5 August 2012

Topic: Having died to sin once and for all

Pastor Gabriel shared a testimony of a single parent who faced problems of rebellion. The problem worsen till her daughter moved out. She tried many methods but it did not work. She surrendered her kid to God and took communion with her kid till things improved and her daughter said she will move back.
Another testimony of another whose cancer marker constantly increased in the last 2 years. She was healed and her marker reduced to a safe level.

Pastor said, 2000 years old, Jesus died on the cross so that we will never have to suffer from sickness. He was naked on the cross so that you will be clothed with His grace and love. He gave you heaven's best.

Pastor shared the joy of moving in to the Star at the end of this year. Pastor pointed out that there was no miracle seed Sunday for 2 years now. Many of members kept asking when would be the next miracle seed Sunday. There will be a series of miracle seed Sundays in the next 3 weeks.

When the fishermen needed fishes, He did not bless them with a bungalow. He blessed them with fishes. He is a practical father. Since there is a miracle seed Sunday coming up, ask Him for directions on how much to give. Don't give if you are unsure. His part is the harvest and the fruits. Our part is just the seed. Sow the seed and He will not give you back a seed or a bigger seed growing. The seeds in the storehouse will never increase. Sow and expect His blessings. Waters that flow or rains is called living waters. No matter how little you have, just let it flow. The more you let it flow, the more it comes out. In the context of breast feeding, it stops and dries up when you stop feeding. God's creation is such that the more you flow, the more you have.

What does it mean to be dead to sin?

Romans 5:20-21
Verse 20: Put this verse in your heart: The law entered so that the offense might abound.
Many believe that the law entered so that holiness abound. Word for word in the bible.
Where sin abounded (pleonazo), grace abounded (huperperisseuo) - super abounded and some more on top of that and much more.
This is the inappropriateness of grace and law.

Romans 6:1-3
Verse 1: So does it mean we continue to sin so that grace may abound? They are misquoting what Paul says. Paul must be preaching too strongly on grace for him to be misunderstood. You must be preaching like Paul radically. Many pastors are preaching a balanced message until they become unbalanced.
Verse 3: "baptized" does not refer to water baptism. It means we are immersed into His death. So what does it mean to die to sin. Verse 2: "died to sin" has occurred for the believer. If we have died to sin means to die to the influence of sin, then that is not sin.

Romans 6:9-10
Verse 10: Jesus died to sin once for all.
Verse 11: What does likewise mean? It means in the same manner. You also reckon yourself to be dead in sin, but alive to God in Christ.
We must apply the understanding in verse 10 to verse 11 too. Jesus died once and for all. He did not have to return every year to die. So how did He die once and for all?
"reckon" means take into account, calculate, count over, meditate on. In greek, it's logizomai. Reckon got to do with reality.
Did the Lord Jesus die to
a. the power and influence of sin?
b. the imputation, guilt and penalty of sin?
Jesus is all perfect and there were many testimonies in the bible saying there is no sin in Him. During His time on earth, Jesus was tempted in all ways. This word "tempted" is a different greek word. It means to be tested. Jesus was tested to show that there was no sin in Him.

So did Jesus die for the imputation, guilt and penalty of sin? Jesus died because of the imputation of sin. Jesus does once and for all so that you are dead to sin.

John 8:10-12
Story of the woman who was accused and about to be stoned. Jesus said those who have not sin can stone her. Then He asked the woman who are those that accused her. None was around she said. He wanted her to say that no one was there to accuse her. Then He said neither do I condemn you. Then He said go and sin no more. It did not give her the empowerment to go and sin somemore. That many of the preachers today who accused otherwise. Grace is unmerited favour and when there is no condemnation, it produces empowerment.

Reproach - resting upon conditions of shame and disgrace.

Pastor shared that if you are free from stress, you will not be sad, or say unhappy things to your spouse. Studies have shown that stress can lead to broken marriages. A plant illustration is shown. Leaves is sickness, broken marriage and poverty. The roots are fear, stress and condemnation. Biblical scriptures show that condemnation is the root of all causes. Just like Adam feared when he ate from the tree. The "root" came in.

Back to Romans 6:9-11 and to the following verses to 18.
Verse 12: Therefore means to look at the previous verse. Do not let sin reign in your body. This is what the verse says.
Verse 13: Present yourself as weapons of righteousness. Reckon yourself as you have already died to sin.

In summary, Jesus died to the guilt of sin and condemned for our sins. Died means final. You take into account His death. Even if you sin, you will not take the guilt. So that your body becomes weapons of righteousness.

Pastor shared about one lady from the group of australian visitors last week who was shining so brightly on her face. It was only known that she attempted suicide before thinking that she needs to fulfil the law everyday. It was only through repeated listenings of the sermon "Condemnation kills" that rescued her from the sense of condemnation.

Pastor in his younger days tried to die to sin. Jesus died to sin, no future tense.

1 Peter 2:24
Jesus bore our sins in His body. You will never find anywhere in the bible He dies for our sins in His spirit. He only gave up His spirit on the cross.
"Being dead to sin" means already dead.
"Live up to righteousness" does not mean do right, think right. It means to be aware that Jesus died once and for all.
":by whose stripes ye were healed" - Notice the ":" there. It means whatever is in front follows.

A christian can never be in darkness. Do some reasoning. If we sin, the blood has already cleanse us. We are always in the light. How can we be dirty? We are just like under the shower all day long. Joke: At most you get "wrinkles".

This is powerful. You need to know you are already dead to sin and walk in righteousness. Then by His stripes you are healed.

When the bed ridden man came to Him, He did not say "be healed in Jesus name". He say to him "your sins have already been forgiven". He assured him because he needed to know it. Right after that, he picked up his bed and jumped!

The light that Jesus brought is not so bright till it brought blindness.
John 8:10-12
Verse 12: Jesus said He is the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. "Shall not" is double negative, strong negative. Believers will never walk in darkness.
When Jesus appeared, He said do not be afraid. Human flesh tends to be fearful.

In closing,
Today there is a strong teaching on strong discipleship. Discipleship means to see Him as an example. When you come to Him as a disciple, it means to give up everything and follow the leader. It does not work this way. We are blessed in every way when we put Him first. We don't have to see Him as an example.

Heaven is populated. In revelations, it says there is a great multitude which cannot be numbered heading for heaven. It is never used for those going to hell.

Back to discipleship, the word "disciple" is used 200 times in the bible. It gets lesser used from the book of Matthew to John. Now we are not disciples, we are sons and daughters of God. There's glory when a king comes down for us. There is no glory from servant to servant. He came down for us.