Defeating Indwelling Sin[1]
By Pastor Matt Black
01 April 2006
Men’s Prayer Breakfast/Leadership Paradigms
Romans 7:14-21
Opening Hymn: Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound
Introduction: Open your Bible to Romans chapter 7:14-21.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,)dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
G.K. Chesterton said:
If a rhinoceros were to enter this restaurant now, there is no denying he would have great power here. But I should be the first to rise and assure him that he had no authority whatever.
The law of sin in believers is like Chesterton’s rhino. The only moral, authoritative rule over believers is the kingdom and reign of God! Indwelling sin is a usurper to the throne who, like the rhino, can at times force himself on us. Even though we rise and tell him he has no authority, he can push us around the restaurant.
For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
You see the Law condemned Christ and crucified Him. And I was crucified with Christ, therefore, I have been crucified with Christ and buried with Him, and risen with Him!
How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Sin no longer is your master. You must reckon yourself crucified with Christ.
The law or desire to sin pushes us around the same way other laws motivate our obedience: with promises and threats. Remember the covenant ceremony in Deuteronomy 27 and 28? Half the tribes of Israel stood on the slope of Mount Ebal, and the other half across the valley on Mount Gerizim. Those on Ebal shouted curses on those who would disobey the law; those on Gerizim proclaimed blessings on those who would be obedient. When there is a power behind such threats and promises that can make good on those threats, people are motivated to obey.
Let’s look for example at Moses.
The pleasures of sin are the rewards it offers—rewards most people will sell their souls for. Look at Hebrews 11:24-26. There was a battle in the heart of Moses.
By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
The contest was between the law of sin and the law of grace. The rewards offered to Moses by sin must have been great: honor with the Egyptians, wealth beyond anything he could see among the people of Israel, the intellectual delights of debating with the top minds of Egypt, the sensual pleasures of fine food, women, and entertainment. You can see in your own heart how compelling and enslaving sin’s rewards are. Moses is one of the few in whom the rewards of grace prevailed.
One thing Moses faced if he didn’t bow the knee to sin was a life of mistreatment (“affliction”) and disgrace (“reproach of Christ”)—verses 25-26. These are the threats of punishment for disobeying the law of sin (disobeying the law of sin means that you are OBEYING God!). All sorts of evil, trouble, and danger are promised in this world to those who follow Christ, and sin loves to parade this before believers’ eyes.
Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
1 Peter 4:12ff
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
2 Timothy 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Philippians 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Besides the suffering for following Christ, there are the hardships of the cross and self-denial that believers are called to, and the hard work of putting sin to death. The writer to the Hebrews evn speaks of resisting sin to the point of shedding your blood!
Hebrews 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
The life of the disciple is not for the timid. Most would rather give in to sin than go through the painful work of picking up a cross and nailing it to their flesh. That’s what self-denial feels like!
Dante found Brutus, Cassius, and Judas (all traitors) in the deepest pits of hell. Those who are traitors, who win the trust of their friends, and then betray from the inside, are the most wicked of all. Indwelling sin is our Judas.
The law of sin doesn’t work on us from the outside. We carry it in us. It’s not a written law, simply directing us by decree. It is inbred—working, compelling, and urging us from the shadows of our heart. Paul calls it the “evil that is present with me” Romans 7:21. In verse 18, he says, For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,)dwelleth no good thing.
This is why God promises to circumcise his people’s hearts in the old covenant.
Deuteronomy 30:6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
And to write his law on their hearts in the new.
Jeremiah 31:31-33
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No mere written law can stop the law of sin working on the inside. You can put a copy of the Ten Commandments in front of you, and that will not stop the law of sin. That’s like trying to make the rhino stop and submit by hitting its backside with a blade of grass! The rhino is oblivious! Sin has advantages because it is inside of us!
Wherever you go, whatever you do, the law of sin is with you step by step. It is with you in the best and worst of all you do. How often do you think about the fact that you are carrying around with you your worst enemy?
Do you want to pray? Listen to a sermon? Meditate on the Word? Give a generous gift to the kingdom? Encourage a brother? Resist temptation? This hateful, wicked pest is in your face with a thousand distractions and surprises, making sure you can’t perfectly accomplish the good you intend. It exasperates us.
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,)dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Do you see sin charging at you in your life? The more you discover and recognize the power of indwelling sin inside you, the more its power will lesson in your life, because you will “reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God!”
Romans 6:11ff
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
The better you know the rhino, the more you will hate it and truly believe that it will not accomplish God’s will for you, neither will it please you in the end. You will by the grace of God begin to abhor it, and it will have no power over you.
Conclusion: But if you don’t find yourself dodging the rhino’s horn day and night in a struggle against sin, it may be that you’ve made peace with the rhino. You are willingly, happily under its power and rule. In that case, you should doubt that you are born of God. No one who is born of god can live at peace with sin.
I John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
I appeal to you, for the sake of your soul: Run to Christ today! Only he can slay the rhino in your heart! If you are a believer, you need to recognize sin in your life. And then reckon yourself dead to it! Hate it, or it will destroy you!!
Closing Hymn: Victory in Jesus
[1] Much of this material is adapted from chapter 2 (“The Long Arm of the Law”) of Kris Lundgaard’s book, The Enemy Within (Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing: Phillipsburg, NJ, 1998). Other material adapted from Samuel Rutherford’s book, The Covenant of Life Opened, specifically his section dealing with the mortification of self.