Lesson 2 Death to Self and Sin

Chapter 2
Death to Self and Sin

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal 6:7,8).

A “Friendly Pal”?

Beware of that false gospel which allows a man to stay in his sins and sow to his flesh, and yet gives him a hope for heaven. Beware of that false gospel that sells you an insurance policy against the flames of hell and yet gives no power over sin. Beware of that false gospel which lets you go on in your same way of fleshly living and makes no demands for the death of your fleshly nature. Beware of that false gospel that gives you religion without life, profession without possession. Beware of that false gospel that leads you to believe that there are two roads to heaven and not only the one road which is described by our Lord in Matthew 7:13,14 as “the narrow way.” You see, this false gospel makes a second way, and it is the road of carnal Christianity-”a way that seemeth right unto a man [because it is an easy road], but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov 16:25). It appeals to the flesh, but it is a way that leads to hell!

Again I say, beware of the false gospel which is preached today, which makes no demands upon you, but shows you the easy way unto salvation (which is but the shortest way to hell). This false gospel is not opposed to your flesh, rather it is a “friendly pal”; and, if understood rightly, it is the source of oceans of good, clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets you live without interference; it never changes your life; it still lets you live in your own pleasure, only now instead of singing cabaret songs and drinking hard liquor, you take delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane, morally if not intellectually.

This false gospel encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic appeal. It seeks not to slay the sinner before he receives the new life in Christ, but tells him to receive new life before the old life is slain. So it tries only to redirect the sinner. It directs him into a jolly way of living, which saves his self respect. This false gospel says to the self-assertive: “Come and assert yourself for Christ.” To the egotist, it says: “Come and do your boasting in the Lord,” and to the thrill seeker: “Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship.” It tries to pour new wine into old wineskins, and it will not work! The old must be torn down before the new can be built.

The Meaning of the Cross

So you see, this false gospel of carnal Christianity misses completely the whole meaning of the cross, which means death. But the Gospel of the grace of God in Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation, demands the death, burial and resurrection of you, the sinner, in Christ. It sets forth the cross of Christ as the abrupt, violent end of all that you are by nature, and raises you to a new life in Christ with the shackles of sin broken. It brings to an end your pride and ambition, and leaves you at the feet of a holy God crying for mercy.

The true Gospel of God tells you that you will take up the cross of Christ and say goodbye to your friends and the world, for you are not coming back the same person. It tells you that you are not going to have your life redirected, but you are going to the place of death. As Hebrews 13:13 puts it, “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach,” for there we die to the world. As the Lord Jesus Himself says in Luke 14:27, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” We must die to the world and all of its pleasures and allurements, as Galatians 6:14 tells us: By the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ “the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

Did you know that the two ingredients that make up the table salt we use every day, when taken by themselves, are a deadly poison and will kill you? But put together, they become a blessing in the form of salt which purifies, gives taste, preserves, and is used in so many different ways. It is the same with the true Gospel, the Gospel of the grace of God! We can preach Christ and His blood for the forgiveness of sins, in such a way that will deceive sinners, if we do not tell them that the death of Christ means death to us and our ways, and death to sin! If we do not put all of the ingredients into the message we preach, what we do preach then becomes deadly poison to the soul, damning instead of saving!

No Compromise with Sin

This doctrine or false gospel of carnal Christianity (which is no gospel!) has swept Christendom today, and there is not that ingredient of repentance which causes us to hate sin, showing that the power of sin must be broken, and that God by His Spirit in true salvation not only justifies but also sanctifies us. You see, justification and sanctification are the two sides of the same coin; and when God justifies us before Himself in Christ by His blood, He also sanctifies us-that is, sets us apart for His holy use-and causes us to walk in His ways.

So the true Gospel of Christ makes no compromise with sin. It demands coming clean and coming clear with God or perishing. It says, “Down sinner, down at the feet of the holy and sovereign God in repentance; down at the feet of Christ in faith, looking only to Him for salvation.” And all sin must be forsaken; all sin must be renounced; all sin must be repented of; all sin must be hated. You must die to the world, and the world to you. You must forsake your sin and then go on to forsake yourself, or you will never know Christ in true salvation. The Gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus will not let you cover, defend or excuse any sin, for when the convincing power of God’s Holy Spirit works in your heart, you are going to die to sin and self; and then Christ, by His mighty power-the power of the Gospel-will raise you to a new life. This will be His life in you, and you will be a new creature in Christ.

Therefore, my dear friend, do not seek to make terms with God, for you deserve to be cast into hell, but for Christ’s sake, God can and will have mercy upon you if you come to Him as a hell- deserving sinner, renouncing your sins and turning to God from them in true, heart-felt repentance. This is your only hope of salvation in Christ, to come unto Him with the rope around your neck, giving Him the other end and telling Him to slay you or to save you for Christ’s sake. Come to Him with bowed head just as you are, as a lost sinner, for He came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

The true Gospel of Christ not only makes no compromise with sin, but there is also no place in the true Gospel for a second compromise: a middle ground between the broad way and the narrow way. None! For when you come to Christ to set you free from the penalty of sin in hell by His cross work (and this is justification ), you of a necessity also come to Him to set you free from the power and dominion of sin in this life (and this is sanctification ). The very nature of faith which embraces a whole Christ, demands that justification not be separated from sanctification. For Christ Himself-His very Person-is our salvation and hope of glory, and you cannot divide the Person of Christ. No man can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit (I Cor 12:3), and you cannot know Him as Savior without knowing Him as Lord, the One Who breaks the power of sin and sets you free. As John 8:36 tells us: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”- free from sin! In God’s salvation we die to sin and its reigning power (Rom 6:2).

