the one from the other or separate them by any magic or ritual. You could not even tell where one began and the other ended. The following story will help to illustrate this:

There once was a certain weed (sinful nature) that began to grow onto a large tree (old self). Eventually the weed grew so large that it entwined itself around the entire tree, slowly sapping the life from it. The weed no longer existed on its own but drew its life from the tree. One day a farmer killed the roots of the tree and it died. Guess what happened to the weed? It died also! Thousands of years later, long after every trace of that dead weed had rotted, a seed from the old tree sprouted and grew up into a new tree with new life, never to have that old weed come back again.

The reason that the old tree (old self) had to die was so that the weed (sinful nature) could be removed and done away with. God could then raise us back to life not as our old self but as our new self that is free of the sinful nature, no longer bound to that nature but bound to Christ in resurrection life and the power of the Holy Spirit. We can now serve God and live for Him in a new way. Having been born again, we are a new creation with a new spirit that is alive to God. We have been given a new nature—the God nature. Nothing from the old carried over or was placed back in you; it is all gone and you are completely new. At one time you were an old, beat-up Datsun 1200 but now you are a brand-new Ferrari. God didn’t put the old Datsun engine back in but gave you a brand-new Ferrari engine! Can you hear it purr?

We have seen from Colossians 2:11-12 that we were circumcised of the sinful nature when we were born again.

We have seen from 2 Corinthians 5:17 that old things have passed away and God has made us completely new.

We have seen from Romans 6:6 that our old self died and the sinful nature was removed so that we would no longer be slaves of sin.

Based on the clarity and strength of these scriptures, it is safe to build a foundational doctrine that the born-again believer no longer has a sinful nature!

Some of you are already asking, “Well, if we don’t have a sinful nature, why do Christians still sin?” We will address that in chapter 2 but must first deal with certain passages that could undermine this entire teaching if interpreted incorrectly. Since the Bible would not tell us in some places that we don’t have a sinful nature only to contradict itself in others by telling us that we do, such passages must be interpreted in context and read on the foundation of truth we have just looked at. With this in mind, let’s examine some of these scriptures that would seem to indicate that we still have a sinful nature.

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

- GALATIANS 5:13-24

In this passage, the NKJV (quoted above) as well as the KJV and NASB have correctly translated the Greek word “sarx” as “flesh”. Unfortunately, both the NIV and NLT have created unnecessary confusion by translating this Greek word as “sinful nature”. The 2011 version of the NIV, which has completely replaced the previous version, has changed each instance of “sinful nature” in this passage to “flesh”.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words lists more than a dozen meanings for the word flesh or sarx. For example, it can mean the substance of the body (1 Corinthians 15:39); the human body (2 Corinthians 10:3; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:22); the lower and temporary element in the Christian (Galatians 3:3,6,8); the externals of life (2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 6:5; Hebrews 9:13); the natural attainments of man (1 Corinthians 1:26; 2 Corinthians 10:2-3); circumstances (1 Corinthians 7:28); the holy humanity of the Lord Jesus (John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:1; 1 John 4:2; 2 John 7).

So although the word “sarx” is used in the Galatians passage quoted above, it’s not necessarily talking about the sinful nature. I believe (and I spend a whole chapter explaining this in my book Extra Virgin Grace) that it’s speaking about those who live, or are trying to live, under the law or the “Flesh Covenant”. These Galatians were born again and in the “Spirit Covenant” (grace) but were going back to the law. They were going back to relying on “the flesh”, which is human effort and performance to be righteous. Paul was saying that you cannot live in both as they are contrary to each other and will cause inner conflict that will manifest in outer “biting and devouring of each other”. He was urging them to walk in grace (the spirit) because they are no longer under the law. He then gives a list of what people are like who live under the law or “in the flesh” followed by a list of what people are like who live in grace or “in the spirit”. The thought is that when you walk in the spirit the fruit of the spirit will manifest in your life, but when you try to live under the law (as unsaved people are), the fruit of the flesh will manifest in your life. Fleshy behavior is not the fruit of the sinful nature but the fruit of unbelief in the finished work of Christ. Spiritual behavior is the fruit of living by faith from your reborn spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

- ROMANS 8:5-15

This passage is contrasting an unbeliever with a believer, not a believer who lives by the flesh with a believer who lives by the Spirit, as some might believe. It does not state that Christians have a sinful nature. As in the Galatians passage quoted previously, the Greek word “sarx” in this passage from Romans has been translated “flesh” in the NKJV, KJV, and NASB. The NIV and NLT translated it as “sinful nature,” but once again, the 2011 version of the NIV has replaced all instances of “sinful nature” with “flesh” in Romans 8. As believers, we are to allow the Spirit of God to help our spirit live in ascendancy so that the desires of our bodies don’t spin out of control.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

- JAMES 1:13-15

James does not say that we have a sinful nature but that “each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires.” The Greek word “epithymia” simply means desires or lusts, but the old NIV as well as the 2011 version are misleading because they have translated it as “evil desire.” Scripture is not saying that we have evil desires but that our desires or appetites are tempted by evil. Therefore, unless we bring our appetites under control, we can easily be tempted and dragged into sin.

The common thread that runs through all these passages is not that we still have a sinful nature that we must learn to control but that we need to learn to walk by the desires of the Spirit rather than those of unbelief in the finished work of Christ and the desires of the natural body.

