Freed from Sin [Part 1]

Alan White, pastor, Bible teacher and author of his latest book, the power to bless where like a little murder, and the more scared we are God, we just fly away from it whatever you're scared you get away from God came in the person of Jesus Christ, not to condemn but to say and is the kindness of God leads us to just good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. By being excited for you to hear the teaching today. In the series belonging to God as presented at renewal the church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright histories as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today's special offer.

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More on that later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright in Christ Scripture plainly tells us. You are free from sin. Sin will have no longer have dominion over you, you are not slaves you are not stuck. You don't have to continue the same patterns set everything in your life can change you are free from sin. Okay, I want you to Romans chapter 6 and that we look at verse five and read it up 19 and today as we are nearing the end of our series, we call belonging because it's about holiness and holiness means we set apart to God and to be set apart means to belong to hands that's an apt image of you and our Savior holiness. It is not so much about things you do, but it's about about being set apart to God and today were going to sort of let this grow to a crescendo where we have having seen that we are not called sinners, but were called saints. As Christians, and that we have been washed, sanctified, something that Jesus has done on our behalf that we have been made into the temple of the Holy Spirit called priests of the most high God and we are his holy vessels. The gospel were doing.

You are as a Christian there, God's holy vessel so you belong to God, and that means, therefore, that you are your holy and were going to pick up today with something that such extraordinary news that we are free from sin, to say up front doors, windows, stirring this in my heart all week is simple as it may sound, I think this is a tremendous word for somebody. Maybe many of us just to hear the Lord saying you don't have to sin is a radical thought, but I think that as I show you today that sometimes the way that you begin to move out certain patterns in your life is just realize that the bondage that you believe that you're in is something that Jesus came to set you free from, and therefore you have a liberty I Romans chapter 6 and verse five for if we have been united with him in a death like he, as we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of San might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin, to be the primary image. In Romans six is that this movement from one kingdom to the other of being apart from God and then being with God. This movement is characterized here. OS X is moving from being like a slave to sin where there is nothing you could do to escape it to one who has been set free from that and slaves in 4741 who has died has been set free from sin, and will see that what Paul is describing is that because Christ died for us. And when you accept Christ you are, and grafted into him and therefore you share in the benefit of his death so his death was a death that was dealing a victorious blow to the dominance of sin and Satan in the world and you sense figuratively, mystically or with Christ in his death you died to sin.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe we shall also live with him. Verse nine, we know that Christ being raised from the dead, never die again death no longer has dominion over him. So you see Jesus died a real human death, but because of the resurrection.

We recognize that death didn't have dominion over him through his dying he defeated death, and so Jesus became our sin. And yet, through the resurrection proves that sin didn't have dominion over him, and these are for the Christian. These are true statements for your life as well. Verse 10 for the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God, so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

How far of a departure is this from the way many Christians talk about their lives additional center just passes who I am, that's just the way I am and what Paul is saying here is that know you if you embrace the gospel. You need to learn to say I am dead to sin is not saying that you don't still fall into sin still will in this world who still sent but I'm dead to sin and doesn't have hold over me. It's a dozen I don't draw many life from it. I am dead to sin. Christians can you say that I am dead to sin, very proud of you. I was well said verse 12.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness. What is saying is, a slave comes and presents him or herself to the master, the one who owns and controls.

But if one is not your master that you don't present yourself to that but present yourself to God as those who have been brought from death to life in your members to God as instruments for righteousness percent will have no dominion over you since you're not under law but under grace. Sin will have no dominion over you. Verse 15 what then are we to sin, because were not under law but under grace.

By no means do you know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves or slaves of the one whom you obey either of sin, which was a death, or of obedience was leased to righteousness. But thanks be to God that you want slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart from the heart to say, not from the willpower. But from the heart. There's been a change of nature will learn about from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you are committed and having been set free from sin, free from sin.

I'm free from sin. I'm so proud of you Sadie and I am free from sin. Powerful thing to say, have become slaves of righteousness I'm speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations.

For just as you once presented your members as slaves. Impurity and lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness. So now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. While couple weeks ago I was rushing off to church. Actually, to preach for video capture and I was getting my clothes changed and I heard a sound in the bedroom well something sounded strange. It was obviously something moving around in the bedroom. Nobody was home with me and I thought in the is it. Then I looked and there was a word in the bedroom never had a bird in the house it is. It is terrible situation and I saw this bird cute little brown ran flat around the bedroom and how am I will get this bird out here we got all these windows are lots of light coming in on the backside with their well screened from the outside. You have to get a ladder rather than have to get up, get screens off so I couldn't open the windows and birds try to fly into the windows.

