Good morning, good to see you. If you’ve got a Bible go ahead and go with me to Romans chapter six, we’re going to continue our study close looking through the book of Romans. And you picked a really good day to be in church, not just because it’s Sunday, but because we’re coming to one of the culminations of the truth we’ve been seeing in this entire peak of sanctification. So far, we looked at the peak in Romans of condemnation, then justification and now sanctification. So the title of this message is “The Will At War” part 2 (Romans 6:11-14). We did first part last week. Oh wait, it was two weeks ago. If you missed that one, go back and get a listen to that. You’ll want to have the foundation of that. But this is where the rubber, proverbially speaking, really meets the road, in terms of you growing in your sanctification, and you seeing the outworking of that with your body. So what have we covered so far? Well, we’ve been justified by grace, through faith, and what Jesus has done nothing of us and because we are in Him when you’re raised from the dead spiritually, your old nature, your sinful nature, in Adam, is crucified with Christ, buried with Him, your guilt is gone, and you are then born again, raised from the dead spiritually speaking. And in that we then have the responsibility to walk with God in a process called sanctification, and that process lasts until you see the Lord either at your death or at His second coming. So man, we describe man in three parts, spirit, soul and body. And salvation is in three parts, in fact, as well, isn’t it? Now it’s permanent in salvation of your spirit, that means the rest is guaranteed. But you were saved when you believe the gospel. That’s by grace, through faith. You’re being saved. That’s a process of growing to be more and more like Jesus Christ, and your end is already secured. Your body will be saved. So spirit, soul and body are all being dealt with progressively throughout your salvation, as we come into this end part of the statements here in Romans chapter six, what you have to remember is we’re dealing with the Bible, what the Bible calls the inner man, the inner person. And when we say your will is at war, your will is part of your soul. That is your mind, your will and your emotions, your thought life, your volition, your choosing and how you feel about things, which follows the first two. Okay, and so when we deal in things that we’re going to talk about today. We’re talking about things that are happening inside of your spirit, your inner person. Let me just show you this a couple places in Scripture. Okay, this is a bit of review, but we want to make sure we land it. Okay?
Romans 7:22 seven and verse 22 just dip into chapter seven ahead for a moment. Paul writes, “For I delight in the law of God in (my what?) my inner being.” What’s that talking about? It’s talking about your spirit. That’s what that’s referring to. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says it this way, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” So the outer self, that’s our natural body, right? Still contains the vestiges of sin. It still struggles. It will always decay, and eventually it will be buried. But our inward self is renewed day by day. That’s what we’re referring to. One more reference, Ephesians 3:16, the prayer here is that, “According to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit (where?) in your inner being.” That’s what we’re fundamentally looking at here. Okay, you have to have that correct focus. Otherwise, what you’ll think is, if you could just have enough physical self-control, somehow you’ll break patterns of sin, and somehow you’ll have a change of heart. Those things don’t work that way. When God changes you, He always does it from the inside out, not from the outside in. Religion hammers on the outside and says, if you get it right, then something will happen inside. Nothing is further from the truth. When God does His real work, He works on the inside and out the spirit and the heart and the soul, and then the body begins to walk in greater obedience.
So let’s start in Romans 6:11-14 chapter six, I’m gonna do 11 through 14. You’re gonna see 11, 12, and 13 are still in the imperative. They’re commands, and you’ll see what they are. But then when he comes to verse 14, we’re gonna land the plane there, and we’re gonna see what is a declaration. So you’re gonna see the “You Should” in verse 11, 12, and 13, but you’ll learn the “How to: in verse 14, he starts it this way. “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin (what is that? Yourselves? That’s your old nature) dead to the sin nature”. That “consider” is to take inventory, that’s to see God’s Word, what it says about you, and to believe it, to accept what it says about you, not what your parents said about you, perhaps not what the media says about you, not what Madison Avenue says about you, or your Facebook friends. Okay, no. What does God say about you? God says that in Christ, if you’re in Christ, you’re a believer, then you have been crucified with Christ, buried, your guilty is gone, and you’ve been raised to walk in newness of life. Now it’s what it’s talking about. You reckon yourself or “Consider yourself dead to sin, alive to God in Christ Jesus. (And then it goes into this), let not (so there’s the choice of the will, and you’ll see how we work that out here in a minute) let not sin.” That’s just individual sins that are still the vestiges in your physical being, your members, Paul calls it. “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passion.” Don’t yield to it, right? Verse 13, “And do not present your members.” See that? “Present”. That word means to stand beside in the Greek. It’s like a waiter, a really good waiter. If you’ve ever been to a fine restaurant with a waiter that pays you lots of attention, you know, like Applebee’s? Well, they’re there and they’re waiting. They’re presenting themselves. That’s what they’re doing. “Do not present your members”. Don’t be willing to be waiting on your members for instruments of unrighteousness. But there’s the word again. “Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for unrighteousness.” So people will tend to think, and this is somewhat true, that your will must make a choice between this and this. And that’s fundamentally true but there’s a spiritual component of it, listen, that empowers the will to do that. It’s from the innermost man, the inner man, that the will be submitted. And we’re going to see how to do that here in a moment.
