The vast problem of sin addiction and the spiritual remedy is not always taught in church!
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Rom 6:1,2)
This Is What The TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE MeansA person must die to sin to get spiritual life. This is another way of saying repent or perish (Luke 13:3; 2 Peter 3:9), turn from idols to serve God (1 Thess. 1:9), love and obey Jesus before all others (Mt. 10:37,38), believe on Jesus (John 3:16; Acts 16:31), etc. If a person is not willing to let go of his idols he can NOT be saved and will not be freed from sin addictions by Jesus’ blood (Rev. 1:5), even if he prays a prayer, confesses Jesus, gets baptized, joins a congregation, etc. He must sincerely, wholeheartedly turn away from his wicked sinful life.
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. (Rom 6:3-5)
Christians have been baptized into Christ’s death, had their old selves (sinful nature) crucified with him (v.6), and now have a new life. Crucifying the sinful nature is a must pre-requisite for salvation:
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. (Gal 5:24)
Many are walking around thinking they were saved and have never crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Paul went on to write:
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. (Rom 6:6,7)
A person has to die to self to live. Verse 7 is the key to getting set free from sin addiction.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Rom 6:8-11)
Jesus' death and resurrection is cited as an analogy to how the Christian is to view sin and his new life in Christ.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (Rom 6:12)
Sin is personified and clearly shown to want to reign or control even people who were truly saved. It is, therefore, the Christian’s choice and responsibility (not God’s) to stop sin from reigning in his corruptible body he now has. Again, the Christian’s life is shown to be a fight against sin (Heb. 12:4). The false teachers who say, sin is no longer the issue since Calvary, miss a major part of the New Testament and dangerously distort grace, but that goes with tickling ears and deceiving people for the sake of popularity, money and avoiding persecution:
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Rom 6:16)
Romans 6:16 is a verse every Christian should memorize. It is powerfully clear that one is either a slave to sin or a slave to obedience. The former leads to death, while the latter leads to righteousness.
NOTE: In Rom. 6:16, Paul taught about righteousness, but it was NOT an imputed righteousness as he speaks of elsewhere. It is OBEDIENCE which leads to righteous. That truth is another major contradiction to the grace changers who want us to think we all must sin all the time. It should be apparent why they avoid Romans 6 as they do!
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. (Rom 6:17)
If a person wants salvation and the freedom from sin which comes with it, he is going to have to wholeheartedly get committed to the Lord Jesus. There is no substitute for this. Getting set free from sin’s addictions is also what Jesus taught:
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
That freedom from sin addictions even includes being set free from alcoholism! Paul taught the same truth in Romans 6. Jesus sets us free from sin’s slavery by his blood at the point of repentance.
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Rom 6:18)
Most who profess salvation in our day know nothing about either of those truths. They have never been set free from their sin addictions and are not slaves to righteousness, yet profess salvation and believe once saved always saved. The new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) and the works of grace in a person’s life will make him a slave to righteousness.
I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. (Rom 6:19)
Remember it is slavery to righteousness which leads to holiness. This is true holiness preaching under grace and not a works salvation, legalism or cult.
When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. (Rom 6:20)
All people before salvation are a slave to sin, but this is changed at the point of initial salvation (getting born again). This doesn’t mean, however, that unsaved people can’t ever show great kindness to others, for they can, even as a slave to sin. This is shown at the island of Malta:
Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. (Acts 28:1,2)
Other examples can also be cited.
What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! (Rom 6:21)
This is one of the evidences of salvation by grace—a person is ashamed of their past sins. A professing Christian who brags about his past sins is not saved. Paul only showed his regret and shame for what he did when in spiritual darkness and death, before getting born again. Such is the changed heart, as he states here.
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:22,23)
Romans 6:22 is another verse most Bible believers do not know exists. It should also be memorized and taught often to others. It too shows deadly errors in what people have been taught. Verses 22 and 23 go together, yet they are split apart, even in the Romans Road gospel presentation, although they both mention eternal life.
NOTE: Verse 23 mentions death and eternal life. They are contrasted to each other. A person is in one or the other depending upon his faith, which is manifested by disobedience or obedience. As sin leads to death, holiness from being a slave to God leads to eternal life. Have you ever heard that taught before? That is also the truth that is concealed by spitting apart verses 22 and 23, but is connected with salvation itself. Please tell others how to be freed from sin addiction. God bless you.
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