Our Struggle with Sin

To be in Christ is the most significant thing about you, Christian. So the Apostle Paul would say to us. And we've begun our study of life in Christ by Edward Donnelly.

We saw last week there are two great representative people Adam and Christ.

Who's hanging on Adam's belt? The whole human race. He represents the human race. And who's hanging on Christ's belt?

Believers. Those who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so remember the illustration of David and Goliath then. And everything that the representative man does is considered as being done by those he represents.

David wins. We win. If Christ wins, then we win. And everything Jesus did is counted as if we have done it because he represents us.

When he lived his life and overcame temptation, he wasn't doing it as a private individual. He was doing it as a representative for us. So we have a record in heaven that's absolutely perfect.

As if we obeyed every commandment. Because we were in Christ when he obeyed. But we know that we have sinned. And so Christ died for our sins.

And in the eyes of God, it's as if we died. Because he died, we died. And so we have died. The punishment of sin has been paid. We died in Christ.

But he rose. And we rose in him. We live in him. He ascended into heaven. He's seated in the heavenlies. We too are said to be with him in the heavenlies.

He's our great representative. I wonder, were there any questions? We had to cut off quite abruptly last week at the end of the lesson. Are there any questions or comments that come out of that first lesson?

The application of it was especially for our justification then. To be in Christ is to have the righteousness of Jesus put to our account.

And so we're saved in the same way that we are lost. We were lost because of our being one with Adam. And we are saved because we are one with Jesus.

And all that he's done is considered as what we have done. So our justification is secure. There's no condemnation for us. We're in Christ.

Any comments, questions before we press on to see what else being in Christ means for the Christian? All right. It not only has great significance for our justification, being right with God, but it has much to do about our sanctification.

And that's good news for every one of us who are in Christ. Because we still struggle with sin. If you don't struggle with sin, you can leave now because the rest of us are going to talk about the struggle of sin this morning.

And what being in Christ has to do with that struggle. How it helps us in the struggle. Turn to 1 Corinthians 6.

When Paul writes to the Corinthians who were tempted to fall back into their past life, which in Corinth was a very sexually perverse lifestyle.

What does the apostle use as the motivation to sexual purity for these believers in the church at Corinth? Well, among other things, he appeals to their union with Christ.

That they are in Christ. He reminds them that their union with Christ is so all-embracive that it includes everything about them. Their bodies have been joined to Jesus Christ.

Their physical bodies. All the members of their bodies. The sexual members of their bodies are now members of Christ. They're in Christ entirely. So he says in verse 15, 1 Corinthians 6.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute?

Never. Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said the two will become one flesh.

But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. You see how radical this doctrine of union with Christ is.

It changes everything. I am united to Jesus. Everything about me is united to Jesus. This body is no longer mine. It's his. I'm joined to him.

And that means that whatever we do in the body, we do with Christ. He's in us. He's with us. Always. You never sin without Christ.

We involve him somehow when we sin. We're joined to him so closely that we take him with us into every disobedience. What more powerful motivation then to resisting temptation?

Will I drag the Holy Savior into my sin? Now notice he precedes what he says with, do you not know? You Corinthians, you're acting like you don't know this.

You do know it, but you're acting like you don't. This is a most practical doctrine to help you from sinning. And you forget it to your own great peril, he tells the Corinthians.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never.

Shall I take these eyes that belong to Jesus and look upon forbidden fruit? Shall I take these hands and perform deeds of darkness? Shall I take his mouth and use it to speak lies and deceptions?

Shall I take my sexual organs that are the members of Christ and use them to sin? And he uses the strongest negative found in the Bible.

Never. God forbid. I believe was the old King James language. Meganoita. It's the strongest way to reject a supposition. So, since temptations are strong, we need strong arguments not to sin.

And here's Paul pulling out this strong argument to help these Corinthians from a perverted background not to fall back into it. Remember, you're joined to Christ.

You're in Christ. And Christ is in you. Now, turn with me to Romans 6, where we see this drawn out in Paul's letter to the Romans. Last week, we were in chapter 5 most of our time.

And at the end of chapter 5, the whole last half of chapter 5, you remember Paul was teaching us on Christ being our representative. To be in Christ is to have him representing us.

And now in chapter 6, Paul's making the point that this union with Christ and having him as our representative is the way, has everything to do with our struggle with sin.

