Identification Truths Plus 2012
Courtney Hemenway · Jun 17, 2012
Identification Truths Plus, No. 24
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926318425758

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Well, Pat isn't here, but hopefully he'll get the tape. After last week, I saw him in the break room, or the coffee, and just asked him, you're getting all this stuff, how's it going? And I want to encourage you, even though I don't have to most of the time, you're very good for asking questions and discussion. But he brought up, I said, you know, we went through and we've been going through Romans 6, and for all the tape, on the tape side, we are Romans, identification, Trues, Lesson 15. He brought up the point, he said, after all we've talked about, of being placed into Christ, and our old man, what happened to our old man? Crucified.

So, he brought up to me, he said, about the judgment in relation to, it was Romans 14.11. And it says, but you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

Okay. And it goes on. For it is written as I live, says Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall give praise to God. So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. So what does that mean for us that are identified in Christ? He was concerned about that.

We're going to be before the judgment seat? No. Isn't that for kind of how we live our life? To get rewards? We have a no and we have a reward. And we have a peace sign going up over there. There's two different judgments. And that's an important concept to grasp. There's a judgment for believers for rewards and then there's an eternal judgment for those who are not satisfied. So what is that in Romans 14? That's the judgment for those who are not at Christ.

Okay. Any others? Well, there's a difference. I think the key is who the judge is. Who is the judge in this? In this case, the judge is God. The Bema Judgment is a place of rewards. Christ is the one who is on the platform. Okay. Who is our very life. Okay.

So, I looked at this and it was, if you look at 2 Corinthians 5.10 It says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

And then if you look at also John 5.22, it says, for not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to who? The Son. Okay? So now, where are you? So who's going to be doing the judging? Me.

Well, what the Romans 1 is actually talking about is It's basically why are you bringing up this? We're all going to be judged. Why are you judging your brother? That's the whole Context of that that verse or that set of verses is why are you judging everybody here? Yeah, so you'll be before the judgment seat.

So what does that mean? So, all must come before the judgment seat of Christ, but what about believers? Is this a seat of judgment for salvation or eternal life? Is that what this is? No. No. Okay. I brought it up when he brought it to me upstairs, you know, right afterwards.

The first thing that came to my mind was Romans 8.1. And what is that? There's no condemnation. There's no condemnation. So, before Christ, what is this going to be? This is going to be for rewards. This is, for us, if Christ is the judge and we're in Christ, what's there to judge? Is there anything to judge? Is he looking at anything other than us in him? What is there to judge? It's not a judgment of condemnation.

Right. This is rewards. And then you can get into the other ones. When it's said for good or bad deeds, If you look at 1 Corinthians 3, 13-15, this is the one where rewards and the other junk is burned up. I can read it if you want. Now, if any man builds on the foundation of gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident, for the day will show it. because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, you will receive what? A reward. If any man's work is burned up, he'll suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet it's not through fire.

So, all the extraneous stuff, but the rewards, the things, we get... What was that, he'll suffer loss? Yeah, those things that aren't for Christ, that we do, poof, gone. But those things we get rewards for. And then what do we do with those rewards? Actually, there's also... How many rewards are there? One. One? Do we have... How many crowns are there? Let's put it that way. One. And what is that? Christ. Wrong. How many crowns are there? Called out in scripture, in the word of God, how many crowns are there? You've got to go there. Yeah. Like the word. Go to the word. Why would I want to go to the word? I want to say seven.

Actually, there are five crowns and three rewards. Eight. So yeah, there's the victor's crown, which is 1 Corinthians 9, 15. The church founder's crown, 1 Thessalonians 2, 19 and 20. The rapture lover's crown, 2 Timothy 4, 8. Elder's crown for service. Yours is a little tainted, buddy. 1 Peter 5, 2 through 4. Trial. Trial crown, that'll teach you. Lord is fighting me. They all mess with us elders.