What I want to go outside the exit of the one way out of the bedroom, which is into little hallway is kinda darker than everything else will bird it will fly down this'll dark area and so I tried that time age tested and proven futile attempt of getting the broom out and trying to waive it in error and kinda coerce them to fly. Will the more that I got the broom the more crazy he went and he's flying all over the place and then he wise and he realized instead of trying to fly away for me just hide from me. So he go and he would get under the bed and had for a long period of time and I get real quiet and then he hopped out for the bed look at the joint back and to say the worst thing of all was. I finally just had to leave I was running late to preach and I had to give, and I decided only losers lock them in the bedroom because if you come out of the bedroom by some fluke while I was away. I have no idea where he was in the house is at least I know is in the bedroom and I know that is a messy situation to leave a wild bird in your bedroom for hours while you're away. And the worst thing of all was. I knew that I needed to call my wife and tell her. In the event she got home before hi baby, there's a bird in the Mediterranean salad right will have more teaching moment from today's important series mountain for 99 days in a row. Someone tells you, I love you I'll never forsake when you feel cherished. The what would happen if I'm hungry today that same person side rushing a good enough for me to measure about the Colletti anymore. When that one day contaminate the meaning of the other 99 days when 1% of conditional love poison.

The other 99% which is 1% of lies enough to spoil grace instead of locking introducing unlimited capacity for fear that if I don't measure up. When my heavy rejected when the Judaizers infiltrated the Galatian church a pass somehow was outraged and read a letter that describes the essence of the gospel of grace and why it must not be mixed with any form of Alan Wrights 12 message ID series trumpets the power of the gospel in order to set you free, and empower you with pure grace. It's called Galatians and asked the gospel discover the purity and power the grace of God. When you make your gift to Alan Wright ministry said I will send you pastor islands messages in an attractive see with your digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership today is the final day were offering the special product. Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor at Gatwick today's teaching now continues here once again is Alan writing baby there's a bird and the veteran and so after I could get away from church.

I said, as of honey you go by the hardware certificate was big like a fishing net or something. When swooping down that I'll keep trying to get the bird now and see you as a hardware store I go home try to get the bird out seek off said they don't have such a net so I'm Toronto sheet on it right now and she said you got to get that bird out of there and then I said, honey. I've been trying this time I got for an hour. Try to get this bird out here and bird will go out bird will not go out and I finally said I honey I I know is God's preacher.

I love it. We can't just have this bird in here forever is that I may I may have to get the tennis racket. She said you will not you will not maybe you know God will preacher sat there and I this you do because the more that I tried to make bird leave the more that bird learn to hide from me and the more I wave my arms and said you're doing it all wrong. The more scared that bird became, the less obedient he became to me and this is the nature of sin. So many people think that the way that you're going to stay the way you're going to finally improve the way your finally going to overcome all your besetting sins and addictions and problems. You just need somebody with a broom or unnatural. Some scarier than what you had this finally jolt you into being afraid and destruction that you're going to finally just find your way out. But the fact of the matter is that is not any of its ever improves the fact of the matter is that like a little bird in the more scared we are of God, the more we just fly away from it whatever you're scared of you get away from God came in the person of Jesus Christ, not to condemn but to say and it's the kindness of God leads us to repentance. How are you going to change. It is by the power of grace and so Paul said in Romans chapter 6 capacity to overcome sin with coming out from under the fleshly attempts to keep the law and instead embracing our new nature in the new covenant by the grace of God I want to talk today about what it means to be free from sin. Some years ago there was a couple came to meet with me. They had.

They were moving their membership from another church and they wanted to do so in a healthy way and they wanted to spoken with her passionately want to speak to me and say here's why were coming and I said would tell me about and they said well we would we would leave church week after week said it is still held heavy and and discouraged and I would just need the message of grace and I said will I don't understand. I said what I know of your church and I and and I know that – I thought that you all had a message of grace, and in fact nothing. Grace is in the church motto is, and the woman said somehow never forget. She said yes. There's talk of grace, but it's always and only the talk of the grace that can forgive our wretched sin, but is never talk of the grace that overcomes it. The Westminster larger catechism is a foundational document and the reformed tradition and question number 77 is beautiful. The question is what is the difference between justification and signification. Here's the answer. Although sanctification is inseparably joined to justification. The two are distinctly different in justification God imputes the righteousness of Christ to believers in sanctification is spirit infuses believers with grace and enables them to use it in the former justification sin as part and in the latter sanctification. Sin is subdued.

I want to talk to about the subduing of sin because we have been set free from it in the name and the power of the Lord Jesus Augustine, one of most important Christian thinkers in the history of the world was born in 354 A.D. two. A strong Christian mother but a dad who was somewhat distant, less than ideal relationship with his father's father didn't didn't administrate discipline in his life and so Augustine is a young man begin to live a rather licentious life.