So you just saw 11, 12, and 13, and those are “You Shoulds”. And by the way, you should because the Bible says to these are commands. We’re told to do these things. Now, how many of you know if you know what you should do, but you don’t know how to it’s frustration, and I just described to you most Christians’ lives because they’re told, don’t do that, do this, don’t do that, do this. Some churches, that’s what they major on, instead of providing the how to how does it work out this way? The key to it, if you will, is actually in verse 14, where Paul goes from an admonition of the imperative into what? A declaration. He says this, “For sin will have no dominion over you.” Now you might read that and say, “Well, seems like it does. Seems like it does.” Well, if you let it, it will. If you let it. “Sin will have no dominion over you (here’s why?) since you are not under law, but you are under grace.” Now, why is that distinction so important? Well, let’s clear a couple things up. Number one, what does the law do? What does the law do? It shows you your sin. The law shows you how wrong you are. Shows you your need. It actually makes you see your sin closer and clearer than you ever would without it. And then, what does it do? Does it help you fix it? No. It condemns you for it. It tells you you deserve death and hell in that order. That’s what the law does. And the law is good and right and holy. It’s from God, but it was never intended to save anyone, and never has saved anyone. You could never keep it, nor could anyone else, except for one man, the god man who lived 33 years of perfect law, keeping no broken law through omission or commission, and then He laid down His life substitution for you and me, for all who would be called and drawn by the Spirit and would be given the gift of faith. That is what under the law is, you’re not under the law, and if you are, you’re constantly failing. I’m just letting you know that. So Christians tend to think this way, in the natural, they think, “Well, I’m gonna read more about what I should do and what I shouldn’t do, and by pressing on myself, I’ll make some right choices, and then I’ll start being more like Jesus.” I want to argue with you that that won’t work, that you might conform some of the outward, but you will not change the inward, and that’s what God’s really concerned with. “Sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace.”
So let’s talk about grace a few points. Here’s number one,
1. What Grace Is NOT
We got to know what grace is not, because some people think, when I say “grace”, you think something that it’s not and it’s not this.
Here’s the quote, it is not
“A License To Sin”
Okay, I should have put it’s not because it’s not that. Here, some of y’all take a picture of it. Look what they’re teaching in Sherman Bible, right? What does a license do? It allows you to do something legitimately, right? The cop pulls you over, and he says, right, “Let me see your license.” And you show the license, and that shows that you are ordinate. You’re obeying what’s ordinary, that you’ve been licensed to drive the car. Some people try to use the term grace to say, “Well, I have a license to sin.” And they’ll say things like this, oh, well, you know, “I’m under grace” as though that’s a solution. That’s not a solution, that’s the problem. That means that what you’re doing is in the face of the grace of God, and that’s called taking it in vain. We’ll get to that here in a minute. But I just want you to see this. In fact, Grace acts. Does the opposite of giving a license to sin. Let me show you this Titus chapter two. Look at 11 and 12. Titus 2:11-12, he says, “For the grace has appeared.” Right? Here it is the grace of God has appeared. Here it is in Christ Jesus, right? Right. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. “For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people.” That’s all without distinction, not all without exception, because, yes, it is available, but we know not everyone will be saved. But what this is saying is, if you’re going to be saved, it’s going to come through Jesus Christ to the Father. But I want you to just note this. Here’s the grace. It has appeared, and what does the grace do? Here’s what the grace does look, “Training us (training us to do what?) to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives.” That means Godward in the present age. Far from being a license for sin, it becomes the trainer, and you’ll see even the empowerer of you growing up into love, and that is growing in your sanctification. Because the more you love God, the more you’re going to obey Him, the more you love people, the more you’re going to serve them. You’re not going to wrong someone that you love. Does that make sense? So far, this is what grace is not.