It's the answer to our problem. It's the way to beat sin. It's good news for the Christian because of our struggle with sin. Union with Christ. Here's the ramifications with regard to our holiness.

Verse 1. What shall we say then? In light of all that I've just said, what shall we say? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

Evidently, there were those in Rome who were reasoning just so. That were saying that very thing. And they were quoting Paul to defend their lives in sin.

You've told us, Paul, that none of us are made right with God through anything that we do. But rather that if we're in Christ, he's our representative and we're saved because of what he did.

That God justifies the wicked because of what Jesus has done. So, if we're in Christ, we have his perfect righteousness put to our account. So whether we sin or not, it's all unimportant.

You told us in chapter 5 and verse 20 where sin increased, grace superabounded. Grace increased all the more. So why not go on sinning so that grace can increase some more?

Won't our sinning display all the more? The grace of God to forgive it. So the more sin, the more grace, the more God is glorified.

So, what shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Yes, these would say. And they would use Paul to back up their view.

Do you see anything today of a spirit that is light towards sin? Does it really matter then if we sin or not?

Even in the church, this attitude is all too prevalent. Surveys show that there's no appreciable difference between professing Christians' moral lives and the lives of non-professing Christians.

They watch the same amount of television and they watch the same shows. They have the same level of lying, cheating, gluttony, pornography, adultery, sexually active singles, divorce, etc.

Just as self-indulgent as the world, just as pleasure-loving as the world, and yet they're Christians. That's the attitude that is so prevalent in the church of Christ today.

The favorite verse of many is Romans 6.14. You see it there for the last part of it, at least, they like. You are not under law, but under grace. As if that means that you don't have an obligation to keep the law if you're a Christian.

Because you're under grace. It doesn't matter what you do then. So this whole light view of sin that Paul met with in his day is still among us.

Shall we go on sinning that grace might increase? Why not? Many would say. If not in word, at least, that's the way they live. Now, is that a right conclusion to draw from what Paul's been saying?

That we're in Christ. Is the conclusion, therefore, to go on in sin? Well, again, he uses the strongest language.

By no means. God forbid. Perish the thought. But on what basis is this rejected? Notice verse 2. How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?

This idea of going on in sin in the Christian life is rejected because we're united to Jesus. Did he die? We died too. This death to sin is due to our union with Christ.

We died to sin. When? When Jesus died on the cross. And so it's inconceivable for those who are joined to Jesus to plan to just go on sinning in their lives.

That's where Paul begins here in Romans 6. A Christian is a person who's in Christ. He has a whole new identity. And that means when he died, we died.

His death to sin is our death to sin because we're one with him. Notice how often Paul mentions this in this book or this chapter. Our union with Christ.

Our death with him. Verse 3. Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus. You see union into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.

Verse 4. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death. In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a life, a new life.

Verse 5. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

Verse 6. 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.

And verse 8. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. So we were in our representative when he died.

Remember Paul says, I am crucified with Christ. That's what he's talking about. This union with Jesus is so real that when he was crucified, I was crucified with him. Galatians 2.20. So that's our new identity.

We are those who have died to sin. Now notice Paul's not saying that we should die to sin. He says that elsewhere. He's not saying that we will one day die to sin.

No, in Romans 6.2, he's saying that we have died to sin. This is a reality that's already happened. Whatever he's talking about, whatever he means by death to sin here, it's something that's happened.

It's true of you, Christian. Whoever you are, young, old, struggling more than others, it's true of you. You have died to sin. It's not a command.

It's not in the indicative mood. It's in the imperative mood, which is the mood of command. It's in the indicative mood. It's a statement of fact, of reality. We have died to sin.

So how can we live in it any longer? How can we go on planning to just go on in our life like we did before we were joined to Jesus?

Our relationship to sin, you see, has been forever changed because we're one with Jesus. Donnelly points out that few really understand what a huge thing conversion is.

What a huge thing it is to be joined to Jesus. We've just diminished it to a little decision that somebody makes. They raise their hand. They walk an aisle. They pray a prayer. And it's a human thing. And it's so little.

And he says the reason that so many are looking for second experiences in the Christian life is they've never had a true first experience. A radical change of being joined to Jesus.

True conversion makes us radically different people. So much so that Paul says, if anyone is in Christ, he is what? New creature. This is a different beast.

This isn't the same. Same guy. It's not the same girl. It's different. The old man died. A new man now lives. So we're talking about our identity in Christ.

