Dominion Over Sin
Romans 6:9-14
“Because we know that Christ, having come back to life, is no longer liable to die. Death has no longer any power over Him. For by the death which He died He became, once and for all, dead in relation to sin; but by the life which He now lives He is alive in relation to God. In the same way you also must regard yourselves as dead in relation to sin, but as alive in relation to God, because you are in Christ Jesus. Let not Sin therefore reign as king in your mortal bodies, causing you to be in subjection to their cravings; and no longer lend your faculties as unrighteous weapons for Sin to use. On the contrary surrender your very selves to God as living men who have risen from the dead, and surrender your several faculties to God, to be used as weapons to maintain the right. For Sin shall not be lord over you, since you are subjects not of Law, but of grace.” (WNT)
It is both exciting and thrilling to know that the believers in Jesus Christ have been justified by faith. Every one of us who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ has peace with God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Also every believer has access by faith into the grace of God. We stand in a place of blessings and favor. But more than that, we have hope of a glorious future with God and we can glory in our present tribulations. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” When Paul opens chapter six of Romans, he admits that one of mankind’s most difficult challenges is sin. Paul informs us of what God has done about the sin problem. God has given us a new life in Christ Jesus. Sin’s power over our lives has been broken through the power of Christ. Our sin loving nature has been buried with Christ and we are no longer under sin’s control. God has given us a new nature; we share the very nature of Christ himself. We share the actual life of Christ. We are to “reckon” or look upon our old nature as dead to sin and our new nature alive unto God. We have been given a new life, a new nature and a new freedom. We are free to choose our own master. We can freely give ourselves completely to God. Instead of sin having dominion over us, we have dominion over sin. Today’s message is entitled, “Dominion Over Sin.” Dominion over sin’s control is an important truth because some Christians may be tempted to use their liberty in Christ as an occasion to sin. Paul knew that some might think, “If God loves to forgive sin, then I will sin more so God can forgive more.” The Christian that takes sin lightly has no understanding of the high cost of sin nor do they value the sufferings of Christ who paid the sin debt. If Christ has set us free, how dare we allow sin to reign in our lives anymore? Read the words of our text again in Romans 6:14,
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
Paul reminds us that sin shall not have dominion over the believer. He does not say that sin cannot have dominion for some believers may allow sin to have free course in their lives. Sin will reign in the life of the believer if it is permitted to. The believer’s choice makes all the difference in the world. The believer chooses his own master and yields himself to the lordship of Christ or the lordship of Satan. Since we have accepted the lordship of Christ, we have dominion over sin and sin’s power is broken. When the believer chooses to allow sin to reign, his lifestyle does not match his confession. How can we convince the world of the power of our Christ and the liberty He brings, if we allow sin to reign in our lives? Paul assures us that we have the power of Christ reigning in our lives. Christ won the victory at Calvary and gave it unto us. We can be sure and certain that sin’s power is broken because Christ’s victory was complete. Every believer must realize that sin’s power is broken and we are free.
Realize Sin’s Power is Broken and We Are Free
Romans 6:6-9 “This we know--that our old self was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our sinful nature might be deprived of its power, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin; for he who has paid the penalty of death stands absolved from his sin. But, seeing that we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him; because we know that Christ, having come back to life, is no longer liable to die.” (WNT)
Our old man was crucified and buried with Christ in baptism, and the body of sin was destroyed. Sin’s dominating force in the life of the believer was destroyed. We are free from the penalty and the practice of sin. When sin reigned in our lives, we lived under its control. We were slaves to sin and we willingly obeyed its lust. We were led from darkness to darkness without any regard for the light of God. We were dead in sin and bound under its control. The moment we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life, sin’s power was broken and Christ set us free. We are free from the power and penalty of sin. The Bible states in Romans 8:1-2,
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
Since we have dominion over sin, the believer must make some new choices. The believer’s old nature was conditioned to sin. Some of the habits of the old life are difficult to break. The old sinful thoughts led to old sinful acts. The old sinful acts led to old sinful habits. The old sinful habits led to a sin infested character. The sin infested character led to a sinful lifestyle and a sin loving nature. Sin was as natural as breathing to the old man. Besides this natural tendency to sin, sin had its pleasures for a season. Now the believer has a new nature in his spirit, but an old nature in his flesh. He must choose to obey the dictates of his spirit and new nature. His choices are important. Choices are important because walking with Christ goes against the natural tendencies of his old sinful habits and lustful desires. Paul teaches us in this passage how to overcome the tendency to be controlled by sin. If we are going to overcome sin, we must do at least three things that are mentioned in this text. First of all, we are to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive unto God. Read Romans 6 verse 11 again,
Reckon Dead Unto Sin and Alive Unto God.
