Our hope is in the name of the Lord who has made heaven and earth, who keepeth truth forever and who will never forsake the works of his own hands. Grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seven spirits which are before his throne And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. Amen. Our scripture this evening is found in Romans chapter six. Now read the first 14 verses and afterward will make confession with the Church of all ages. Romans six. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. 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. For he that is dead is freed from sin. 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 lust thereof. 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. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace. So far we read God's holy word. Let us now make confession with the Church of all ages. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, he descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost. I believe in Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen. Let us now come before the Lord and ask his blessing upon our gathering tonight service. Your congregation, as we have been considering in these weeks of passion, the sufferings and the death of Christ, we know that we learn from the catechism that this suffering of Christ was for a purpose. And our catechism tells us it was for the purpose of satisfying the justice and the truth of God. And children, we know what justice is, I believe. To some extent, it is doing what is right and just. And God, who is justice fully in himself, had said on the day that he created Adam, if he would live according to the commands he had given, he would live. But in eating of this fruit of the tree, he would die. And so God's justice must be carried out when Adam would indeed eat of this fruit. And also, according to the truth of his word, in the day you eat thereof, you must die. That, too, must be fulfilled. Now, what we see is that Christ has been sent of the Father as the one who is the Redeemer in order to ransom man who is lost, who is under the curse of God. And so the Father has sent the Son in order to save sinners from this death into which they have plunged themselves. And that is why this suffering and death, these weeks of passion in which we commemorate of Christ, indeed is to satisfy the justice and truth of God, and so that sinners who are in Christ may be saved. Our Catechism states it also last week that He sustained in His body and soul the wrath of God against the sins of all mankind in order to redeem our body and soul from everlasting damnation and obtain for us the favor of God, righteousness and eternal life. So this too is part of the purpose for which Christ suffered and died. He is the substitute, the one who is substituted in the place which sinners deserve. He sustains in his body and soul the wrath of God that is poured out on him because he has taken on himself, which he wasn't, but he has taken on himself sin. And therefore, he has endured eternal wrath, everlasting damnation. And by this suffering and death of Christ, he has earned by it the favor of God for sinners. He earns a righteousness for sinners that allows them to stand before God and not be condemned. He gives unto those worthy of eternal death, eternal life. but only for those who are united to Christ in saving faith. Last week, we looked at the passage from Colossians 2, in which we saw that Christ was the conqueror when he hung upon the tree. That which was seen, perhaps, as his defeat was in reality his conquering of death and hell. He conquered over sin. He nailed the curse to the tree. And just as we have seen this morning, as Christ entered into Jerusalem, seemingly as a meek and lowly king from all outward appearances, yet in reality, he was set about for this hour which was now come. And he walks down this path of suffering to the cross, gaining the victory step by step. And so Christ, through the cross, His sufferings and His death, has gained the victory over all these things. And He made a show of them, we learned last week, openly. And the handwriting that was against us, He has blotted it out and taken it out of the way. But again, as we saw last week, this is not something the natural eye beholds. We, by nature, do not understand these things. We do not grasp these things. We don't even believe these things for our salvation. Certainly, I trust that all of us would believe that Jesus suffered and died as it is recorded for us in the Gospels. But personally, for ourselves, to be united to Christ by faith, to savingly believe what He has done, has been done for me. is quite another thing. That means we must be born again. We must come to repentance and faith by the work of the Holy Spirit. Now, this work of Christ upon the cross was not only done in order to pay for sin, to pay the debt that sinners owed and to satisfy God's justice. But by this suffering and his death, Christ has also earned a righteousness which he gives to his people in principle. So they stand now in the position of standing before God, wholly, completely, totally righteous. There is no sin in his Jacob. That is the position he gives to those who are united to Christ. Those who are in Christ, we will see tonight, are justified, are sanctified. In essence, we could say they are glorified. And yet. Is it not the believers experience? Even though these things be true. And sadly, so little believed by the church. There is in result often a living a life as believers with continual struggle tossed to and fro. Which is understandable when there is the fact there is remaining sin in the believer as well. But Paul understood this struggle. He himself had it. He was not above it. He had not arrived. He had not attained to what he sought after. And yet, at the same time, he sets before the church, the church at Rome. And our catechism authors set before us the same thing. We need to understand, as Paul and those who've gone before us understood, what it means to be in Christ and living out of this truth daily to strive against sin. And that's the further benefit which our catechism sets before us. We trust with God's help this night. So our text is from Romans six, verse six, twelve and thirteen, as well as Lord's Day sixteen. So Romans six, verse six. 