(a Lenten sermon):--There are different states of “sin.” There is sin latent, and fully manifest; there is sin you are striving to subdue, and sin dominant. It is concerning this last state that we have this promise--“Sin shall not lord it over you.” And there is a state beyond this when the sin is so conquered that it is actually changed into grace. A besetting sin, a characterising virtue; strong passions, ardent love; fear, humility; credulity, faith; weakness, leaning on the strong. Consider--
I. How the state of domineering sin is formed.
1. We must never forget that it is in sin’s nature to grow. Weeds very generally grow faster than flowers. And this is the process. First, an empty space; a life unfenced; no sense of danger; no watch; no self-distrust; no trust in God. Under such conditions “sin,” in some form or other, must come in and get stronger and stronger and stronger, till it over-crops and over-shadows the whole moral being of the man.
2. Sin has a strange power of hiding itself, partly because Satan can “turn himself into an angel of light,” and trace everything in forms of beautiful colours, and partly because “sin” warps the judgment and dims the eye. And still more it hardens the heart and sears the conscience.
II. How it is to be overcome. I will suppose the case of one who has been conscious of the growth of some “sin” in his own heart, and who is very desirous of getting rid of it. What should you do?
1. Thank God that you have this consciousness and desire. It is a proof that the Holy Spirit has not left you.
2. Claim this as the ground of your argument with God: “Lord, Thou hast showed me my sin, and made it hateful. Now, Lord, complete Thine own work.”
3. Having said this to God, attend to the little things. Listen for the still small voices, and act out at once every conviction and any better desire which God has given you.
4. Next, have some definite work in hand which is for God’s service and Christ’s sake. Impart what you feel and what you know. By warming another’s heart, you best warm your own. A work for Christ is a great antagonism to a domineering sin.
5. Then take care of the first signs of declension from what you now begin to do. Remember that in your heart there is a great danger of a reaction taking place.
6. Do not be discouraged by your feeling and the returning of besetting sins. A religious life is a campaign; and in that campaign some battles will be victories, and others defeats. The great principle is how to rally after defeat.
7. Be very careful to encourage the habit of silent prayer at the critical moment, when you know that you are getting into danger, when you feel the enemy is strong.
8. Remember that spiritual life is in Christ. He is the life, and nothing lives but as it is in union with Him. Then, as He says, “Because I live, ye shall live also.”
9. There must be the constant inward breathing of the Holy Spirit in you. He must prompt, guide, strengthen, give both the will and the power. The only way to get rid of any “sin” is to put God in His right place. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Sin dethroned
I. The evil which we are encouraged to resist. The dominion of sin. St. Paul represents sin as a mighty usurper, exercising absolute dominion over the sinner, taking the heart for his throne, and the members for his slaves (Rom_5:20-21; Rom_6:12; Rom_6:20). By a successful stratagem sin obtained the supremacy over our first father; and his posterity, while they remain in their natural state, have never been able to break the yoke (1Jn_5:19). This dreadful dominion of sin is promoted--
1. By ignorance of God’s will. In some countries this is almost total; in ours it is partial, and in a great measure wilful (Rom_1:28; Joh_3:19).
2. By our corrupt passions and sensual propensities, which will be gratified, though health, reputation, yea, life itself, are at stake (Job_15:16; Isa_5:18).
3. By the worldly interests of men, to which they readily give the decided preference, when they happen to clash with their duty to God. Thus, for the sake of the world, the guests invited to the gospel feast, with one consent, desired to be excused; and the rich man departed from Jesus full of sorrow.
4. By the powerful temptations of Satan.
5. By the countenance and example of the multitude. Sinners readily follow the multitude to do evil. The broad road that leads to destruction is thronged with travellers.
II. The means afforded for our encouragement in resisting sin: “for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
1. Grace is here opposed to the law, and signifies the gospel (Joh_1:17; 2Co_6:1; Act_14:3).
2. The law was a system of just, but awful severity, and God had wise and holy designs in the establishment of it (Rom_5:20). It was introduced among the Jews, not that they might be justified by it, but that, by discovering how far they fell short of the obedience it required, they might be more deeply impressed with a sense of their abounding sins; and thus it became a schoolmaster to lead them to Christ (Gal_3:24), and that so, where sin had abounded, grace might much more abound (Rom_5:20).