So the question is, what is grace? Well, good question.
Here’s number two,
What Grace IS
We know what it’s not. It’s not a license to sin, because it trains us. So what grace is?
Well, here’s the best definition, probably you’re going to see it’s kind of a composite of all biblical truth from the 66 books of the Old and New Testament. Here’s the definition grace,
Grace: God’s unmerited empowering favor
In other words, that’s God giving you favor that you did not earn, and it causes you to be empowered spiritually. That’s what grace actually is. If you have to earn it, it’s not really grace. Now, there is a qualification for having that. We’ll get to that in the life of a Christian, and that’s where the key is going to unlock some people’s hearts here today, I guarantee it, changes will walk out of this room, people that have struggled with things for maybe even decades. You know me, I like to under promise and over deliver. You cannot over promise this. It’s absolutely revolutionary in the life of a Christian. This is what grace is. It’s not just God saying I’m gonna give you favor. It’s the fact that you could not earn it. You did not deserve it. And then it’s gonna empower you for something. And in this context, it’s going to empower you to live more and more like Jesus Christ, Ephesians 2:8, chapter two, verse eight, says, “For by grace, you’ve been saved through faith. This is not your own doing. (It’s the gift) It’s the gift of God.” Now theologians debate, well, is he talking about grace or is he talking about the faith? The answer is, yes. Absolutely! You get the faith by the grace of God. The grace comes first. He provides you the faith, you believe, and that’s how you’re saved. You can’t boast about it. No one can brag. “Well, you didn’t have faith, but I did, so I’m better than you.” Well, no, it’s a gift from God. And if you read the next verse. We didn’t put it up here. It’s verse nine in Ephesians two says “It’s not of works. Lest anyone would boast.” This is what grace actually is. Look how fast we’re going. I only have four points.
Here’s number three,
When Grace Is Given, Works Will Follow
This is not an if. This is a when, okay? When grace is given, works will follow. In other words, we don’t do works so that God will give us grace. That’s not how that works. If that was the case, you could brag about the grace you have be like, “Well, I have a lot of grace. Look how awesome I am.” No, it’s the other way around. If works produced grace, grace is what you would boast in it rather grace produces works. When grace is given, works will follow. Now I want you to keep this in mind. We’re in the context of Romans. Romans chapter 6 11, 12, 13, and 14, talking about you not walking under the reign and dominion of of sin in your life, not yielding your members to unrighteousness, but rather yielding them to God. In other words, practical application of your body, your spirit reigning over your soul and your soul telling your body what to do. That’s you walking more and more in love from the heart all the way out. So with that in mind when we say that when grace is given, works will follow. Let me prove it to you. I’m just gonna use a couple of places. Okay? 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, chapter 15 and this is verses nine and 10. The apostle Paul is talking about himself, okay? He’s talking about himself. And he says this, “For I am the least of the apostles.” Look at that. What is he saying? “I’m really am not that big a deal”, saying “I don’t really matter that much. It’s not like I really am anything.” In fact, “I’m unworthy to be called an apostle, (because here’s his resume) I persecuted the church of God.” Obviously, he’s not posting himself up as a big deal. He is an apostle, and he was called by Jesus, and he was anointed by the Holy Spirit to do what he did. But how do you think Paul sees himself? Just pause here. This is your first response, “Oh, Paul has a low self image. He needs to read that book.” What’s that old book? “I’m Okay, You’re Okay.” Nobody in that book’s okay. They should title it: “I’m Going To Hell. You’re Going To hell.” That’s where that book will send you. This is not about self image. This is truth. Truth is an accurate description of reality. If I tell you that this has four legs, it doesn’t matter what I feel like it should have, this has one leg. If I describe it differently, doesn’t change this. Nor should I try to guilt