Rescued From Habitual Sin Part 1

Rain forests looking to fund her conversion new believer is set free is old slave master is no longer obligated to commit the sins committed before breaking free from old patterns involves a process called reckoning oneself unto sin, but alive unto God today. This is all about the Moody Church in Chicago. This is running to with Dr. Erwin Sir, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line.

Master looks or if a believer sins after salvation isn't he or she right back where they were. Dave I'm so glad that the answer to your question is no. In terms of their experience.

They might be somewhere near they used to be. But the good news is that their position in Jesus Christ is unchanged once we are in Christ, we are in Christ for ever taken to heaven.

Of course, because of his righteousness. Let me put it this way. If a child of mine sins, that doesn't mean that they are disinherited. Once they are adopted and by the way, I do not have adopted children, but others do.

Once a child is adopted. That child is a member of the family thanks to the gospel. Once we believe on Christ. We are permanent member of the family. I believe that this series of messages can be a tremendous help to people. It's entitled rescued what God did to save us, and for a gift of any amount. It can be yours. Go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com that's all one word or if you prefer you can call us at 1-888-218-9337 along with a series of messages comes a study guide and this is the second to last day that we are making this offer to help you in your Christian walk.

But now let's open our Bibles. Let's find out in a better way.

All that God did to rescue us from ourselves and from our sins. Let me begin today with a question. How are you doing in your battle with sin to have some wins this past week did you have some losses. Why did you have those losses. Have you taken time to analyze and when I talk to you about our battle with sin. I'm not only thinking of the biggies, such as murder and adultery, and extortion and perhaps the deceit on a huge level.

Maybe drug addictions, alcohol addictions, we all know that there are some people who perhaps are listening to this message who have done one or several of the sins that I just listed. I'm also talking about some of the more respectable sins such as anger, to what extent did anger get in your way of relationships this past week. What about an you envy the wicked do you envy the rich are you angry with your lot in life where those kinds of issues.

What about the issue of lust in the Sunday evening service. A man came to me last week and said you know my wife is left me.

I'm alone. He said the assaults on my mind and the temptation to go to that computer trees that are very strong yesterday. I was with my prayer partners send in the discussion. The confession of the fact that our minds are being assaulted today bisexuality on every hand and that people are losing those battles and not just the man are losing the battle. Where do we go from here. You know, we are creatures of habit and we develop habits of sin and that we tell ourselves all kinds of lies about how we aren't addicted are we don't have a real big. I was thinking about the words of Mark Twain you member said of course I can stop smoking. I've done it at least a thousand times. He stopped for maybe an hour at a time. He couldn't stop whenever he wants to deal Moody said that when he was converted he expected that now his battle with sin would be over and he said I discovered that I was actually enlisting myself as this in a new war.

The assaults of sin were that strong.

This message addresses those issues, but if you're here today and you are simply investigating Christianity or you are listening to this message because somebody wanted you to and you would rather maybe not but here you are.

Or maybe you're listening. By way of Internet radio. Whatever other means. Would you hang in would you listen because even though this message is primarily directed toward us as believers in Christ, it has implications for all and by the end of the message I want to include you in it and give you an opportunity to put your faith and trust in a Redeemer who actually does deliver people from their sin. So that's where were going. Thanks for joining me on the journey.

Let me begin with another question and that is during the Easter season. We often sing the song which I happen to like. I like a lot of songs and I like the song. Were you there when they crucified my Lord. So I ask you today. Were you there. I remember as a boy, listening to the song and thinking to myself, that's kinda silly actually know I wasn't there 2000 years ago Jesus was crucified. I'm sure that I wasn't there but then as I began to study the Bible, I discovered that yes I was there in the sense that Jesus died for me and so my sins were laid on him in that sense I was there when my Lord is a five and then we take our Bibles and I invite you to do so and we open them up to the sixth chapter of the book of Romans Romans chapter 6 very critical passage of Scripture and we discover something else that is not just that we were there because Jesus died for us, but furthermore God identified us with Jesus and when he died on that cross.

There's a sense in which we died.

Look at the text. For example, in chapter 6 of Romans verse five for if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin for one who has died has been set free from sin. So God put us into Jesus so that Jesus Christ history becomes our history and that there's another way in which then we were there when they crucified our Lord so to put it rather clearly Jesus Christ. I for me sets me free from the penalty of sin, and I die with Jesus Christ and that sets me free from the power of sin.

That's why when we sing rock of ages, cleft for me, be of sin the double cure save me from its guilt yes and its power on the cross. There is a double cure for sinners like us know what the apostle Paul does is he goes through a series of steps and he begins with the first step, which is called knowing. For example in them even back in verse three.

Do you not know that all of us have been baptized into Christ.

Verse five.

Do you not know actually verse six that our old self was crucified with him.