What am I? I am a dead to sin man. I'm one who is in Christ. I'm a dead to sin man. Now, in what sense have we died to sin?

That's the real crux of the matter here, isn't it? When we talk about we have died. This has happened to every one of us who are in Christ this morning. We have died to sin. What does that mean? It doesn't mean that sin no longer has any appeal to us.

It's not as if saying that when sin comes tempting you, you're just like that guy in the casket. You're dead to it. It has no pull. No allurement. No, we're not numb to sin.

And every day proves that in our reality. We fight against it. Rather, what it means is that we are no longer under sin's reign. We are dead to sin's reign over us.

We died not to its tempting power, but to its reigning power. Its power to reign over us. Now, being joined to Jesus, there are many benefits that we receive in his death.

His death to sin has freed us from the penalty of sin. It's freed us from the power of sin. And one day it'll free us from the presence of sin. One day our death to sin with Jesus will mean that we will never feel temptation.

We'll be like that dead man in the casket. And if there was temptation in heaven, we would have no allurement to it. We'll be perfect. So that is part of what it means to be one with Jesus. And when he died to sin, we died to sin.

But that aspect is yet future for us. Do you understand that? So it's part of what it means to be joined to Jesus when he died to sin. We've died to sin.

And one day we'll have absolutely no pull toward it. Any more than Jesus Christ could ever be tempted again once he rose from the dead. He who died unto sin died once for all.

Verse 10. The death he died, he died to sin once for all. He has absolutely no more to do with sin. One day that will be true with us. But it's not true of us now.

We're very alive to the temptation of sin. But there are elements of being dead to sin now that we enjoy because of our union with Jesus and his death. We're dead to its penalty.

It's condemning power. We saw that last week. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And what we're seeing this morning is that we're dead to its reigning power. He breaks the power of reigning sin.

He sets the prisoner free. Chapter 5 and verse 21 says, Just as sin reigned in death. Sin used to reign in our life.

But that was before our conversion. We were alive to sin. It reigned over us. We were slaves to sin. When it came calling, we obeyed it. We had no freedom, no inward power to do anything but to follow sin.

Our mind, our affections, our will were bound by sin. Sin was our master. We lived for its pleasure. But the result of being united to Jesus in his death is that sin's reign over us has been broken.

We died to sin's reign. We're no longer slaves. We've been set free. Now notice that throughout the text. Verses 6 and 7. Notice that this dying to sin has to do with death to the reign of sin.

Verses 6 and 7. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that. Here's the result of being crucified with Jesus. So that the body of sin might be done away with.

Or as the footnote renders it, rendered powerless. This body of sin might be rendered powerless. That we should no longer be slaves to sin. Because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

To be dead to sin is to be no longer slaves to it. Verse 14. For sin shall not be your master.

Shall not have dominion over you. Shall not lord it over you. It's no longer your king. Your boss. Now this is a future.

Active indicative. It's not a command. It's not an imperative again. He's not saying. Now you make sure that sin is not your master. That's not what he's saying. He's making a statement of fact. Sin will not have dominion over you.

If you are in Christ. It will not. It cannot. Because you died to sin when Christ died to sin. Verses 17 and 18.

But thanks be to God. That though you used to be slaves to sin. You wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching. To which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin.

And have become slaves to righteousness. Notice it's a done deal. You have been set free from sin. Verse 20. When you were slaves to sin.

You were free from the control of righteousness. Verse 22. But now that you have been set free from sin. And have become slaves to God. You see all of these verses show us.

That our death to sin. Is a done deal. It's death to its reign. To its enslavement. To its rule. Its bondage. Its mastery. And that's a matter of fact.

For every single one of you who are united to Jesus. And Paul says you need to know that. If you're to experience victory. In the battle that remains with sin.

Well it's all very well to tell me I'm united to Christ. And so I have died with Christ. And I died to sin's reign. But I still have a dreadful struggle with sin's temptation.

What does all this have to do with my daily fight against sin? What's the practical help in all this for a holy life? Well Paul now turns to that in verses 11 through 14.

And he gives us three exhortations. Three commands. And Donnelly puts them in three R's. Reckon, refuse, and rededicate.

Number one, reckon. Reckon. Verse 11. I suppose that's something of the King James Version. We used to talk about I reckon this and I reckon that.

I consider is what the word means. Right? I reckon, I think, I consider, I look at it this way. And so he says in verse 11. In the same way, reckon or count yourself dead to sin.