CONCLUSION

There is a fundamental glorious truth in all these scriptures that so many Christians have missed: The born-again believer does not have a sinful nature! The theme that repeats itself over and over is that when you and I were united with Christ in His death, our old self died and the sinful nature was completely removed forever. God then raised us up together with Christ into new life and gave us a new nature! That’s pretty exciting! If you are born again, you do not have a sinful nature. This means that you have been released from the slavery of that sinful nature and are no longer a slave to sin. So why do Christians still sin? We will address this in chapter 2, but first make sure that you have allowed the truth of chapter 1 to sink in. Hear it. Accept it. Believe it. Know it!

STUDY QUESTIONS:

- Where did the sinful nature come from?

- What happened to your sinful nature when you were born again? Use Scripture to support your answer.

- Is it possible that some believers who struggle with the same sins still have a sinful nature that fights against their God nature? Explain.

- What is the old self (or “old man”)? Is it the same as the sinful nature? Explain.

- Was your old self able to obey God’s law? Why or why not?

- The Apostle Paul says that he dies every day (1 Corinthians 15:31). Does this mean that we should die to ourselves? Explain.

- Why is it important to understand whether or not believers have a sinful nature?

- Has this chapter changed any of your beliefs?

CHAPTER 2

SO WHY DO CHRISTIANS STILL SIN?

Based on the fact that we still sin, most Christians mistakenly conclude that we have a sinful nature and that this nature can only be overcome by dying to ourselves. Such erroneous thinking is a demonic deception that actually keeps us in bondage by making us more vulnerable to giving in to sin. This experience-based theology is at odds with Scripture, which says:

- We have already died once with Christ and never have to die again.

- Our sinful nature has been circumcised and removed.

- We have been raised up with Christ into new life with a new nature.

Basing our thinking on the Word of God rather than our experience will enable us to understand the two reasons that Christians can still struggle with sin:

1. Temptation

2. An Unrenewed Mind

Temptation does not come from the inside of you but from the outside. Before being born again, sin was on the inside trying to get out but now that you are saved, sin is on the outside trying to get in! Before you were saved, the body of sin (sinful nature) inside of you tried to express itself through your body in the form of sin. Now that you are saved, sin is on the outside trying to get back in through your body in the form of temptation. One is internal and the other is external but both are looking for the same results. It is no longer the sinful nature driving you, but temptation now that is luring you.

Some people say, “Well, if we didn’t have the sinful nature we wouldn’t sin. The fact that we still sin proves that we still have the sinful nature.” Not so; the reality is that it is possible to sin yet not have the sinful nature. Consider Adam and Eve. Did God create them with a sinful nature? No. He created them perfect. Nothing on the inside of them was driving them to sin. Rather, sin came from the outside in the form of temptation trying to get in. And what happened? They sinned. You mean to tell me that it was possible for them to sin even though they didn’t have a sinful nature? Yes! Therefore, the fact that we no longer have a sinful nature does not automatically mean that we cannot sin!

Temptation and the opportunity to give in to it will be with us until the day we go to heaven. If it were impossible, we would never feel the tug of temptation; it would be like water off a duck’s back. The fact that we no longer have a sinful nature does not mean that we won’t feel temptation or that we can never succumb to it.

For example, Jesus laid aside His divinity and took on a human body (Philippians 2:6-7). This body needed to eat, sleep, and go to the toilet. It was just like ours except it did not have a sinful nature because Jesus didn’t carry the fallen bloodline of Adam. Despite the absence of a sinful nature, He was “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Together with the example of Adam and Eve, this confirms that the temptation to sin comes even without a sinful nature. The question then becomes, can we resist it or must we give in to it? We know that Adam and Eve gave in to it but Jesus did not. Some will say, “Well, that was Jesus. You know - God!” Yes, but He was made like us, so we can also be tempted yet stand strong. After all, no one forces us to sin; we are the ones who ultimately decide to give in to it or to resist it. Once we realize that our sinful nature is gone forever, we can no longer resort to the easy excuse, “Well, it wasn’t me, it was my sinful nature that made me do it, so I just have to learn to die to myself.” The fact is that it is up to us to choose to resist temptation and we can do it; it was possible for Jesus and it is also possible for us.

A gun in itself is neither good nor bad; it is the person in control of the gun that can use it for good or for evil. For instance, a thief might use it to shoot people who try to stop him, and a police officer might use it to stop this thief from murdering innocent people. In the same way, your physical body is a neutral instrument that is under the influence of whatever controls it. If you are under the control of your spirit, your body will do what your spirit wants. If you are under the control of your unrenewed natural mind, your body will do whatever you are being tempted with. It cannot sin on its own; it is what you allow it to do that is good or bad.

You are more than just a hunk of meat; you are comprised of spirit, soul, and body. More specifically, you are a spirit, you live in a body, and you have a soul (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Because God is Spirit and you were made in His image, your spirit is the part of you that communicates with the spiritual realm. Those who worship God must worship Him in spirit (John 4:24).

Your body is the part of you that enables you to operate in the physical realm.

Your soul is the part of you that encompasses the mental realm, which includes your mind, will, and emotions.

