TOPIC:‌“The Triumph Over Temptation”

                 by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap

 

TEXT:‌Romans 6:6

 

‌‌“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might

‌‌be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

 

‌Dr. John A. Broadus, great preacher of past years, is found asking this question in one of his sermons, “What has sin done for you?” He answered it by stating: “It has made you unhappy, filling you with craving, unsatisfied desires, it has made you captive, and bound you with chords you cannot bust, it has brought upon you the indignation and wrath of Almighty God, which you cannot expiate.” Then he asked the pointed question: “Is it not then a burden of which you would like to be relieved?” The answer, I believe, is in the affirmative.

 

‌Why? Because many of us have become slaves to sinful habits. We have been beaten down by failure. We have become addicted to things which might not be classified as immoral or illegal, but which at the same time are not genuinely Christian.

 

‌I wonder, Are you at “wits end” or “fed up” with this whole matter of defeat? Are you willing to wash your hands of this mess of failure by experiencing daily victory over sin and temptation? If so, listen to Paul the Apostle and what he has to say about sin's power and life's mastery over it. He cries out in verse 6: “Let us never forget that our old selves died with him on the Cross that the tyranny of sin over us might be broken” (Romans 6:6, Phillips).

 

I.

 

‌Suppose we begin by stripping down this chapter into its qualifying parts. The text, first of all, sets forth the COMPREHENSION which we must have in gaining the victory over temptation. Here in the chapter we find the beloved Apostle Paul using the word “know” some four times within a few verses. In verse 3: “Know ye not.” In verse 6: “Knowing this.” In verse 9: “Knowing that.” Again in verse 16: “Know ye not.” Paul is reminding the Christians at Rome that they must not be ignorant of a great fact. They need to grasp something. The question arises, What is it they need to know? It comes in two parts.

 

‌Here is the PRINCIPLE of their knowing. Let me state it in the simplest language. It is this: We died with Christ. It may be true that in Adam we are dead IN sin, but in Christ we are dead TO sin. Now we need to know this.

 

‌ . . .