Old Testament Lesson; Ezekiel 37:1-14
Gospel Lesson; John 11:17-45
Sermon Text; Romans 8:11-19

There was a fourteen year old boy, who received a Bible, as a gift, from his mother. When he opened it up, he opened up to the front page that was blank, and he noticed that his mother had handwritten something in the front of his Bible. He read what his mother had written.

This Book will keep you from sin,

or

sin will keep you from this Book.

This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book. What his mother was saying is there are two great classes of people in this world. In fact, the Bible only recognizes two great classes of people. Those two great classes of people that the Bible recognizes are believers and unbelievers. Or, the scriptures call them the godly and the ungodly or, the converted and the unconverted or, the regenerate and the unregenerate. Those are the two great classes. And, you fall into one of those two classes.

Today's scripture reading intends us to look at ourselves and ask, "Which of those two classes do I, personally, fall into?"

And, it does it by getting us to look at something we call, and scripture calls, our sinful nature. Our sinful nature, in scripture, is also known as the flesh, or the Old Adam. They are all synonyms for the same thing. There is a Bible passage that says,

"Broad is the path

and easy is the road

that leads to destruction."

It is easy to follow the path of our sinful nature, our Old Adam, the sinful flesh that we are born with.

Here is what we need to understand from scripture. First of all, scripture tells each one of us, that you, personally, are born with a sinful nature. Every one of us in this room has an Old Adam, the sinful nature. It does not matter who you are. It does not matter how old you are. You could be a little child. You could be 100 years old. You have a sinful nature. The Bible says,

"I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time my mother conceived me."

So, already at the point of conception, you were born with a sinful nature. You are a Christian, but you have a sinful nature. St. Paul said this about himself, when he was a Christian,

"I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature. For, the good I want to do, I don't do. And the evil I don't want to do, that is what I keep doing. Oh, wretched man. Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

So, even Christians have a sinful nature, according to scripture. The Bible describes our sinful nature this way,

"The heart is deceitful above all things

and desperately wicked."

That is what we are like, by nature. The Bible says,

"Out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, slander, false testimony, and the like."

Those things all come out of our sinful nature. And so, no matter who you are, you are born into this world by nature, an enemy of God. The Scriptures say,

"The sinful mind

does not accept the things of God,

nor can it do so."

It is an enmity with God. And so, our sinful nature hates the things that God loves, and it loves the things that God hates.

Everybody in this room has a sinful nature. But, Christians are different. A Christian is someone who, by the Word of God, and by the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God, has come to look at their own sinful nature and say, "I detest my sinful nature. I wish I did not have that sinful nature. I wish I didn't have a nature that wants to go against God. I am sorry and I am repentant that I have that sinful nature."

God's Word has brought Christians to repentance over their sinful nature, which has led them into sin. And a Christian, by the Word of God, having come to repentance over his or her sin, through the Word of God by the Holy Spirit, has been led to the cross of Jesus Christ. There, in the cross of Jesus Christ, they see God's solution to their sinful nature. We understand that God is not going to punish us for our sinful nature, because the Bible promises,

"God was reconciling the world to Himself,

in Christ,

not counting men's sins against them."

And so, the Good News, the blessed news of scripture that we have been brought to believe as Christians is that because of what Jesus did on the cross, because He made full, complete payment for all of our sins, (that our sinful nature has led us into), we are forgiven!

We are saved

by grace alone,

simply by what Christ has done for us!

The Bible tells us, now that we have been brought to believe, there is a new nature that has been created in us, as God's people. Now, we don't just have a sinful nature, anymore. As Christians, we have a ‘new man,’ (as the Bible calls it), that lives in us. We are born with the sinful nature, but this ‘new man’ becomes ours, when we become believers in Jesus, as our Savior. If we cease to be Christians, then that ‘new man’ goes away. It is gone. But, the ‘new man’ that is created in us is a ‘new man’ that says, "I am so thankful for what my Savior has done for me that I want to live for Jesus. I want to serve Him. I love the things He loves. And, I hate the things my Savior hates. I want to live my life for Christ."

The ‘new man’ is in opposition to our sinful flesh.

So, we have these two natures – the sinful nature and the ‘new man.’

