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FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
DISCIPLESHIP 101
Part 13 – The Issue of Sin - 2
Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Yahushua Messiah our Master.
Neither in John 14:12, nor in Mark 16:17-20, did
the Master say we would do his works and have signs and wonders follow our
lives only if we had no sin in our life.
If our heads say we cannot do the works of Yahushua because we know of
sin in our life, we cease to believe in the words of our Master. We cease to expect his words to be true. We cease to expect to be able to heal the
sick, cast out demons and work miracles.
We cease to be believers; and that is the only qualification required to
do his works. We need to resolve this issue of sin, once and for all; so we can
move out of the realm of guilt, put unworthiness behind us, and get onto the
battlefield where we belong.
Last week’s post began with
this verse:
6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under
the law, but under grace.
We did not address this
verse, directly. It stood atop the post
as a banner of the obvious. It reveals the
existence of two opposing masters with a simple indisputable message to those
who desire to be disciples of Yahushua Messiah.
Here, Paul says that sin shall not have dominion over us. This word “dominion”
in the Greek, is “kurieuo“ – to be mastered. It speaks of the domain over which a ruler’s
authority is supreme. The root word is “kurios”
which is the word translated “master” every
time the Scripture speaks of the “Master” Yahushua Messiah (in the KJV, it is
translated “Lord.”) So, you can see the conflict here for the disciple of
Messiah. If we have been delivered out
of the authority of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of the Son of IAUE’s
love (Colossians 1:13); our lives should no longer be lived in subjection to
the authority of darkness. We should no
longer live in the realm that is under the jurisdiction of the kingdom from
which we have been set free.
The names of the two
opposing masters in this verse are not given. They are Satan and Yahushua. What is expressed in this verse is the power
by which each master exercises his dominion over those subject to his
authority. (It
would take many pages of commentary to lay the foundation of understanding the
manner in which this verse speaks of the law. I am going to speak of it here
without laying that foundation. Please
study it for yourself in Romans 5-6.) The purpose of the law was to enable man to see
how exceedingly rebellious he is against IAUE. Every time man acts, or even thinks about
acting, the law is there to say, “That is sin.
That is rebellion against IAUE.”
Through the law man recognizes that disobedience to IAUE rules his life;
and that sin exercises dominion over him. Every fiber of his being seems
incapable of doing anything but rebelling against IAUE; and with every act he takes;
the king of darkness is there to say, “Wrong again, stupid!”
By the law, man is conscious
of his sinfulness. It reveals to man, “This is who you are. This is your nature; and there is nothing you
can do about it.” The law is simply a
list of dos and don’ts that man’s nature is incapable of obeying because he
lacks the one ingredient that frees him from his own selfishness. He lacks
righteousness. Paul says that the law is good.
After all, the law was given by IAUE.
The law, in and of itself simply says, “Do this. Don’t do that.” There
is no unrighteousness in the law. The
problem is there is no righteousness in man.
Thus, the enemy uses the law to beat man down into a hopeless submission
to a self-centered life. IAUE uses the
law to reveal to man his need for a savior. It is to those who have reached out
to the lifeline of the savior, the Master, Yahushua Messiah, that Paul now
says, “You are not under the law. You
are under grace.”
Let’s take a look at grace,
now. Satan uses the law to hold man in
rebellion against IAUE. Yahushua uses
grace to enable man to live a life free from a conscience of sin so he can enjoy
life in obedience to His Father’s will. What
is grace? Grace is the power that IAUE
gives to enable man to do His will. Unlike being under the law, where man had
to attempt to obey in his own ability; under grace, man receives enablement
from IAUE which makes obedience to his will effortless. You could liken it to an electrical
appliance. Let’s use an electric
mixer. If you put bread dough in the
mixing bowl and then require the mixer to mix the dough of its own ability, the
dough will never be mixed. If you plug
in the cord and allow power from a source that is outside the mixer to run
through the mixer, the dough gets mixed.
Such is the difference between being under the law and under grace. One system is incapable of obedience; the
other is incapable of disobedience.
Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Yahushua Messiah our Master.
The fruit of sin is
death. Death in any and every form is
the objective of Satan’s dominion; and he uses death as a whip to keep man in
rebellion against IAUE.
Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the
same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
It is paradoxical that sin
reigns unto death; because man sins in order to prevent death; and yet the
inevitable conclusion of sin is death. “The soul that sinneth shall surely die.” “The wages of sin is death.”
This realm of Satan’s
appears to be ruled by insanity; because reason does not prevail on any corner.
His success in keeping man in bondage to sin is based on two ingredients. The first is, man is unrighteous. That is his nature. There is no natural desire or proclivity
within man to WANT to obey IAUE. Man
does not want to be ruled by anyone but himself. This makes man “easy pickings” for an
authority that does not operate on free will; but rather on force and
subjugation. Secondly, man is powerless
to do the will of IAUE. Even when he
goes through the motions of obedience, he sins because it is an exercise of his
own will which is unrighteous at its core.
Satan’s kingdom is very easy for him to rule because his subjects have
no ability to usurp his authority or to overthrow his dominion. It takes a deliverer to be removed from the
kingdom of darkness and to be transferred to the kingdom of light. This is what faith in Yahushua does.
Once we have been translated
out of Satan’s domain and placed into the domain of the Master Yahushua; we
live by grace…we live by the power that the Master’s Father gives us which
makes our obedience to Him effortless.
Paul says that grace rules “through
righteousness unto eternal life.”
If our nature remained unrighteous, even grace would be powerless upon
us. Remember, the two things that enable
Satan to rule his kingdom are 1) man’s powerlessness to do the will of IAUE;
and 2) the unrighteous nature of man. Both
of these issues must be resolved to free man from the dominion of sin.
Grace is the power man
lacked; and it is provided to the one who is in Messiah (to the one who is no
longer under the law; but under grace). Righteousness is the nature of the new
creature in Messiah…the new man. The
spirit of the new-born man is clothed in the righteous spirit of Yahushua. The unrighteous nature of the old man is
removed. It is gone. The man/woman who has come to faith in
Messiah has become something new; and its nature is righteous. The natural desire and proclivity of the new
man is to do the will of IAUE. It isn’t
because the newborn man sees the law of IAUE as something he wants to do, now. No, it is not a choice to do good; it is now
his nature to do that which is pure and right and moral. Having a righteous
nature is to naturally do that which is righteous; hence it is to behave in a
way that is consistent with the will of IAUE.
Many believers, having been
delivered from darkness, apparently think that sin is now a playground they can
visit from time to time without consequence; because they are no longer under
its jurisdiction. To this mindset, Paul
shouts:
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that
grace may abound?
2 Elohim forbid.
How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Next week, I want to focus
on this aberration of the believer continuing in sin.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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