We Have Died to Sin

Oh, what a subtle trick Satan has pulled on the vast majority of Christendom today!-so subtle that many are deceived and cannot see that they are deceived, thinking that it is possible to be saved without the power of sin being broken (its reigning power); believing that they can live a life in the flesh and sow to the flesh. Yet all is well with their never-dying souls because they have made a decision and are living the best they can! But listen to Romans 5:19-21: “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” Hear what the Holy Spirit is telling us: “As sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is what I have been setting forth: that when God saves us, He breaks the reigning power of sin, and now grace reigns! How?- through righteousness, and not apart from righteousness; so by the grace of God we can walk in righteousness and true holiness.

You see, my friend, this false gospel of carnal Christianity has so permeated our churches today that no one questions his interest in Christ, because he is told that the believer can still live in the flesh, sow to the flesh, and have hope of heaven when he dies. But this is a lie out of hell, for as we have shown you, God’s Word teaches differently. From the verses we have read in Romans 5, we see that when the law enters in convicting us of the awfulness, guiltiness and offensiveness of sin before God, then we find sin abounding and reigning in our hearts and lives, and cry out unto God for mercy. When God saves us in Christ, giving us His new nature and sending His Spirit to dwell in us, then His grace abounds and reigns in the heart and life of His redeemed child.

Then Romans 6 opens with the question, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” And the answer comes back in verse 2, “God forbid”-By no means, of course not! Heaven forbid, perish the thought!-for: “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” If we have been delivered from the penalty and power of sin, shall we live any longer in it? No! For we have died to sin.

Before we go any further, let us define the word “dead,” for “dead, died and death” are used 14 times here in Romans 6. And what does it mean? Physical death is spoken of in the Scriptures as the separation of the individual from his physical body, while spiritual death is spoken of as separation of the individual from the life of God in salvation. So the Holy Spirit is here telling us that we have died to sin once for all-we have been separated from sin as the reigning monarch of our lives-and that now the principle of grace reigns, and reigns as monarch. Therefore we walk in newness of life (v 4) with the power of sin broken, never again to come under its reigning power. Why? Because the power of grace does much more abound; therefore this is the true Gospel-the Gospel of the grace of God in Christ.

“Well,” he asks, “since this principle of grace reigns, shall we then sin that grace may abound?” And again the answer is “God forbid!” For being what we are-justified, blood-washed and cleansed sinners-can we who are dead to sin live any longer therein? The answer is no, because as Titus 2:11,12 tells us, the grace of God which now reigns, teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.

The Fine Line of Demarcation

But although we can see clearly here in these verses of Romans 5:20,21 and 6:1,2 that the true Christian, the true child of God, has died both to the guilt of sin and its penalty, and the power of sin and its reign in the human heart, yet it is on this fine line of demarcation that Christendom is divided today. For this is where the subtle work of Satan has come in with this carnal Christian teaching that says: “The moment a man makes a profession of faith in Christ, he is saved from the guilt and penalty of sin, but that the power of sin has not been broken, so of a necessity he will still live in sin and sin will still reign in his life.” And again I must raise my voice in protest, and proclaim what God’s Word teaches-that in salvation both the penalty of sin and the reign (or power) of sin is broken. Yes, a believer still has sin in the flesh, but it no longer rules or reigns over him as a master. If indeed he is a true child of God, he will say, “I have died to the reign of sin; sin no longer has dominion over me, for now the principle of grace and not sin reigns in my heart and life.” So again we see that this is what the power of the true Gospel of Christ does for us: it delivers us and sets us free in Christ.

Please hear me. We are either under the reign of sin in Adam, therefore lost, or we are under the reign of grace in Christ, therefore saved and safe. There can be no middle ground of carnal Christianity! If the Holy Spirit, by His almighty power, has not brought us from under the reign of sin and its power, its realm of dominion, then we are lost and lost forever. But this is only negative; something else must be done. The same Holy Spirit must also bring us under the reign of grace, and this He does in salvation: for we know its power, its force, its might, and its dynamic influence upon our lives as it reigns in our hearts and lives through righteousness. I must warn you, my dear friend, be not deceived! If you sow to your flesh, you shall of your flesh reap corruption and eternal damnation; but if you sow to the Spirit, you shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting in Christ by His grace (Gal 6:6-8). Oh, be not deceived!

Study Questions: Lesson 2

First please read chapter 2 in the text.

“He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption” - Galatians 6:8

A Friendly Pal?; page 10

1. List the particular things we are to “beware” of regarding this false gospel of “carnal Christianity” which appeals to the flesh.

The Meaning of the Cross; page 11

2. “So you see, this false gospel of carnal Christianity misses completely the whole meaning of the cross, which means death.” The remainder of this paragraph gives a description of what it means to die to self and sin. Think carefully about this description.

Making It Personal: Explain how God has worked in your own life (or is working), to create a desire to die to yourself and to your own desires, and to live only for Christ and His glory.

No Compromises; pages 12 - 13

3. Explain the two compromises which the true gospel of Christ will not let you make:

a. no compromise with sin,

b. no compromise in a middle ground between the broad way and the narrow way.

We Have Died to Sin; pages 13 - 14

4. What subtle trick has Satan “pulled on the vast majority of Christendom today?”

5. Romans 5:20-21 and 6:1-2 are discussed in some detail to demonstrate that the true child of God has in fact died at the moment of true salvation (when he is given a new heart by God). He has died both 1) to the guilt of sin and its penalty, and 2) to the power of sin and its reign in the human heart. Please write the reference and explain the key point of both passages.

The Fine Line of Demarcation; page 15

6. What is the issue that has caused Christendom to be divided today?

7. a. In your own words, based on the discussion in this chapter, define the “power of sin.”

b. Making It Personal: In what ways has the power of sin not been broken in your own life?