you into agreeing with me. You know what I’m referring to? Right? Truth is an accurate description of reality. Paul’s saying, “It’s not me. I’m not a big deal.” But what is? Oh, it’s the works that follow grace. Look at the next verse. Here’s what he says. “But by the grace, I am what I am, by the grace of God (by God’s unmerited empowering favor) in my spirit. That’s how “I am what I am but by God’s grace, I am what I am and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked (how hard you worked, Paul?) I worked harder than any of them.” Oh my gosh, Paul’s bragging, wow. His whole ego changed in just one verse. No, he says “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I (that sounds familiar? Galatians 2:20, well, Paul, if it wasn’t you, who was it?) it was the grace of God that is with me.” When grace comes in, grace produces works. Works will always follow. And when grace produces those works, that’s typically in the Bible called “fruit”, that’s the fruit. We would call it the fruit of the Spirit, if we were Galatians five. See it’s the fruit. It’s something that’s produced by something other than you. It’s not you going, “Look, I cleaned me up. Look, I labored for God’s glory. Look, I was faithful to my Savior.” No, no, no, no, no. The biblical way would be this. “Look, He cleaned me up. Look, He’s changing me to be like Him. Look, I’m being faithful to my Savior because of Him. Look, what He’s doing in me.” He gets the credit. We get the joy. And people start to finally realize these guys aren’t bragging about the things that they’re doing. They keep bragging about their Savior. What’s up with that? Well, because we’re dealing what’s called reality. Here at Sherman Bible, we like to have a good working relationship with reality. We got to put that on the website. People be like, “Hmm”, but it’s true. We want to call ourselves something we’re not, nor do we want to diminish something that that He is. He says, “It wasn’t me, it was the grace.” Do you think that applies to you and your sanctification? I tell you, it does. This means that you growing to be more and more like Jesus. It will be accomplished as grace is added more and more and more into your life, not as you figure out how to fix you by keeping the law.
It’s a key, guys, and if you were raised in a fundamentalist church, and you know what it is, fundamentalist church, how does it go fun-da-mental? No fun. Too much damn. And not enough mental That’s right, and it’s like we’lll beat you every week so you can stay, you know, godly. It doesn’t work that way. God does a change in heart, and you start living out of joy, Old and New Testament, grace is required for things that are impossible otherwise. Let me give you two examples. First is in Zechariah 4:6 chapter four, this was the completion of the temple, by the way, which was a big deal, impossible in the natural. Zechariah gets a word. Verse six says, “Then he (that’s God) said to me (that’s Zechariah), ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel (the man God was using as a governor to finish the temple).'” Okay, now you’ve heard probably this verse. You’ve probably heard it quoted wrong, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.'” Now, can I just point something out? “Not by might”, what would that be? That would be human ability. “Nor by power.” What power is referring to? Human ability, either of the soul or of the body. “But by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” Anybody want to guess how the Spirit does that? Is it possible it’s by grace? Yes, it is. How do I know? Because I cheat and read ahead. Here’s the next verse, “‘Who are you? Oh, great mountain?'” This is a metaphor. “Who are you, O barrier? Who are you, impossible thing?” Some of you can think about the mountain in your life. This metaphor applies. It really will. “‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plain (a complete reversal, how?) and he shall bring forth (that’s Zerubbabel) he shall bring forth the top stone.” (Now that’s opposite the cornerstone. The cornerstone is laid first, then the foundation, then the edifice, and then the capstone goes on the top. That meaning that it’s been done. He’ll “Bring forth the top stone amid shouts of (‘We did it! We’re awesome!’) ‘Grace, grace.'” Why? Because grace is God’s unearned, empowering favor, and that’s how they accomplish those things that are impossible. Otherwise, in the Old Testament.
