Chapter 3
Free from Sin’s Penalty and Power - Part 1
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he
that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting” - Galatians 6:7-8
Into the Kingdom of Grace
The bent of a man’s life must be in the Spirit of God or he is not saved. If he sows to his flesh, he shall
of his flesh reap corruption. We read in Romans 8:5, “They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;”
and in verse 6, “To be carnally [or fleshly] minded is death”-which is spiritual death (the second death
in hell) according to Romans 6:23; 8:6. “They that are in the flesh cannot please God”
(Rom 8:8). So if the bent of a man’s life is after the flesh, then he is not of God. He pleases not God, but
only himself. On the other hand, if the bent of a man’s life is after the Spirit, then he minds the things of the Spirit,
and “to be spiritually minded is life and peace” in Christ (Rom 8:6).
The Word of God plainly declares in so many places that when God saves a sinner in Christ, giving him a new heart
and nature, He takes him entirely out of the realm of sin (the rule, reign and kingdom of sin), and brings him into
the kingdom of grace. He puts the redeemed and saved sinner under the reign of grace. To prove this, let’s go to
the law and the testimony of God’s Word: Colossians 1:13-”Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and
hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Here we find the apostle Paul telling these Colossian believers
that they, who once belonged to the power and the kingdom of darkness (of the devil and of hell), have been translated (or
transferred) from that kingdom and put into the kingdom of Christ under the reign of His grace. So they no longer are under the power or
dominion of the kingdom of sin and darkness, but they are now under the power and dominion of the kingdom of light, heaven
and grace, which has freely been given to them by the sovereign God in Christ.
Again, writing to the church at Philippi, the apostle Paul says about Christians:
“Our conversation [or citizenship] is in heaven” (Phil 3:20). He does not say that our citizenship is going to
be there, but that it is in heaven now. We are a colony of heaven living in this world, but our citizenship has already taken
place by the grace of God in salvation, worked in us by the Holy Spirit. And we find this same truth in Ephesians 2:19-Believers
are “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” In other
words, there has been a complete change in our position. We have changed our kingdoms once and for ever, so we are no longer
in the territory of sin; and because we are no longer under the governing power of sin, sin no longer controls our destiny.
Before becoming a child of God by the new birth, we were united to Adam. Because we belonged to Adam and his fallen
race, all the consequences of his sin and actions have come upon us. But if we are saved, we are no longer in Adam; we are
now in Christ. There are only two possibilities for every person alive today-you are either in Adam or in Christ-this
is the whole message of Romans 5:18-21. Listen as we go into it: “As by the offense of one judgment came upon all men
to condemnation [the reign of sin in Adam] even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life [the reign of grace in Christ]. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners [the reign
of sin in Adam], so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous[the reign of grace in Christ].”
And in verse 17, “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one [the reign of sin in Adam]; much more they
which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ [the reign
of grace in Christ].”
Free from the Power of Sin
This is what we are saying: The Gospel of the grace of God sets the poor, captive sinner free! He is free from the
power, as well as the penalty of sin, because he is now in Christ and His kingdom. You see, the true Gospel is “the
power of God unto salvation” (Rom 1:16). The word “power” comes from the Greek word “Dunamis”
from which we get our word dynamite. Yes, this dynamite of the true Gospel sets us free from sin to walk in newness
of life in Christ. When we stand before God as poor, helpless, lost sinners, hearing our doom read from the courts of heaven-”The
soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Eze 18:20)-and we bow to this judgment, knowing and acknowledging that we are
hell-deserving sinners, then when we hear the preaching of the Gospel-the good news of deliverance through the blood of Christ-and
it comes home to our soul by the Holy Spirit, we desire and cry after this free gift of God in Christ. By faith we see in
Christ and His Gospel a full salvation of deliverance from sin and all its power, and we are made to trust and praise Him
for such deliverance, which is for time and eternity.
My friend, what good is a gospel, if it is not good news of deliverance in Christ? or if it does not set us
free from that which holds, binds and reigns over us, damning our souls to hell? The true Gospel sets men free from the tyranny
of sin and breaks its power. It does not say, “Come on down the aisle, give me your hand and try me for a day, a week
or a month, and see how you’re going to make out, then if you cannot hold out, you can always go back and be a `carnal
Christian’”- No! that’s not the offer of the true Gospel! The command of the Gospel is this: Come
to God as a repenting, believing sinner, lay down your arms of rebellion against Him; then when you come (by the power of
the Holy Spirit working in you), with a hatred for sin and a desire after the Lord Jesus Christ-desiring to know Him in His
fullness, to know His power and deliverance, and to bow to His Kingship-my friend, this is grace; and in this grace,
God gives you a salvation that will not let you go back to Satan’s kingdom. God’s salvation will not let you go
back under the reign of sin any more; for you see, this Gospel and this grace holds, keeps, and delivers you for time and
for eternity, giving you grace and power by the indwelling Holy Spirit to be a conquering one, an overcoming one in
the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Reign of Grace
Now by the same Gospel that delivers us from the reign of sin, assuring us from the Word of God that our sins are
forgiven, we are transferred to and put under the reign of grace and all that that means in terms of power. For the
reign of grace is a very powerful reign; it is guaranteed to produce certain results. Consider the following questions: Did
not the reign of sin produce certain results? Did it not cause death to pass upon us? Did it not cause us to sin, and make
us hate, swear, blaspheme, murder, lie, cheat, steal, covet, envy and bear false witness against our neighbor?-to do that
which would bring down the wrath of God upon us? Did it not make us drown our convictions and turn straight to hell? Sure
it did, because it reigned over us! It was powerful-a monarch on the throne of the heart-and we had to obey. So in
the same way grace will reign over every child of God-”Where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound” (Rom 5:20). Yes, if the power and dominion of sin guarantees certain results, the reign and
rule of grace guarantees more certain results! And these results are that my full and final salvation is absolutely certain.
