DEALING DRASTICALLY WITH OUR SINFUL NATURE Text: Romans 8:1-13 Key Word: Dealing Key Thought: How Is the Best Way to Deal with Our Old Fleshly Nature? Not all battles that are fought are outward. In fact, I dare to believe that most of our battles are fought inwardly. The casualties of these battles are greater than any major wars that have been fought. Today, our nation is suffering greatly under the effects of inner warfare. Our hospitals, homes and graveyards are filled with people who are or have been at war with themselves. The Bible talks about this constant struggle that goes on in our lives. The unbeliever deals with it one way while the believer should deal with it in a totally different manner. Scriptures talk about the warring of the flesh. This is one fight that must never be dealt with lightly. Just because we're saved does not mean that all our struggles are over. *** I remember talking with a fairly new convert one day who was greatly concerned about the trouble he was having since becoming a Christian. He told me that things were going so well before his commitment to serve Christ. He was really questioning his new found faith. If God was in his life, why was he having so many problems. After talking for a short while I began to show him the reason for these "new problems. He began to understand that his "new problems" were really his old problems that he had been suppressing for so many years. Now that he had given his life to Christ, there was an awakening of the fact of where he really was. God was lifting the veil so this young man could see the work that was needed. This man had tried to hide all his problems for years behind a facade that God was graciously lifting. I showed him how he now had some new enemies. They were the world, the devil and his flesh (carnal nature). God was not going to let him continue to walk in his fleshly nature. It was time to grow up - spiritually.*** No Christian can honestly say that they have complete victory over every area they battle in their lives. Yet we should strive always for a greater perfection. It is going to require a consistent battle. Just when you think you've won, beware lest you fall again. Some people often have a problem in one specific area of their life. They must walk with their guard up at all times. Page 1 of 7
How Can We Win over this Constant Struggle Against Our Sinful Nature? The Answer Is Found in a Few Simple Questions I. DO WE CONDEMN OUR SINFUL NATURE? II. DO WE PLACE CONFIDENCE IN OUR SINFUL NATURE? III. DO WE CRUCIFY OUR SINFUL NATURE? I. DO WE CONDEMN OUR SINFUL NATURE? "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man" Romans 8:3 Before the time of Christ, the Israelites tried to live up to the requirements of the Mosaic Law. It seemed to create more problems than it solved. Man was and is sinful by nature. We can never regulate changes in people. The change must come from within. Imprisonment, beatings, chastisements will not change the heart of an individual. Something else must happen. Our old nature must be dealt with drastically. The word that the Bible uses to deal with the old nature is to "condemn" it. But it is very important WHO we allow to do the vital work. God's condemnation of sin is passed on through Christ in a very careful manner. God brings both ourselves and Jesus to the witness stand. Jesus becomes the only witness called to be the standard of what is to be accepted. It is not just any books that are opened but rather the Living Word that stands as a testimony against our sin. Our sinful nature is always found guilty before God. But the beauty of it is that Jesus stands as our Advocate and makes an appeal for our sentence WHEN we surrender our lives to Him. There is a price to be paid for every sin that has and ever will be committed. Yet only Jesus can stand in place of the payment. He choose to do so at Calvary. Our condemnation becomes His condemnation. He becomes our sin even though He never sinned. Therefore, the law is not made mockery of. "in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." Romans 8:4 Page 2 of 7