It’s the same in the New and it’s the same is true with you. Let me show you one example in the New Testament, you can just imagine how society would look if we even tried to do this. This is the church is just birthed, right? In Acts chapter Two. Here’s Acts chapter four, remember, there’s a lot of people from all kinds of different countries that were there at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was poured out. And those guys, people stayed in Jerusalem, and they had no jobs, they had no money, and they had to be supported elsewhere. Verse 33 says, “And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. (And look at this) And great grace was upon them all.” That’s upon the church. And how do we know it was “great grace”? Because the thing that they’re doing in their lives, if we tried it just with this small crowd, and by the way, there were 1000s of them, I hope you know this in the early church, and in the church that they planted, they were quite large. There’s no way you can personally know everybody just didn’t work that way. But imagine if we thought this was prescriptive when we tried to do this. Look at verse 34, “There was not a needy person among them (that’s among the people in the church. They weren’t feeding and serving and supporting the community. They were taking care of covenant members there) there was not an needy person among them. For as many were owners of lands or houses. (What did they do?) They sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. And then they in (verse 35) and it laid it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” Can you imagine us trying that? What if we got the elders up here like “You guys, go home, sell your house and bring the money, and then we’re gonna have one Sunday. We’re gonna put it all up there.” Now, if this is your first Sunday here, we don’t do that. Okay, breathe, man. No, listen, why am I pointing this out? Because this was a specific, special instance in the church’s history, and great grace was there to accomplish something that normally wouldn’t be there. Listen to me, you can grace your way through anything, anything. You can grace your way through anything. God’s unmerited, empowering favor is enough for you and any of your family who are in Christ, and any congregation who is headed by Jesus Christ, to go through anything, anything! You think, “Oh, I have it, but I have these imaginations, and they’re fearful, and I see a future, and I get scared of these things. And how will God be enough there?” Listen, there is no grace in the hypothetical. There’s only grace for the right now, and I guarantee you, Christian, no matter what He leads you into, He will give you the grace to bring you through it. I take real exception with this statement, and maybe some of you have heard it. It goes something like this, “God will never allow you to face anything that you can’t handle.” God will always allow you to face things you can’t handle! He’ll never allow you to face something that He can’t handle. That’s what grace is. That’s Him doing that despite the circumstances.
I’ll give you another example. Here’s 2 Timothy 2:1 & 3 chapter two. Look at one and three. Paul writes to Timothy, by the way, he’s a senior pastor the congregation there at Ephesus, there’s around 20,000 in attendance, huge congregation there. You can imagine he took some heat for that. He says, “‘You, then my child, (be what?) be strengthened by the grace. (Be strengthened by the grace) that is in Christ Jesus.'” Grace strengthens you. Where? Does it strengthen your body? No. Does it strengthen you in your soul? Oh, down line of your spirit, it does. But grace is God’s unmerited empowering favor in your inner man, in the spirit of who you are, raised from the dead, that divine nature implanted in you through the imperishable Word of God. That’s where grace functions. He says, “Be strengthened by it”. Why does he need to hear that? Well, skip a verse and look at verse three. “(Share in what?) Share in sufferings, (Timothy) as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” He doesn’t just tell him, “Hey, be a good soldier. You’re going to have some sufferings.” He says, this, “Be strengthened by grace”. I can tell you this, whatever you’re going to suffer the days, weeks, months and decades ahead. Who knows where the world’s actually headed? It’s going to get better before it gets worse. By the way, it’s going to get worse. I’ve said that wrong. “Oh my gosh, he’s an amillennialist.” Just kidding. Some of you don’t get that. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Read the end of the book, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. But God’s people will always have enough grace. God will never abandon them and not give them grace to share in the sufferings if they’re strengthened by grace.
Here’s 2 Corinthians 9:8, chapter nine, verse eight, you tell me if grace is sufficient. You tell me if there’s grace, no matter what comes. Paul writes this, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency, (everything you need), (what situations?) in all things, (yeah, but what about?) at all times you may abound in every good (what?) work. “Every good work”, there’s grace for it. Guys, this includes the grace of sanctification, for you to put off the sin, even the one that easily besets you, and for you to take up the things that God wants you to walk in, in righteousness and truth and holy living. And this is a fruit. Guys, it’s not a factory. You can’t go to work on you. He has to do it. He started it. He’s working it. You have to yet cooperate with Him, but He’s the one that gives the grace. And when grace comes in, always works follow.