Though you are a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body, that body is just your earth suit. If you are born again, the real you (your spirit) will immediately go to be with the Lord when your body dies. Too many believers see themselves merely as flesh and bone rather than as spirit beings living in flesh and bone. As a result, they do whatever their body feels like doing. God has done something to your inner man (made you alive with Christ) but expects you to do something with your body and your mind.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

- ROMANS 12:1-2

Remember that Christians still sin because of temptation (sin trying to work its way into our bodies) and because of worldly thinking left over from the time prior to salvation. God’s solution to this problem is twofold:

1. Present your body to Him (and not to temptation) so that sin cannot get in.

2. Renew your mind by surrendering your worldly thinking to the Word of God and His way of thinking.

YOUR BODY

Though your body has appetites and desires, Christians often make the mistake of confusing the desires of the sinful nature with the natural desires of the human body. The desires of the sinful nature are evil and will inevitably end up in sin. In contrast, the desires of the human body are natural yet they do have the potential to get out of control. For example, the desire to eat is a good desire because you would starve to death without food. Nevertheless, it is a desire that can get out of control. What about sex? God has given us all a sex drive for procreation and for enjoyment between a husband and wife. It is a pure and beautiful thing but the devil wants to pervert it. Your sex drive can get out of control if you let it. What about rest? Your body requires rest to function properly and stay healthy, but if this natural desire gets out of control, you can become lazy and feel like lounging around all day.

These desires get out of control when you listen to your body saying, “That felt great, do it again.” Of course, your body makes no moral judgment as to whether what you are doing is right or wrong; it just feels good and wants to do it again. You may give in to sexual temptation because your body likes the way it feels. Your reborn spirit struggles with this but your body doesn’t care. The devil wants to pervert your desires and take them into excess. Believers who allow themselves to be led by their bodies instead of the Spirit do not have a sinful nature but have simply allowed their bodies to have the upper hand.

Since your spirit changed when you were born again but your body and soul stayed the same, you still have a level of carnality in you. Your bodily appetites continually need to be kept in check and your mind needs to be renewed by the Word of God. This can be a long process but be patient with yourself because God is! Our goal is to walk in the Spirit which is to live and make decisions from our spirit that is one with the Holy Spirit.

YOUR MIND

Since the world’s thinking is based on the fallen, sinful nature, godly-thinking people have always been in the minority. Most people throughout all generations have been godless and full of their own selfish ambitions. For example, the Tower of Babel was built by people in rebellion against God who wanted to unite through their human efforts and abilities in order to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:4). They wanted to build a city with a tower that reached to the heavens. Humanistic, worldly thinking was exemplified by their proud, self-centered attitude:

- We don’t need God to unite us.

- We will build a city that doesn’t need God.

- We will build a tower that reaches to heaven and get there on our own, without God.

This is the very attitude that has been shaping mankind’s thinking ever since, and it is all based on the sinful nature! Having grown up in a world permeated with this anti-God philosophy, some of your thinking is inevitably based on this corrupt wisdom which in turn is based on the sinful nature. Because these ungodly thinking patterns were not washed away when you came to Christ, it is up to you to renew your mind so that your actions and decisions will always flow from the Spirit of God and His incorruptible Word.

CONCLUSION

If the statement that Christians no longer have a sinful nature provokes the question, “Then why do Christians still sin?” it reveals that many believe that we still have a sinful nature. Such dangerous thinking assumes that we do not have total control over ourselves, thus providing us with the excuse that our sinful nature made us do it. Being born again frees us from the controlling power of the sinful nature by removing it but does not free us from temptation. All of us will face temptation until the day we die.

The conclusion is that Christians, therefore, do not sin because of a sinful nature driving them but because of the temptations they give in to.

The truth is I have yet to meet one Christian who no longer sins in any kind of way. We all still (without excuse) give in to temptation to some degree. Fortunately, we have a gracious God whose grace will never run out. He will never reject us because of our sin but will always help us through to total victory.

STUDY QUESTIONS

- Why do so many Christians believe that we still have a sinful nature?

- What are the two reasons that believers might still sin? Explain each.

- Does the fact that believers still sin prove that the sinful nature is alive in us? Explain.

- Since Adam and Eve sinned, does this mean that they must have had a sinful nature? Explain.

- It is possible to be tempted but not give in to it. Explain the two ways in which this can happen.

- Would you say that the natural desires of the body are evil? Are the natural desires of the body the same as the desires of the sinful nature?

- What sorts of temptations do Christians face in today’s world?

- Can you give an example of temptations in your own life and how you deal with them?

- Are there some temptations that you used to have but no longer struggle with? How did you accomplish this?

- What is the part of you that communicates with God? Do you think of yourself as a spirit being that has a soul and a body?

- What is the difference between the soul and spirit? Do you have the same spirit and soul that you had before you were born again?

- Has the world’s thinking influenced you? How can you counteract it?

CHAPTER 3

GRACE - THE REASON

WE COULD KEEP SINNING!

You can reign in life not by your efforts but simply by receiving God’s abundant provision of grace and His free gift of righteousness. To reign in life is to know that you are right with God. It is to know that God is not mad at you but mad about you. It is to know that He is happy with you, approving of you, and pleased with you. It is to know that His love is toward you constantly and His favor continually upon you. To reign in life is to live totally free from crippling guilt and condemnation with an awareness that your right standing before God can never change!

For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

- ROMANS 5:17

Under the New Covenant, God never relates to us on the basis of our performance but on the basis of Christ’s performance on our behalf. Salvation and all of His blessings come to us not by our good behavior but only by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ.

When we were born again, we received God’s righteousness as a free gift; we did not earn it as a reward for good behavior. We must never flatter ourselves by thinking that we deserved God’s forgiveness because of “good works” that we did. Our sins separated us from God and we could not claw our way into right standing with God by our works, which Isaiah likens to filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). No, the gift of righteousness comes to us solely by faith in what Jesus freely did for us.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

- EPHESIANS 2:4-9

Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

- ROMANS 3:20-25

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

- ROMANS 5:1-2

When we stand before God, He sees us as righteous because Jesus is our heavenly mediator (1 Timothy 2:5); it is as though Jesus Himself were standing before God.