3. Now, believers in Christ are “not under the law”; they are “dead to the law” (Rom_7:4); they are “delivered from the law” (Rom_7:6). By these expressions we are not to suppose that they are discharged from obedience (1Co_2:1); but they are no longer under the law considered as a covenant, the terms of which are, “the man that doeth them” (all and everyone perfectly) “shall live in them” (Gal_3:12). Christ hath fulfilled all righteousness for His people (Rom_10:4). Being accounted righteous through faith in Christ, they are redeemed from the curse of the law (Rom_8:1-2).
4. Christians possess greater advantages for the destruction of sin than those under the law.
(1) While the law justly demanded obedience, it afforded no aid for the performance of it. Nor could it encourage anyone to hope for pardon in case of disobedience. The case is now altered. We are not called to “Mount Sinai” to hear the terrible threatenings of the law; but we are come to “Mount Sion,” where grace and mercy are published.
(2) The law included the substance of all the holy precepts now contained in the New Testament; but in the gospel they are expanded and full blown, and appear in all the beauty of holiness.
(3) There is a more abundant measure of the Holy Spirit poured out upon the people of God, by which they not only attain a clearer knowledge of His will, but a larger degree of His gracious assistance in overcoming sin (Heb_8:10).
(4) All grace is treasured up in Jesus for the use of His people; and of this fulness they may receive, daily, grace for grace (Joh_1:16; Php_4:13; 2Co_12:9).
(5) The love of Christ is another grand assistant in our victory over sin. Love is the most strong and generous of all the passions, and the hardest service becomes easy when this prevails (2Co_5:14).
(6) The grace of the gospel affords yet further aid in this great conflict by the cheering views it presents of everlasting glory (Rom_8:31; 1Co_15:55; 1Jn_3:3). Conclusion:
1. Who can behold the general dominion of sin over the world without the deepest concern (Jer_9:1).
2. Having learned that no means are effectual to stop the progress of sin but those afforded by the gospel of grace, let this serve to render the gospel more precious.
3. This subject effectually refutes that vile slander which is so unjustly cast on the doctrines of grace, that they are conducive to sin and unfriendly to holiness. (G. Burder.)
Believers free from the dominion of sin
We have here--
I. A peculiar position. “Ye are not under the law.”
1. We no longer dread the curse of the law which those who are under the law may well do. The careless try to shake off the thought, but still more or less it disturbs them; but when once awakened the dread of punishment fills them with terror. Now believers have no such fear, for our sin was laid upon Jesus, who “hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.”
2. We no longer drudge in unwilling obedience, seeking to reach a certain point of merit. The man under the law who is awakened labours as men who tug at the oar to escape from a tempest. But, alas! he has no power to attain even to his own ideal. His servile works are ill done, and fail to yield him peace. Now Christ has fulfilled the law for us, and we rest in that finished work. We now obey out of love, and delight in the law after the inner man.
3. We are no longer uncertain as to the continuance of Divine love. Under the law no man’s standing can be secure, since by, a single sin he may forfeit his position. But the merit of Christ is always a constant and abiding quantity; if, therefore, we rest thereon, our foundation is always secure. “If, when we were enemies,” etc.
4. We are no longer afraid of the last great day. Judgment is a terrible word to those who are hoping to save themselves, for their doings are sure to be found wanting. But judgment has no terror in it to a believer, “Bold shall I stand in that great day,” etc.
5. We have no slavish dread of God. The soul under the law stands as the Israelites did, far off from the mountain, with a bound set between themselves and the glory of God. But we have access with boldness to the throne of grace, and we delight to avail ourselves of it. “Perfect love has cast out fear.” “Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty,” etc.
II. A special assurance. “Sin shall not have dominion over you.”
1. This is a very needful assurance.
(1) All around us we see sin’s operations and deadly results; and we cry in alarm, “It will surely drag me down one of these days,” but the dread fear is removed by the assurance, “Sin shall not have dominion over you.”
