Which Side of the Cross - Lesson 7
Mike Doyle · Apr 9, 2017
Which Side of the Cross, No. 14
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926553253229

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

So we are in Lesson 7. Everybody got a 7? Are you listening? Hard question coming up. Is the following statement true? It's like a quiz show around here, right? Quote, If I did not die with Christ on the cross, I cannot be living in him, raised from the dead, but I'm still back in the old Adam in which I was born. True statement or not? Do I have to read it again? It takes a while for these people to kind of get, you know. It's either true or it should be true. It's not a trick question. If I did not die with Christ, let's say that didn't happen on the cross, I can't be living in Him, raised from the dead, but I'm still back in the old Adam in which I was born. True or false? Truth statement. Why is it true?

I didn't die on the cross. With him. If he didn't die on the cross with him? I didn't. You didn't. But he did. Oh, I'm thankful for that. So you're saying the statement's false? No, I think the statement is true. Right. Okay. No, you have to expand the why. Why is that statement true? What makes it true? The Lord said so. Simple answer, the Lord said so. So I've got a great paragraph, I don't know where I stole it from, but I stole it from somebody. It wasn't Courtney, I think. This is a really cool paragraph. Perhaps no more difficult task.

No task requiring such constant visual attention is assigned by God to the believer. It is a stupendous thing. this matter of taking note of and keeping in mind what goes so completely against consciousness that our old man was crucified. These words are addressed to faith and faith only.

Christ died once, once for all, unto sin. He's not dying continually. I am told to reckon myself dead in that in that death of Christ. I am therefore not told to do my own dying to sin, self, and the world, but on the contrary to reckon by simple faith that in his death I died, and to be conformed unto his death. I like the part that says that no more difficult task, no task requiring such constant vigil attention, assigned to us by God, than believing that we died with Christ, were buried and resurrected.

There's nothing in our experience that would even hint that that is true. Nothing. The only way we know it's true is because God said it in His Word. Yet it is such an important statement for every believer And so few believers even know that this is true. I don't know how you... I guess you read places in Paul's epistles where he talks about this. You must just jump over him because you think, well, that's complicated. I don't think I know what that's about, so we'll just move on.

But God has assigned to us the task of believing that fact. So that's why it's critical, I think, to recognize that if the statement isn't true, what's the consequence? The consequence is that I'm still in the old Adam and I'm still tied to everything that is condemned by God. So you don't get to ride in a yellow line with this kind of a statement.

It's either true or it's not true. And my reaction to it is based on whether I believe him or not. It has nothing to do initially with experience. Nothing. Is God telling me the truth or is he not? You understand where I'm driving with this question?

I think it's critical for us as believers because the facts of the word of God about our identity with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection are all over the place in Paul's epistles. And they're in John. and referred to in Peter, yet, you know, when's the last time you had a talk about being crucified with Christ with another believer?

Last week. Actually, I was thinking of this, and the importance of it. Actually, it's a great term for these, but the pusher on the drawer, the tool pusher. Yeah, we had a great discussion about He's talking to me, we've talked before about how he accepted the Lord years ago, but he lost it and he's into this and that.

And we went through, actually I went through for an hour sitting at three in the morning talking about it didn't matter if the transaction was completed. I went through, it's done, you're dead. You can't go back. There is no reversing. You may not know the fact, but you were co-crucified.

I went through Romans with him, and a bunch of different things, and Galatians 2.20, and 2 Corinthians 5.17, and went through a bunch of these. if the transaction was true, he can't go back. And the importance of that, that he thought, well, you know, my salvation is gone, and this is a critical thing for, I think, for security and salvation. And that you can't go back once you're dead, you're dead. And he kind of went through a lot of this and how important this is.

And it is true that we have been removed and placed into Christ and what that means. I agree with you, and I think that, not that I get a lot of calls, but I get calls occasionally about believers dealing with a sin issue in their life, and it comes down to this answer every time. Every time it comes down to, well, I'm sinning, I'm doing this, why can't I stop? And the whole focus is, my experience and what I'm doing, rather than what God says your position is in Christ.

