Socially Distanced From Sin

Below is an excerpt from the sermon...

If you have your Bibles, let’s open them for a moment to the Book of Romans tonight. The Book of Romans. And let’s confess for a moment: how many of you have—maybe you’ve been saved for years—but you have a book of the Bible that when you start reading it, you kind of start getting bogged down? You know, you can’t zip through the stories like you can in the Gospels. Some books, maybe like Romans and maybe like some of the other ones, kind of slow you down. Am I the only one like that? Romans is kind of like that for me, and that’s why I have not preached a whole lot of messages out of it verse by verse. So, we’re just going to cover some highlights tonight. And we’re going to be looking at two chapters—chapters 6 and 7. And it won’t be every verse, so don’t get all discouraged.

I’m just thrilled at the crowd. I told Bro. Reyes tonight. I said, “I’m very encouraged by the crowd.” Many times on Easter or Mother’s Day (Mother’s Day is a lot different than Father’s Day. It’s the same holiday. Father’s Day is the same, except you don’t spend as much.) I know a lot of people spend time with moms or they were out of town and they went somewhere, but a lot of you are back and you sure encouraged me tonight. So, thank you for your faithfulness.

The Book of Romans. Half of the Romans’ Road deals with the subject we’re going to talk about tonight. Many of you when you witness, you’ll turn to the Book of Romans. You’ll use four, maybe five, verses when you’re giving the Gospel presentation. Half of the Romans’ Road deals with this subject. So, let’s look down please in Romans 6. We’ll look at two verses, and I hope you’ll leave your Bible open and underline a few things, and then we’ll just get right into the study tonight.

Notice what Paul says as he’s writing these Christians in Rome. He says in Romans 6:1 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” And I just want to throw this out there. There is a doctrine (well, it’s not even a doctrine; It’s a false teaching) going around our country now. It’s called the radical grace doctrine. What that means is some people are saying, once you get saved, you can do whatever you want to do. It doesn’t matter because we’re now under grace. So, don’t make me feel guilty for the way I live. I’m under grace. God’s okay with it. That is not what this is talking about. Paul is not saying now that I’m saved and I’m under grace, I can just do whatever I want to. No. Grace gives us the power to do what we ought to, not just what we want to. So notice again, Romans 6:1–2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2. God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

So, I’m going to speak tonight about a certain relationship we all have. It’s not the boy meets girl, it’s not the girl meets boy, it’s not the parent-child, it’s not the friend-friend, but it’s every Christian’s relationship with sin. Sin, in a nutshell, is just all about selfishness. It is the “I” in the word pride P. R. I. D. E. The Bible says it all started when pride or sin was found in the speaking of Lucifer, the archangel up in Heaven. And then it all went downhill from there.

Let’s pray, and we’ll just jump right in here. Father, bless this time. Help us now, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

So here it is. Hate to tell you, the moment you got saved, you blew it. You can no longer enjoy sin to the fullest. The Bible said about Moses in Hebrews 11 I think it’s Hebrews 11:25 “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” What’s he saying? Before you get saved, you have a conscience, but you do not have the Holy Spirit living in you. You know right from wrong. You feel guilt. So, a sinner sins. They feel only guilt. Once you receive Christ, then you feel guilt and then the conviction of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you. So, then there is a double voice speaking to you. When you get saved, you can never enjoy sin to the fullest. You can sin, but it’s going to eat your lunch. And that’s what it’s talking about right there.

By way of introduction, I’m going to give you several character traits of sin tonight, and then we’ll just jump right in. Look over if you would please to Romans 7:11 (not the one on Redwood Road. Oh, 711, I know what you’re talking about!) In Romans 7:11, notice what he says here: “For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.” This is what Paul is saying: I was deceived by sin. Sin deceives. It deceives to make us think we will be the exception. Everyone else will be the one that gets a DUI but will be the exception. I can drink, but I will not become an alcoholic. I’m the exception. I can look at pornography, but I won’t become perverted in my thinking. I’ll be the exception. But the Bible says in Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” It uses that word “deceived.” Here’s the deception. We sow seeds of wickedness or sin, and the deception is that it doesn’t come up right away. So, we believe that it’s not going to come up. The crops not going to come up. We sowed this, and it doesn’t happen right away. We smoke a cigarette, we don’t get cancer right away. We lie, we don’t get caught right away. We start being deceitful, and we don’t get caught. Nothing happens. But the crop is still coming up, and that’s why it’s so discouraging sometimes for Christians—they sowed all these seeds of sin, then they get saved and they get right, and all of a sudden when they just get into ministry the crop starts to come up. And they say, “Wait a minute, Lord, I’m serving you. Why is this happening?” To tell you why? Because you sowed it. It always comes up. Sin is deceitful. Since it’s not immediate, we cannot just think it’s never going to happen.