(2) Alas, the evil assails ourselves, and we are apt to be cast down. Here the sweet assurance cheers us “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
(3) Sometimes sin forces its way into our souls and rouses our inward evil to an awful degree. Readers of the “Holy War” will remember how Diabolus besieged Mansoul after it had been occupied by Immanuel. After many battles and cunning plots the enemy entered into the city, filled all the streets with the yells of his followers, and polluted the whole place; but yet he could not take the castle, which held out for Immanuel. So sin may vex you and thrust itself upon you, but it cannot become your heart’s lord.
(4) Sometimes sin prevails, and we are forced in anguish to confess that we have fallen beneath its power. Still a temporary defeat is not sufficient to effect a total subjugation. Though the believer fall he shall rise again.
(5) There are times when we feel greatly our danger; our feet have almost gone, our steps have well-nigh slipped; then how sweetly doth this assurance come, “The Lord is able to keep you from falling.”
2. This assurance secures us from the danger of being under the absolute sway of sin. What is meant by this?
(1) There are men who live in sin, and yet they do not appear to know it; but you shall be instructed, so that when you sin you shall be well aware of it.
(2) Many men live in gross sin and are not ashamed, they are at ease in it; but God has so changed your nature by His grace that when you sin you shall be like a fish on dry land, you shall be out of your element, and long to get into a right state again.
(3) An ungodly man loves sin, but as for you, you shall hate yourself to think you ever consented to its solicitations.
3. This assurance is confirmed by the context--“Sin shall not have dominion over you,” because you are dead to it by virtue of your union to Christ. Besides, you live in Christ in newness of life by reason of His living in you. You are bound for victory and you shall have it.
III. A remarkable reason. “For ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Those who are under the law must always be under the dominion of sin, because--
1. The law condemns immediately upon transgression, and affords no hope and no encouragement. It is not so with those who are under grace, for they are freely forgiven. The amazing love of God when shed abroad in the heart creates a desire for better things, and what the law could not do grace accomplishes.
2. The law drives to despair, and because there is no hope the sinner will often plunge into iniquity. The child of God saith, “God, for Christ’s sake, hath cast my sins behind His back, and I am saved. Now, for the love I bear His name, I will serve Him with all my might.”
3. The law rouses the opposition of the heart. There are many things which people never think of doing till they are forbidden. Lock up a closet and say to your children, “Never enter that closet, nor even look into the keyhole,” and they who have never wanted to look into the dingy old corner before now pine to inspect it. Law, by reason of our unruly nature, creates sin. But when we are under grace we love God for His love to us, and labour to please Him in all things.
4. The law affords no actual help. All it does is to say, “Thou shalt,” and “Thou shalt not”; but grace brings the Holy Spirit into the soul to work in us holy affections and a hatred of sin, and hence what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, grace accomplishes for us by its own almighty power.
5. The law inspires no love, and love after all is the fulfilling of the law. Law is hard and cold, like the two tables of Moses. Look at the legalist; he is a bondslave, and nothing more. But grace fires a man with love to God and enthusiasm for holiness. The most pleasing service in the world is that which is done from motives of affection and not for wages. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The upper hand
I shall use the text as--
I. A test. Has sin dominion over you? If so; then you are not a believer. Try your own selves by this test. You may be under the dominion of sin, while successfully resisting some forms of it; but if there be but one sin that usurps authority, then sin has dominion over you. Satan does not send to all men the same temptations. The sin is adapted to the constitution.
1. Some are under the dominion of sin in the form of anger. Those who have a quick, hot temper, are like the small pot that quickly boils over and scalds terribly. There are others whose temper is rather slower in coming up, but when it has once risen it will last long, and make them sulky and unforgiving. Now if any man says, “My temper is so bad that I cannot curb it,” that temper has got dominion over him, and, according to my text, he is not a Christian. If the grace of God does not help us to bridle that lion that is within us, what has it done for us?