There's something that you have to know and that is that when Jesus died, if you're a believer you died there to sell Pastor Luther, I sure don't feel very dad and if you had seen my secret life this past week, you would know that I'm not dead I'm not dead to sin. Now Paul does say that sin is dead will explain this last week, but he says that we are dead to it and so you say I don't yield dead like this. You're leaving somebody to faith in Jesus Christ. You want them to believe the gospel and then they say well you know I don't feel that Jesus died I just don't feel that he died on the cross is at all you know, spare me you don't feel that he died.

It's irrelevant to how you feel. The fact is that he died or somebody else says them. I digested I'm gonna pray that Jesus would die for me and you say, why don't get that at all.

Don't you get it that it all ready happen and that no matter how you feel about it and no matter how you as a believer feel about it.

It is as silly to pray that Jesus would die for you as it would be for you to pray that he would crucify you when he died equally foolish because when Jesus died.

The Bible says you did to the power and the obligation you and I have to sin is. That's what happened when Jesus died on the cross.

Now Paul says in Romans chapter 5 that we were in Adam having to obey all of Adam's dictates and sends. Now we are in Jesus Christ whole new obligations and we have no obligation to serve sin. He's talking about the reigning power of sin in our lives choices.

First of all, you have to get that Jeff faith to get that that God made provision on the cross for sin's power in your life to be totally broken or more accurately actually broke it on the cross and then the next step. Paul says is reckoned as I mentioned last time, I prefer the word reckoned to the word consider though they mean the same thing in verse 11, so you must consider yourselves to be dead to sin and alive unto God.

Consider this true. I pointed out that reckoning doesn't make anything true. If you have $1000 in the bank and it's actually there.

Then you can reckoned by writing out a check based on that amount of money you can reckoned it to be true but you know it could be true, even without you never reckoning.

It you never use the money. It's true that you have $1000 but you never reckon it to be true. In that sense it's of no value to you, but on the other hand, you can't create a situation in which you say I am going to reckon it to be true and that'll make it true. Like the wife who said to her husband. Of course we still have money in the bank.

Look at all of the unused checks in our check book. You can create money by reckoning it to be true, but you can reckoned something that is indeed true. Maybe this illustration will help many years ago in the lobby of Moody Church after service. A woman met me and said you know I'm living with a guy and were not married, and she says I know this is sin, and I want to get out of this relation, but there's no way that he's willing to separate from me and I said well I said what you need to do is just move out. Take your stuff and move out. She said it isn't that simple. I own the apartment. All right I see now that it isn't quite that simple. But I said don't you understand that your obligations to this man are over. I mean you own the apartment you are standing on Concord territory. He may be bigger than you. He may be much stronger than you, but that's not the point. Your obligation is over, you are dead to any obligation that you have toward him but he won't leave so I suggested. I don't know if this is good advice but I said, you know, I'd call the police and I'd have them, and I would take that man and take him somewhere else and help them to understand why he should never come back again with a little bit of help from the reliable Chicago police district. That's the way I take care of it then I get a restraining order against him because you have no obligation to him. See that's an example of what Jesus did for us. We are standing on Concord territory. We have no obligation to sin, but sin is going to come along and say oh yeah yada yada yada. You still have obligation to me we don't and you need to understand by faith by the ministry of the Holy Spirit based on the word that our obligation to the old man as it is sometimes spoken of is all know maybe what that woman has to do is to join a support group and maybe it could be entitled young women who want to get rid of men who don't leave them alone that might be a support group with a lot of attendees.

Yeah, I know you're laughing but the point is, it may be difficult to reckon it because of all this persistence, but the game is over. There's no obligation.

Pulses you no longer now need to let sin reign in your mortal body for it to rain. You have to let it for this man to have authority over her. She has to let him because he has no legal ground to stand on at all to come out put them out on the street, helping to understand why he shouldn't come back now, in the case of the Bible.

Here, the most powerful thing we can do is to believe, you will experience a tremendous amount of spiritual power.

If you really understand that standing on the conquered territory of Jesus, you have no obligation to sin your passions tell you yes you do. Yes you do and you saying no, I don't not because you're saying that makes it true.

But because it is true. Jesus broke its power pulses. This is his first of all, you have to know it, then you have to reckon it. And then he says present yourself to God. That's in verse 13 he said on till now you have been presenting yourself to unrighteousness. Verse 13 he says, verse 12.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies to make you obey its passions.

You have to let it do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those of been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness, and will not have dominion over you because you're not under law, you're under grace and grace abounds and has broken the power of sin choices present. The imagery here is that of worship.

Present your bodies Paul says in chapter 12. A living sacrifice.

It means that I now present myself to God why.

First of all because I value God.

I value God in our prayer group yesterday were talking about how wonderful it would be if our passion for God were greater than our passion to sin. And when you and I present ourselves to God what we are saying is God you mean more to me than my sin does. I believe that you are of more value and by the way this this passion that we developed for God isn't something that comes to us by osmosis. While were asleep.