Romans 6:11 “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
We are reminded of Christ’s victory over death. When Christ was raised from the dead, death lost its power. The life force in Christ broke the bondage of death. The believer must consider the fact that we were crucified with Christ and buried in his likeness. Sin loses all power over a dead man. A dead man senses no longer respond to sin’s allurement. The sense of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching is gone. Although, the believer still has his physical senses, we are to reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God. We must not allow sin to have any more influence or control over us. Just as death had no power over Christ, sin shall not have power over us. We cannot overcome sin’s hold in our own strength. God made His life available to us in Christ Jesus. We are now alive unto God. When the believer obeys the command of Christ in water baptism, it is a picture of his great victory. The water of baptism completely covers the believer, his sin nature and all his old habits. He then emerges from the water tank to walk in the newness of life. We have a new power within us and are bound to live a new life for the glory of God. He has new objectives, to promote the glory of God and please Him. This is the sole objective of his new life. Experiencing this new life is only possible when we reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive unto God. Not only must we reckon ourselves dead to sin, we must also resist sin’s control. The temptations of sin are real and powerful. We must constantly resist its pull.
Resist Sin’s Control and Refuse its Temptation
Romans 6:12 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”
Sin does not lose its appeal simply because the believer is in Christ. Satan will try to use past temptations to lure the believer down the wrong path. The unholy lusts and sinful desires are not quite rooted out in this life. Even though the old man was subdued, he did not die. Sin’s power has been broken, but the old nature is not gone. Every Christian must constantly resist unholy lust and sinful desires through the divine grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. We must refuse to allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies. Paul encourages the believer to resist sin’s pull on their “mortal body.” Paul purposefully uses the word “mortal” which denotes “short lived” or “death doomed.” In other words, the struggles of life will not last too long, but in the mean times, do not allow sin to reign. The word “reign” means to have authority, rule, and control, to occupy, hold sway, or prevail over. The believer must put up a hard fight and stand their righteous ground. Paul uses the present tense in the text which carries with it the idea of a continuous attitude and behavior of control. The believer must choose to allow the Holy Spirit control their decisions. At the same time, the believer must refuse to yield to the sinful desires of the flesh. To sin or not to sin, that is the question and that is the choice. The believer should adopt a posture of continual resistance against sin with his feet firmly planted on the word of God. Jesus did this in Matthew 4:1-11,
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” (KJV)
Satan comes with his temptations to all of us. Jesus Christ was sorely tempted while he was hungry and lonely. After forty days of solitude and fasting, Satan designed the perfect temptation. Jesus overcame Satan by standing on the written word of God that was active and alive in his heart. Jesus began every defense by saying, “it is written.” Satan tempted Jesus at the bread level. The bread level is always Satan’s starting place. What are you hunger for? What are you lonely for? It is sad today to see so many Christians being held captive at the bread level. Satan uses the same language he used with Jesus, “if you are a child of God why are you going through this or that?” “If you are a child of the King, why are you suffering lack or sickness or both?” Jesus responded with the assurance that true life does not come from natural bread alone. It’s funny how willingly people run to and fro in search of natural bread, but they are not as eager for spiritual bread. Jesus said, “Man shall live by every word of God.” Finally the Bible reveals that Satan was forced to leave him. Satan will also leave us if we resist him.
We too can overcome the onslaught of Satan. Apostle James said, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” There is victory in Jesus as we completely submit ourselves to His will. Then we can resist the devil and he will flee from us. We can confess like the saints of old, “Things I use to do, I don’t do any more. The places I use to go, I don’t go any more. I know I’ve been changed, the angel in heaven, done signed my name!” We must overcome Satan’s temptation at the bread level of life. Keep the word of God in your heart and in your mouth, if you do, sin will not control your life. The word of God gives us staying power and standing power. We must fight against the temptations of Satan. We must hold our ground and not give one inch to Satan. Fight the good fight of faith! “Yield not to temptation for yielding is sin; each victory will help you, some other to win. Fight manfully onward, bad language subdue, look ever to Jesus and He will carry you through!” We must resist the devil, but we must also surrender our lives to God and our members to his control.