He went to Carthage where he was going to be head of the school of rhetoric and while there he took up with a mistress, a pattern that would develop in his life. In fact, Augustine by his own admission in his confessions later said that this loss was one of his biggest struggles, he said, but I could not distinguish the clear light of true love for the Merc of lust and one day Augustine was in a gardener and he always struggles in his life and he really was something to begin to wrestle him inside of him. He didn't want to be that way that he was, and while he was in these wrestling these inward wrestling. He said quote I heard the voice of a boy or girl I know not which coming from a neighboring house changing and often repeating take up and read take up and read. I grasped the Bible open and in silence. Read the paragraph on which my eyes first felt not in rioting and drunkenness on chambering wantonness on the strife and ending but put ye on the Lord Jesus. And make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lust thereof, as we said no further. What I read, nor did I need for instantly as the sentence ended by a light as it were of security in my heart all the gloom of doubt vanished away. So what happened, Augustine was born again. The Bible says you your you are regenerated as the theological term.

Your you find yourself suddenly have been disconnected to God. Now here restored to fellowship with God. He became a Christian and he realized because he had such a dramatic conversion that happen so supernaturally and so many people is more gradual than that with some people is really sudden and he realize he went from having one kind or nature to another, and so much of the sent holder life was was broken away and because of this Augustine was absolutely convinced that what God does for us as Christians, as he gives us a new nature and part of this was defined in a theological conflict that he had with another famous theologian in his era, and in the mid 300s mean Pelagius I'm just a little bit of theology with you here and it will come back to the tax okay but just stick with me, but it is really really important. Pelagius believed contrary to Orthodox Christian faith. He believed that we are not born and what theologians call Original Sin.

They were not born in a condition of sin that we don't have an nature of sin.

Pelagius argued that every person that is born into the world is comes into the world in the same condition that Adam and Eve were before they sent that is that they could easily not sin or they could could sand, but they just have the choice, but what the Bible says is it we were born in sin.

The Bible says that we have a problem in that Adam sand and all of us descending from Adam were all in Adam will Pelagius, and Augustine had his ongoing debate and was ruled by church councils. The Pelagius was an error and Augustine asserted what became very helpful and Orthodox Christian belief and what he taught about as part of the foundation of his teaching about our nature was Augustine made this very clear that we we we have kind of different stages of our nature, depending on our orientation to send given where we are in and in our lives. So, before there was sin in the world when Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden. They were able to sin, but they were also able to not sin, but as soon as sin entered the world. Now sin has become a condition of humanity and they pass along their sand and everybody's been born in Adam and Eve sentence. So after the fall post fall, people are able to sin and not able not to sin is a condition apart from Christ. It doesn't mean that a person that's apart from Christ to everything he or she does is sin, but it means it you are in a position where being separated or the Bible says, dead to dead to God in the sin, spiritually, spiritually dead, that it is your is your nature that this is what a person apart from Christ as is were selfish and all the sins that flow from that. But when you become a Christian, regenerated the Christian Bible says born anew right through your made alive that regenerated person. Now you're in position like Adam and Eve were aware you are able to send that you're able not to set that's where we miss is why Paul says you're free from sin doesn't mean that you're not still sin means you nicely to send where is apart from Christ are slaves in its at your nature but you now have a new nature. Whether your brand-new Christian I was even walking with the Lord forever. This is true you have a new nature: right unpacking important principle.

Today, free from sin and it's our teaching in the series belonging to God, and Al is back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life in a final word Martin for 99 days in a row.

Someone tells you, I love you I'll never forsake when you feel cherished. The what would happen if I'm hundred that same person. Sad that showing a good enough any measure on the Colletti anymore.

When that one day contaminate the meaning of the other 90 days when 1% of conditional love poison. The other 99% will just 1% of lies enough to spoil grace instead of locking introducing unlimited capacity for fear if I don't measure up. When my heavy rejected when the Judaizers infiltrated the Galatian church a possible power was outraged and read a letter that describes the essence of the gospel of Christ and why it must not be mixed with any form of Alan Wright's 12 message ID series trumpets the power of the gospel in order to set you free empower you with pure grace.

It's called Galatians and asked the gospel discover the purity and power the grace of God. When you make your get to Alan Wright ministry said I will send you Pastor Alan's messages in an attractive CDR pump with your digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Today is the final day were offering special product. Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor out and got work on the limb and say I think this is where a lot of times we can get like Christian language, almost embedded in a sense, it might muddy the water. Some I know when I came to knowledge of grace I was still struggling with all these catchphrases free from sin, shackles, and I am that I am a slave to Christ and hundred Russell was all this really mean I love today's teaching well to say, free from sin doesn't mean we never said that. It means that we are not a slave to sin and is a very powerful thing to consider that you no longer have to be under the dominion of sin and if it could be praying for a listener today that you're just thinking of the sum maybe is a besetting sin in your life. Or maybe there to some pattern and uses that will this dissuade is I'm just not but no that's that's that's the voice of the accuser would say that God says in Christ, you're free. And of course there's a lot the walking that out, but were going to see today what it means to be free from sin. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan White ministries