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. Verse 12. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. 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. And then, Lord's Day 16, questions and answers 40 through 44. Question and answer 40. Why was it necessary for Christ to humble himself even unto death? Answer, because with respect to the justice and truth of God, Satisfaction for our sins could be made no otherwise than by the death of the Son of God. Question 41. Why was he also buried? Answer, thereby to prove that he was really dead. Question 42. Since then Christ died for us, why must we also die? Answer, our death is not a satisfaction for our sins, but only an abolishing of sin and a passage into eternal life. Question 43, what further benefit do we receive from the sacrifice and death of Christ on the cross? Answer, that by virtue thereof, our old man is crucified, dead and buried with him. that so the corrupt inclinations of the flesh may no more reign in us, but that we may offer ourselves unto him a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Question forty four. Why is there added he descended into hell? Answer that in my greatest temptations, I may be assured and wholly comfort myself in this. that my Lord Jesus Christ, by his inexpressible anguish, pains, terrors and hellish agonies in which he was plunged during all his sufferings, but especially on the cross, hath delivered me from the anguish and torments of hell." Our theme is primarily drawn from question 43 in our text in Romans 6, is the old man is dead. The old man is dead. We want to see this in three thoughts. First, we want to see it in principle. Second, in practice. And third, in perfection. The old man is dead in principle, in practice and in perfection. Dear congregation, what we discuss tonight is of vital importance for a godly and close walk to the Lord Jesus Christ. For if we would truly submit ourselves to this teaching of the Word of God and pray for the light of the Spirit to guide us, we would begin to realize what the urgency of the Apostle Paul is in regard to these matters when he says to the Romans, knowing this, it especially concerns the teaching and doctrines also of assurance and comfort in the lives of the believer. And it also concerns the power that is to be drawn from Christ in order to live in the way that believers are called to live. Our catechism and the apostle want the believer today also to understand that the benefits and the blessings which come from the sufferings and the death of Christ is not only the payment for sin in the way of justification, that sins are forgiven, the debt is paid. But there is much more in the sufferings and death for the believer than just this. You see, Paul has been dealing with that whole idea of justification in the life of the believer up until chapter six of Romans. He has been teaching the church at Rome in the first few chapters. what they were, all of them, outside of Christ. Chapters 1-3, he deals with the idea that everyone, Jew or Gentile, is under the wrath of God. They are all, all of us, were guilty before God. And so it could be said also of everyone here tonight, if we would begin reading in the book of Romans, we would either have to say we are one of two things. Tonight, we stand either in the position of being guilty before God, our sin and debt needing to be paid, or we did stand once in that position, but by the grace of God, we have been ransomed, we have come to be in union with Christ in saving faith. Now, that person who has been saved and purchased by Christ and has come to repentance and faith in Christ may not always feel themselves to be so. But that's not really the issue. What Paul is setting before us in these chapters is the reality that we are either standing at this moment guilty before God or acquitted in Christ, declared free through the work of Christ. There's no in-between in this matter. And it's a question you and I must answer this night also. You see, everything we feel, everything we think needs to be subject to the Word and the teaching of God. The conclusions, the knowing that we may have can only be drawn from what the Scriptures teach us, not from our feelings or our experience even. And therefore, I ask you in all sincerity this night, how do you stand before God? It's a fundamental question. It's related, obviously, to the question, are you in Christ? Are you in union with Christ by faith? Have you fled unto Christ for pardon, for forgiveness of sin? Having been convicted by the Spirit of God that you are nothing but a poor sinner, have you fled for mercy at the cross? Have you experientially tasted of the goodness of God and His mercy and the peace of God that passes understanding in your heart? And that's what Paul has been setting before the Romans. He says, you once were guilty