GRACE UNVEILED, #23: “Depriving the Power of Sin” | Jim Hammond
Recap
Pastor Jim taught the 23rd installment of his teaching series on the book of Romans entitled, “Grace Unveiled.” In this message, he taught how, through the salvation process, the spirit of a person comes alive, or is “born again.” The Bible says he becomes a “new creature in Christ.” And because he is a new creature, Paul teaches us in Romans chapter six, that he now has the ability to deprive sin of its power over him. He has the power to resist sin. And that’s good news!
Dive Deeper
Scriptural reference:
Romans 6:8–12, “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”
Pastor Jim’s message was based on Romans 6:8–12. Romans chapter 6 is about what God has done in regard to the genetic sin nature with which we are all born.
Paul teaches in chapter six how the sin nature is taken care of. It is not taken care of in the respect that it’s extinguished in you when you are born again. Rather, it can be drained, or deprived, of power through the Gospel.
Pastor Jim asked the question, “What happens at the new birth?”
When you ask Jesus to become your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit enters into your spirit man. We all have a spirit that does not cease to exist once your physical body dies. When your physical body dies, your spirit will either go to heaven or it will go to hell.
If you want to go to heaven, you have to ask Jesus to become your Lord and Savior. First, you have to believe He was sacrificed for your sins, that He died on the cross for you, and then rose again three days later.
Romans chapter six talks about being baptized into His death. Yes, it means water baptism, but it has a deeper meaning.
In the Bible, the word baptized has 18 different uses. It also means at salvation that you are identified. When you say, “be my Lord and Savior,” you right then identify as being baptized, identified in His death and buried with Him.
Romans 6:5 says, “…we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” According to Greek scholar, Rick Renner, the Greek word baptize was originally used by the Greeks to describe the process of dying a piece of cloth. The word means to “dip and dye.” A cloth is dipped into a vat of dye long enough that the material soaks up the new color. When the cloth is pulled out of the dye, it has become permanently changed.
Paul says, “Likewise, a person that comes to Jesus can be likened to an old garment that needs to be dipped in a vat of dye so that its color changes.” The person that is born again, however, is not dipped in a vat of dye. Rather, it is dipped in the precious blood of Jesus.
The person is transformed by Jesus’ blood and becomes a new creature. It’s not something you actually feel. But your spirit man becomes transformed into a creature that is able to stand before God. Your spirit man becomes something that is new. The Bible calls the born again spirit a “new creature.”
Romans chapter 6 is the gospel as defined in 1st Corinthians chapter 15. It’s Christ crucified; you are baptized, or identified, with His death at salvation.
At that point, you are identified as being buried with Him and subsequently raised from the dead. It says you should be walking in the likeness of His resurrection.
And then after receiving that salvation, putting your faith in that, Romans 6:6 says, “Henceforth we should not serve sin.” Because of your new born again spirit, you should not serve sin.
We all stumble. Henceforth, according to the first 8 verses in Romans chapter 6, you have the ability to take the life out of the power to sin. You can deprive sin of its power in your life.
We have the freedom to say “no” to sin, to not yield to it. There is strength given to not yield. But… you have to claim that power… you have to believe that power is available to you… and you have to receive that power.
Read About It
Romans 6:8–12, “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”
First Cor. 1–4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
Colossians 2:10, “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”
Discussion Questions
Can you describe the process of salvation and what happens to a person who receives Jesus as the Lord and Savior?
What happens at the new birth?