And it's hugely different, you know? When we were looking at Romans 6, 1 and 2, he says, well, how can you sin any longer when you died to sin? I mean, the logic is impeccable. If you're dead, you're dead. If you're separated, you're separated. It's either true or it's not. And really, when you look at God and say, well, I see what you're saying, but my experience is, I'm not dead. What are you doing? You're spitting in God's face, telling him you're full of it. Isn't that what you're doing? You're not taking him at his word.

So the principle alone, to take God at his word, is critical for a believer. If the Lord would use you to lead somebody to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus and they're saved, if you understand that they're coming by grace alone and that the Spirit of God is doing the work and that salvation is all of God, then when you have a discussion with somebody who said, well, I went off the bridge ten years ago. How could God accept me now? Well, he doesn't accept you based on anything you did or didn't do or are going to do or are not going to do.

He accepts you solely on the fact of what he already did in Christ. But that was exactly what can I do, what works, the things he's tried to do, it was all work space. And that was exactly where he was at. I've tried this, I've done that, I'm this, and he can't accept me. It comes back to grace and the ultimate thing is just believe what he said. And it's not what you're doing. It's not all your efforts. It's not all that. Just believe what's true about you.

And it was a classic case, where you're off the bridge and now what do I need to do? And all the failures and all the this and that and the frustrations. And he was coming to me with, you know, I'm so frustrated. I've done all these things. What can I do?

And it's like, well, just believe him and hear. And I went through a whole bunch of scriptures with him. I just believe it's not the works, it's not the efforts, it's just faith in what He's told you. Doesn't it seem that that's the hardest thing to do? Oh, oh. You agree with that? Yeah. Just to take God at His word? Because your mind is fighting against what God says is so, your experiences are... It seems like the entire environment that I live in is designed to accomplish one fact, to prove God wrong.

It's interesting, things don't ever change. When Eve took a bite out of the fruit in the garden, what happened was that Satan lied to her and she bought the lie because the experience of looking at the fruit became more important than what God told her. It's the same with us. Satan's song and dance never changes. It's always the same principle.

God lied to you. You didn't die. You weren't crucified with his son. That didn't happen. It's just some sort of theology that somebody's laid on you and how can you possibly believe that when when sin is raging all around you and in you. Okay. Question two. Verse six of Romans chapter six, that the body of sin might be destroyed.

Everybody got Romans 6.6 in front of them? That the body of sin might be destroyed. What does destroyed or do away with mean? The Greek word is kaptargeho. What does it mean? We talked about this last week, to put out of business. So think about the mechanics of what God is doing.

What does the body of sin refer to? Unredeemed bodies? I think that's right. The body of sin can be our unredeemed bodies. It can also be your unredeemed sin nature. It can also be the whole What's the word I'm looking for? The whole entire thing of sin. My body, my sin nature, the whole principle of sin might be put out of, you might be separated from, positionally, from the rule of sin in your life.

It's kind of like a body. It's striking me, a body of work. The body of this, the body of that. So the body of sin seems to be this whole entity of sin. Yeah, I mean the entire atmosphere of sin I have been separated from. It's like it's bigger than my own experience. Yes it is. Yes it is. And so the cross not only is an objective principle that God put into play. It's also a conditional understanding that I am to rely on what he's telling me by faith and by relying on that there's incredible benefits to the believer. Incredible benefits to the believer. I've been a salesman all my life and you learn certain techniques when you're a salesman. And one of the things that you learn is that as a salesman you need to learn the knowledge of your product. You need to know what it does.

And it has all these features. And most salesmen you run into are feature presenters. They'll tell you what the features are. The really good salesmen will translate that feature into a benefit to you. You understand the difference? So you listen to preachers and preachers do the same thing. Are they feature presenters? Or do they take those features and those facts and do they make them real to you?

What's the benefit to you? So the Lord is very careful right here when He says that the body of sin might be annulled. That's more than a feature. That's a benefit to me as the believer. That sin nature that dogs me and my body that wants to sin and the whole environment of sin might be put out of business. Is that a benefit to me? It's huge. It's a huge benefit to me.