It guarantees that all the dynamite and tremendous power of the reign of grace is upon me and working in me, and will bring
me home at last in the presence of God, to a state of absolute perfection in glorification.
This then being the purpose of the Gospel-to break the reigning power of sin and to enthrone the reigning power of
grace-shall we be “carnal” Christians and the flesh remain in the saddle? No! The whole
object of the grace of God given to us in the Gospel is to destroy sin with all its works and all
that belongs to it (which will be completed in the morning of the resurrection!). For Romans 6:14 tells us, “Sin shall
not have dominion over you.” Why? Because grace is infinitely more powerful. Where
sin abounds, grace does much more abound; and this is the Gospel the Bible declares! This is the Gospel of the grace
of God in Christ that breaks the power of sin, sets us free, and reigns in us, so we can walk in the pathway of righteousness
and true holiness. Any other gospel is not the true Gospel, but a perverted gospel! Therefore, if you are living in sin, hiding
under a false profession, making excuses for sin, and if sin’s power was not broken when you say you believed, then I say to you, based upon the authority of God’s Word, you’re lost and know nothing
of the power of the true Gospel of Christ!
Impossible to Continue in Sin
Again, this brings us to Romans 6:2: “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live
any longer therein?” We cannot. Why? Because that word “live” means “to continue and abide.”
We see from this that in view of our position (under the reign of grace ), it is impossible
that we should continue to live a life of sin! See I John 3:9: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his
seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” This profound statement means that whosoever is
born of God does not go on in a life of sin; he does not practice it habitually. He cannot go on under the reign of sin because
His seed remaineth in him-that is, the new life of grace in Christ. John is not saying that a man born of God can never
commit an individual act of sin, for if this were the meaning of the verse, there would be none in heaven,
or any Christian on earth today. No, he is saying that such a person cannot go on abiding in the realm of sin. Notice the
word “cannot”-it is impossible. Our Lord said concerning this: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever
committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.”
So put together all of these verses, and you will see clearly that it is impossible for a Christian
to live in sin, because such a man is under the power and in the realm of this mighty force called grace. Because the
saved soul is under the influence and the power of Christ, he cannot continue where he was before; grace makes it impossible.
Now, I am certainly not saying that the Bible teaches sinless perfection, or that our sin nature can be eradicated
in this life. For God’s people still have sin in the flesh, according to Romans 8:10. What God’s Word is saying
is that as sin reigned unto death before God saved us, now grace reigns through righteousness; and greater is the Holy Spirit
Who is in us to cause grace to abound in us than he who is without (that is, Satan) to cause sin to abound in us. The Lord
further says in John 8: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (v 36)-that’s
an absolute freedom where the Son is concerned, for He came to give us life, and that life to be more abundant in Himself.
This is the true gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, of which Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom 1:16). And this Gospel
not only makes salvation possible, but it gives all that is needful for keeping us from here to eternity! So unto us who are
saved by the true Gospel and grace of Christ, Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”; for praise our gracious God, we now can and
will walk after the Spirit, by His grace!
Study Questions: Lesson 3
First please read chapter 3 in the text.
“He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap everlasting life” - Galatians 6:8
Into the Kingdom of Grace; pages 16 - 17
1. “When God saves a sinner…, He takes him
entirely out of the realm of sin and brings him into the kingdom of grace.” In other words: the gospel of the grace
of God sets the poor, captive sinner free! He is free from the power of sin, as well as its penalty, because
he is now in Christ and in His kingdom.
To prove this,
five verses from God’s Word are mentioned in the book. Write the reference and key point (in your own words)
of each of these five verses.
2. a. Briefly
explain the difference between being united to Adam and united to Christ.
b. Can a person be united to both? Why?
The Reign of Grace; pages 18
- 19
3. After one’s sins are forgiven, sin no longer
reigns supreme in one’s life. He is transferred to be under a new and different reign.
a.
What are the results of the old reign of sin?
b.
What is the new and different reign that comes when we put our trust completely in Christ?
c. What are its results?
Impossible to Continue in Sin;
pages 19 - 20
4. 1 John 3:9 is a profound statement,
and one that can be easily misunderstood.
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin, because he is
born of God.”
a.
In your own words, what is the correct meaning of this verse as given in the book?
b. Making It Personal: How does this verse apply to
you personally?