The trial crown, James 1, 12, and Revelation 2, 10. And then the three rewards are the solid foundation reward, 1 Corinthians 3, 14. The voluntary service reward, which is 1 Corinthians 9, 17. And the inheritance reward, which is Colossians 3, 23, and 24. So, those are all the different crowns and rewards that we'll have.

So, the point is, we aren't going to be judged. We are in Christ. What is there to judge us in Christ? When we look at judgment, it seems like that isn't what it is. This is for rewards. This is to get around the chafe, all the other stuff, burn it up, get rid of it, and here are the things you've done. These are the rewards. And then what are we going to do with those? Lay it right back down to its feet.

So it seems like that the rewards are maybe based on how well we listen to God, sort of, because all of it kind of seems like growth then if we're not punished for things that we do wrong or things that we don't do. It's kind of a matter of just how well we listen to maybe what God has for us. I think it's more the works that he has for us to do and when we do those, we're rewarded for those. So, you know, I think it's more than us like saying, I'm going to work real hard.

Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no No, no, no, no, no. Oh, and now Pat shows up.

I was just going over your question last week when I met you about the judgment. The judgment in Romans 14, 10 or 11, that we were talking about last week about the judgment, we're not going to be under judgment. The judgment that will stand before us, we'll get rewards at that point. Because we're in Christ, there's nothing to be judged other than what we have done for Him here. And those works that He has assigned to us or given to us, If we do those, then we'll get rewards for those. And that's where the judgment, I was saying, it's not like, you know, judgment, we think of judgment as, you know, slapping this. At that, we will be rewarded for what we've done in Christ.

Okay, so there, and again, just getting into Romans 8.1, therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. So, and there isn't a later life, you know, fudge factor. I hate to tell you that, Helen, but there, you know. It's critical to understand the doctrine of justification.

If we're justified in Christ and we're declared righteous by His work on the cross, that means we can't be judged for those things because they're taken care of. I'm going to give you something at the end of class that was really kind of a good one. The blood paid for the sins. The death took care of the sinner.

And so, what is left to be, you know, if we're in Christ, what is there to judge? So, we'll stand before, but there's nothing to judge. Everything that was associated with Adam is gone. Everything that is bad or... So the judgment is for rewards. We try and put it in our mind as it's a bad thing that you go to court and you've done something bad and you're going to get penalty for that.

But for us in Christ, it's not that way. You okay with that? Yeah. In 1 Corinthians 15, I think Paul describes his own life based on, I think, what the rewards would be. And it's 15.10, he says, By the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace towards me was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." So the rewards are based on abiding and functioning in the grace of God, not doing anything out of my own strength. And that goes to the, we don't work. It's living the life. Who lives in me now? Whose life? It's Christ's life in me. So, again, I just want to clarify that because, you know, this is real important, you know, understanding again the crucifixion of our old man, what that really means.

Gone, done, paid for. Christ took, blood took the sin, the crucifixion took the sinner. In Romans 8 where it talks about there's now no condemnation, it also seems to follow up with, if you're walking in the Spirit, That doesn't belong there. No, and therefore there is no combination for those who are in Christ.

Period. Period. See some of the translations have that, for those who walk after the spirit and not after the flesh, that shouldn't be there, that should be after verse 4. Oh yeah. And if you ever have the privilege of scratching something out of your Bible, that's it. Wow. It doesn't belong there. So you can see why I asked the question. Oh, is that what you said? The King James says that. Oh, really? Scrap those things. The New American Standard is the official Bible. It's the Bible that John the Baptist wrote. Yeah, he used it. Just kidding. Alright, should we actually get to question five? Yeah. Okay, let's do this.

There are two words signifying death in this passage. The word for dead, necros, here in verse 11, does not refer to the act or process of dying, but to the state or effect produced by death. The other word, finesco, signifies the act and occurs in verses 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10. It is used when Christ dying or are dying with or in him is set forth. Which word best describes your relationship to sin?