2. The propensity of others is to murmur. I know some who grumble at everything. Trade is always bad with them, and as for their meals--instead of being thankful to God they are perpetually finding fault. Their very garments are never to their minds. The weather never suits them. Now if any man murmurs, he may be a Christian needing to be purged of this defilement, but if you say, “I cannot help murmuring,” then it has got dominion over you. You must wage war against it, for if you are a child of God this sin shall not have dominion over you.
3. With others the reigning sin is covetousness. I do not say that they should be indifferent to business, but why so penurious? “Covetousness is idolatry.” Of course you may fall into fits of covetousness and yet be Christians, but if you are habitually covetous then your covetousness has got dominion over you, and according to the text you cannot be a child of God. Do then as the good man did who had resolved to give a pound to some good cause, and the devil tempted him not to do it. Said he, “I will give two now.” The devil said, “Nay, you will be ruining yourself.” Said he, “I will give four.” Another temptation came, and he said, “I will give eight; and if the devil does not leave off tempting me I do not know to what lengths I shall go, but I will he master of him somehow.” Do anything rather than let the golden call run over you.
4. Perhaps the sin of pride may be in the ascendant. Now, I do not say that you are no Christian because you occasionally forget the lowliness and modesty that become you, but I do say that if you tell me that you cannot help being proud, then pride is your master and Christ is not.
5. The dominant sin of many is sloth. Is there any reigning sin in your hearts? Never mind what it is. Then Christ cannot be in your soul, for “When He comes, He comes to reign.”
II. A promise. It does not say that sin shall not dwell in you. In the holiest there is enough sin to destroy if it were not for the grace of God, which restrains its deadly operation. Nor are you told that you shall never fall into sin. Need I mention such as David? The security is that “sin shall not have dominion over you.” The fair and lovely dove may fall into the mire, but the mire has not any dominion over it; but let the swine go there, and it rolls in it, for the mire has dominion over its nature. Notice--
1. A few of the general reasons for the promise. Sin cannot get confirmed dominion over the child of God because--
(1) God hath promised that it shall not.
(2) You belong to Christ, and He bought you at such a price that He will never lose you.
(3) The Holy Spirit has come to dwell in you.
(4) The Spirit has begun a good work in you, and it is His rule never to leave His work unfinished.
(5) There is in every Christian a new nature which cannot die and which cannot sin--“a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” “a living, incorruptible seed, which liveth and abideth forever.” Now, if this seed be incorruptible, then sin cannot corrupt it; if it abideth forever, then sin cannot expel it.
(6) Your will is not the slave of sin. You sin, but if you could you never would sin. The bent and bias of your mind are towards righteousness. Now, if such be the case, sin can never get dominion over your whole nature, for the sovereignty of all your manhood lies with Him who possesses the mastery of your will and your affections. You know how Bunyan represents Feeble-mind in the cave of Giant Slaygood. The giant had picked him up on the road, and taken him home to devour him at his leisure; but Feeble-mind said he had one comfort, for he had heard that the giant could never pick the bones of any man who was brought there against his will.
2. The reason given in the text--“For ye are not under the law, but under grace.” There are two principles in the world that are supposed to promote holiness--law and grace.
(1) It is a popular notion that if you tell men their duty, prove the authority of the lawgiver, and show the penalty of wrong-doing--this wilt give a just bias to their inclination, and help to keep their conduct right. All history goes to shew that this is without proof. Those who are under the law are always under sin. The moment we are commanded not to do a thing, such is our perverse disposition, we try to do it. Even the terrible penalties of hell have failed to inspire fear or promote holiness. When was there ever so much sheep stealing, and theft, and highway robbery, and forgery, as when men were hanged for these things?
(2) There is another principle, however, which is a main instigator to righteousness--the principle of grace and faith. Grace does not say to a man, “You must do this or you shall be punished,” but it says this, “God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven you; you are saved; heaven is yours; now, for the love you bear to God, who has done this for you, what will you do for Him?” A constraining power, strong as death, has availed to consecrate the lives of those who have felt the sacred spell.