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

- 1 CORINTHIANS 1:30-31

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

- 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21

It is essential for Christians to realize that our righteousness before God can never change because we received it as a gift. We will always remain in right standing before God because it is not based on what we do but on what Jesus has already done. If it were based on what we do, we would forfeit grace because it would no longer be a gift but a reward for works.

I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.

- GALATIANS 2:21

Many Christians cannot accept this because it sounds way too simple. Surely there has to be something that we need to do, right? Wrong! That belief must go!

What happened at the cross and how does it affect our life? Of the many things that happened, let’s focus on propitiation, which simply means the satisfying of God’s wrath. As a just judge, His wrath was on its way to us because all sin must be punished. Though we deserve eternal punishment for our sins, Jesus stepped in and bore the full brunt of it in our place so that we could be spared eternal death.

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

- ISAIAH 53:5

Even though Jesus took away the sin of the entire world, only those who put their faith in Him and His finished work can access the benefits (Romans 5:1-2). What are the benefits in regard to propitiation? Well, God placed each and every one of your sins on Christ when He hung on the cross (Isaiah 53:5-6; Psalm 103:12; Colossians 2:13-15; 2 Corinthians 5:21). That includes all your past sins, all your present sins, and all your future sins (keep in mind that when Jesus shed His blood over 2,000 years ago, all your sins were in the future!). Since God will never punish the same sin twice, you will never be punished for any of your sins.

To illustrate this, imagine that a judge sentenced you to 25 years in prison with hard labor for burning someone’s house down. That was your just punishment and you served your time. You are released from prison but now the judge turns around and says, “Another 25 years.” Would that be just? Of course not! Justice was already satisfied and the penalty was already paid. Serving an additional sentence for the same crime would be totally unjust.

Since God has already punished Christ for all your sins, why would He then punish you for those same sins? That would be punishing the same sin twice, but God is just and will never do that. We never have to live in fear of being punished for sin. Someone once said that the safest place in a forest fire is where the fire has already burned because it can’t burn there again. Where is the safest place for sinners to be? In Christ, where the fire of God’s wrath has already burned. It will never burn there again!

If you are in Christ, your sins will never be punished again because Jesus was punished in your place for every sin you ever committed or will commit. That means that even if you still sin, you will not be punished for those sins because they have already been punished. Though I certainly am not suggesting that it is okay for you to sin, the fact is that even if you do, you will continue to remain totally righteous before God and never have to fear his judgments.

Though many believe that if you sin you must ask God to forgive you and to cleanse you, but the truth is that every single one of your sins has already been forgiven and thus you are already cleansed. None of the New Testament epistles instruct us to confess our sins. Sadly, there is a verse that is habitually lifted out of context to support the teaching that we must confess our sins in order to be cleansed:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

- 1 JOHN 1:9

When read in context, it becomes clear that this was written to those who had come under the confusing influence of the Gnostics. Since Gnosticism denied the existence of sin, John countered by saying that sin indeed exists (1 John 1:8) and that it is necessary to confess our sins in order to be saved. He was not talking about believers but about non-believers.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.... As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

- PSALM 103: 2-3, 12

Scripture makes it abundantly clear that if you sin after being born again, God will not punish or reject you or take away His grace from you. In no way am I trying to excuse sin; I am simply showing you something of the wonders and depths of God’s grace so that you can be set free from law based thinking and never go back to it. Paul talks about this in the following passage:

Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

- ROMANS 5:20-6:1

Paul is teaching that for those under the law, grace comes to them when they turn to Jesus, who has already dealt with all their sins. No sin is beyond God’s grace; no matter how big the sin, grace is bigger. He is also saying that we have now come into a new era in which God relates to us on the basis of grace and not on the basis of our sins.

Before being born again, we were dead in our sins and sin reigned in us, but now we are alive to God and grace reigns through righteousness (Romans 5:21). This gift of righteousness that we received at the new birth has brought us into complete right standing before God. That means that even if we sin, we will continue to stand in perfect righteousness before God because grace reigns over that sin. Paul is saying that where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. Grace always reigns over sin but sin can never reign over grace. There is no sin that is beyond grace or that can overtake grace. In other words, regardless of how much you sin as a born-again believer, grace will always overtake that sin and keep you in right standing before God. Once you are in grace, no sin or amount of sin can take you out of it. You did nothing to earn your righteous standing before God and you can do nothing to lose it. Grace is the reason that we could still keep sinning while remaining righteous before God!

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

- 1 JOHN 2:1-2

You could mess up and fall under grace every day of your life and grace would still always reign over that sin and just keep dealing with it. Grace can never run out because where sin abounds, grace abounds much more (Romans 5:20). That is why you can never lose your salvation! Believing that you can lose it indicates that you believe that salvation is based on performance: if you don’t do enough good works or if you sin too much, you have lost it. That is simply not true!

Because some believers keep repeating a particular sin that they are struggling with, they carry around condemnation and feel unworthy of forgiveness. The fact is that they are unworthy of forgiveness whether it was the first or the hundredth time they did it. They never deserved to be forgiven the first time they did it, let alone the hundredth, but God has already forgiven each and every one of those sins.

