Sin Is No Longer Your Master

What Would Happen If Every Christian Actually Lived As Though The Sin Christ Died To Save Us From No Longer Had The Right To Rule Us?

Scripture References — Romans 6:1–2 • Romans 6:11–14

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

Introduction — What If We Actually Lived Like Sin Was Dead?

“Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

—Romans 6:2

Stop right there.

Don't rush past those words.

Paul has just made one of the most radical declarations in the entire Christian life:

We have died to sin.

Now imagine something with me.

What would happen if every person who claimed the name of Jesus Christ actually lived as though Romans 6:2 were true?

What if Christian men stopped asking:

“How much sin can I get away with and still be saved?”

and started asking:

“How can I possibly make peace with something Christ died to deliver me from?”

What if we stopped excusing pornography?

What if we stopped feeding bitterness?

What if we stopped lying?

What if we stopped nursing hatred?

What if we stopped excusing filthy language, sexual immorality, pride, jealousy, greed, gossip, unforgiveness and secret compromise?

What if the man who once lived for violence became known for peace?

What if the man who spent his life manipulating people became known for truth?

What if the man consumed by lust became a man of purity?

What if the man filled with hatred became a man who forgave?

What if the inmate who once lived according to the rules of the yard began living according to the commands of Jesus Christ?

What would happen?

People would notice.

Families would notice.

Cellmates would notice.

Correctional officers would notice.

Other prisoners would notice.

And the world might finally see more clearly what Christianity is supposed to look like.

Romans 6 destroys the idea that grace gives Christians permission to continue comfortably in sin.

Paul anticipates the argument:

If God's grace is greater than our sin, why not keep sinning so that grace can become even greater?

His answer is explosive:

“Certainly not!”

The Greek expression Paul uses conveys the strongest possible rejection.

Absolutely not.

May it never be.

Perish the thought.

Why?

“How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

Paul isn't teaching sinless perfection.

Christians still struggle with sin. Christians still stumble. Christians still need confession, repentance, forgiveness and grace.

But something fundamental has changed.

Before Christ, sin was our master.

In Christ, the chains have been broken.

That doesn't mean temptation disappeared.

It means temptation no longer owns you.

Sin may knock on the door.

Sin may shout through the window.

Sin may promise pleasure.

Sin may threaten you.

Sin may remind you of the person you used to be.

But if you belong to Jesus Christ:

SIN IS NO LONGER YOUR MASTER.

And that raises the question every one of us must answer:

If sin is no longer my master, why am I still obeying it?

Main Point #1 — Grace Never Gives Us Permission To Continue In Sin

Romans 6 begins with a shocking question:

“Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?”

Paul knew how sinful human beings think.

Give us grace and eventually somebody will try to turn grace into an excuse.

God understands.

Nobody's perfect.

I'm under grace.

God will forgive me.

All of those statements can contain truth while being used to justify a lie.

Yes, God understands.

Yes, nobody is perfect.

Yes, believers are under grace.

Yes, God forgives repentant sinners.

But biblical grace never says:

“Therefore, continue comfortably in your sin.”

Grace teaches exactly the opposite.

Titus 2:11–12 says the grace of God teaches us that:

“denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.”

The grace that forgives us is also the grace that begins changing us.

We aren't saved because we stopped sinning.

But when Christ saves us, we cannot remain satisfied with sin ruling our lives.

A man may stumble into a mud puddle.

But he doesn't build his house there.

The Christian may fall into sin, but he cannot peacefully make sin his permanent residence.

There should be conviction.

Confession.

Repentance.

War.

Growth.

Grace doesn't make sin less serious.

Grace shows us how serious sin was—it required the blood of the Son of God to save us from it.

Main Point #2 — You Have Died To Sin, But Sin Is Not Dead

Paul says:

“How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

Notice carefully what he does not say.

He doesn't say:

“Sin died.”

He says:

“We died to sin.”

That distinction matters.

Sin is still very much alive in this fallen world.

Temptation remains.

The flesh remains.

Satan remains.

Old habits remain.

Memories remain.

Opportunities to compromise remain.

You can follow Jesus for decades and still encounter temptation.

So what changed?

Sin's authority over you changed.

Imagine a cruel master who owned a slave. Every command had to be obeyed because the slave belonged to him.

Then the slave dies.

The master can shout commands all day long, but his authority over that man has ended.

Paul uses that kind of radical language about our union with Christ.

The person you were outside Christ was enslaved to sin.

But through union with Christ in His death and resurrection, a decisive break has occurred.

That is why Paul later commands:

“Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

You don't fight sin to become God's child.

You fight sin because, through Christ, you belong to God.

Brother, temptation may still speak your name.

But you don't owe it obedience.

The old master may still shout—but he no longer owns you.

Main Point #3 — Stop Letting Sin Sit On The Throne

Romans 6:12 says:

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”

That word reign is important.

It is kingdom language

A king reigns.

A ruler reigns.

Paul pictures sin attempting to climb back onto the throne and issue commands.

Look at this.

Take that.

Hit him.

Hate her.

Lie about it.

Get revenge.

Feed that fantasy.

Hold onto that bitterness.

Nobody will know.

But Paul says:

Don't let sin reign.

Notice that Christianity isn't passive.