It would be a huge mistake for me, as your pastor, to preach to you in such a way as to give the impression that a Christian lives only, only, only according to their ‘new man.’ To give the impression that we never fall into sin, would be a huge mistake. The Bible says,

"If we say we have no sin,

we deceive ourselves

and the truth is not in us."

If I preach that Christians never, ever fall into sin, you could fall into despair, because who of us in this room is perfect? Are you perfect? I am not perfect. And so, if I taught that Christians never sin, we would despair. Or, by preaching that message, we could become very prideful and think, "I never do sin." And, that is not what scripture teaches.

On the other hand, it would be a huge mistake for me, as a pastor, to preach in such a way as to give the impression that a Christian only follows their sinful nature and does not live according to the ‘new man.’ It would be a huge mistake if I would preach in such a way as to say some broad, sweeping statement that would lump believers and unbelievers all together and say, "We all, all of the time, are living in adultery, in lust, in gossip, and we constantly say bad things against one another." A statement like that gives the impression that all Christians do is to live according to ‘the flesh.’

That gets me to our scripture reading for today. Did you know that our scripture reading today, talking about our sinful nature says,

"If you live according to the sinful nature,

you will die."

That is pretty point blank, isn't it?

"If you live according to the sinful nature,

you will die."

What does that mean? There are passages in scripture where it lists a whole bunch of sins. It might say something like this: You know that adulterers, thieves, murders, greedy people, slanderers, gossipers, the proud, the arrogant, you know that those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. On the surface, when you look at a passage like that, and you think to yourself, "Well, I have fallen into some of those sins. I am a gossip, sometimes," you may wonder, "Does that mean I am condemned? After all, I have slandered" (or whatever other sin on that list you may recognize you have fallen into). It says, "Those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven." "Does that mean I am condemned?"

It is very key to listen to what that verse says. It says, "Those who live like this." It does not say, "those who fall into those sins", but, it says, "Those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven."

What does the Bible say about our sinful nature?

"If you live according to the sinful nature,

you will die."

In other words, you live in such a way that the sinful nature is your way of life. "I walk in my sinful nature. I walk in the desires of my sinful nature. I live according to the desires of my sinful nature. That is who I am." That is what we call 'living in unrepentant sin.' For example, if you know, you know that you are living in a sin, you are committing a sin right now, and you are living in it, and you think to yourself, "I know the Bible says it is wrong, but I am not going to change. I don't care. I have good reasons, good excuses why I can justify living in that sin." That is what the Bible calls, ‘living according to the flesh, living according to the sinful nature.’ It is just following ‘the flesh.’ You may even say to yourself, "I am going to repent of those sins. I am going to tell Jesus I am sorry. Doesn't God forgive all of my sins? So, I am going to live according to those sins, because I know Jesus forgives me."

That is not faith. That is not Christianity. That is using Jesus as an excuse to live according to ‘the flesh.’ The Bible tells us those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, and that is point blank. So, if you are living like that, if you are someone who is ‘living according to the flesh,’ today is the day that God calls you to repent of your sin. Turn to Jesus, as your Savior, trust in Him, cling to Him, and believe in Him. The Bible says,

"If by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,

you will live."

That is a wonderful promise in scripture that the Bible gives us. You know that the passage we looked at starts out by talking about what the Holy Spirit has done for us. He has come into our hearts. He has given us faith in Jesus, as our Savior. As a result, we are going to rise from the dead, someday.

The Bible says,

"Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation."

The phrase there, "We have an obligation" in Greek technically says, "We are indebted."

"We have an obligation,

but it is not to the sinful nature."

Is there anybody here who is indebted to your sinful nature? Do you look at your sinful nature and say, "Boy, you have done me a service." Our sinful nature just leads us to death, destruction, and sin. We are not indebted to our sinful nature, at all!

I love that account in scripture that shows the true Christian indebtedness. Do you remember when Jesus went to the home of a Pharisee? The Bible tells us that while Jesus was in that home, a sinful woman came into that house. (That is all it says about her. It does not say what that means, "She was a sinful woman." I will leave that to your imagination.) This sinful woman came into the house where Jesus was. And the Bible says that she came up behind Jesus and she began to wet His feet with her tears, and dry His feet with her hair. She also anointed His head with perfume.