Necros? Any others? Totally confused. I always like to go to the Zodiates to get the thing, even though we discussed last week, he knows the Greek, but he doesn't know the scriptures, but he knows the Greek. The Greek word nekros is used in 611 to be dead unto sin, i.e. no longer willingly subject to it. I like that. The effect of it is we're no longer willingly subject to it. Newell had it this way. It is therefore with the already accomplished death unto sin of our great substitute and representative, Christ, that believers, those now in Christ, find themselves connected.

The believer is to reckon himself dead, necros, unto sin, but alive unto God, because he is in Christ Jesus, who died unto sin once for all, but now in resurrection life is living unto God. Did this verse state that we are to reckon that the sin nature is dead? No. No? Any yeses? No? Correct!

Is the sin nature dead? No. Yours might be, but mine's not. Boy, I can't wait until you teach next week. It's this love-hate relationship. No, it specifically states that we are to reckon ourselves dead unto it. It doesn't say it's dead. We're dead unto it. That means what? It's still alive and kicking. Additionally, what can you derive from verse 2 where it states, we who died to sin, and now in verse 11, we are to reckon ourselves dead to sin. Verse 2, does it mean that we are absent from sin now, that we have only one nature?

Yes. No. I'm just kidding. Karen's not here, so you're the pot stirrer today, right? Yeah. Yeah. So do we have one or two natures? One? Who has one? I thought that was a question, or again, I'm getting a lot of peace signs today. Very peaceful crowd today. Can we call the other nature the spiritual nature or the divine nature or something?

The new man? New man is the way, yeah. And we'll look into those verses in what, 2 Corinthians 5, 17. New creature, you are a new creature, new and kind. So, that's it. We have a new creature, a new complete different race or species. And Christ is what? The head of the new race or line of people. So, we still have two natures. Both inside.

So, some people say we look at this crucifixion and it's gone. That means we only have one nature. And so just by these verses, you can just prove that there's one nature. Because if you're to reckon yourself dead unto it, it means it's there. Unto it means it's still there. So one nature, and there are a lot of other ones you can point to that show that we have two natures.

It just doesn't make sense if you think that now that I'm a believer, all that's in me is just happiness and Christ and that's all it is. You know, if you knew my thoughts sometimes during the day, you'd know that that's not true. There's an evil, you know, I get angry, I get whatever, I'm selfish, you know, all those things. And so it's still alive and kicking. It's just, are you walking by the flesh or by the Spirit? And again, you look at some of those verses even. Do you walk by the flesh or by the Spirit? What does that mean?

Two. Okay. Alright. You okay? Do you think there is... Question six. Do you think there is any other... Do you have something? What's the answer to five? Necros. Okay. It's necros. Okay, good. Which is the effect produced by death. Right. Okay. But I like the way Zodiac has said, no longer willingly subject to it now. And I guess that's where we still sort of have our free will, to choose which way we're going. Next two verses. We'll get into that. Okay, question six.

Do you think there is any other way to establish your soul at rest than this declaration from God? No. I mean, do you really understand that? That there's no other way? Well, it's a learning thing, right? I think it's a growing thing. Growing in the knowledge and grace, 2 Peter 3, 18. Growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I think that's it. It's a growth process. And as you understand that, as you understand that there is nothing offered by the world that gives you rest, you begin to understand where your rest is.

A colleague sent me some interesting comments here. He said that reckoning can be ineffective because it's not at the forefront of my mentality. It's not a feeling. It's hard to remember because we are feeling people. The things I feel are close to me, the things I don't feel are remote.

So we have to believe in order for it to become operational. It's kind of interesting. When we went through that last week, is it feelings or experiences or what is it? It's knowledge and the facts. A lot of times our life does not jive or our experiences don't jive with this. And we go, oh man, this can't be true. Well, it's not experiences or feelings, it's facts, based on facts.

That reckoning is what? It's knowledge of the facts and understanding that, a heart knowledge of the facts. So, it's not a feeling, it's not a, you know, I'm feeling really good today, so I'm in the spirit, I'm feeling, I'm feeling. No, it's understanding what is true of you in Christ, or what's said in the Word is true of you.

