Strengthening Your Defence

30 January 2022 AM – Romans 6:11-13 – Rom2022 – Scott Childs
Introduction: (Proverbs 25:28) “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” If you have not been living a victorious life over sin, your walls are broken down.
Transition: Building your defence against sin is like building a wall; you must begin at the foundation and work your way up.
The first row of blocks is the foundation.
  1. Knowing Christ as Saviour is your foundation.
a.         Your defence begins with salvation (v.1-10)
1)         Paul wrote this book of Romans to Christians in Rome.
2)         Without knowing Christ personally, you have no defence against sin. In verses 1-14, Paul is answering the question, “Can we continue living in sin?” The answer is NO.
b.         Christians are dead to sin and alive to God
1)         If you truly know Christ, your old self died to sin. Christ set you free. You are no longer a slave to sin.
2)         You are also alive to God. Christ made you a new creature, to walk in newness of life, in victory over sin.
3)         If these facts frustrate you because you continue to struggle with sin, what are you to do? Build your defence!
Build on your salvation foundation, a second row of blocks.
2.        You must start reckoning the facts (v.11)
The word “reckon” is the key. Warren Wiersbe helps us understand the word this way. “To reckon means “to put to one’s account.” It simply means to believe that what God says in His Word is really true in your life. Paul didn’t tell his readers to feel as if they were dead to sin, or even to understand it fully, but to act on God’s Word and claim it for themselves… Reckoning is not claiming a promise, but acting on a fact.” Commentary on Romans 6:11
a.         We must reckon that we died unto sin with Christ.
1)         Remember, “Reckoning is not claiming a promise, but acting on a fact.” Wiersbe It is taking God at His word and believing that we are free from sin.
2)         God said that true believers are permanently dead unto sin. We are no longer slaves to our sin nature. Our sin nature is still alive and active, but we are free to say NO and walk away from temptation.
3)         You must reckon yourself to be dead indeed (i.e., truly dead) unto sin. Apply this to yourself. This is not convincing your mind against reality, but accepting what God said is true. You MUST believe this and act upon it.
b.         We must also reckon that we have a new life.
1)         God assures the believer that he is alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord (v.11). Our new life is a walk in newness of life (v.4). We saw how Paul called it our new man in Ephesians 4:24 and Colossians 3:10. He called it a new creation in 2 Corinthians 5:17.
2)         We have a new nature that replaced our old man when we trusted Christ to save our souls.
3)         This new divine nature from God gives every believer a new desire and the power to do God’s will. Wuest
4)         Read Ephesians 2:1-5. You MUST reckon this to be true. Believe it and act upon it.
Follow reckoning with a third row of blocks.
3.        Stop allowing sin to reign (v.12)
The word “therefore” indicates that this wall of defence naturally follows and cannot precede the previous layers of Reckoning and Salvation.
a.         Choose to dethrone sin.
1)         Your mortal (i.e., physical) body is sin’s target. Sin becomes sinful when your mortal body (i.e., your mind, mouth, eyes, ears, hands, feet, etc.) allows sin to lead you astray and to take control.
2)         Before salvation, sin reigned as king in your mortal body, and you obeyed it in its lusts. You were a slave to sin.
3)         Christ set you free from your sin nature. When Christ died, “He not only paid the penalty for sin, but He broke the power of sin.” Wiersbe You are no longer a slave to sin.
4)         Therefore, you must stop letting sin reign any longer in your body. Stop letting sin dominate you and enslave you to sinful habits. God has given you the authority and power to stop your sin nature from ruling. Claim these and use them!
5)         It is your responsibility to keep sin off the throne of your heart. Say “NO” to sin and turn your back on it. Trust God and do this every day!
b.         Choose to depend on the Holy Spirit.
1)         The Holy Spirit promises us victory if we stay in close harmony with Him. (Gal 5:16-17) “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 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.“
2)         God promises that no temptation needs to defeat us. He always gives us a way to escape. (1Cor 10:13) “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.“
3)         Build this row of defence strong by stopping to allow sin to reign in your body.
Now, add to your wall a fourth row of blocks.
4.        Stop yielding your members to sin (v. 13)
a.         This clearly builds on the previous command.
1)         The word “neither” means and not or not even.
2)         In addition to stop allowing sin to reign, you must not even yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin.
3)         This brings up two questions. What are my members? What are instruments of unrighteousness?
a)         Your members are the limbs of your body. Strictly speaking, that would be our arms and legs, but in a broader sense, they also include our eyes, mouth, ears, mind or emotions.
b)         Instruments of unrighteousness are tools that aid in doing evil. In building a wall, we might use instruments like a tape measure, hammer, saw, trowel or a pencil.
c)         Satan delights in using our members as tools to do sinful things. He wants to use your lips to speak angry words or to swear; your eyes, mind and hands to look at pornography; your fingers and lips to pollute your body, the Holy Spirit’s temple, with cigarettes; your mind and emotions to feel bitterness or hate; your hand and lips to drink alcohol; your hands to hurt others; your feet to take you to ungodly activities; your ears to listen to filthy music. The list is endless.
b.         Stop yielding your members to sin.
1)         God would not command us to do this if He did not give us the grace needed.
2)         The word “yield” simply means to place beside. If I yielded my tape measure to you, I would place it where you could get it.
3)         We must stop making our body parts available as tools for doing sin. When your sin nature grabs one of your members to use as a tool to sin, you must pull away. (2Tim 2:22) “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.“
c.          BUT, start yielding yourselves unto God.
1)         The word “but” identifies a complete contrast.
2)         Start yielding yourself unto God. Place your entire self at his disposal.
3)         Remember that you are alive from the dead.
d.         Then, start yielding your members unto God.
1)         Daily yield each of your body parts to God. Ask Him to use each of your body parts as tools to do righteousness for God’s glory.
2)         During strong temptations, you may need to name each of your body parts as you give them to God for His use.
Conclusion: If you have been struggling with sin, the walls of your life are broken down. You need to strengthen your defence. Begin at the foundation and build upward. (Review). This is God’s strategy of defence for your life. Do not be lazy or slack. Build your walls and keep them strong.
            If the evidence is against you truly being saved, do not ignore it.
Song: Yield Not to Temptation – 364