How many of you have ever seen that stupid Red Bull commercial where the guy gets wings, like, what’s the campaign? “Red Bull gives you wings”, and then inevitably, the little cartoon character does something stupid, right, like flies over a mountain or jumps a helicopter or the dirt bike. No, nobody. Thank you. I’m just going to point number three is for you. Is that a Red Bull? That would be awesome. So I’d be like, let’s see you fly. I know this is a stretch, guys, it’s what grace is like. It’s what grace is like. When the grace of God comes into your life, you are able to do the things you couldn’t and, oops, wouldn’t based upon your will normally ever do. It is the catalyst by which love is released toward God and man, and love fulfills the law and the highest level of sanctification according to 2 Peter 1:5-8, chapter one, right, verses five through eight, love is the pinnacle of maturing in Christ. Grace gives you those wings. There’s a poet. I don’t know the poet that wrote this. Some attribute it to Bunyan? I don’t think so. So well, I’ll attribute this to Jeff Wideman. Think about these words, “Do this and live. The law commands, but it gives me neither feet nor hands. A better word, the Gospel brings it bids me fly and gives me wings.” That’s grace, baby. That’s grace. That is the unmerited, empowering favor of God inside of the believer to take on whatever comes, including the walk of their sanctification. Now will it yield perfect, sinless, righteousness and sanctification in this lifetime? No, it will not, but it is going to be the catalyst whereby you will grow, and you will become more and more like Jesus.
Philippians 4:12-13 chapter four, look at verses 12 and 13. Here’s a good context for us. Rather than just quoting verse 13, which I like to call the football player verse, you’ll see why Paul says this. “I know how to be brought low (that’s things going not too good. Oh,) I know how to abound. (By the way, neither one is more spiritual than the other), and in any and every circumstance, (you can almost underline the whole verse) I have learned (what does he say?) I’ve learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. (What’s the secret, Paul? Verse 13) I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” What does he mean? “Strengthens me? “Strengthens me”, how? By grace. “Strengthened by the grace”, same thing he told Timothy, listen, you can too. This is not talking about scoring touchdowns. This is talking about living for God’s glory and becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. You say, “I just don’t think I can do it.” But let’s agree with it, you can’t without God’s grace. It’s God’s grace that will enable it. This is so fundamental and so often missed.
So it brings us to the last point, which is a question.
Here it is, hopefully you’re asking it,
How Do I Grow In Grace?
How do I grow in grace? Now you don’t grow in the grace of salvation per se, because you’re saved once, it’s one and it’s done, but you grow in the grace that you receive from God on a regular basis. It’s unearned but it’s empowering, because it’s His favor on your life, and the more of it you’re receiving that. That’s the same as saying, it’s synonymous with saying, you’re growing in grace. You’re walking in it more often. You’re pleading with Him for it. You’re receiving His grace. How do I grow in grace? Good question.
Are we supposed to? Well, 2 Peter 3:18 says it this way, “But (what?) but grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” We’re to grow in grace. Because if we’re growing in grace, we are becoming empowered in our inner man to do what? To rule over our soul, and thus have self-control of our outer man. This is literally how it works.
This is why Paul was talking about that in Romans 6:14. He’s saying, here’s why you’ll be able to do that, because you’re no longer under law, but under grace. So here’s the thing, people generally read this and they misunderstand it, and then when it comes to their sanctification, they want to, let’s call it this, they want to turn up the law. We’ll turn up the law. Let’s really start hammering ourselves on how bad we are. Now we need to realize that for salvation and that our dependence is upon Christ, absolutely, we’ve got to realize that. But when the law shows us how broken we are, it does that to bring us to the Savior, not to leave us where we are. So you’re not going to become more and more like Jesus Christ by turning up the law, you’re going to become more and more like Jesus Christ by receiving more grace, more and more grace by growing more and more into it. This is what Romans 5:20-21 we covered this months ago is talking about “Now the law came to increase the trespass.” Look at that. Law shows up, which is good and holy, and it’s right, and we love the law, yes, but the law doesn’t help you, does it? The law just shows you that you’re hopeless. It’s kind of like a mirror. It shows you’re ugly, but it won’t help you fix your hair. “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin (look) as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” That’s what Paul’s talking about in Romans 6:14, we saw this. Let’s see it again, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you’re not under law, but you’re under grace.” You are under the reign of God’s unmerited empowering favor, and it is creating in you the will and the to do of God’s good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 says, right? This is what it’s always talking about, is grace working in your life.