So I can stand up here and talk about, here's what it says, but if it isn't translated into, well, you know, if your mind works like my mind, when somebody's telling me something quietly in the back of my head, it's going, well, so what? Well, so what? So what's the big deal? What does that have to do with me? This is what it has to do with me. It has to do with the body of sin that has controlled me all my life. It might be totally put out of business. Not going to go anywhere, but it's going to be out of business. The door is going to be closed. There's going to be a sign on the door of sin. Out of business.

And I operate based on faith and the facts. It's interesting how God does that, especially Paul's epistles. He gives you the facts, and then he tells you the benefit from the facts. And then after that he says, now I want you to believe not only the fact, but that it's a benefit to you, personally to you. Because think about it, if you're going to God complaining about sin, what have you done? You don't believe him. And you don't believe it's a benefit to you. Does that make sense?

Since our old man was crucified with Christ, all the rights of sin are gone. Sin will try to convince you it still has rights over you, but it doesn't. And the indwelling Holy Spirit can annul the body of sin, thus delivering us from sin's bondage. Well, even before we're delivered from sin's bondage, we must learn and believe that we were in bondage to sin.

Your buddy is now learning, sin is controlling me, I'm not controlling it. And that's a huge thing to learn as a growing believer. It controls me. And I'm real smart and on top of things and a really bright guy with a lot of talent and I can do this. I'm controlling sin in my life? No way. No way. The biggest lie in the world is that you've got free will. And with that free will you control your destiny. Really? Try to stop sinning on your own will. See how that works out for you. I'm serious about that.

It takes a while for the Spirit of God to teach us we need a deliverer. We've been delivered, but we need the deliverer. wrote to Courtney's friend and probably everyone in the room, I think the tricky part is when Paul says, shall we sin that grace may fail?

May it never be. But since sometimes it is, and never as it seems to be working, and my body is dead, it's been put away, but are you really? Like everybody's going, really? This Bible says it's been put away. And we all still have problems. So his friend says, he says, and that should never be, but I'm still stumbling. Well, explaining two natures, you still have two natures. And the will is, you know, he said, we talked about will, and it's like your will is used to believe. Do you believe what is true or not? It's not the efforts, it's not that. It's do you believe what he says is true in the scripture?

And that's where you're, you know, I said you still have a sin in nature. I mean, I sin, I still do. But it's my choice to believe who I am in Christ or not and believe what he says is true in me. When I went through being a first down one nine, what that really means is I'm not acting like who I am in Christ, who He says I am in Christ. I am not acting that way because I'm not believing Him and listening to the sinful nature. And I'm not believing who He says I am, and who I am conformed to. And so it's really the will, it's not to fight or to do anything, it's to believe. That's right. That's what it's for. So, moving on, question 3.

In verse 7, what does being freed or justified from sin mean? Somebody read verse 7. For he who has died is freed from sin. So what does that word, freed, I think the King James uses the word justified from sin. So let's set this up a little bit. When Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins, was there a freeing up there? What were you freed from in that aspect of the cross? Penalty and the guilt. So that's good. Those are two benefits, right? Two benefits. But then he says, I'm freed from or justified from the thing sin itself. What does that mean?

Let me give you an example. I think I read this in the Brethren place one time. In Scotland there was a criminal who got the death penalty. And on Tuesday morning they executed him. And the paper said, this morning Joe Blow was justified. What did they mean by that? He was freed. Yes he was. Yes he was.

So what does it mean to be freed? The word freed from sin, or justified from sin. The sin. My sin nature, like Courtney is pointing out, is still alive and active and rocking and rolling inside of me, but I as the person am now freed from it. Freed from it. I can say that when When I die, I'm going to be freed from here. Permanently. Am I permanently freed from sin? Again, how do I know that? Only because he tells me. I don't have any experience. As a matter of fact, my experience will go totally against that whole entire concept.

Don't you find that true? I do. I find it true all the time. And so it stops being something like, well, I sinned again and becomes more and more like, well, that doesn't make any sense. Why am I doing that? It makes no sense. It's not who I am. Spiritual sense. You see that?