At the cross, grace looked ahead to every sin that would ever be committed and dealt with it then and there. The only unpardonable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29). Since it is the Holy Spirit who draws the unsaved to Christ, it is blasphemy to reject the Spirit’s testimony of Jesus by rejecting the salvation that He offers. However, as a believer now, you could never commit that sin.

Some will accuse me of preaching “greasy grace”. They will say that I am confusing believers because it sounds like I am condoning sin. After all, the more we sin the more grace we will receive, right? Actually, if the way we preach grace does not provoke the question, “Should we just keep on sinning so that grace will keep increasing?” then we are not preaching true grace!

Paul preached that regardless of the number of sins committed, God’s grace has forgiven them all and therefore those in Christ will forever maintain their righteousness before God. Realizing that such preaching would be interpreted to sound like anything goes, Paul addressed this matter by asking, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1). Does the way you speak about grace provoke that question? Think about it!

The next chapter will look at additional deep truths that Paul taught about freedom from sin, but first we must be sure to have absorbed what he has said about righteousness. As justification is the foundation for sanctification, we should not go on to study sanctification until we have developed a good grasp of justification. Here’s an analogy to emphasize the importance of putting first things first: If you want to paint a picture of rolling hills with a small country church in the foreground, you first need to paint the hills. Only when the paint is completely dry can you begin to paint the church; otherwise, the paint from the hills will mingle with the church and make a mess of the painting. In much the same way, if we do not allow “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” to really settle into our hearts, we will struggle and be confused when we hear, “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

CONCLUSION:

Grace is not designed to make us contemplate sin and find a way to get away with it. Rather, it is to empower us to live close to God at all times regardless of what happens. It is designed to give us boldness and confidence to come before His throne of grace and worship Him no matter what. Far from wanting to run out and sin up a storm, Christians actually want to flee from sin because it is foreign to their new nature. Despite any struggles we may have with sin, God sees us beautiful in Christ and nothing will ever stop Him from seeing us like that.

STUDY QUESTIONS:

- Does God ever relate to us on the basis of our performance and behavior? Explain.

- What must a person do to become right with God?

- What are the two kinds of righteousness?

- In Romans 3:21, what does it mean that “the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed”?

- If you are born again, do you lose your right standing with God when you sin? Explain.

- What does “propitiation” mean? What does it mean that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins?

- As a believer, do you need to confess your sins to God in order to be forgiven and to be cleansed of all unrighteousness? Why or why not?

- Are there any sins that are unpardonable? Explain. Was there ever a time when you thought that you committed the unpardonable sin?

CHAPTER 4

GRACE - THE REASON WE CAN

STOP SINNING!

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

- ROMANS 6:1-2

These verses address two groups of Christians:

Group #1: Those who refuse to give up a lifestyle of sin and seek to justify it.

These people think that they are fine with God even though they want to live in their sin. Such an attitude reveals that they have not had a heart change and are not truly born again. Imagine a murderer who gets saved but still defends his acts of violence. Imagine a thief who gets saved but still defends his practice of stealing. Imagine a homosexual who gets saved but still defends his homosexual lifestyle. Have these people had a true heart change? While it is possible that born-again Christians might give in to sin after being tempted in these areas, they would run straight to God because their new nature would immediately be grieved.

Those who want to continue in their sinful lifestyle are using the grace of God as a license to sin. “Here’s my license; it says that where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. I am under grace so that means that I can keep sinning because God has already forgiven me of all my sins.” That is “greasy grace”: it justifies the sin and not the sinner, while true grace justifies the sinner and not the sin. Big difference! God judged sin. He did not justify it.

To those who want to keep living in sin, claiming they are in grace, these verses pose a rhetorical question: if you are truly in grace, how could you be ok with continuing in sin?

Group #2: Those who struggle with ongoing sin, feeling hopelessly bound to it and wondering whether they are really saved.

These people have given up believing that they could ever be free from sin, like a caged eagle who no longer stares into the open skies. They walk in condemnation and confusion, feeling far from God because they haven’t found a way out of the maze of sin. However, this passage wasn’t written to condemn but rather to encourage believers and to show them how to step into freedom.

So we see that Romans 6:1-2 is talking to people who are not born again but think they are, and to people who are born again but think that they are not. To those not born again, it is saying that they continue living in sin because sin is still living in them. To those who are born again- but still struggle with sin, it is saying that they struggle because they believe that sin is living in them when it is not. Thinking that they have no choice but to give in to temptation, they don’t realize that sin no longer has power or authority over them.

Romans 6 tells us that the cage door is wide open and the skies are waiting! Far from talking about the things we cannot do because of grace, it is actually talking about the things we can do because of grace. Grace is not telling us that we cannot sin but that we can live free from sin! So why should Christians not keep living in sin? Jesus said that the truth will set us free, so if we want to see people set free, we must find the answer in Scripture rather than in our experiences and opinions.

The biblical answer comes in the form of a question: “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:2). In other words, sin is no longer our master because we have died to it. While it is still possible for believers to sin and to struggle with ongoing sin, no one has to keep living in it because we have been freed from it. This means that we can either live free from the slavery of sin because its power has been broken or we can go back to slavery by allowing ourselves to wallow in sin.

God has already provided every means for us to be free from sin, but those who still live in it do not realize that they have already been freed from enslavement to it. When a slave dies, his slave master no longer has authority over him. What authority could he have? He can whip the slave all he wants but it won’t do any good because the slave is dead. Similarly, we believers were slaves of sin but we died to that slave master. Now freed from slavery, we have been raised up into new life. Paul states that we don’t need to live in sin if we realize some things:

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.