We passed out those 33 things. Those are all true of you. Those things are true. Believe it. It's the opposite way too. I feel like I'm doing good, or the opposite is I feel like I'm just so awful that you lose your salvation or something. Then you focus on that. If you understand you're in Christ, That's why these verses are so important.

We talked about this in a few classes years ago, when you talk about loss of salvation. Actually, I was talking to Randy's parents at our house the other night and brought up John 10, 28. She brought up that to somebody about losing salvation. John 10, 28 was what I used to call my anchor verse. John 10, 28 is that I can no longer, I can't climb out of God's hand.

I'm in His hand. I can't get out of it. And I thought, whenever I had that doubt, I went back to that verse. I can't get out of his hands. No matter what happens, I can't get out of his hands. If I got that doubt, I'd go back there and I'd grab onto that verse. I never had that since identification, Drews.

Because once you know you're in Christ, how do you get out of that? It's a complete death separation and placed into life in Christ. I've never ever had a doubt ever since that, because it doesn't make sense to me anymore. But then also too, sometimes it can be not a doubt about salvation, but just then a focusing on yourself again. Focusing on how bad I am, which is the opposite of what God wants us to do, is just be focusing on Him.

So it's like this great tactic. You just have it right there. Focusing on who? Him or you? Right. And that's the growth process. Because as we focus on Him, who are we conformed to? Him. So that's the growth process, is not looking at all those bad things.

Because what does God have to do with all that bad stuff now in you? Is He done with it? Done. Why are you worried about it? When you start thinking about that, that's the flesh of the old man trying to drag you back over here. You're in Christ. There's no doubt now. You're in Christ. And He's wanting you, through grace, to draw you into this intimacy. These are wonderful truths once you understand this and you have the life in Christ. No doubt it's salvation. You can't. I mean, that would mean Christ would have to die again, get back up at the cross. Huh? How do you get out of Christ? You were separated, death, crucified, judicially separated from your old man.

Now you're placed into Christ. And that's where we get in a few weeks or months or whenever we get to it. In some of the verses, you know, Galatians, Colossians, it just doesn't make sense. They don't make sense until you understand this. What is a new creature in Christ? What do you mean I'm a new creature in Christ? How did I get there? The mechanics, we're talking about the mechanics here. Romans 6, 6, crucified. Now what are we supposed to do? Reckon that true.

And it's sort of a potential, isn't it? Like a seed. The new man versus like something full-blown like, here you go. It's all easy and you know. What, in Christ? Yeah, becoming a new creature. It's not like you said, like the other nature's gone. It's like just a you know, Christ sees, God sees your potential, not necessarily who you are. He sees nothing in me. Well, he sees who you are in Christ.

Right, right. And what is that potential? He sees union with Christ. Yeah, unlimited. The potential is, that's why John 17, read John 17, that's the union, that's what he sees to glory, He wants to share His glory with us, that the Father had given to Him, He wants to share it with us. The same union He has with the Father, He wants with us. You know, when you put all the pieces together, it all fits.

So in six, do you think there's any way to get rest? No, there's no other way. There will be no rest until you come to terms or reckon the fact of your co-crucifixion and identification with Christ. Unless you reckon, no longer willingly subject to it, the sin nature, the old man will not give you rest that is in Christ. The one I thought about too, which I always think of is Matthew 11, 28 and 30. Through 30, come to me, this is Christ speaking, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you. And learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." You know, where does rest come from? Not the world. He promises rest. So if you're still in Adam, how do you get rest? You don't. Is there any rest in Adam? No. No. There is nothing. in Adam that you can derive rest from. It's all work. It's all gotta do something. It's all law. Put me under law. I gotta do this. Cause and effect. Okay? You okay? You ready to ask a question? Okay.