Render Your Life to God and Your Members to His Control
“Romans 6:13 “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.”
Paul teaches us that we should surrender ourselves 100% to God. That is, we should give God our heart, mind and members. To surrender our members to sin would be inconsistent with our new life in Christ. This reminds me of the little song I learned as a child which said, “Be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little ears what you hear and be careful little hands what you do! There is a God up above, looking down with tender love, so be careful little hands what you do!” We are constantly pulled in the direction of either our sinful devilish desires or spiritual Godly desires. We live in a world that is constantly trying to pull us toward pleasure instead of piety. Only a Christian who has surrendered to God will have the power to resist the enticements of the world. Too many Christians allow the desires of the flesh to control and order their lives. Sin desires to rule our thinking and our appetites. Satan will suggest what we should think and what we should desire. if we allowed carnal thinking to control our lives, that mind set will control our actions in conscious or unconscious ways. The Choice is ours.
Paul urges us in this text, to not allow our bodies to become the devil’s instruments. Sin has the power to corrupt and ruin the believer’s life and testimony. If they give in to sin’s pull, Sin and Satan will take full advantage of them. Paul teaches us to surrender ourselves to the authority of God and allow Him to determine the best way to use our time, talents, and treasures. He knows the thing that will bring lasting pleasure and peace. The trouble with many believers is that they think occasional sin is harmless. They seem oblivious to the fact that willful sin is actually a transfer of authority. We become servants of the master we choose to obey. If we obey Satan’s call, submit to his control, and yield to his temptation we actually become his servant.
The transfer of authority from God’s control to Satan’s control can be deadly. Sin is cruel taskmaster that seeks to destroy, corrupt and ruin its slaves. You would not give the keys of your car to a lunatic and tell him to drive with care, would you?
Normally, a lunatic would not stop until he wrecked the car causing much damage and loss. Satan is not a friend to grace and never will be. He comes always to steal, kill and destroy. He is our constant adversity. Satan is a master who disguises himself often. He may appear to be a friend with sound advice or a counselor on the pathway to happiness, but always remember, he is the enemy. He appeared to Jesus as a dietician, a real estate tycoon and a career promoter. He offered Jesus, bread, power and social status, but he was never the friend of Jesus or a promoter of the will of God. Satan is a liar, deceiver and an imposter. A Christian, who desires God’s blessings, can have only one master, God. He cannot give one part of himself to God and the other part of himself to Satan. He cannot divide his allegiance between yielding himself to the righteousness of God and yielding to his own sinful desires. Our constant prayer should be, “Lord, help me yield one hundred percent of my mind, attitude, emotion, action, will, and desires to Your control and the leadership and authority of Your Holy Spirit.”
We should yield ourselves to God’s righteous desires, purposes and processes, regardless of how difficult this may seem. We should be careful of the programs we choose to watch on television. We should guard ourselves against exposure to unwholesome magazines, conversations or other input that may tend to entice us with sinful pleasures. Yielding ourselves to God is a conscious choice. Our conscious choice allows God to have His rightful place of authority in our heart, soul, strength and mind. We have the resurrection power of grace of our Lord Jesus Christ living within us. He is constantly helping us to desire what is best by guiding us by His spirit. God gives us an earnest desire for the things that are truly good, righteous and profitable.
His powerful, sustaining grace is available to help us. He provides a grand support system in the person of the Holy Spirit who uses the word of God to direct our thoughts, rebuke us when we are wrong, correct us by showing us how to realign our thoughts with His and at the same times training our senses to discern good from evil.
Hebrews 5:13-14 “For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
We can have dominion over sin every moment of every day but we must choose to die to sin and live unto God, resist sin’s control and surrender ourselves unto God. There is strength for us in the covenant of grace. Sin shall not have dominion. God's promised to give us power to effectively mortify the sin in our members. Sin has the power to cause the strongest believer to struggle at one time or other. Sin may trouble the believer, but it shall not have dominion over him. Sin will always tempt the believer, but it shall not rule over him. Our choices will determine the consequences we will live with for all eternity. I do not know where you are today in your walk with God, but I want you to make your choices based on your eternal destiny. Do not allow sin to dominate your life, we have dominion over sin. Ask the Lord to help you grow in grace so your life will be guided, controlled and governed by the Holy Spirit instead of your own sinful desires.
The truth of the matters is, we are free from the penalty and power of sin. The Spirit of life in Christ has made us free from the law of sin and death. Walk in the liberty of Christ Jesus our Lord!