It comes because were reading the word were meeting with the people of God. We are in the fellowship with God's people, and with him and our love for God grows and grows and grows until we become passionate lovers of God. That's part of what happens when we present ourselves to God, but also it means not only that we value God.

It also means that God owns us.

God owns this. After all, we been purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ. The precious blood of Jesus. Therefore we are owned by God aren't weight were very much owned by God. We are his privileged possession. The Scripture says, so that means I yield myself to God. I yield my eyes to God. My say, God, these eyes are yours. Help me to turn away from evil and Jesus said if your I/O offends you pluck it out and cast it from you what he saying is do whatever you need to do so you don't keep going back into the same sin running cut off your cable-television if you have to do whatever you have to do because the temptations are great. There's no obligation but the old man comes knocking, and so what you do is you present your eyes to God. You present your ears to God. You present your hands to God. Your feet to God wherever they take you and you say, totally. As far as I am concerned I am an offering to God I the pastor friend who said when he was trying to get this across. He actually had one of the ushers bring up an offering plate and he stood in at well I try that, but in our baskets.

I don't think they are quite strong enough to be able to hold that, but that would get the point across. What you do then is you yield to God and then what you begin to serve.

Now if you look at your Bibles as I hope you are doing. You'll notice in verse 15 and following Paul gives a contrast between being a slave of righteousness and a slave to sin.

He uses the expression, the slavery of sin at least five times depending on how you count them, maybe six and he uses the same expression as being slaves to righteousness, and all the way through.

From 15 to the end. That's what he's doing his contrasting what then are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace. By no means do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves your slaves to the one whom you obey either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience which leads to righteousness basis. But thanks be to God.

You are one slaves to sin, but now your obedient from the heart.

And of course Paul's point is simply this, that when we are slaves to righteousness. It isn't really slavery as we generally think of the term it means. Finally, we are able to live the way in which God intended us to live as redeemed people. We don't have to be bogged down by all that sin and guilt because we can live in a brand-new way doing what is righteous.

I believe that this series of messages can be a great blessing to you by the way the title is rescued. What God did to save us, and for a gift of any amount. These messages can be yours and the good news is that, along with the messages we have a personal study guide that you can use as you continue to dig deeper into this marvelous book. The book of Romans. Here's what you can do. Go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 I'm going to be giving you that contact info again but I need to tell you that this is the second to last day, we are making this resource available and we want to make these resources available to help you in your walk and as we frequently say to make it all the way to the finish line. So for a gift of any amount. Go to RTW offer.

Of course, that's all one word RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 ask for rescued what God did to save us and will put those messages and study guide in the mail right away. It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Luther question about the Bible or the Christian life.

What do you do to alleviate the pain caused by adultery you have committed an anonymous listener wants help Dr. Luther. Here is what she says I have a 30 year relationship with a man that became a sexual affair. It has now ended, and he told his wife, my sons were aware of the relationship of also been called by the wife of the man asking about the details of this long-standing relationship. What else do I have to do besides be forgiven by God or my dear sister, thank you so much for connecting with us.

I can imagine the pain that you have been through during all of these 30 years, the conscience your conscience as it so troubled you couple of comments. First of all, you say that to the man's wife called you and asked about the details. It's not your responsibility to give her the details. It is the responsibility of her husband to give her the details so I don't think it's up to you to have a phone call from her and then she begins to dig into your life to find out what happened. She has a right to know a lot of things, but let her know that through her husband. Secondly, you say that your sons knew about it. Have you genuinely gone to your sons, one by one, acknowledging your sin, asking them to forgive you.

That's absolutely essential because if you don't. If you simply put rug over the dirt so to speak. Your sons are going to be bitter against you. They are going to distrust you they will not respect you. Only repentance and genuine humility can bring about reconciliation. Next, what you need to know is that you have to apologize to anyone else who has been affected as a result of this long-standing affair, and finally to offer you some real genuine hope when David committed adultery. There was nothing that he could do to bring Uriah Bathsheba's husband back to life.

There was nothing that he could possibly do to undo the affair.

The consequences were going to continue, but isn't it interesting that in Psalm 51 he says restore to me the joy of my salvation. So my dear sister, it is possible for you to still have the joy of your salvation. Despite all the pain that is been caused, and all of the consequences which will continue in one way or another. Zero responsibility to clear your conscience so far as it can be cleared receive God's forgiveness and keep moving on as an expression and as an example of a sinner forgiven by God restored by grace. Thank you Dr. Luther for your compassionate answer if you'd like to hear your question answered. Go to our website@rtwoffer.com and click on ask Pastor Luther or call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to is running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 Jesus sets us free from the compulsion to sin, but we must be diligent to avoid situations that cause us to fall back into old behavior patterns next time a final look at overcoming sin, this is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church