But alive to God in Christ Jesus. Consider it so. Reckon it so. Count it so. It's a word that logizomai.

You can hear that word logic in it. Logizomai. In other words, it's using your mind. And Stott says the major secret of holy living is in the mind.

The very first thing we're told to do is to think it so. Think what so? That I am dead with Christ. I'm dead to sin. But alive to God.

And my first command here is to consider it so. Throughout Paul is emphasizing the importance of knowing. Don't you know? Don't you know? Verses 3 and 6 and 9.

For we do know. Well, we need to know this, he's saying. Many professing Christians today have no time for Bible doctrine. It's impractical.

It's useless. Just tell me how to live. Just give me my duty. Just set the way before me and I'll get on with it. But don't bore me with doctrine. With Bible truth.

What does Jesus say? John chapter 8 and verse 32. You will know your duty and your duty will set you free. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

You'll know Bible doctrine and Bible doctrine will set you free. Jesus is himself the truth. And in knowing him we are set free. He goes on to say. If the son will set you free, you will be free indeed.

But there is a freeing element to truth. To Bible doctrine. To knowing things as they really are. And that's why he's emphasizing. Don't you know this? Don't you know this? You need to know this. You're dead to sin.

Nothing could be more practical to your fight with sin than your union with Christ in his death to sin. So here we are to think of ourselves in the light of this reality.

Consider yourself as God says you are. Dead to sin. Alive to God. Consider yourself to be dead to sin's reign. Practice thinking of yourself in this way.

It's a present tense. Go on considering yourself. Dead to sin. Alive to God. Keep on reckoning it so. Make it your practice. Make it your habit. The way you view yourself.

Never forget what you are. Donnelly says, moment by moment. Day by day. Year by year. Drum into your consciousness that this is your true identity.

You're a man in Christ. Dead to sin. Alive to God. Be a good thing to do again this week. As you face yourself in the mirror. Who is that man? That is a man in Christ.

Dead to sin. And alive to God. Remember who you are, Christian. That's the first word given to us. Did you know this is the first command? Verse 11 of chapter 5.

That's the first command in the letter of Romans. We've come five whole chapters and 11 verses before we've bumped into any command at all. From the Apostle Paul. What's he been doing?

He's been unpacking Bible doctrine, hasn't he? He's been unpacking loads of truth. Of what God has done. What he's done for poor sinners in Christ. And only now does he finally get around to telling us to do something.

There's a lesson in that. We dare not miss it. Before there is something to do, there is always something to know. Indicatives.

Statements of fact. Come before imperatives. Commandments. Doctrine. Truth. Facts.

Are the foundation of commands. And this is critical. It's possible to turn the Christian life into all duty. Do, do, do, and do. All commands.

Just give me something practical to do. The church cries. But it puts the focus all in the wrong place. Because we begin and we end with ourselves.

We turn the Christian life into human activity. And we cut the nerve of holiness. And we ignore the power and the motivation for the Christian life.

Our need is not just to do, do, do. Just try harder. I like Donnelly's way of unpacking this. I play golf, he says. I am using, you understand the terms, play and golf loosely.

But, however unspeakably bad the result, I do enjoy the game. And at least no one can fault me for the lack of effort. Some golfers are a disgrace to the game.

For in my view, they do not try hard enough. They draw back the club effortlessly. They bring it down effortlessly. They strike the ball effortlessly. And see it soar down the middle of the fairway.

Not me, he says. I grit my teeth. I take a deep breath. I grip the club tightly with veins bulging. And I come down on the ball with every ounce of beef and muscle.

I can't understand why it rarely travels far. Never in a straight line. They walk off the course having played 18 holes in a mere 75 or 80 strokes.

I can say with perfect honesty that I've never finished a round without striking the ball well over a hundred times. I work so much harder than they do.

Plenty of effort. So why am I so discouragingly incompetent? Because I was never taught to play the game. I simply do not have the resources or knowledge necessary.

My efforts are misdirected. Entrenching bad habits instead of correcting them. The harder I try, the worse I become. Because I really have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing.

I wonder, he says, how many people are trying to live the Christian life in the same way as I play golf. Try harder is their creed.

But their focus is wrong. The focus is all wrong. The predominant atmosphere of the Christian life is not to be, I must, I must, I must, I must.

But he has. He has. He has. He has. And because he has, I must. You see, one starts with God and what he has done for me.