as all the world is, Jew and Gentile. But in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. And even while you were yet sinners, He says, Christ died for you. And in coming unto Christ by faith and through the way of repentance, you have received His righteousness. Because Christ has taken your place. You see, when one is united to Christ by faith, The Scriptures teach us, and Paul teaches us especially in Romans 4 and 5, we now stand in a position, in a place before God's judgment seat of being declared free, without guilt. It has been taken away and the peace of God and the love of God has flowed into our hearts. That is justification. God declares something God does. He imputes. He gives. He reckons to the account of sinners the righteousness, the sufferings, the death of Christ, so that the debt they owed has been paid. And being made alive, the sinner receives this righteousness unto themselves. They believe in Christ. And so justification really is not a work or merit of the sinner, but it is an activity of God whereby He sets sinners free. They were in bondage. He came and He delivers them. He unshackles them from the chains which has bound them and kept them in prison. He pays the price so they may go free. And the root of all of this, we could say, is because of God's grace. Grace that is unmerited favor of God towards sinners in Jesus Christ. And that's why Paul says in chapter 5, verse 21, that as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ. Our Lord. That's just before we begin our chapter. And Paul also says, then, where grace did abound, where sin did abound, grace much more abounded. Grace greater than our sin. And yet Paul was quite aware that there were those who, in hearing this glorious teaching, That whoever we may be, whatever sin we may have committed in coming unto this Savior Jesus Christ, trusting alone in Him, we are set free. We are standing before God without a debt. That there were those who would abuse this grace, who would turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, a license to sin. Well, if the grace of God is so great and so marvelous and so wonderful to the greatest of sinners, well, let's go on in sin that grace may abound. Paul says, let it never be said so. God forbid. And so he turns from justification, the position of the believer before God on the merit of justice of Christ, standing free, he turns to the idea of sanctification. The idea that believers are saved for a purpose, saved to an end, to be made holy. And chapter six, therefore, is about this Doctrine of sanctification of holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. And don't you believe, then, if that's the teaching of the scriptures, which is a quote of the scriptures, without holiness, no man shall see the Lord, that this would be an important doctrine to listen to in this evening. But here comes the difficulty. In the day to day experience of the believer, Often because there is not a right or proper understanding of who they are in Christ, the believer continues to live on in his life with some experiences, some understanding and knowledge of the Scriptures, and he encounters remaining sin and corruption in his flesh. And he witnesses this warfare, this struggle, And he incurs, because of his sin, guilt again upon his soul. And he begins to stand in doubt of himself. He lacks assurance about his standing with God because his eyes are upon himself. And he goes on halting and stumbling in the Christian walk. And often the reason is he doesn't or she doesn't understand this fundamental principle that Paul, in beginning to set before the doctrine of sanctification, gives us this principle, this position of sanctification. And so the believer, not understanding this principle, lacking because of it much assurance that they belong unto God, not only in justification, but also in sanctification, goes about, after grace, trying to please God by the way of doing things, by the way of sanctifying themselves. And because they are often living by the mere experiences of their heart and feelings, rather than the fundamental teaching of the Word of God, they are swept to and fro. And that's why it's so important we understand in our first thought tonight what it means, in principle, the old man is dead. Paul does not confer with the Romans to consult their experience, but he teaches them the Word of God. He uncovers the meat of this truth and he sets it before the church for their instruction, for their learning that through it they might more and more lean upon and live out of Christ. And what I want essentially to communicate you to you in our first thought is this. And that's what Paul is saying in verse six. Knowing this, he says. He says, you need to know this, you must know this and knowing this, what is this? That our old man is crucified with Christ. In essence, what Paul is saying, if you don't know this, if you don't know what these words mean, if you don't believe what these words mean, how can you live out the truth that he sets forth connected to knowing these words? So now, what does Paul mean by these words? And remember, Paul is still addressing the question. Shall we continue on in sin that grace may abound?" And in answer to the question, Paul says, of course not. No, how could you? And this is part of the answer. To the believer and to those to whom he writes who are saying, we have known and tasted of the grace of God, and can we then go on in sin? Paul says, of course not. The old man is dead. If you are in Christ, you have been crucified. with Christ." So that's our first