That's been a very difficult thing for me to really... beginning to get it. That I'm really freed from sin. That I don't have to say, oh no, I blew it again. I can't tell you how great that is. I think any believer who's coming down that road has that same response. Oh wow, this is amazing. You're like me, I grew up a Catholic. My parents sent me to Catholic schools all the way through.

And so I went on retreats and all that kind of stuff. What I began to discover as I got older was like I'd go to, when I was at Regis University, we'd go to a retreat every year out in Sedalia. They had this big expensive retreat house out there. And I couldn't make it from there back to the dorm without stopping off and having a beer. hanging out with the guys, right?

And being stupid. And pretty soon I began to think, well, I just can't, how am I ever going to stop? Not that I was having problems with alcohol, I wasn't, but I was having trouble with, gee, I really like this sinning thing, why don't I keep doing it? Because I certainly can't do the Catholic thing. I like this sinning thing, it's fun.

So I took a pass on the Lord. I told him one day in college, I said, you know what? You're going to have to catch up with me later. I'm busy. And so when I became a Christian, that thought didn't enter my mind. But when I was introduced to identification truths, it was the first time in my life that I thought, wow, God did put something in place that is going to allow me, by faith, to sin less and not First time. I thought, wow, this is pretty cool. When I'm coming back from the retreat house, I'll just go right by that bar like it isn't even there. And that poem, The Hound of Heaven, let it down the nights and down the days. That's all I remember. That's so true. Yeah, it is. So what is a believer's relationship to sin? Like Wanda, what's her relationship to sin? Courtney, what's his relationship to sin? Lavin, what's his relationship to sin? What is it? It's dead. What's dead?

My relationship. Actually, yeah, that's right. That's a good way to put it. We don't have a relationship to sin from a positional standpoint. We don't have a relationship to sin. That's the logic. That's the benefit. If Christ is dead to sin, guess who else is dead to sin? Moi. So, we now, we like to talk about, well I have a relationship with Christ in terms of my death, burial and resurrection. I also have another relationship. What's his relationship to sin? He doesn't have one. What's my relationship to sin? I don't have one.

I was just going to clarify that. Definitely from a positional standpoint, we talk about power and the penalty and the presence of sin. And so our relationship as it exists today is we're free, completely free from power and the penalty, but not the presence. And so if there is a relationship in any conditional sense, then it is that it's present. But it has no power and it has no penalty of separating you from God for eternity.

That's good. I want you to verify this. Look at verse 611. Somebody read 611. Simple statement. You consider yourself to be dead to sin and alive to God. Consider means to reckon. You reckon itself. Only because it's true he said it. Is the sin nature dead? No. And am I still kicking around? Yeah. But my identity with Christ has separated me positionally from sin now.

Think about what the Spirit of God is doing in a growing believer's life. What's he doing? He's implementing from a conditional standpoint what he's already done positionally. That's really what the game is. He's taking what's positionally true of you and implementing it in your life so that you will walk in what kind of life? Newness. And this newness of life doesn't have a problem with sin. And it's something that you can't do yourself. The Spirit of God has to enact and implement in you. But he's already got the game plan. He already knows what he's doing, what the steps are and where he's headed. He already knows that. He's just following what Christ already did. and that's positionally already true of us. So you wonder sometimes, well gee, I'm in this circumstance, I wonder why the Lord has numbness in my shoulder.

It's all part of this. It's all part of this. Every single thing is a part of this. To free us from the power of sin over us from a daily moment by moment walk. That's what he's doing. And it's all based on the position that we enjoy in Christ. He's not bringing anything new into the equation or allowing us to add anything. He's already done it all. And now he's working to get us to rest in what he's already finished.

So that it becomes the experience of my life. and the conforming to his image, the transforming, the renewing, all the things he's told us what he's doing. No, it's just the spiritual growth. That's what we're going through and that's the whole process of the conforming us to the image of Christ, the transforming, the renewing of our mind, all those things. That's the process he's taking us through.

And I go back to the all things. He uses all things. Blessings as well as trials as well as everything. So when anything is happening, I go back to the all things. All things. He's using it all. We may not understand it. I mean, we know what the process is, but we, you know, the method may be a little bit questionable, but we know what the process is.