- ROMANS 6:3-7

Our old self could not lead us into righteousness because it enslaved us, but now that slave master called the sinful nature can no longer control us because it has been done away with for all time. We have been raised up into new life in Christ with a new nature that wants to live for God, but what happens next is up to us. Grace cannot force us not to sin but gives us the opportunity and power to live free from it. We can stay out of the cage and live in freedom or we can go back to our old way of life. This does not mean that we have the luxury to choose between living in sin and living in freedom, as if God would be happy with either choice. Absolutely not!

Grace says that we must stop sinning because we have died to it and have been released from slavery to it. Just as it would be foolish for a released eagle to return to the cage, it would be foolish for us who have been freed to go back to sin.

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey”

- ROMANS 6:14-16

“But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

- EPHESIANS 4:20-24

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

- COLOSSIANS 3:5-10

These passages are not providing us with the rules we must follow to remain right with God. Instead, they are saying that because we are right with God and no longer enslaved by unrighteousness, we can now do these things and bear the fruit of righteousness. Law demands that we bear fruit in order to be righteous; grace says because we are righteous and transformed we can now bear true spiritual fruit.

Many believers wonder if they will ever be free from the controlling power of sin. If you were to ask the devil that question, I’m sure that he would respond with an emphatic “No!” Of course, I don’t want to hear anything from the devil except how threatened he is by me as a Spirit-empowered, grace-filled son of God! However, if you were to ask God the same question, He might ask you how many Egyptian slave masters made it through the Red Sea to continue enslaving Israel. When we realize the answer and its significance, we will realize how free we really are!

Israel was enslaved by Egypt for 430 years. Controlled by the Egyptian slave masters who would whip them into submission, Israel lived under their rule until Passover, the day that God set them free through the blood of a lamb. Despite having been set free, however, they would have continued to be enslaved if they had remained in the land of the slave masters. God then did something profound: He led the Israelites out of Egypt, the land of their slavery and its slave masters. As He led them out through the Red Sea, the slave masters came after them to try to bring them back into slavery, but God caused the waters to cover the Egyptians so that they all drowned. Not one of the slave masters made it to the other side! Now free from the land of slavery and from the slave masters, Israel was on its way to live in a new way in a new land.

What does this have to do with us? Well, many of the things that happened to Israel are a shadow of what was to be fulfilled in our lives. Israel in captivity and bound by slave masters represents our lives before Christ—far from God and enslaved by the sinful nature. The Passover lamb represents Christ our Passover who died on the cross to set us free. Just as the Israelites went through the Red Sea and left Egypt behind, we have also left our old life behind. The Israelites then came out safely on the other side to live a new life while all their slave masters drowned as the sea closed over them.

In much the same way, we believers have been set free from our old life and have been raised up into new life with Christ. Our former slave master, the sinful nature, was completely cut out of our lives the moment that we were born again. Never again can the old nature have its way with us because grace has set us free! We don’t have to try to get free because we already are.

We came into a new life of freedom in Christ the moment that we were united with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. When sin comes to drive you and tell you that you are still enslaved, remind it of the number of slave masters that made it through the Red Sea - not one!

CONCLUSION:

Without a doubt, Christians can overcome sin and live free. It is grace that enables believers to reign in life over sin. That is why we must not view grace as a license to sin but rather as a license to live free from sin! The controlling power of sin has been broken and there is enough grace to overcome every temptation in our lives!

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

- TITUS 2:11-14

The grace of God does not force us to say no but teaches us that we have the ability to say no to ungodliness and worldly desires. The more we understand this grace, the more we will be empowered to overcome sin.

STUDY QUESTIONS:

- What are the two groups of believers that Paul addresses in Romans 6:1-2?

- Were you ever in either of these groups? Explain.

- How would you define “greasy grace”?

- Is grace a license to sin?

- Grace is not a license to sin but a license to live free from sin. Explain.

- Why is sin no longer our master?

- Law demands that we bear fruit in order to be righteous; grace says because we are righteous we can bear fruit. Explain.

- Since we are now under grace, why shouldn’t we continue in sin?

- How did Israel’s deliverance from Egypt foreshadow our deliverance from sin?

CHAPTER 5

OVERCOMING TEMPTATION

Our basis for overcoming sin is found in Romans 6, which gives us three keys to dealing successfully with temptation: Things we need to know, things we need to reckon, and things we need to do.

1. THINGS WE NEED TO KNOW

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.

- ROMANS 6:3-7

We need to know what happened to us, why it happened, and when it happened.

- What happened to us?

We were baptized into Christ. This means that God united us with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (vv. 3-4). Our old self that had been dead to God and controlled by the sinful nature was killed with Christ on the cross (v. 6).

- Why did it happen?

It happened so that the body of sin (the sinful nature) could be removed and we could be raised with Christ into new life with a new nature. With the sin nature gone, we would no longer be slaves to sin.

- When did it happen?

When we were united with Christ in His death, our old self was crucified and can never come to life again. Sin wants to bring us back into captivity but its power over us has ended forever; now we have power over it. We can resist it and it has to flee!