Simon, the Pharisee, whose house Jesus was at, the Bible says he thought to himself, "If Jesus knew what kind of woman was here, He would not even let her touch Him."

Jesus, who knows all things and knew what was going on in his heart, said, "Simon, I have a question for you. Suppose there were two men, and they had the same master. One of those men owed the master a thousand dollars. And the other owed the master a dollar. The master told both of those men, 'I forgive your debt.'"

Jesus then asked, "Simon, which of those two men would love the master more?"

Simon answered, "Well, I suppose the one who had been forgiven the greater debt."

Then Jesus said, "Simon. I came into your house, and you did not wash my feet. This woman has not stopped washing my feet with her tears, since she came in here. Simon, I came into your house and you did not greet me with a kiss. This woman has not stopped kissing my feet since I came in here. Simon, I came into your house and you did not anoint my head with oil. This woman anointed my head with perfume. Simon, she loves much, because she has been forgiven much."

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have been forgiven much, much more than we can imagine that our Lord has forgiven us. And we are indebted to our Savior. And so, because of that, we want to live according to the ‘new man’ that He has created in us. Our scripture reading says,

"If by the Spirit

you put to death the misdeeds of the body,

you will live."

That is not what we call a peaceful coexistence. It is not when a Christian says, "I have a ‘new man’ and I have an ‘old man.’ They can get along with each other. Sometimes I will do what the one wants and sometimes I do what the other wants." That is not it. It says,

"If by the Spirit

you put to death the misdeeds of the body,

you will live."

A Christian is someone who wants to not live according to the sinful nature. So, how do we put to death the misdeeds of the body? It is a constant battle that we go through. The first thing is this. We understand that we do that by daily repentance and faith. The Bible says,

"If we say we have no sin,

we deceive ourselves

and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins,

God is faithful and just,

and will forgive our sins

and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

And when we do, in weakness fall, and do what our sinful nature wants us to do, how do we put that sinful nature to death? If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Through daily repentance, we admit that we are sorry that we do, in weakness, fall. We turn to Christ, our Savior, and we trust in His forgiveness. And then, through the Word of God, through the Gospel that is preached, the Gospel we hear in Absolution, the Gospel we receive in the Lord's Supper, our faith is strengthened to live according to the 'new man.'

We also put that sinful nature to death, put to death the misdeeds of the body, by the Sword of the Spirit. The Bible calls the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit. Remember when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil? What tool, what weapon did Jesus use? He repeatedly said to the devil, "It is written..." And then, He quoted scripture. Use the Word of God, when your sinful nature tempts you to sin. Learn your scriptures so you can use the Word of God.

If we are tempted, for example, to fall into despair, because we think God does not love us, that He is not with us, because of something we are going through, we can pull out the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God and we can say to ourselves passages like,

"God has promised

I will never leave you.

I will never forsake you."

And through that Word, we put to death the misdeeds of the body, the unbelief of our sinful nature. If we are tempted to some sin, again, we can pull out the scriptures and speak the Word of God. Ultimately, our scripture reading even says this. It says,

"We will suffer with Christ."

To live according to the 'new man,' it is not easy. It is a battle. It is a constant battle. And, you will suffer, if you live according to the 'new man.' It is a hard battle. People may laugh at you, if you live according to the 'new man.' They may say, "Why don't you just follow the desires of your sinful nature?" There will be a battle all of your life. But, what does our scripture say? It says,

"I consider that our present sufferings

aren't worth comparing

to the glory that will be revealed in us."

Someday, someday, what is going to happen? Someday you are going to go to Heaven, as a believer in Christ, as your Savior. And you know what is going to happen then? For the first time you will experience what it is like to

NOT HAVE A SINFUL NATURE,

AT ALL!!!

Your sinful nature will be removed. It will be gone.

"I consider our present sufferings

aren't worth comparing

to the glory that will be revealed in us."

Then, we will only have the new man. And what a day that will be, when we are totally free, totally free to live the way God intends us to live, for eternity! God grant that to each of us, for Jesus' sake!

Remember what that mother said to her son about the Bible.

This Book will keep you from sin,

or

sin will keep you from this Book.

Which of those two great classes do you fall into?

 

Amen.