III. An encouragement.
1. There are not a few who are strangers to the holy jealousy which keeps a watch over the heart and a guard upon the lips, lest they should sin. Cultivate this jealousy; be very watchful, and let the text animate you.
2. There are some who are consciously very weak. Be encouraged. Sin shall no more get dominion over the weak than over the strong. The spark shall not be quenched, nor the bruised reed broken.
3. There are those who are fighting with some great sin. Put this cool water to your lips and be refreshed. You shall conquer yet; fight on!
4. There are those who have been lately converted. Your chains are broken, but there are some links that are left hanging, and sometimes they will catch hold of a nail, and you will think you are tied up again. But if you have given your heart to Christ you shall yet be helped.
5. Perhaps I address a backslider. Do you now hate your sin? Do you cry unto God for mercy, and rest in the work of Jesus? If so, be of good courage still, you shall be saved. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
For ye are not under the law, but under grace.--
Grace the deliverer from the bondage of sin
1. Man is constituted to obey! Thus constituted, his nature was provided for. Upon his first entrance on the stage of being he was placed under the dominion of holiness. But man severed himself from God. In the first act of disobedience, however, he was obedient to Satan, and at every step in his subsequent history we find him still under his dominion.
2. Man has never been able to free himself from this bondage. Philosophy has not helped him; and our text declares law has not. But we are to consider that which does. Notice--
I. The aspect of sin as a dominion.
1. The willing character of it. The consciousness of humanity ever charges itself with voluntary submission to such a dominion. Moreover, the Bible declares that man chooses it.
2. Its deceitful character. Having the “understanding darkened.” Satan promised our first parents to be as gods--he meant them to be the opposite.
3. Its gradual character, Like the conquest of a country, step by step new territory is won, and dominion gained in the heart of it,
4. Its cruel character. All its servants are slaves, and are led on to disaster and death. The cruelty of this dominion is seen in the increase of evil desires, and the diminution of pleasures to be derived from them; every desire ultimately ending in dissatisfaction and pain.
II. The inability of law to free from this dominion.
1. Law manifests sin. “By law comes knowledge of sin.” Think of the flame from the volcano revealing cities and plains in the far-off distance. So law enlightens conscience, casts its glare into the innermost recesses of the whited sepulchre, and discovers a dead soul.
2. Law causes disquietude about sin, showing its character and consequences.
3. Law revives the strength of sin (Rom_7:8).
III. The delivering power of grace.
1. The law which condemns sin is satisfied. We are delivered from sin as a curse. Christ bare our transgressions. This curse had dominion over us--made us fear death, judgment, etc.
2. “The law of the Spirit of Life” is imparted to us. “Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Sin may exist, but it cannot reign in the heart of a Christian. (See preceding context.)Christ has promised that this Spirit shall quicken life in us. Let us escape from the slavery of sin, and become the servants of righteousness, and “yield ourselves” unto Christ. (T. G. Horton.)
Believers not under the law but under grace
I.They are not under the law.
1. The law of which the apostle is speaking is not of man’s making, but is the law of God; and is unlike any human law. Note, e.g.--
(1) Its universality. Man’s laws are confined to particular governments and countries. But the law of God is meant for every creature He has made.
(2) The length to which it goes. Human laws lay down rules for the conduct of the outward man, and even then do not take notice of every instance of iniquity. But God’s commandment is “exceeding broad.” It passes sentence on the very thoughts, and makes no allowances whatever for sin. Sins which we are apt to look upon as small and pardonable are in God’s sight without excuse.
(3) The sentence which it passes. Human laws make great distinctions between one crime and another. God’s law makes no differences, and its sentence is, in every instance, death.
2. The state of those for whom this law was made, This law is made for man. Is man then a fulfiller of this law? It is an awful truth that, so far from being frightened out of any evil practice by knowing that it is forbidden by the law of God, his knowing it to be forbidden makes him feel a greater relish for it, and so much the more desirous to commit it (Rom_7:8).
3. Believers are not under the law. They are not under--
(1) The curse and condemnation of the law (Gal_3:13; Col_2:14; Rom_8:33-34).