2. THINGS WE NEED TO RECKON

(CONSIDER OR REGARD AS FACT)

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

- ROMANS 6:11

Notice that the verse begins with “likewise,” meaning “in the same way.” So what is this “same way” in which we should reckon or consider ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ? We will find the answer in the verses that precede it:

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

- ROMANS 6:8-10

Verse 9 tells us that Christ cannot die again. Verse 10 tells us that He died to sin once and for all and is now alive to God. Verse 11 says that the exact same thing has happened to us: We (our inner man) cannot die again, we have died to sin once and for all, and we are alive to live to God. Therefore it is possible to live totally for God and totally free from sin the more we live by our reborn spirit that is alive to God!

Do we know this? Do we reckon this? Do we believe that it is true? In the same way that Jesus died to sin once and for all, we also died to sin once and for all. I have heard it said that we need to reckon with our sinful nature and be aware of what it wants to do lest we fall victim to it. Not once does Scripture tell us to reckon with our sinful nature; on the contrary, it tells us to reckon that we don’t have one! Never does it admonish us to die to it, but says that it is already gone. How could we reckon with something we don’t have? We can reckon with temptation but not with the sinful nature because it is no longer part of us.

3. THINGS WE NEED TO DO

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

- ROMANS 6:11-14

Did you notice that verse 12 begins with “Therefore”? In other words, because we know these things and believe them, we have the power to not allow sin to reign in our bodies and the power to offer our bodies to God as instruments of righteousness rather than unrighteousness.

Notice that this passage does not say that sin won’t reign in our bodies just because we know and believe these things; it is saying that because we know these things, there is something that we can do and need to do. It plainly exhorts us to “not let sin reign,” so this means that it is up to us to not allow it. It means that we must not offer our bodies to sin but only to God. We are the only ones responsible for our actions, so if sin is reigning in us it is because we are allowing it to! The sinful nature controlled us before we were born again, but in Christ, God has given back to us control of our actions. He does not control us but we are to willingly surrender control to Him. There is nothing that the devil or temptation can force us to do; it is we ourselves who freely choose what to do or not do.

In other words, these verses are saying that because you have been set free from sin and it no longer has control over you, you should stop sinning. In short, “Don’t do it anymore! Stop it! Just stop it!”

We are the ones who need to take control of our actions. No one can live our life for us; we alone are responsible for our behavior and should act on what the Word has told us. One of the ways that we can overcome temptation is by taking away the excuses we use for giving in to it.

Here are two common excuses:

1. “It’s not me; it is sin living in me that makes me sin.”

2. “The temptation was just too strong for me to resist.”

EXCUSE #1:

“IT’S NOT ME; IT’S SIN

LIVING IN ME THAT MAKES ME SIN.”

Those who resort to this excuse place the blame on the sinful nature that they believe is still part of them. It is very convenient to blame the sinful nature rather than taking responsibility for themselves; after all, if it’s the sinful nature making them sin, they can’t help it. The erroneous teaching that the sinful nature battles for control with the new nature only serves to reinforce this thinking. They call it “the battle with the flesh,” believing that Paul taught this in Romans 7. The following passage from that chapter is consistently used to support the idea that Christians still have a sinful nature.

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

- ROMANS 7:14-20

Is this passage describing Paul’s struggles with his sinful nature? When looked at superficially, it does seem to be saying that he continually battled with his sinful nature that caused him to do what he didn’t want to do. When studied in context, however, it becomes clear that Paul is talking about himself before he was born again. Otherwise, he would be completely undermining his teaching in Romans 6 that Christians are free from the slavery and control of sin!

Let’s contrast two verses that could lead us astray unless understood in context:

“knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

- ROMANS 6:6

“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.(“sold as a slave to sin” – NIV)”

- ROMANS 7:14

If both Romans 6:6 and 7:14 refer to believers, then Paul has just completely contradicted himself! Never quote Romans 7:14 to console Christians struggling with sin, as if to say, “You can’t help it; if the great Apostle Paul was in an ongoing battle with his sinful nature, don’t expect it to be different for you.” This would be both misleading and downright unscriptural. Instead, explain that they remain 100% righteous before God and use Romans 6 to show how they can live free from the controlling power of sin. If we are born again, it is not sin living in us that makes us sin. Hopefully by now this book has convinced us of that!

EXCUSE #2:

“THE TEMPTATION WAS JUST

TOO STRONG FOR ME TO RESIST.”

Those who use this excuse are claiming that they had no choice but to give in because the temptation was beyond their control. According to this reasoning, if future temptations don’t fall within their ability to say “No” they will simply have to keep giving in. By insisting that they simply can’t help themselves in certain situations, they conveniently absolve themselves of any responsibility for their actions. Far from supporting such a claim/view, Scripture plainly states that the responsibility for our actions falls squarely on us:

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

- 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13)

The above verse makes it crystal clear that there is no such thing as a temptation that is beyond our ability to endure. The problem is simply that we give in too easily!

Grace does not mean that sin is without consequences. If we sin, we still maintain our right standing before God, who will not hold it against us or punish us for it. However, sin seeks to paralyze us so that we become ineffective. Just as a deer, caught in a trap, is immobilized because it is all tangled up, sin entangles us and keeps us from moving forward. Therefore we must resist it at all costs. Though we know when we are being tempted, we often resist God and submit to the enemy’s temptation despite the fact that Scripture teaches us to do the opposite:

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

- JAMES 4:7

Do we resist in our own strength? If necessary, yes, but it is better to go to God for strength. He won’t resist for you but will give you grace and strength to resist.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

- HEBREWS 4:15-16

Notice that after telling us that Jesus was tempted in every way yet was without sin, it continues, “Let us therefore…” In other words, if Jesus was tempted in every way yet was without sin, we can also be tempted in every way and be without sin. We can accomplish this by going straight to God’s throne of grace for help in time of need. Thus, Scripture reveals that there is no such thing as a legitimate excuse for giving in to temptation. We must come out from feelings of condemnation, guilt, unworthiness, and failure, and realize that we can overcome every temptation and live in victory.