Later as we look into grace, the operating system or principle that we're now under, we'll see that grace is unmerited. That means there is nothing we can do to receive it. Is there rest in that? Yeah. Absolutely. They're unmerited. You can't do anything for it. To what? Receive unlimited blessings. Where is their rest? Right there. So, what do you need to receive God's unlimited blessing under grace? You just said there was nothing we could do.

Thank you. But I had something a little bit more than that. What do you have to do to receive that? Accept it. Believe it. Believe what's already true of you in Christ and say thank you. Believe it and say thank you. Understand all these things are true and you can't do anything so the only thing you can do is say thank you.

Alright, does believing or reckoning in the fact make it true? Does it make it true if we believe it? No, it already exists. It's already true. Whether we believe it or not, it's true. So all this grace and everything you want to pour out and all these things that are true about you, even though you may not believe it or understand it or reckon it, does that negate it? No, it's still true.

Okay? All right. Question seven, motoring along. When God says we're to obey him, what does that mean? By faith. By faith. By faith, not by sight. That's what I was thinking about when you guys were talking about like how can you accept that it's like truth? All of Hebrews 11, that's what the ancients were condemned for, they had a lack of faith. Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and hope in the biblical term is not like, oh I hope today it won't rain. No, hope is in the knowledge of truth. It's a sure thing. Yeah, so it's like faith in everything that we hope for, everything that Christ has given us that is true of us, everything that we should ever hope for because it's already been established there for us, and so just having faith in that.

And that's just in the last question. You believe it and say thank you. It's true of you. And whether you believe it or reckon it or do whatever, it doesn't change the fact that what's true about you in Christ. It's just the rest that you have And the blessings being poured out upon you in this operating system of grace is just you believe it and understand it. Rest in that fact. There's nothing in the world that's going to give you that.

One of the things, yeah, obedient souls do this and enter the path of deliverance and experience. Doubting souls fall back on their feelings and turn back to prayers and struggles, avoiding faith. You know, if we go back to our feelings, you know, I'm not really feeling really good, I'm a nasty person.

That's not true. That's right, it's not true of you and Christ. It's believing what's true of you and Christ. When you start doubting, the first John 1-9 confession, that's just agreeing that I'm not acting how God says I am in Christ. That's all that first John confessing is. I'm not acting who I am in Christ.

But what more do you need to do to feel worthy to be a son of God, Abba Father, the intimacy, the one I love? What more do you have to do to get to that point where I can say, Daddy, Abba Father, what more do you need to do to get to that position? It's all already been done. That's the point. All these things that we, you know, these 33 things and all that, it's true of you now. There is nothing more. And if you say there's something more, that means Christ wasn't good enough. His payment wasn't good enough. You need to add a little bit. It's a hundred percent. It's more than a hundred percent. It's two hundred percent. It's a gazillion percent. You know, it's everything. So when you don't feel worthy, who's that telling you you're not feeling worthy? It's the old man. Going, oh man, look, look, it's you. Look, it's you. Well, no, I'm not looking. That's the old man.

I'm looking in Christ and who I am in Christ. My answer to Seventh was, when God says we are to obey Him, what does He mean? Love Him, lean on Him, realize that to obey is not a punishment, but a way to a happy life, free from fear and hope for eternity. That's what I wrote down. I like that. The biggest thing is that it's not out of cause and effect, the law. It's because we love Him. You're drawn, your heart is drawn to the object you love. And if you love the Lord, you're drawn to him. You know, if you have someone or an object you love, you want to be with that object. And that's where you're drawn to him.

And I think it's, you know, the obedience comes from, I want to, because that's who I am. That's, you know, John 17, the union, all this stuff, I want, that's, I'm drawn. The obedience is out of who I am in Christ and what I want to do. I want this relationship. So it's not a compulsive. It's not an order. It's not a command that says, if you do this, you're going to get slapped or not. You know, it's not that in any way, shape or form.

So, um, eight, based on the command in verse 11, what would you say is the very essence of a holy walk? Look at Galatians 5, 16. And then we'll look at 24 and 25. I'll read it. Galatians 5, 16. But I say, walk by the Spirit, or you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. And Galatians 5, 24 through 25. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. So what is the essence of a holy walk? Logging in the spirit. And what is the... Based on verse 11?