point. In principle, the old man is dead and dead is dead. You can't be alive if you are dead. So what does Paul mean? He means what he says. The old man is dead. Crucified with Christ. So dead, in fact, that a few verses before he said, we are buried with Christ. in baptism, and we have been raised to a newness of life in Christ. And so the teaching of Paul is that the believer, in regard to his position, in regard to principle, just as he may not in his feeling feel it, he is nevertheless, when he is in union with Christ by faith, he is justified. Paul is teaching in Romans 6. Not only is the believer justified, he is in principle and in fact sanctified. He, the believer, Paul would say, is complete in Christ. And all that Paul is saying in these chapters, he is saying to those and only to those who are in Christ by faith. Those who have come to Christ and those who have trusted in him alone unto salvation. And so what Christ has done on the cross and his sufferings and death was not only paid for sin, paid the debt, canceled the curse. But additionally, what Paul is saying in Romans six, if we are joined unto Christ. He is our sanctification. He died unto sin in order to deliver his people from the power of sin. And what this means is that when one is born again by the Spirit of God, Paul teaches us in Corinthians, this one who was dead is now a new creature. He is alive in Christ. He has new desires. He has a new will. And in principle, then, what Paul is saying in Romans 6 is the old man is dead. He must be. He must be seen as having died with Christ and the believer who is united with Christ must be seen as being alive with Christ. That's why he says to the Colossians, you are seated with Christ in heavenly places. And the argument Paul is going to develop from this is, therefore, how can sin reign in your mortal bodies? It can't be so. You are to be dead to sin and alive to God. In essence, what Paul is saying is that in Christ, you not only find justification in his death, as we have learned from our catechism, the justice and truth of God, he made satisfaction for sin. But also in his suffering and death. We learn that he has crucified the old man, it is dead and buried with him, our catechism says. that so the corrupt inclinations of the flesh may no more reign in us. That ought to be the result of being in union with Christ and communion with Christ. And so what we need today for believers is to understand and know the scriptures. to be led into these truths by the Holy Spirit and to believe what the Scriptures teach us, that our lives may be changed and shaped and molded by the Scriptures. What does it mean to be united to Christ by faith? It means we have come to confess that He alone is the one who saves He alone is the One who has redeemed me. I have fled unto Him for pardon. I have cried unto Him for mercy. And through the Word has come the assurances by the light of the Spirit. There is forgiveness with God that He may be feared. That is being united to Christ, fleeing to Him, repenting from sin, And if we may therefore confess that we belong to him. If we may confess that we have taken refuge in Christ. Then on the basis of what Paul is saying in his word. You are justified, no matter what you feel at this moment. You stand in God's sight as holy as Christ himself. You have become, as it were, through marriage to the Lamb of God, one with Christ. Your debt before God, which was a mountain you could not pay, is cancelled. The handwriting against you is taken away. You owe nothing to God for the sins you have committed, even today. The debt is paid. You stand free. And Paul is saying, Romans 6, if you are in Christ, you are also sanctified. You have died with Christ. You have been buried with Christ. You have been planted with Christ. Therefore, he says, you have risen together also with Christ in newness of life. The body of sin, Paul says, has been destroyed. The old things passed away. Behold, all things are become new. If you are in Christ, you are a new creature. And Paul is not saying to us, as many in contemporary Christianity are saying, if you think enough and long enough about this, it will happen. The power of positive thinking. Rather, what Paul is saying and teaching to the church at Rome, this is reality. This is truth. And God, therefore, calls you, if you are in Christ, to be what he already says you are. And that's not an idea that Paul invented. Look back over the Old Testament, what do we see? God comes to Israel. A people, he said, he had chosen unto himself, not because they were different or better than any other people, but he went there and he chose them unto himself. And he told them, I will bring them out of Egypt. And children, what did God do? Did he send Moses into Egypt where the children of Israel were? And did he say to Moses, here's my commandment? Go to my people, the children of Israel, and tell them to obey these commandments. And when they've obeyed, I will bring them out. Not at all. God tells them he is their God. He says, I am going to deliver you. They had been trying out to him for deliverance, and now he comes through the person of Moses. And at the last plague, what is set before the Israelites is a picture of the way of deliverance out of bondage to sin and death, through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, through the shedding of blood. And it wouldn't make any difference if you were an Israelite and the firstborn, if you did not have blood on the doorpost, you would have died. It was the Lamb that protected them, not their obedience. But after