He's conforming us to His image by using all things, blessings, trials, all. And that's where you get then the rest and the peace, understanding that He's using all those things to, and again, sovereignty and love. He's sovereignly in control, and He has an eternal love for us. Those things give us peace and rest. So next question, hard question.

Does being justified or freed from sin mean sinless perfection in the believer? Not yet. That's a great answer, not yet. It doesn't mean sinless perfection. It does mean, it's different in that it does not refer to an experience of deliverance from sin.

J.D. brought up the fact that this is a positional truth. To be freed from sin, where we are right now in Romans 6, is just, it refers to a position that we have and not an experience. systems of theology will try to use the term sanctification as an experiential method of arriving towards or growing towards sinless perfection.

And that's a total false concept because it puts you under a legal umbrella where you've got to be striving all the time. but we pass beyond in death with Christ at the cross the sphere where the former relationship to sin existed. That's a position. Did I, did you, pass beyond in death with Christ at the cross the entire sphere where the former relationship to sin existed?

Answer, yes I did. Now I may or may not experience that, but it's true of me and what does God want me to do about it? Easy answer. What does he want me to do about it? Just believe it. We are justified, we are counted holy righteous before God with respect to sin itself, from God's perspective. That's another thing. Part of the work of the Holy Spirit in causing us to grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus is to change the perspective from which we function. that we will begin to see ourselves from how he sees us and not from how we've always looked at ourselves. That's a different thing, isn't it? It's a newly established relationship to sin.

There wasn't that kind of relationship before, which the saints have because they died with Christ and which they stand in Christ as he is towards sin. We can't be seated in the heavenlies with Christ. unless we've already died to sin. If the only thing that Christ did on the cross was to pay for the penalty of my sins and the guilt, that's the only thing that happened. Do I have a right to be in the presence of a holy God if I accept by faith the fact that he died for me?

And you can't say no without explaining. Say why not? Why can't I be in the presence of a holy God as a forgiven sinner? Well, he's praying for us. Think about the question. Can I as a forgiven sinner walk in and enter into the very presence of a holy God?

You're in Christ then. Well you just changed the equation. It's because we also had to be separated and crucified from our own sin nature. And resurrected in Christ like Wanda is saying. From God's perspective, he looks at Wanda and he says you're not a sinner anymore. You're not a sinner. The problem with the I'm a forgiven sinner mentality is that I'm still a sinner. No you're not. Not in Christ you're not. Because you have to say well then Christ is a sinner. No he's not.

I was separated positionally from everything that had to do with sin. I'm recreated in Christ and now I have a standing in the presence of a holy God. I'm not a sinner. I'm a righteous man. I was just going to say, the way you asked the question, you said, can I as a forgiven sinner stand in the presence of the Holy God?

That's right. There's more to it than that. That's the point. That's the whole point. There has to be more to it because if that was all that happened, I don't have a right to be there. Right, you don't have the perfection. I don't. It's not in par with what God requires in His presence, right? That's right. That's exactly right. And all you've got to do is go all the way back to Romans chapter 1. You know what it says in there? It's really interesting.

He said that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven to all those unrighteousness, to those ungodly ones who practice unrighteousness. So what is he saying about human beings that are not saved? He's saying they are ungodly. He's not condemning the world because that they are okay but they sinned. In order to be righteous before a holy God, you have to be godly. So the wrath is against all those who are not godly. Does that make sense? So in order for me to get in, He's got to have a mechanical system in place where I can become godly in Christ. My standing is totally in Him. Am I godly standing there? If I've got His life, I do. I sure do.

You know, Mike, kind of a corollary that I find, and this goes back to some of my discussions with this guy, is that the fallacy of a lot of believers, or kind of the non-rational thinking is, I needed a Savior, God provided a Savior, and I'm saved. Now it's up to me to do the rest. And this is what he was going through. And it's like, no, it's the Holy Spirit's job. And what you are left to do is to believe. It's faith. We are supposed to fight the good fight of faith. And it's just believing what is true.