Not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. And why do you do that? Why do you not obey the lust of the flesh? Because we're dead to the flesh. Dead unto it. Unto it. That's why, again, the verse is, reckon yourself dead unto it and what? Alive unto God. So, the holy walk is basically believing that we have been separated, crucified. To reckon ourselves dead to sin while conscious of sin in our members is faith indeed, and is walking according to God's word instead of our feelings. Again, our feelings. I'm not worthy. No. Who are we in Christ? What transpired on the cross? What transpired? The crucifixion of the old man. The co-crucifixion. Okay? Questions? Alright. Verse 9. Question 9.

In verse 12 we are commanded not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies. Why? I'll read verse 12 and 13. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lust, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

So does this verse tell us about one or two natures in a believer? Does it say one or two? Two. Again, if somebody tells you, you know, there's only one nature, you're now a believer and there's only one nature in you, how do you get through these verses and say that, no, there's not, well, let sin reign in your mortal body. Huh. So where'd that come from? If you don't have two natures. Okay. This command would not be necessary if we didn't have two natures.

Also, in the Greek it's very emphatic, be not at all allowing sin to reign. There are five points regarding this verse. It is in our current unredeemed mortal body, so that's where sin reigns, is in our unredeemed mortal body. This thing's sitting here. Sin is present in our members and ready to reign. It is through the lust or desire of the body that sin is ready to assume control. The believer is directed to reject this reigning of sin, which would involve our obeying the desires of the body.

And then this is all based on the therefore, which means in light of the fact of Romans 6, 1 through 10, we have died unto sin. So there's a lot in this that the present verse of exhortation are built wholly upon the fact that we died with Christ. We reckon ourselves dead because we participated in Christ's death. Therefore, we dare refuse sin's dominion. We owe sin nothing. We're dead to it, justified from it, and living in another sphere.

So, again, if we remember the passage we just looked at in Galatians, Galatians 5.16, but I say walk by the Spirit and what? You will not carry out the desire of the flesh. And then 5.24, now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

So, we're not to let it reign in our bodies, why? because at once, it's like, so I have like this mental image when I was like, stuck with like, whoa, why do we fight this in nature so much? It's because like, for those who like sports, nature is on the basketball court, like ready to play one on one with you. As like, like against like the new creation, but it's just kind of like if you're resting in Christ, like Christ has already been done in a way with this in nature. So When it's beckoning you on to the court, going on to the court and trying to play one-on-one with it, you're always going to lose.

Interesting. A couple of thoughts I have here. One is that the sin nature is invisible. and it has desires and it can carry out its desires only through the body. So the issue becomes responding or not responding to the dictates of the sin nature and when you do respond to it, it carries out its sinful behavior in the body.

What about when it says, I don't remember where in the Bible, that even if you kind of think on it a lot, That's in James, I think, James 1. Like maybe you didn't even act on it, but you just think about it a lot. And it lays the progression out. And I forget, it's like the thought and lust and the seed and then it progresses in James 1. So eventually, yeah. And you're thinking about it. It's interesting here that the formula here is verses 1 through 10 to know. 11 is to believe and reckon, and then 13 and 14 is to present, and that's the formula.

And so what happens is, in James, is that here comes the temptation, and I present my members to the temptation, and so therefore sin is conceived. So I've used my mind, which is part of my body, to sin. You don't have to. And that's the whole thing of these verses is you don't have to. We have been crucified. We are to what? Reckon ourselves what? Dead unto it. You don't need to respond.

Denise, one of the ones we've used a lot is, another analogy is the sea captain. You're on a ship and the captain has been taken out of control, mutiny or whatever, that he has been taken out of control. And a new captain. But the judgment would happen for the captain until he gets to the shore. So he's still there. You strap him to the mast of the ship or whatever. He's strapped there. He's still alive. He's still screaming commands out to all the people on the ship. You don't have to respond to him. There's a new captain. But he's my old captain. Boy, I've sailed with him for years, and he wants me to go do that. Boy, I've done it for 50 years, and now I have a new captain? It used to get this new guy.