The other starts with me. You see the difference. It makes all the difference in how we live out the Christian life. Walter Marshall says we must first receive the comforts of the gospel, what God has done for us in Christ, that we may be able to perform the duties of the law.

Donnelly points out how that Christ is more than example. And how that just the example of Christ can be such a crushing thing. If you just tell people, well, just follow Jesus' example.

Just wear the bracelet. What would Jesus do? And think about that. And then just go and do likewise. He talks how example alone is a crushing thing.

You've got an athletic father with a clumsy son with two right hands. And he just can't do it. And dad says, just watch. I'll show you how. And he does it.

And he expects his son just to be able to do it like he's doing it. But example can be a very crushing thing. He's not like his dad. He wasn't put together like his dad.

Yeah, he sees his dad doing it fine, but he can't do it. Or the daughter who, firstborn, has got straight A's. And she's a whiz at studies.

She's got a brain. It's incredible. And the next daughter comes along. And she doesn't have the same brain. And the teachers are always comparing her with her older sister. The example of her older sister.

Be like your older sister. It can be a crushing thing. And Donnelly says the same thing is true of Christ. If you just consider the example of Christ. Now we've upped the ante.

We're talking about the perfect man. Just be like Jesus. Right. We don't have the wherewithal. How do we do this?

Example alone can crush us. But Jesus is more than an example. He's one who provides us with the resources. The power.

The wherewithal. To walk in his steps. So the first thing we're told to do is to consider. Reckon. That what you are by the grace of God. Reckon yourself to be in Christ.

Dead to sin. Alive to God. Donnelly says soak yourselves. In the reality of your identity in Christ. Who you now are by God's grace.

Meditate on this. Take time over it. Pray it in. Praise it in. Reflect on it. Absorb yourself in it constantly. When you get up in the morning.

When you're leaving home for work. When you sit down to relax in the evening. Say to yourself. I am dead to sin. And alive to God in Christ. In everything you do and say.

Think about yourself like this. So sanctification in one sense. Is just becoming who you are. Becoming who we are in Christ.

It's more consistently behaving in line with our identity. I am dead to sin. Alive in God. Man or woman. And sanctification is acting and living and behaving more and more.

Dead to sin. Alive to God. Ever hear a parent say to their child. You weren't born in a barn. Anybody ever heard that phrase? Or is that just a Bremen phrase?

Or a Heaney phrase. I suppose every child that's had that said to them. Knows they weren't born in a barn. Why would they ever say that to them? What's the point?

Alright. You acted in a way as if you were born in a barn. Right? You left the door wide open. Like we do the barn door. So. The question is urging the child to remember what they are.

They're not a cow. They're a human being. Cows leave the doors open. Boys and girls shut the door. Be what you are. Remember what you are.

And let that help you live accordingly. When Paul writes to correct the sinful behavior of the Corinthian church. We've already looked at one word to them.

But right up front. He reminds them of their new identity in Christ. Chapter 1. Verse 2. To the church of God in Corinth.

To those sanctified in Christ Jesus. And called to be holy. And on he goes with his letter. And he gives many directives on what they are to do and to not do. But before he even starts.

He says you guys need to remember who you are. You're the church of God in Corinth. The sanctified in Jesus Christ. Those sanctified in Jesus. You have been set apart. You're no longer in the world.

Something drastic has changed. You've been translated out of the kingdom of darkness. And put into the kingdom of Christ. God's dear son. You've been set apart to God. Now live like it. And he'll go on to unpack that.

But it's so important. The first step. Is to know. What you are in Christ. Consider it to be true. Reckon it. To be so. That's the starting point.

Of living the Christian life. Before his conversion. Augustine was an immoral man. He had a woman with whom he indulged in sin. For many years. And sometime after his conversion.

She saw him. And she expected his advances as before. But received none. And thinking he did not recognize her. She came up to him with a suggestive smile.

And said. Augustine. It is I. And he responded. But it is not I. The old Augustine's dead.

The one that you had relationships is dead. The man you're looking at is not him. This is a new Augustine. He had that sense of being in Christ.

A new creature. Dead to sin. Alive to God. Well you too must. Remember what you are. You're a new creature in Christ. One who's dead to the reign of sin.

And who's alive to God. No. That alone will not. Win the battle for you. There's two more points. Refuse. And.

Rededicate. And that comes out of the next verses. Verses 12 through 14. Our times. Quickly passing. Any questions.

