The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 7: The Fight Against Sin)

Start this post series from the beginning, here.

The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 7: The Fight Against Sin)

In the last post I wrote the following:

Unlike justification that is instant, a single event of salvation, this learning process of sanctification is a lifelong journey. We grow into it. We start as babes in the knowledge of Christ. We have teething pains. Our flesh will rebel against this process continually. You will have moments of weakness and you might ‘feel’ like you are losing the battle against sin, but faith in our positional status of justification stands strong and unmoveable. There is no condemnation from this position. But we have the responsibility of reasonable service to God, Rom.12:1-2. We persist in learning and changing by the knowledge of His Word. It is the Word within us that ultimately overcomes sins.

We will walk the road of sanctification until we die or are raptured. It is a long road, and it has many detours and speed bumps. Along the way we will encounter the lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the eyes. We will be drawn into the pride of life. We will encounter envying and strife. We will experience temptations, and we will be buffeted in body and mind. But, above all this, we can trust God, that He has saved us to the uttermost and that His Word will be a light and guide to us throughout the entire course of this life. It is our love and commitment to Gods Word, ie: learning it and doing it, that will help us stay on the straight and narrow. It is absolutely imperative that we keep ourselves filled with His Word if we are to experience power over sin and growth towards sonship.

The following passage of scripture defines the process of sanctification, changing us from condemned and disobedient sinners, to being justified by God, not by our own works and efforts, but simply through believing in His Son.

Titus 3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.  4  But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,  5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;  6  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;  7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  8  This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

God washes us through regeneration of our spirit and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. The written Word of God is vital in this process to reorientate us towards godliness. In the truest sense, we should recognize an increasing measure of godliness being formed within us as we grow in knowledge and faithfulness through His Word. This in turn should lead to good works, which is not works done in our own strength, nor works we can boast in, but works that flow out from us by the inspiration and power of the Spirit, that life of Christ being formed within us. The good work that God started and will bring to completion within us, is in our minds, and it teaches us to progressively forsake the flesh and quicken us to the spirit and life of Christ. We should be careful (diligent) to maintain this process, this mentality, and this desire, by feeding on the Word, so that no room is left for carnal thinking, which leads to all manner of sins.

Let’s talk about sin

Now, since we are on the topic, let’s talk about sin! Justification does NOTHING to our bodies and minds. Though we are wholly saved in a positional context, we are still sinners. Our flesh is the very substance of sin. As powerful and complete the cross of Christ is, it was not designed to save the flesh. Our flesh is unsalvageable! The final act of our salvation is not to fix the flesh, but to discard of it entirely. The flesh is good for nothing, it is vile, and its carnal mind is permanently at enmity against God. This carnal body is to be cast off and dissolved when that day of Jesus Christ comes. But, until that day, what do we do? How do we handle it?

Well, I can tell you that the enemy, the god of this world, who rules over the flesh, has deceived many who have a lack of Biblical wisdom and truth. There are those who believe they can defeat sin by their own efforts. There are many who have the notion that purifying the flesh can somehow assist in their salvation. There are many who believe that practicing some things might defile the flesh, like types of foods, ink markings, piercings, shavings, how one dresses it, how one washes it, etc. If there is doctrine against such things, if is under the law program of Israel. Although we should care for and respect our bodies, and use them for God’s glory, these things I have listed do not affect our justification and ultimate salvation. It is childish reasoning to think that the aforementioned list has any effect on the gift of grace that God provides through Christ. There are many who attempt to train the flesh and discipline the carnal mind to avoid the traps of sin, and by so doing, somehow bring them into right standing with God. Avoiding sin is good, but it is enabled by the knowledge of the Word. It is impossible to do anything to earn right standing with God. Even our righteousness is unprofitable to God. So, in hindsight, all these people above are deceived and working by their own vain imaginations to gain acceptance with God. God’s salvation is not IN the flesh, nor FOR the flesh! Salvation and defeat of sin is in the Word, and in Christ. There is NOTHING you can do in, or with the flesh, that is going to defeat sin. Sin is IN the flesh. You cannot fight sin by using the very object that sin has corrupted. These people might have an illusion of winning the battle, by sheer willpower and by discipline, but sooner or later, they will lose, and with it comes condemnation, disappointments, and doubts in their faith.