this and the love of God that delivered Israel with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, it was proof that his covenant love and grace was with them. He claimed them as his own people, even when they were really no different than the people of his of Egypt. And he says to them when he brings them out into the wilderness. You are my people, I am your God. And now that I have delivered you out of bondage and from the gods of Egypt, you as my people are called to live in this way. I am the Lord your God. Therefore, have no other gods before me. He then sets before them his law. And so it is in the way of grace. God calls his people out of bondage to sin, out of slavery to sin under great taskmasters. And he calls them out of this bondage and he delivers them with a mighty outstretched hand through the work of the Lamb of God. They are made alive in Christ. And then what Paul says to us is this, knowing this, that your old man is dead and you are alive in Christ. Your old man is crucified with Christ. The body of sin is destroyed. You ought not being serving sin with your lives. But to be walking in thankfulness, our catechism says. Our old man is crucified, dead, buried with him, so the corrupt inclinations of the flesh may no more reign in us but that we may offer ourselves unto him a sacrifice of thanksgiving. It's interesting that until this point, verse six of Romans, Paul has really not told the Romans to do anything, commanded them. But now in verse six, he tells them, no, this you must know this. You must know who you are, who God has made you in Christ. You must know the old man is dead. You must think on this. You must meditate on this. As Christ has been crucified and died, so the old man has been crucified, is dead, buried with Christ. And so, believer, there is not a possibility for you and your own strength in the way of sanctification to try to please God even after grace. What Paul is saying has happened, and he wants the believer to realize it's happened, and he wants them to believe it's true and to plead upon its truth. And he wants the believer to put into practice what is true in principle. It has been said by commentators that what Paul has said in the indicative defines the imperative. What does that mean? What it simply means is this, that Paul is using language which states a fact. That's what he says, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him and the body of sin might be destroyed. And from that fact. Indicative, he defines the imperative, the command. That henceforth, we should not serve sin. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lustre of neither. Yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness, but rather yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead. Now, I know what some of you are thinking, because as I move along through point one, I'm thinking it, too. What about the battle? What about the remaining corruption and sin? What about the lifelong struggle that is still in the life of the believer? Paul goes from Romans 6 to Romans 7, remember? What is it that I experience every day of my life as a believer? Why is it I have so little victory over sin if the old man, as you say, is dead? Maybe you say, well then, I don't know if I'm a believer at all. Because I experience this death within me every day. And dear believer, I understand completely. Totally. So does Paul. But it doesn't take away from what Paul said. Actually, it what makes what follows more glorious, because salvation, Paul is saying, is found in Christ in beginning and in the end, completely all in all of him. And the more we would live out of the truth of our first point, the more we would be unable to live as Paul did, living out of Christ. That I am dead with him and I'm risen to newness of life and the life that I now live, I live in faith in the Son of God. And if we would seek to live that way, then in the practice of our life, we would still experience ups and downs and trials, indeed. We would experience that Christ's power is sufficient in all my needs. And so it brings us to our second thought. Dear congregation, any believer who has walked for even one hour along the path of salvation has come to experience that in the life of grace there remains corruption and sin and flesh in the life of the believer. Even the most advanced in grace we learn from the Scriptures, from our Catechism, There is but a small beginning of this life of holiness. But the point of Paul is this, that the believer is not left to himself in this call to holiness. He's not left to his own power or his own abilities. But if the believer is to hold on to what has been set forth in our first point He will begin to see and begin to realize the only way to live is not in my strength to overcome sin somehow, but to live out of the life of Christ that lives in me. Because at the end of verse 6, Paul tells us the purpose of knowing these things, that from this point we should not serve sin. Paul is saying, when one comes to true faith in Christ, the sinful nature has been dealt a death blow. The sinful nature can no more gain the upper hand in a life of continuous sin. The believer is now the new creature. He's not the old man. Although there is this continuous struggle against sin, against fleshly lusts, And therefore, Paul calls the believer to become progressively holy, not by his own strivings and his own strength, but living out of the power of this principle that in Christ he finds life and strength and power. You see, just as in justification the believer is declared to be justified, so in