You don't wake up holy simply because you prayed a prayer twenty years ago.

Jesus said:

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Daily.

There are sins you may have to put to death today that will come knocking again tomorrow.

Fight again.

There are thoughts you rejected yesterday that may return tonight.

Reject them again.

There are temptations you've battled for years.

Keep fighting.

The evidence of Christianity isn't that you never experience temptation.

It is that you no longer want temptation sitting on the throne.

That throne belongs to Jesus Christ.

Main Point #4 — Present Yourself To God Instead                                

Christianity isn't merely a life of saying NO.

Paul gives us something infinitely greater to say YES to:

“Present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

Your hands once served sin?

Give them to God.

Your mouth once destroyed people?

Give it to God.

Your mind once lived on lust, anger and revenge?

Give it to God.

Your feet carried you toward trouble?

Give them to God.

Your life once existed primarily for yourself?

Give it to God.

This is where Romans 6 becomes beautiful.

God doesn't merely rescue sinners from something.

He rescues us for something.

Your hands can serve.

Your mouth can encourage.

Your mind can meditate upon Scripture.

Your knees can bend in prayer.

Your feet can carry you toward someone who needs encouragement.

Your testimony can point another sinner toward Christ.

Perhaps you've wasted years.

Perhaps you've wasted decades.

You cannot recover yesterday.

But you can say today:

“Lord, whatever remains of my life belongs to You.”

And God can take what remains and use it for His glory.

Prison Application — The Yard Doesn't Own You Anymore

Prison has its own culture.

Its own expectations.

Its own definitions of respect.

Its own temptations.

Its own unwritten rules.

Some of you learned those rules long before you ever entered prison.

But if you belong to Christ, there is a higher authority governing your life now.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

That means you don't have to remain the man you were when you arrived.

Your commitment to Christ should eventually become visible.

Not because you're trying to impress anybody.

Because new ownership produces a new direction.

When everyone expects retaliation, you can choose restraint.

When everybody is gossiping, you can remain silent.

When pornography circulates, you can turn away.

When racial hatred is expected, you can refuse it.

When someone insults you, you can remember that your identity is in Christ.

When somebody asks why you've changed, you have an opportunity to say:

“Because I don't belong to that life anymore.”

Will you do this perfectly?

No.

But when you sin, don't defend it.

Confess it.

Don't rename it.

Repent of it.

Don't blame everyone else.

Own it.

Then get back up and continue following Christ.

Brother, imagine what could happen inside America's prisons if thousands of professing Christian inmates actually lived Romans 6.

Not merely carrying Bibles.

Not merely attending chapel.

Not merely knowing Christian vocabulary.

But men actually dying to sin and living to God.

That would preach a sermon the entire yard could understand.

Final Thought — What If We Actually Believed Romans 6:2?

Let's return to our opening question.

What would happen if every Christian actually practiced Paul's declaration?

Churches would change.

Marriages would change.

Families would change.

Prisons would change.

Communities would change.

And perhaps most importantly:

Christians would change.

The world has heard plenty of Christian words.

What it desperately needs to see are Christian lives.

Lives that demonstrate:

“I once belonged to sin, but Jesus Christ broke those chains.”

Not perfection.

Transformation.

Not sinlessness.

A new direction.

Not boasting:

“Look how righteous I am.”

But gratitude:

“Look what Christ has done.”

Romans 6 eventually brings us to one of Scripture's greatest declarations:

“For sin shall not have dominion over you.”

Brother, read that again.

SIN SHALL NOT HAVE DOMINION OVER YOU.

Maybe sin dominated yesterday.

Maybe addiction dominated.

Maybe lust dominated.

Maybe rage dominated.

Maybe bitterness dominated.

Maybe violence dominated.

Maybe pride dominated.

But if you are truly united to Jesus Christ, you have been brought under a new King.

So stop surrendering territory Christ has liberated.

Stop making peace with what nailed your Savior to the cross.

Stop calling slavery freedom.

And stop telling yourself:

“This is just who I am.”

If you are in Christ, who you were is no longer the final word.

Christ is.

Therefore:

“How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

May that question follow us into every temptation.

And may our answer be:

“I belong to Jesus Christ. Sin is no longer my master.”

Reflection Questions

1. What does Paul mean when he says that believers have “died to sin”?

2. Is there a particular sin I have been excusing rather than fighting?

3. Have I ever used God's grace as an excuse for continuing behavior I know is wrong?

4. What sin is presently trying hardest to “reign” in my life?

5. What would visibly change in my life if I truly lived Romans 6:2 every day?

6. What part of myself do I need to present more completely to God as an “instrument of righteousness”?

7. If someone watched my life for the next thirty days, would he see evidence that Jesus Christ—not sin—is my Master?

Closing Prayer

Father,

thank You that through Jesus Christ sin no longer has the right to rule me.

Forgive me for the sins I have excused, defended or secretly tolerated. Teach me to reckon myself dead to sin and alive to You.

When temptation comes, remind me that I have a new Master. Take my mind, my mouth, my hands, my desires and whatever remains of my life, and use them as instruments of righteousness for Your glory.

Lord Jesus, You died for me. Help me now to live for You.

Amen.

From: Fight the Good Fight of Faith / Life Journal: by Gregg Harris