I. DO WE CONDEMN OUR SINFUL NATURE? (Contd.) The only way to condemn our sinful nature is through Jesus Christ. If we accept Him and live by His new law that He sets in our hearts, there will be condemnation for our sin directed only at Him as our substitute. The sentence in passed on to Him on our behalf. *** One woman came to her new pastor to have a little talk. She thought that it would be wise to let the pastor know what her gifts were. During the brief conversation she made her point. "Pastor, I have the "gift of condemnation" that God has used me frequently within this congregation. Yet you should understand that I most often use it toward the pastoral leadership." The pastor thought it best just to listen on this first meeting. As time went on her "gifting" became quite evident. Much prayer went up before the Lord before their next meeting. At that meeting this dear woman was wondering how things were going. He waited for the right moment and then explained that he found the church quite introverted in their involvement with one exception. Her "gift of condemnation" was far exceeding the total of all other spiritual gifts used in the church. She got the point! *** It s very important to let Jesus take the leading role in condemning the flesh. II. DO WE PLACE CONFIDENCE IN OUR SINFUL NATURE? "Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." Psalm 20:7 David learned early in his walk with God that you CANNOT slay the giants in the land by your own strength. It was not the sword and the shield that defeated the lion and bear, and Goliath. It was God and God alone. Many others had to learn this same lesson. Samson became one the great judges and deliverers of his people. But he also played with sin. The day came when he gave away the secret to his strength to Delilah. The Bible tells us that after she cut off the seven braids of his hair that his strength left him (Judges 16:19). The Philistines came in the room to seize him. Page 3 of 7
II. DO WE PLACE CONFIDENCE IN OUR SINFUL NATURE? "He awoke from his sleep and thought, 'I'll go out as before and shake myself free.' But he did not know that the Lord had left him." Judges 16:20 Gideon (another judge) had to learn that God could use the least of the tribe Manasseh to deliver His people (Judges 6:15). The Midianites were not defeated with an army of 32,000, 10,000, but rather with 300 chosen men. But it was not the 300 that saved Israel. It was God. "The LORD said to Gideon, 'With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.'" III. DO WE CRUCIFY OUR SINFUL NATURE? "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. 7. because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." Judges 7:7 Romans 6:6,7 There is one main thing that we must do to our old sinful nature. We must crucify it. This can be done to a point by refusing to give the old sinful nature a foothold. "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in this world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." "Flee from sexual immorality." I Peter 2:11 I Corinthians 6:18 Page 4 of 7
III. DO WE CRUCIFY OUR SINFUL NATURE? (Contd.) There are certain things that we can do to stop sin from getting a hold of us. Our determination to serve God will keep us from much sin. Yet we are limited in our resistence. We must look to another source for strength. This again must be done through God. We cannot properly destroy our sinful nature without God. Crucifixion must involve the Spirit of God. "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Galatians 5:16 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." II Corinthians 10:4 This war that we face daily is not easy but it is able to be conquered through Christ Jesus our Lord. As we become conquerors through Christ we can be of great help to others. "snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear - hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." Jude 23 It is not easy sometimes to help people get rid of their old nature. Some people kick and scream the whole way. They try to get your focus off their problems by pointing out the faults in others. These need help. Their very souls are at stake. If Jesus gives us the "go" then we should respond even though they may not initially accept us. Snatching people from fires is a risky business. You sometimes get burnt trying to save them. No sinful nature wants to die easy. It doesn't roll over and play dead. It rather fights with all the life that is left in it. We must crucify it or it will take the upper hand. Don't condemn it. Let God condemn it. Don't place confidence in it. Crucify it. That is the only way to win this struggle. Page 5 of 7
C:\My Documents\WPWin(11.0)\Sermons.2007\\Romans 8_13.wpd Date: July 29/07 Place: FCA Time: 10:30 Am Song: Might Warrior - F Page 6 of 7
DEALING DRASTICALLY WITH OUR SINFUL NATURE Text: Romans 8:1-13 Key Word: Dealing Key Thought: How Is the Best Way to Deal with Our Old Fleshly Nature? How Can We Win over this Constant Struggle Against Our Sinful Nature? The Answer Is Found in a Few Simple Questions I. DO WE CONDEMN OUR SINFUL NATURE? - Romans 8:3; Romans 8:4 II. DO WE PLACE CONFIDENCE IN OUR SINFUL NATURE? - Psalm 20:7; Judges 16:20; Judges 7:7 III. DO WE CRUCIFY OUR SINFUL NATURE? - Romans 6:6,7; I Peter 2:11; I Corinthians 6:18; Galatians 5:16; II Corinthians 10:4; Jude 23