So it's kind of that saying, you don't have to. He's been removed, but he's still alive and kicking and shouting commands. You don't have to listen to him anymore. We have been separated from him. We're dead unto him. So when you have those things, and this is again the spiritual growth, as you grow, you understand, I think you begin to understand, and again, this is the foundational point about the two natures, and we have been separated, crucified, separated from it. We don't have to listen to him.

And as you grow, you begin to understand that. You see more of who the old man is. I think the growth process is a lot of identifying who the old man is. As you grow, you understand, no, that's the old man. And then you're focusing and growing who you are in Christ. And this diminishes. But then there's really strong temporary reward from listening to the old captain.

Like anger, like if you blow up, you're like, oh. You feel better. Yeah. Or whatever it is that you get into, it's like. I'll remember this when you're yelling at me. I'm getting reward. I am. So you do, you're kind of fighting against your old temporary reward that you get from it. But we've talked about this before.

You understand that and you know when I think a few weeks ago or something we were talking about this Russ when you know the guy cut you off and you want to you know you realize as you're growing in Christ you realize that's not who you are. And as you become conformed to his image, as you grow in the grace and the knowledge of him, you know that's not his response, or that you get angry and you're screaming at somebody. You begin to understand, that's not who I am. As you begin conforming to the image, that growth in the knowledge of who, him, that focusing on him, you begin to understand, that's not who I am. Which is different from saying, I'm not going to blow up in traffic. I'm not going to blow up in traffic.

Because what are you going to do in that instance? You're going to keep blowing up. You're going to keep blowing up. Again, the struggles and the feelings and all that, it's knowledge of who you are in Christ. That's how the ship gets changed. The will and reckoning is part of the will but the real issue here is when you're not going to let sin reign in your body it comes down to who's going to control you. Who's going to do it and you're the one that gets to decide. So you'd say the will isn't to defeat sin but the will is to reckon that it's already been taken care of. It's either the resurrected life of Christ or the sin of nature.

Are we in question 10 now? 10? Yes. I'll get that and we'll finish. Now if I'm dead to sin, how can it still reign? That's exactly what you're talking about. Because I can let it reign. Because we try to defeat it ourselves then. Perfect. Because we let it. And can you defeat it? Not at all.

Yeah, as I bring that up a lot of times, when you look at the qualification for being a husband, you can try and you can do and you can think, you can do all that in and of yourself. It ain't going to happen. It's only through the Spirit working through you that you can accomplish what the criteria for a husband is. A friend in one that has a question that he's a little shy to ask. Am I really that threatening? I'll sip my coffee here and be nice. Where is the scripture where Paul says, what I would do, I don't do, and then he says, who is going to help me? Isn't there a scripture?

Yeah, it's the whole next chapter, Romans 7. And that's exactly all of Romans 7. And it's Paul, exactly, that's the perfect, you know, chapter after this is, you know, here's how I would reckon yourselves dead. Well, then Paul goes in the great exhortation about here I try the members that, you know, I want to do good, but the members of my body, meh, they want to go the other way. They're always, you know, always try, I try and I do this, I try this, I try that, I do this, all that.

But what does the end of Romans 7 say? Who can deliver me from this body of sin? What is it? Thanks be to Christ. That's the key. All this stuff you try to do in yourself is useless. Even Paul, this great man of scripture, gives us a great demonstration of trying to do it in and of yourself. In the end, he throws up his hands and says, it's Christ. That's who delivers me, in Christ.

And then you get into Romans 8.1, well, therefore there is now condemnation for those who, there is no condemnation. I'm looking at the clock actually, I'm trying to get through it. And 2?

Romans 8.2 says, for the principle of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which is the new man in Christ, has set me free from the old principle of sin and death, it's the old man.