(2) The law is “the covenant of works”--a dispensation in which he is taught to look for acceptance with God as the consequence of his own merits. The law of God says, “He that doeth these things shall live by them.” Now, the Saviour does not say, “Earn but heaven by your works--establish a righteousness of your own, and you shall purchase heaven by it.” No; but He says, “I have been your Law fulfiller, and My righteousness is unto all and upon all them that believe.”
II. The believer is under grace.
1. He is “under” the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He is a man whom the free and undeserved love of his Redeemer has chosen unto life eternal. He is placed under a dispensation in which all he has, and all he hopes to have, are freely given him, “not for works of righteousness which he has done,” but as “the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
2. He is under grace, because the grace of the Divine Spirit enters in and dwells in him. His soul is made the temple of the Holy Ghost. It is illuminated, sanctified, and comforted by that glorious inhabitant.
III. The consequence of being not under the law, but under grace. “Sin shall not have dominion over you,” because--
1. “The love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto you.” A sense of the unspeakable mercy which our Lord has shown us begets such lively feelings of gratitude and love that to delight in that which God abhors becomes a thing impossible. Our heart burns, on the other hand, with holy fervour to render our redeemed life unto the Lord (2Co_5:15).
2. You are a partaker of a new nature (2Co_5:17). Sin is not indeed utterly destroyed, but it has no longer the dominion. (A. Roberts, M. A.)
Grace, not law, the motive for holiness
Wherein lies the force of the reason advanced? What is there in the covenant of grace, as set in contrast with the covenant of works, on which to rest the above declaration? At first sight we might be apt to suppose (arguing from the tendencies and susceptibilities of the human constitution) that men would be more energetic after holiness if left to earn heaven for themselves than if invited to accept it as a gift. But on second thoughts this will not be found so. Look at--
I. The covenant of works.
1. As it requires perfect obedience without containing any provision for pardon, mediation, or escape, will it not produce despair and even recklessness to fallen beings in whom there is a tendency to sin, and a decay in all the powers of resistance, and who at the best can only give an imperfect obedience, which is of no avail?
2. Such is the constitution of our nature that the prospect of success is indispensable for vigour and exertion. Place me, therefore, under a covenant of works--shut out from me all notices of a Redeemer--read me that, by keeping them, I may insure myself a blessed immortality--and I shall either fold my arms in inactivity or resign myself to my sinfulness, Why mortify imperious desires, why deny craving appetites in the face of a moral certainty that I could not come up to what the law demanded, and that, if I failed, I was irretrievably condemned? No, there must be some provision in the case of failure, else will there never be any effort to obey. There must be room for second thoughts for repentance, otherwise will the law, with all its rewards, be set at nought as unadapted to the beings on whom it is imposed.
II. The covenant of grace.
1. There is an energy of motive of the most powerful character. There is more--immeasurably more--to lead to the hatred of sin and the striving after holiness in the fact that Christ died for me than in a thousand statute books with multiplied enactments and many rewards. Only let this fact seat itself in the soul, and it must excite such love to the Being who bought us with His blood--such abhorrence of the sin which caused that blood to be shed--as will urge a man to exert every power that he may not crucify the Son of God afresh. And as he gathers all his strength to the overcoming of evil, urged by the freeness of salvation as proffered to him--every blessing reminding him of Calvary, every promise being eloquent of the great propitiation--and thus the whole Christian system exciting, in all its workings, recollections which make him shun even the appearance of evil--oh, will he not furnish the strongest practical evidence that St. Paul advanced an argument which made good his proposition when he gave, “Ye are not under the law, but under grace” as his reason for saying, “Sin shall not have dominion over you”?
2. The words are also a promise or prophecy.
(1) They point to Divine assistance. They assure us of the aids of the Holy Spirit in the mortification of evil passions, the abandonment of evil pursuits, and in the attainment of holiness and righteousness.
(2) Hence the gospel makes victory possible--nay, sure--exciting the spirit and then providing the means of resistance. It does all which the moral combatant can need; so that he who would have succumbed at once, feeling the case to be desperate, had he been brought under the law, girds himself to the task of the resisting of sin because brought under grace. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