And so, when we come to the will, finally getting to the point, right? When we come to the your will being at war. Your will is not at war over: will you do this or not do that? I’m trying to say this right. Your will is not at war over you’ll continue in sin there, or whether you’ll choose righteousness. Your will is not at war over these details of a besetting sin, or whether or not you’ll be nice or – Your will is at war over whether you will be under grace or under law. And for you to be under more grace, growing in grace, you have to know how you get more. Where do we get more grace? Here’s how we get more grace, I’m just going to just going to give it to you. We humble ourselves. That’s it. That’s it. Again you don’t earn the grace but you qualify for it. We’d say it that way because God does not give grace to people that are prideful. And when someone says, “I want to be more like Jesus, and I’m going to get out there, and I’m going to fix myself up, and I’m gonna stop doing this, and I’m gonna start doing that, and, boy, when I’m done, people are gonna look at me and they’re gonna be like, Whoa, look at how great he is, or, Oh, she’s so godly.” And you’re gonna be like, “Yes, I am. Oh, all glory to God. But I did it, right?” John 15:5, Jesus says it this way, “I am the vine. You’re the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much. (What fruit? That’s looking like Christ. That’s the fruit of the Spirit) For apart from me (That’s autonomous, that’s prideful, that’s independent) you can do (what you can do?) nothing.” Nothing of any God glorifying value. So does that mean? Means we’re hopeless. We’ve got to have God’s grace. We have to be abiding in Him. How do we get it? Again, it’s humility. God requires us. He has a very specific attitude toward the humble.
Now again, what is a humble person? A humble person is simply this, it’s somebody who’s willing to be known for who they really are. That’s what true humility actually is. Actually is no pretense. This is me. These are my issues. These are my shortcomings. This is me, right? Instead of the pretending and pretense of this is somebody else. And when someone’s truly humble, God’s grace comes upon them, Old and New Testament.
Here’s a couple from the Old Testament, a couple of verses I want to show you. Isaiah 57:15, “For thus says the one who is high and lifted up (that’s God) who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who’s of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'” Those words are synonymous with being humble. That’s someone who’s bowed down. That’s someone who is in need. That’s someone who has quit trusting in themself and is looking to God for help. This principle is what applies to your sanctification. To be more like Jesus. You need to be more with Jesus. You need to be more dependent upon Jesus. You need to be put more humble toward Jesus. “God. I need You. I need Your Spirit. I need Your work. I can’t stop this. I can’t quit this. I can’t start that. I don’t measure up. Help me, Lord, it’s so much I need. I am in need of you.” Grace. Here’s another place. This is Isaiah 66:1-2, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. What is the house you would build for me? (How would you impress Me, God’s saying) and what is the place of my rest? All these things, all creation my hand has made so all these things came to be,’ declares the Lord. (Watch closely.) ‘But this is the one to whom I will look, he who is humble and contrite in spirit, how do you identify someone who’s humble and contrite in spirit?'” They tremble at God’s Word. That’s who. When we get the diagnosis of who we are in Christ, we account it that way. We reckon it that way. King James says, right? From back in verse 11 of Romans chapter six. We say, “God, this is what You call me. But I see this contradiction in my behavior and in my thoughts and in my way of reasoning and my will is torn. But today, Lord, right now, I’m going to do this. I’m going to submit my will to You by saying this. Oh, I need You. Oh, help me. Oh, I’m hopeless without You. I can’t do this myself.” Right there. He’s near. He dwells with that kind of person.
This is common throughout the scriptures, James 4:6-7, chapter four, look at six through seven. Put both verses on one slide here for you. Bible says this, “But he, (that’s God?) he gives (what?) he gives more grace. (How does He give more grace? Therefore, it says) God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” And then it goes on, and it says, this, “Submit yourself, therefore to God, (this would be humbling yourself right here) resist the devil, and he’ll flee from you.” Listen, if it would allow you to resist the devil, don’t you think that would work in your will against your own sinful tendencies. The answer is yes, it would, and it does. And, by the way, let me just say it this way. It’s the only way that does work. All your outward restraints are temporary. They can’t change the heart. God always works from the inside out, not from the outside in, and there again. This is how He does it, and He does it with someone who confesses that they have a need.