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

- ROMANS 6:14

Does this mean that you never have to sin again? Yes! Does it mean that you will never sin again? I don’t know; that is up to you and how you administrate the grace of God in your life.

In any case, your focus should not be on striving to live your life without sinning. Steering clear of sin will help you to run the race but it is not the race itself. You don’t go through life just trying not to mess up. You don’t climb a mountain not to fall but you climb it to get to the top. You don’t run a race not to lose but you run to win. As a believer, you are living your Christian life to do everything that Jesus has called you to do and to do it well. Grace is not about all the things that you must avoid in life and all the things that you now must do. God has many things of eternal impact for you to do, and you now have the ability to do them because of grace.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

- EPHESIANS 2:8-10

God’s Kingdom is waiting for us when we get to heaven but it is also available for us to receive and walk in right now. All the benefits, inheritance, riches, and power of His Kingdom are at our disposal so that we can carry out His will. The Kingdom puts everything into perspective and releases the power of God into our lives to do His will. The more of the Kingdom that is in our lives, the more we can impact the world. Because sin wants to rob us of that Kingdom presence, the Word says to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

If you mess around with sin, you can damage your Christian testimony by disillusioning others and causing them to stumble. God wants to take you places but sin will distract you so you end up going everywhere but where God wants to take you. You cannot obey both. That’s why God is saying to pursue righteousness. That means bear the fruits of righteousness because you are righteous. Not bear fruits to be righteous but bear fruits because you are righteous! To do this we need to stop offering our bodies to sin for unrighteousness and continually offer our bodies to God for righteousness.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

- 1 TIMOTHY 6:9-12

Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

- 2 TIMOTHY 2:22

If we are offering ourselves to God and pursuing His Kingdom and His righteousness, how could we ever miss out? How could we ever run our race in vain? He will keep us and cause us to do all that He has planned for us. If we stumble and fall, it does not mean that we have totally blown it. God is gracious and will bring us through triumphantly. When parents teach their toddler to walk for the first time, they don’t give up because he or she keeps falling. There will be some falls along the way but it is all part of the process of learning and maturing.

There will be some mistakes and failures but God isn’t looking at them. He sees us perfect and righteous in Christ all the time. Now He is helping us to overcome our struggles so that we can go on to maturity in Christ and live in our destiny. He is proud of us! Those parents don’t focus on the child falling but on his walking, even if it was only one step. Their joy always brings a smile to the child’s face. You need to hear your Heavenly Father’s praises. He is thrilled with you. He is beside Himself with love for you and takes enormous pleasure in you. There is no failure or fall that could ever separate you from His love!

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

- ROMANS 8:38-39

CONCLUSION:

As born-again believers, we are dead to sin and alive to God. We no longer have a sinful nature that we can blame when we give in to temptation. Jesus resisted temptation and we can do the same by coming boldly to God’s throne to obtain mercy and grace in time of need. We don’t want to mess around with sin, but God will help us through all our struggles so that we can go on to maturity. As we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus instead of on ourselves, we will conform more and more to His image and live a victorious and fruitful life.

STUDY QUESTIONS:

- What does it mean to be baptized into Christ?

- Why did we need to be baptized into Christ?

- In order to overcome sin, what do you need to reckon?

- How would you respond to believers who excuse their sin by saying, “It’s not me; it’s sin living in me that makes me sin”?

- What would you say to believers who excuse their sin by saying, “The temptation was just too strong for me to resist”?

- Does Romans 7:14-20 describe Paul’s life before or after being born again? Explain.

- Does Romans 6:6 contradict Romans 7:14? Explain.

- If you mess with sin, how can it affect others?

- In your walk with Jesus, would you say that you have focused more on Him or on trying not to sin?

- How has this book impacted you?

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I trust that this book has blessed you and that you will enjoy God’s wonderful freedom every day of your life. If you have not yet done so, please take the time to go over the study questions so that you will gain a clearer understanding and deeper appreciation of what it means to be a new creation in Christ. I pray that nothing and no one will ever take you into bondage or legalism but that you stay free even if you sin and mess up. Now that you have the revelation of your complete righteousness before God, you know that His throne room of grace is always open to you! You are free to live for Him, not because you have to, but because that’s all you want to do!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ryan Rufus is a full time pastor at City Church International and founder of New Nature Publications. He has a profound insight into the gospel of grace and is the author of “Extra Virgin Grace” and “Sanctification by Grace”.

He and his wife Kylie live in Hong Kong and are the proud parents of Renae, Chloe, Kimberley, and Asher.

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Copyright

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1 - Do We Still Have a Sinful Nature?

Chapter 2 - So Why Do Christians Still Sin?

Chapter 3 - Grace - The Reason We Could Keep Sinning!

Chapter 4 - Grace - The Reason We Can Stop Sinning!

Chapter 5 - Overcoming Temptation

Closing Thoughts

About the Author

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Copyright

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1 - Do We Still Have a Sinful Nature?

Chapter 2 - So Why Do Christians Still Sin?

Chapter 3 - Grace - The Reason We Could Keep Sinning!

Chapter 4 - Grace - The Reason We Can Stop Sinning!

Chapter 5 - Overcoming Temptation

Closing Thoughts

About the Author