sanctification in Christ he is sanctified. But whereas justification is one time for all time, sanctification is something that God works out in the life of the believer that he would grow progressively, more and more, holy through this life of sanctification. More and more, leaning upon Christ, living out of Christ and the power of His resurrection. And when the believer has to deal with remaining sin, indwelling sin, bosom sins, he is often focusing upon himself. And the more he tries to put off sin, the more he finds he's unable and entangled again in a web of sin and can't gain the victory. And so what Paul says the believer needs to know First, he is justified before God. He is no longer under the condemning power of the law. And second of all, Paul says, the believer is no longer under the power and dominion of sin. It has been broken. And dear believer, if you think back to the time before you were in Christ, and if you are not in Christ tonight, I can say of a truth that the Scriptures teach us. You're living in sin. You love sin. You live for sin. Sin is your life. It's like a fish who desires and longs and can't live without water. So is the sinner in regard to sin. Maybe not openly, outwardly wicked, But nevertheless, living in rebellion against God and what He teaches us in His Word. And if we have been taught by the Spirit of God something of this truth, and our eyes have been opened by the Spirit of God, we realize our whole lives have been lived in rebellion against God. It's true of everyone who remains in sin. You're in the home. of your own making. You're living in the habit of sin in your lives. But when Christ came, when God through his word came and convicted you of sin, sin became sin. And you fled for pardon to the Savior and for mercy. And you came to know in some measure or other, through the Gospel message, there is forgiveness with God. You came to know some measure of peace in your heart and soul through believing. And did you not experience then in those moments, too, a hatred toward sin and that the power of sin was in a measure broken? That's what Paul is saying. In principle, the old man is dead. He's buried with Christ. And now, maybe to this day, because you don't have still a clear perception of these things, or an assurance of your position in Christ, or perhaps because you have left off the battle against sin in the strength of Christ, You have found the flesh to have gained the upper hand to such an extent that those experiences and those things you may have thought before seem to be but vague dreams and you can't relate to them anymore. But here's precisely what God does when that happened to King David. And the flesh gained the upper hand and he's standing on the roof of the house looking at this woman and calls for her. And he commits sin. The peace of God leaves David. David himself says in Psalm 51, his bones waxed old, roaring all the day. God will not leave His people in a life of sin. And during this whole, perhaps, nine-month time period in which David lived, he experiences what happens when one returns to this way of the flesh. God removed his comforts, removed the blessings, removes the peace and the joy. And so David prays, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. And it is not until he comes to the point before Nathan and then goes out and no doubt weeps as Peter did bitterly. He is once again assured of the love of God and the peace of God fills his soul. Paul understands very clearly that the believer will continue the rest of his life in this struggle in a very practical way against sin. Otherwise, he would not have said to the Romans, do not let sin, therefore, reign in your mortal bodies. Don't give your bodies to be an instrument whereby sin would come in. Through your ears, what you hear, through your eyes, what you see. But Paul, And telling us what the believer is in Christ, that the old man is dead, lays it to the heart of the believer, the obligation to which they are called. And Paul realizes they will be unable to do this in their own strength, and he doesn't tell them to do it in their own strength. But just as he said, you are dead in Christ. You are risen with Christ. Seek His power. His strength. Rely on Christ for sanctification. And Satan wants the believer to become so discouraged in this battle in their Christian walk, so they no longer press on. Sin comes in once more and again and influences the believer. It raises the ugly head within them. The eye that Paul says in Romans 7. And the Spirit comes and convinces the backslider of the reality wretched man that I am. And He drives them and draws them again to flee for refuge, even as at the beginning to the foot of the cross, to see not only I am justified, my sin is forgiven, but the life to live to which I am called. The power is found in the suffering and in the death of Christ. And our sanctification, therefore, is accomplished by our identification with Christ, his death, his suffering, his resurrection, his newness of life. And that's why our catechism says, what further benefit do we receive from the sacrifice and death of Christ? The old man is crucified, buried dead with him. So the corrupt influences of the flesh may no more reign, but that we would offer ourselves to Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving. And what this means, therefore, dear friends, if you claim to follow Christ and you have returned as a dog to the vomit or a pig to the mire to wallow in, take heed to what Paul is saying. There is a radical change that the Spirit of God calls the believer to, no