Before we. We. We just make a decision here. Whether to go on or to. To stop here. Any comments. On the importance of. Of knowing who you are. First of all. In Christ.

And all that is yours. In Christ Jesus. Before you. Tear into your duties. And. What God expects of you. Raj. I was just thinking of an illustration.

About my kid. Oh. What's the doctor saying. To Paul. The dictator. And the ruler. The people over there in Iraq. He was captured. And put on trial.

How the Iraqi people. Had a hard time. And a hard time. Like the judges. Or anybody. That would. Stand up to him. Because even though. There was no longer. Reigning over them. They could not.

Reckon it to be so. Hmm. Good. That'll come in. Strongly under. The next point. Of refuse. And we'll look at. Those who have been slaves.

And he makes the. The illustration. With the slaves of the south. And how they. Live their whole lives. Obeying. Their master. And suddenly. The emancipation. Proclamation. Is declared. And you're now.

A free man. But. Does that mean. That when the master. Speaks. They don't. Immediately jump. No they do. Because of their. Habit. They've known nothing. But obeying him. And so you're seeing.

The same thing here. There's something more. Than reckoning it so. But that's. That's critical. To going on. To the next step. Of refusing. How can that slave. Look at his master. And say no. I'm not going to do. What you said.

I'm not going to do. What you just asked me to do. It's only as he's reckoned. And considered. What is true. That he's no longer. His slave. And so that. That will become.

A very important part. In. Putting sin to death. Living. Holy lives. Good example. Did you hear that in the back? Saddam Hussein. And the. People just used to.

To viewing him in one light. And. Having difficulty. Viewing him in any other way. Mark. When you were talking about. The reckoning. And.

Anything in that. Soaking in that. And. And so on. As he puts in the book. John. It. It made me think. A little bit about. Both the power.

Of positive thinking. And. Maybe you could differentiate. Between the two. It sounds a little bit like. You know. If I just think about this enough.

That's good. Thank you. Thank you. I was playing tennis. Down at the park. And. Some. Senior citizens. Were doing aerobics. In the.

Pool. And. They were shouting. As they were exercising. I'm wonderful. I'm beautiful. And. They were. They were declaring. These things to themselves.

And that's. That's what. Mark's saying. You know. There's a whole lot of that. In our society. You see it at every face. At every turn. That. You just tell yourself. All these positive things. And you will become.

A better person. How does this differ? Anybody want to weigh in on that? Before. One's true. And one's not. Okay. One's true. That's excellent.

If the other was true of them. Why are they in the. The. The pool. Needing to do all this stuff. Right? So. One is true. And the other is not. You're reminding yourself.

Of reality. In the case of the Christian. We really died with Christ. Whether you. Feel. Dead. With. To sin. Or not. Doesn't have anything to do with your feelings. The Bible says.

When Jesus died. As your representative. You were in Christ. And you have died to sin. It's a done deal. So. You are to think. And to tell yourself. Truth. That's reality.

So. Don't live with your head in the sand. Live with this reality. Governing your way of thinking. Whereas the other. Yeah. You are wonderful. You have all the potential within you. To do whatever you set your mind to do.

That's what the schools are pumping into our children. You have this wonderful potential. Just draw it out. It's in there. Is that true? No. We're depraved.

We're fallen creatures. We are not able to reach our potential. Only in Christ can we reach what we were made to be. Men and women. Boys and girls.

That reflect the Lord Jesus. And the glory in him. Any other differences between the two? Tim? One statement is self-exalting. And the other is Christ-exalting. Okay.

That's right. Usually these statements of positive thinking are meant to build the person up himself. Whereas this statement in Romans 6 is exalting Jesus.

Good. Differences between positive thinking and what we're hearing here. Is that answering? It's an excellent question, Mark. I'm glad you raised it because we have so much of this.

Talking to yourself. I was thinking, too, that possibly the reason Paul encourages his readers to reckon and makes that so important is because of the no-one effect of sin on our mind and our thinking.

If our minds weren't falling, we would pick up on that much more easily. We need that encouragement and that dwelling in order to become convinced of the truth.

Amen. Dave? One is looking to the power within. The other is looking to the power of Christ, which goes back to Christ's goal.

Hmm. So the whole source and resource is different. Looking to yourself. Looking to Christ. Well, our time is gone. We'll save those other two.

Refuse and rededicate for two weeks because next week it'll be the tape or the CD. Thank you. You're dismissed. You're dismissed.