And it's the Holy Spirit convincing us and convicting us of what's true about us. And it's not our efforts. And I see him, he was like, what I got to do? And it's an insane thought that God was gracious enough to give us salvation, but now you're on your own.

But so many believers believe that. That's what they're taught. Or you're now empowered in the sinful body to maintain the law or to enact or do whatever. That's right. And so many people hit the wall and, why am I hitting the wall? But it still comes down to the Holy Spirit's job to convince us of these truths. And it's only our job is to believe. And the more you talk about that, I just had a thought go through my mind, the more you talk about that, you begin to think about, well, I wonder if that's true because here's the lie. Don't I have to do something? But that's the flesh. See, there's the lie. Do I have to do something? Answer, yes, I do. What is it? Believa. That's it.

The old relationship to sin is over forever. We are justified from it. We rejoice indeed in having a most blessed experience, but we do not say sin is gone from the flesh, but that they or us, having died, are declared righteous or separated from it, that we have been cleared. before God and all condemnation because of sin's presence in this unredeemed body and delivered from all sin's former rights and bondage over them." Sin does have, to the lost, rights over them. It controls them. So verse 8. Ready for this one? Somebody read verse 8.

What is the reason given for this assurance that we shall keep on sharing the risen life of Christ? Does that verse tell us that we can take for granted that we died with Christ? Just take it for granted? I need a yes. It does say that. It tells us it's a fact. But the point is it's such a fact I can take it for granted. Is it true? Yeah, I can take it for granted. I take for granted that I died, that my old man was crucified with Christ. Can I take that for granted? Sure. Why not? Is it not true? Is it true or isn't it true?

If I said to you, I live at 8704 East Monmouth Place in Denver, can I take that for granted? That's where I live. Have I been crucified with Christ? Can I take that for granted? Yeah, I can. It doesn't make me apathetic about it, but I can take it for granted. It's true of me.

So why does verse 8 say that we are to believe, we shall also be living with him? Why does it say that? Read the verse again. So why does it say this living thing? Why does it say that we believe that we shall also be living with him? It's that whole thing of, not only did you die from something, you died to something. So death leads to life, and death doesn't exist for its own purpose. It exists as a passage to life. And without life, you're dead. You're separated, but what are you separated to? Or what are you united to, is what the Scripture tells us. You're united with Christ. You know what the mentality of the world is?

I live on the yellow line in the middle of the highway and sometimes I go over here and sometimes I go over there. You never see that in the word of God. I'm either in hell or in heaven. Take your pick. That's just how you drive in the middle. Sometimes. Go left, go right. My life looks like that. But that's true, there is no yellow line, there is no sort of resting spot in the middle. It's either totally true of me that I'm in sin and lost and controlled, or I'm totally in Christ, righteous, free from sin. There's no in-between. I'll read a couple of the Brethren guys what they say.

F.B. Mayer, whoever has died with Christ is now also of the belief that his life, i.e., the positive, active side of his moral being and nature, shall be a fellowship of life with the exalted Christ, that is, shall be able to be nothing else than this." In other words, I have now nothing else but the life of Christ. That's what I got. Rotherham, if we jointly died with Christ, we believe that we shall also jointly live with him.

So when we talk about the identification death to sin on this side, we also have to have the resurrected side on this side. So what's that side about? I don't just sort of wander around inside of here thinking well sometimes I sin, sometimes I'm over here. I'm here. So what is that resurrected side? What is that life like? Who is that life? And that's after Romans 6, especially when you get to Romans 8, there's an extended discussion about what is life like on that side?

If we share the death of Christ, we believe that we also share his life. So you have to believe both, that I've been crucified with Christ, but I also am resurrected with him. I have newness of life. I am raised. I am in him, I am seated, I do have now the privilege to know him and behold his glory. All of that is true of me now. So, what assurance is given? Question 8, what assurance is given? Okay, we'll pick up at 8 next week. That's close. Thank you, Father, for your word. Thank you for how you have totally taken care of the entire sin issue for each one of us as believers, and that we would ask that we would continue to grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus, that we might be able to rest by faith in all that's true of us in Him. And we pray in His precious name, Amen.