longer engaging in living a life of sin, not returning to those things once professed to be left off, but rather Recognizing, knowing that our old man is crucified with Christ, we henceforth should no longer serve sin. If we continue on in sin, Paul takes us back to the cross and says that can't be. If you have died with Christ, you must be dead to the powers of sin in which you formerly live. Oh, I understand the believer continues to struggle against sin. He will continue to struggle against sin the rest of his life. But he's not mastered by it. He is not enslaved by it. It becomes something he strives in the power of Christ to overcome. And the point must be made to struggling believers. is that our focus must not be upon ourselves and the death of this old man, but our focus, our eye must be upon what God says. If we are in Christ, he is for us. Paul is saying to the believer, be what you already are. What he is saying is you cannot in your own strength become and put the old man to death. But Christ has done it. It is finished. Yes, there is striving against sin. There is the battle against flesh and the world and Satan. And the only way to conquer is to rely on the power of Christ. The believer is called by Paul To the principle thought, we are crucified with Christ. And to the practice that nevertheless, as Paul says, I live because Christ lives in me. As Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, he said, if you are a Christian, the man you used to be has gone out of existence. He has no reality at all. You are in Christ. If we but saw this as we should, we would really begin to live as Christians. We would lift up our heads. We would defy sin and Satan and rejoice in Christ as we ought. Why did Paul live as he did, do you think? He lived out of the strength and by looking to Christ continually. He couldn't sanctify himself. If it depended one ounce on Paul's power, he would have failed. So he points to the church and he says, your justification, your sanctification, your everything is in Christ. And in the strength of Christ, Paul says, I will not give my flesh to sin. I will not yield myself unto sin, but yield myself unto God. No doubt that becomes the daily practice of the Apostle Paul by the grace of God. That's why he says also in verse 14, sin will not have dominion over you because you are not under the law, but under grace. Paul is saying to the believer, the law can no more be your guide in the sense of ruling over you and say, do this and you will live. It can no more condemn you. But you live now by grace. Grace has removed the curse. Grace gives you strength to live against sin. And it's not as though Paul had already attained, he says, or made perfect, but I'm striving after, he says, I follow after that I may apprehend that which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. That was his comfort. That's the principle position he comes from. I have been apprehended by Christ. Therefore, I seek to apprehend. Paul realized that this state of living in this world, though he was complete in Christ, in principle, in practice, he found himself stumbling and faltering, especially when he looked at himself. And he neglected to look at the promise and the word and the certainty of what God said he was in Christ. And therefore, Paul looked earnestly, as all believers do, toward that time of final perfection. Professor John Murray put it this way. It is a mistake to think of the believer as both an old man and a new man. We are new men as soon as we come to believe in Christ, but are the remains of sin within the new man as long as the new man is present in this world. However, when the believer comes out of this world into a state of glory, then all sin which is in the new man will entirely be abolished and we will be, even as our blessed Master is, away from the very presence of sin. And isn't that what the believer yearns for, longs for, groans for? Being complete in Christ. Not only in principle, but complete in Christ. In practice. Every moment, every thought, every desire conformed to Christ. The day is coming. Because of the suffering and the death of Christ, that every believer who is united to Christ, this will be the certain reality. He's not only paid the debt. He's not only made them perfect in principle. He is perfecting them by His grace even now and will present them perfect before his father one day. Though we feel the remnants of sin remain in us, of our sinful flesh, there is coming a day when the old man will remain in the grave forever, utterly banished from my sight. And only and all because of the sacrifice and the death of Christ. But it means as well that being united to Christ by faith, the believer will be raised into heavenly places that in principle and in practice every moment will be to the glory of God. Amen. Almighty and glorious God, when we consider these truths, Lead us into them, we do pray. Grant that we would experience the reality of the sufficiency of all that is needed being found in the sacrifice, suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant, gracious God, that we more and more by day and by night may meditate upon the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, and so be led in practice of life to seek to put off the old man and put on the new, which is renewed after the image of a risen Lord. Lord, go before us then, we do pray. Bring us back together at the appointed time. Forgive us graciously of all sin. In Jesus' name, Receive the blessing of the Lord and depart in peace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.