Then there are those who point fingers at what I’m trying to teach and reject it saying that I am teaching that it is OK to sin, or that I am being too passive and that one must actively stand up against sin by using religion, by setting laws, by sacrifices, or by prayers and worship. In no way do I condone sin, and in no way are we to be passive to sin, but we DO NOT fight it in our own strength or by using tools or techniques that are prescribed by the imaginations of men. We fight sin by gaining knowledge in the Word, specifically knowledge in what Paul writes in Romans 6 to 8.

Our apostle does not teach that we must fight in our own strength to conquer sin. Neither are we to fight sin by religious practices. Romans, chapters 6-8, have set the precedent and has provided us with God’s approved way to conquer sin. Remember that Romans is only the foundation. We must start at this position and then build up our knowledge, adding to it what we learn from the curriculum of Paul’s subsequent epistles.

We have learned that we are dead to sin positionally in Christ. The object now is to bring our physical state of mind and experience into the same conformity as our spiritual position. Without renewing our mind to conform to our positional standing, we are never going to overcome sin in our daily ‘earthly’ walk.

If we are justified by God, why must we bother about overcoming sin? Can’t we just go on living life knowing that we are forgiven? No! This is corrupt and selfish thinking. This is not what God desires for you. The value of the cross, and Christ’s sacrifice for you, is far too significant for you that you should stop at justification and not continue on in all that God has provided for you through grace. So then, what is the problem with sin? Sin is harmful as it leads to the death of the new life that God provided through Christ. I’m not talking about death as going to hell when you die. The context of death here is the loss of function or operation in what God intended for you, as explained in the previous part of this post series. In other words, sin will cause you to not operate or function in the ways that God created you to operate and function in.

Rom 8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: [not eternally or physically, but die in function to God] but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live [operate and function in the life and righteousness of Christ]. 

So, will we continue to sin after salvation? Yes! It is inevitable. We are still carnal and sin is still in the flesh. Justification is spiritual, so it does not change the body or the mind! But the Word provides us with a way to overcome sin. What mortifies the deeds of the flesh is operating within the knowledge we gain by studying the Word. Overcoming sin is NOT by trying to do it in your own strength. It is NOT by laws and rules you set for yourself. It is NOT by doing things. Overcoming sin comes by being changed by the knowledge we learn concerning our new spiritual administration, and the exercising, or application of that knowledge in our daily lives. Essentially, we defeat sin by operating from within our knowledge of, and application of, the administration of Christ.

So, in summary, we have learned how that Paul describes God’s grace in levels. Our first encounter of grace is justification in Romans 5, which happens the instant we believe in Christ. Justification is all God’s work. We have no influence or participation in it. It is events that take place in heaven where God removes your sins and nails it to the cross. Then He imputes the righteousness of Christ upon you. Then He transfers you from the administration of Adam into the administration of Christ, where all the benefits of righteousness, justification, grace, and life become yours, not by your own works or effort, but simply because it comes by means of Christ’s administration.

Once justification has happened, we have a reasonable service to God. It is up to us, through our love for God and our thankfulness to Him to get into His Word. Grace does not stop at justification! It should continue on into our learning of Christ’s new administration. We need to renew our thinking by replacing our thoughts and understanding of Adam’s administration with that of the administration of Christ. These two administrations are entirely different. We cannot operate in Christ’s administration with the mentality of Adam’s administration. We have a desperate need to renew our mindset and renew our understanding, so that we can correctly walk in the administration of righteousness, grace, and life. In this regard, Paul, in Romans 6, takes us through all these ‘knowing’ statements to bring us to the understanding that we must change our mindset and renew our approach and understanding to life. Finally, in Romans chapter 7 we encounter a different perspective in regard to this topic of grace. I will write about this in the next post.