Paul, the apostle himself, had to face this. Look at 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. This is the apostle Paul, by the way, arguably more spiritual than your average duck. “So to keep me from becoming conceited (what? Paul struggling with pride. I mean, yeah, he had a lot of Revelation. He could have been spiritually prideful. He says) so to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation, a thorn was given me in the flesh. )He suffered from something physically, personally in my study. I believe it had to do with his eyes. I think his eyes got burned when he saw Jesus, and he suffered with that malady. That’s why he didn’t write his own letters) because of the greatness of Revelation, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to keep me from becoming conceited.” So what’s Paul going to do? Well, he’s going to go to God, he’s going to pray. He’s going to say, would you take this away? Verse eight, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this that it should leave me, but he said to me (verse nine, here’s Jesus talking). ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect (where?) in weakness’, Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may (what?) rest upon me.” Does that sound familiar? Yes, He’s talking about His grace. His grace is sufficient for anything, all things, no matter where, no matter what, no matter when, there’s grace for that moment, there’s grace for you, if you are in Christ, this is what you need. Bible is very, very clear. 1 Peter 5:5, chapter five, verse five says it this way, “Likewise you, who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with (what?) humility toward one another. For God opposes the proud, but he gives (what?) he gives grace to the humble.” If you were to read the next verse, it says, it says, “Humble yourself, therefore into the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time.” I just want you to notice this. The Bible tells you to “humble yourself”. Please. Look, let pastor help you, please. If you’re new in Christ, don’t ask God to humble you. You don’t want to pray that prayer, don’t pray that prayer. No, no, please don’t pray that prayer, because He can do it. You are to humble yourself. That means you are making the choice. That means your will, no matter what thing you’re thinking about in your struggle and sanctification, your will only has two choices. There’s only two. It is, will you humble yourself before God, or will you stand up and say, “I’ve got this”? That’s it. It’s not the battle over the individual sin. It’s not the battle over the individual choice. It’s the battle of the will. To say, what? “Okay, I’m going to submit myself to You. I humble myself before You, Holy Spirit, help me. Jesus, help me. You’re my intercessor, and You are the vine, and I’m the branches, and I just can’t have victory here. So I’m submitting my will to You. Lord, work in me What’s pleasing in Your sight. Give me the will and the to do of Your good pleasure.” That’s when grace comes in, and that’s how the works begin. That’s how you grow in it. You humble yourself. It’s simply a statement of the truth. You’re never gonna humble yourself before God. And God’s gonna go, Oh, come on, you’re good enough, you’re smart enough, you’re wise enough. And doggone it, people like you, some of y’all know about that.
One more time, Romans 6:14, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you’re not under the law, but you’re under grace.” The War of the Will is, in fact, won by grace, and you need more of it. And acting like you’re somebody you’re not before God, before man, is not the way to truly become more like Jesus. It’s by being honest, tell the truth, boast in your weaknesses, find people you trust. You can confess your sins, to have them pray for you, humble yourself, be known for who you really are. And God does what? The Bible is, very clear, and He’ll lift you up. And that doesn’t mean it’ll change circumstances necessarily, but it’ll cause all grace to abound to you, and you’ll have a sufficiency in all things, and at all times, you’ll have an abundance for every good work. This is the way we win the war of our will.
KEYWORDS
Sanctification, Grace, Jesus, Gospel, Inner Man, Inner Being, Outer Self, Will At War, Romans, Justification, Condemnation, Spirit, Soul, Mind, Will, Emotions, Body, Law, Sin, Pride, Humble, Humility, Grace, Unmerited, Empowering, Favor, Truth, Cornerstone, Top Stone, Consider, Inventory, Present, Waiter, Members, A License To Sin, Fruit, Grow, Imperative, Indicative, Declaration, Red Bull, Online Sermon, Grayson County
SPEAKER
Steve LeBlanc