#8 You Are Dead to Sin

Thanks so much for joining me today. If you're watching this on YouTube or on Facebook, I want to make sure that you're aware of my website, davidshivers.com. Besides finding my sermons there, you'll also find some stories I've had time this week to write, and you'll find three new stories there on the website today.

Then I'm going to continue in my series, 10 Things Every Christian Should Know. This is week 8, by the way. Today, you need to know that as a Christian, you are dead to sin. All of us need to know that.

Over the years, I've seen and experienced a very flawed idea of God's grace and forgiveness. It goes something like this: if God forgives my sin, I might as well keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving. I call this grace abuse. Paul addresses this problem. It's not a new problem.

In Romans chapter 6, Paul says this in verse 1: "What are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?" A modern translation of Romans 6:1 puts it this way: "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?"

We find the answer to the question, should we keep on sinning to get more grace, in verse 2 of Romans 6. The answer is this: "By no means! How can we who have died to sin go on living in it?" There's a phrase in that answer, verse 2, that I love. Paul says that we are dead to sin.

Read the sixth chapter of Romans this week. It's one of my favorites. But to keep this brief, I want us to skip to verse 11, and we are told, "So you believers, so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." This is a great truth to help us in our Christian walk. You must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Let me illustrate it this way. Let's say I'm at a friend's funeral visitation. There he is in an open casket, and I walk up to him and say, "Let's go rob a bank. You're a great driver, and I want you to drive the getaway car." Now, his reaction, of course, will be nothing at all. He's not going along to rob the bank. He's dead.

It's a ridiculous illustration, but as a Christian, I should be that way when I'm confronted with sin. We should all be that way. We are dead to it. Now, I know we all fail at times. Paul himself had trouble with this.

Remember what he said about his own struggle in Romans chapter 7, verse 19. He says this: "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do." The Bible is clear that sin is a real problem. First John 1:8 tells us, "If we say that we have no sin, we've deceived ourselves, and the truth is not in us." We are sinning, we are sinners, but not sinning should be our goal.

I love this illustration. Have you ever ice skated? It's been a long time ago. I have tried, but it wasn't pretty. I fell down a lot, and I moved slowly. Did you fall? Did you fall down when you first started?

Well, then, have you ever watched professional skaters, ice skaters, maybe the Olympics on TV, or you went to Disney on Ice, or even a hockey game? Those people are amazing. Do they fall down? Well, yes, occasionally, but not as often as they did when they first started skating. Why? Practice. They have spent a lot of time on the ice.

As Christians, we should know that the more we seek to be Christ-like, the stronger we will become. There's a verse in James that is one of my favorites. It's found in chapter 4, verse 7. It says, it tells us, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." That's our job as Christians. We are part of the resistance.

Years ago, there was a comedian named Flip Wilson. He was a very funny man, and he would also often say this line in one of his skits. He would say, "The devil made me do it." That does not have to be true in your life. The devil does not have to make you do anything. Whatever it is, God can help you deal with it.

Each day of the week, of the work week, I try and post a positive thought on Facebook and Instagram. I found this recently, and I loved it. It's from an evangelist named Reinhard Banca. He died a couple of years ago. This is what he said, and I quote: "The Bible says that the devil is like a roaring lion."

That's in First Peter 5:8. "He comes in the darkness and tries to frighten the children of God with his mighty roar. But when you switch on the light of the Word of God, you discover that there is no lion. There's only a mouse with a microphone." I love that. A mouse with a microphone.

As Christians, we need to know that God will help us in our quest to be dead to sin. One more verse that can encourage you and help all of us in our days ahead. It's from Romans 8:11. Just in the light of Easter, I love this verse. It says, "The Spirit of God, who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by the same Spirit living within you."

You don't have to sin. Consider yourself dead to it, and stay strong. Let's pray together.

Father God, different people watching this are struggling with different ways, different sins, different temptations, but we all have the same great God that can deliver us. It is my prayer that, Father, we would consider ourselves dead to sin, and each and every day we would grow to be Christ-like. Let that be our goal. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God bless you in the coming days.