And that's Aristotle's answer, I'm done, I'm free. So did that answer your question? Yes, thank you. See, he even struggled with it, but what he came back to, the fact was, he's in Christ. That's the key. And he says, thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. All this struggle you have in yourself, trying to do it yourself, just rest in who you are in Christ.

You're placed in the hymn. Okay? Quickly. Verse 11. What does verse 12 say about our bodies? Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies that you may obey its lust. I think we answered that. Does everybody get that? So it would be body and brain. Body and mind.

Our present body is mortal, and that it's subject to physical death. We're waiting for the redemption of the body at Christ's coming. It is when natural desires are yielded to in self-will or self-indulgence that sin uses the desires of the body to ascertain sin's power and establish its reign. The believer is directed to reject this reigning of sin, which would involve our obeying the desires of the body.

Again, it's the James 1. the sinful nature uses the body to accomplish its purposes. In verse 13, what does the word yield or present mean? And it says in verse 13, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." What does the word yield or present mean?

To do? To do? Not by will, but that it be done. You want the Greek? Yeah, I got the Greek. It means to place beside, to place at one's disposal, to make available for their use. Okay, I have, yeah. to place or set before someone, present or exhibit. The parsing of the verb in the first use, which is presenting, do not go on presenting, is the present active imperative, which means you, active, should, imperative, continually present, go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. You should not, means the active, you should not. Go on presenting. So that means you are actively involved, continually doing this, okay?

The second use of the word in present is in the second part of verse 13, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. What is that one? Do you know? Is that a little bit different in how it is used?

I'll tell you, it's in the Greek. It's aorist active tense. So what does aorist mean? In most cases. It's a fact. It's a fact. It's something done, usually in past tense, and it's a done deal. It's once. Okay? So the verse which says, but present yourself to God, Is that a continual thing? Or are you to present your... It's interesting.

Here's what Macaulay says, which I found almost contradictory. He says present here is an aorist tense. Aorist means a definite occurrence. Here we say on this occurrence we say yes. Not a once and for all presentation. Hmm. Interesting. That's a different one. So it's just in relationship to when we present our body to this occur.

So we if I would have thought that Ares meant that I did it once and for all. And so we're done. I think Newell had it that way. Newell does have Newell had it that way. No. And I think somebody else I looked up had it that way, too. So with there, I think you can take the time element out of it.

Right, exactly. That's why I say generally it's a past tense, but it doesn't have to be. But it's a fact. So to present yourself. But it's not the continual. I guess the thing is, the first is don't go on continually presenting yourself. But the second part is present yourself. It's a fact. Present. Fact. OK. All right.

One thing I was going to do, which asked Mike was OK. I was reading this the other day in that spiritual analogy or anthology that Miles put together. And there was a great piece that he put together. It's too long to read, but I highly encourage you to read it and throw it in your notebook. It's a few foundational facts. And there are just some really good things in here.

Blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash away my old man. It needs the cross to crucify me. The blood deals with the sin, but the cross must deal with the sinner. And then, I need forgiveness for what I have done, but I also need deliverance from what I am. And then another one, the blood procures our pardon from what we have done. The cross procures our deliverance from what we are. So is that when it makes blood sacrifices over and over again?

Well, that was just a covering. Blood took care of the sins, the payment, and the guilt. But, as Mike said, if that's all that was done, could we stand in the presence of God? Because what? What are we still? Center. you needed the cross to take care of the sinner part.

That's why I say it lays out a bunch of these good things here. So, let's close and I'll hand these out. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time. Father, we thank you just for your word. We thank you for just what we have in Christ. I just love all the references of in Christ. How many times we are reminded of what we have in Christ and what that means.

And Father, we are to reckon that. Believe it. Believe it true. Reckon upon the known facts, the true facts. of what is true about us now in Christ. So Father, we thank you again for your Word. We thank you for the Spirit who indwells us and convinces us of these facts. Father, we just thank you and we just pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.