You Must Kill Your Sin, Part 1: Where’s that in the Bible?

Mon, 2010-04-19 21:22 — Jacob Mentzel

(moderator: this is second in a series, with the first here.)

“If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” – Romans 8:13b

First of all, it’s important to lay out a biblical foundation for killing sin. You need to understand that this is in God’s Word. Otherwise, you will find a million excuses for never doing it. But if I can show you clearly from God’s Word that you must kill your sin and your lust, you have no excuse. It’s a matter of obedience and submission. Either you will obey God and fight your lust, or you will deny God and persist in your rebellion. In other words, I’m drawing a line in the sand.

Now instead of trying to get around it, let’s unpack what’s in this verse:

1. There’s a big condition that surrounds everything: If

2. There’s someone who is supposed to perform a duty: You

3. There’s a way to perform the duty: By the Spirit

4. There’s the duty itself: Put to death the deeds of the body

5. There’s a promise connected to the duty: You will live.

First, let’s deal with the condition. That’s the frightening part. If we put to death the deeds of the body, we will live. The clear implication is that if we don’t, we won’t live. And that’s what the first part of the verse says, “If you live according to the flesh, you will die.” There is a connection between putting our sins to death and living. Not in terms of cause and effect—as though salvation was earned by our ability to put our sins to death. No, we know that eternal life is the free gift of God. At the same time, we must see and acknowledge that there is a constant connection in Scripture between putting our sins to death and being the recipients of eternal life. The connection isn’t cause and effect. It is means and end. If you use this means, you will live. If you don’t, you will die.

Second, let’s deal with who is being addressed: you. You who? You, Christian. In the context of the passage, “you” is the Christian for whom there is “no condemnation” (v. 1). You who “are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit” (v. 9). This is the work of Christians. It is the work of those who have the Holy Spirit. We’ll deal more with this later. But first, understand this: Even the best believers—those who are absolutely free from the condemnation of sin—must kill the power of sin in their lives every day. Even the best saints. And if the best saints have to do it, then you probably do, too.

Third, the way we put our sin to death: by the Holy Spirit. You can try whatever you want. I’m sure you’ve tried many things. But if you don’t put your sin to death by the Holy Spirit—the Spirit that dwells in every believer, makes us alive, and makes intercession for us—you won’t put it to death at all. At the very best you will trade one sin for another. Putting sin to death by your own strength, by your own crazy inventions, and doing so in order to have a righteousness of your own is at the heart of every false religion in the world.

Fourth, the duty: Put to death the deeds of the body. Let’s define some terms. First, we’re not talking about the body here as though it were a bad thing in itself. The body is good. God made it for good purposes. Sex is one of those purposes, and it is also good. What is meant here is what is typically called “the flesh.” It’s indwelling sin. Our internal corruption. It is our lust. And the deeds of the body are our lusts brought to fruition. That doesn’t mean our lusts are off the hook. The way to kill the deeds is to get at them by their roots. So what does it mean to put them to death? It means that we must obliterate our flesh’s power to produce wickedness.

There is a sense in which our flesh is already “crucified with Christ.” But that’s not the same thing. Our flesh is crucified with Christ with respect to its power to condemn us. And Christ’s death purchased for us the ability to destroy sin’s power over us. But while the first transaction is a present reality, the second one is not. That’s what we’re working towards in this life: breaking the power of sin in our lives by the Holy Spirit. This is the fight of the Christian.

Finally, the promise: You will live. I take this to refer both to eternal life (if we use the means given us to slay our sins, we will prove ourselves to truly be sons of God) and to the present life—our peace and happiness as Christians is contingent on our constant warfare against our lusts.

This is the foundation that we’ll be operating on from this point out. Burn it into your brain. Let it soak into your heart. Killing your lust is your Christian duty. Having laid the foundation, it’s time to really dig in.

Holiness

Comments

Wed, 2010-04-21 23:06 — Veronica

I was so encouraged by your

I was so encouraged by your message last night at the Fold and by this series! It is exactly what the Lord is teaching me right now. He has ordained it so that I am hearing this particular truth at every turn. Thank you for your faithfulness to the work of the Lord!

Thu, 2010-04-29 17:17 — Anonymous

Just what then is your

Just what then is your position on justification?
Just what is your position on the finished work of Christ?
Just what then is your position on sanctification?

Thu, 2010-04-29 19:01 — Jacob Mentzel

Dear Anonymous, I subscribe

Dear Anonymous,

I subscribe wholeheartedly to these commitments: http://www.clearnotefellowship.org/WhoWeAre/OurCommitments

And to this confession of faith: http://www.reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs/index.html?body=/docum...

If you have a question about something I've written above, I'd be happy to answer you. But you'll have to articulate a particular question that deals with something I've written above or a point of disagreement, first. I'm not inclined to write you a treatise on the nature and relationship of justification and sanctification. At least not yet. :)

However, unless you can make a case with our moderator that justifies your anonymity I will not engage you after this comment, no matter how articulate your questions or disagreements may be. There are cases where anonymity may be appropriate, but this is the general policy of our blog and all of our commenters are held to it. If you think you have an unusual case, our moderator is probably willing to hear you out. Perhaps you've already done this and I've not been informed yet?

This policy may seem strange to you, but let me put it this way:

I've identified myself here publicly in such a way that I can be held accountable for what I write by my pastors, elders, wife, family, in-laws, friends, acquaintances, and the government--let alone web surfers. I have to own what I write here, take responsibility for it, defend it, correct it, clarify it, and repent for it when I've erred.

In other words, I'd appreciate some reciprocal degree of personal investment that demonstrates that you are earnest enough to own your comments publicly and willing to be held accountable for them to some degree.

Warmly,

Jake Mentzel

Sun, 2010-05-02 20:07 — moderator

Anonymous, We would love to

Anonymous,

We would love to continue this conversation. We just need two things.

First, please use a variation of your real name as your login (i.e. John, John Doe, JohnD, Mr. Doe, etc).

Second, you need to be more specific in why you are asking Jake to answer three huge questions. Is there a portion of his post that you find to contradict an orthodox position regarding justification or sanctification? Help us out!

Sincerely,
Michael Foster
mscottfoster@clearnotefellowship.org

Wed, 2010-05-05 10:57 — Tim Bayly

>>Is there a portion of his

>>Is there a portion of his post that you find to contradict an orthodox position regarding justification or sanctification?

Dear Brothers,

For a long time, now, Reformed men have believed the Reformation doctrine of justification by faith alone excludes from the faithful Christian life any fear of God or pursuit of holiness. It would be hard to say anything too harsh in condemning this error. Countless souls have perished because of it.

So our brother responds to a call to sanctification--or rather, a command to sanctification--by asking about Jake's doctrine of justification. In our antinomian day and churches, it makes perfect sense.

Thank you, Jake, for calling me to holiness. May God lead our brother to fear God with love and joy, and to mortify the works of his sinful flesh.

Love,

Tim

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