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The speaker is addressing Christians and discussing the idea that they have no power over sin in their lives. They argue that this is a lie that has crept into the church and that scripture actually teaches that Christians have the power to overcome sin. The speaker shares personal experiences of being in church communities where sin was affirmed rather than challenged. They emphasize that Jesus died not only to save people from hell, but also to give them the power to overcome sin and have a deep relationship with God. The speaker cites scripture, such as 1 John 3:8 and Ephesians 2:1-8, to support their argument. What? Hi. Okay. Okay. What time is it? 9.50. Oh, okay. Okay. I love you. I love you. Bye. Okay. Love you. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. Today, I am actually here by myself without another guest, which is very new for me. Believe it or not, I don't spend a lot of time talking by myself in front of a camera for long hours. So just keep that in mind. I'm not sure how long this is going to be because I've never tried it before of just talking by myself. It definitely helps to have someone to bounce ideas off of, but we're going to give it a shot. And I think that this needs to be done because today's topic is something that I think a lot of people need to hear. And just so that you know, I'm specifically going to be addressing this toward Christians. If you're not a Christian, that's fine. You can still stay and watch. And maybe if you're on the fence and considering becoming a Christian, this could be a really good video for you. Or you can watch if you want. It's totally fine. But just so that you know, this video is going to be addressed toward Christians. So today's topic is going to be talking about this lie that has crept its way into the church, which is the lie that we have no power over sin in our life. This idea that, well, you know, everyone sins and that's just kind of the way it goes. And I wish that it wasn't that way, but you know, like you can't help it. You're human. Like you just have to keep sinning. And, you know, there's grace for that. And there is grace for that. Praise God. He's so merciful. But, you know, Romans 6 talks a lot about how Paul is telling us that does that mean that we should just keep sinning to allow grace to abound? Absolutely not. He completely rebukes that idea. And so today we're going to be talking about that idea. I'm not sure if that's something that you guys have noticed at all. But it's something that I've noticed a lot more recently and specifically in American, modern American churches. And even if they wouldn't explicitly say that they believe this type of ideology, it can be very obvious from the way that they live. And I've noticed that in a lot of church communities, they kind of affirm each other in their sin. And they wouldn't explicitly say like, hey, it's OK that you're doing that. But what I've noticed and coming myself from some of these churches is that I would a lot of times feel comfortable in my sin because all of my friends were also in sin. And when I say that, I don't mean like, oh, every now and then we would make a mistake and then immediately repent. I'm going to be talking today specifically about a habit of sin, of a lifestyle of sin, of unrepentant sin, where a lot of times these people will just kind of make excuses for their sin. And so they just keep doing it. And the more they do it without repenting, the longer or the deeper that they fall into the sin and the more that they or the less convicted they feel about it. So that's what I'm going to be talking about specifically, not just like a one time mistake or like, you know, when you immediately repent and you come back to God and you learn from your mistake. But talking about a lifestyle of sin specifically, but from my experience in a lot of churches with communities there, it was like, oh, everyone is like participating in sin consistently. And instead of us building each other up and encouraging each other, hey, like, man, like, you really shouldn't live that way. And like, I know that's hard. So I'm here to walk with you through that. But like, I can't just like affirm that, like, hey, it's like love the sinner, hate the sin. But in a lot of communities that I've noticed is that they love the sinner and they affirm the sin. And that's just not OK. That's not what scripture talks about. But yeah, so I know like a lot of communities and ones that I've been a part of before, people just kind of like make each other feel comfortable in their sin, where it would be like, oh, man, like, I'm really struggling with this. And then the other person would be like, oh, I'm so glad you said that because I'm really struggling with this. And then it would just be like, oh, cool. We're both struggling. And that's it. And then they just leave it there instead of being like, oh, let's push each other. Let's encourage each other to do better. They would just and I speak for myself, too. Back when I was in these communities is that I would just be like, oh, good. I'm not the only one who's sinning. Kind of like how misery loves company. Right. So like when I was younger, if I would be doing something bad, like, you know, if I would be if I would get a detention from at school, then if my friend also got a detention, it would make me feel so much better about it. And I wouldn't feel bad about what I did as much because I would just be like, oh, me and my friend are in this together. And so I don't know. It just affirms even if they wouldn't explicitly say a lot of these communities allow each other to be comfortable in their sin. And that's not what scripture talks about. So that was a really long way of explaining the topic for today. But that's essentially what we're going to talk about. What does scripture have to say about that? Are we truly powerless from overcoming sin? The answer is no. Spoiler alert. But I'm going to tell you why. Dig into a lot of scripture that talks specifically about this and just address more of the lies surrounding this ideology. So I think that what the overall crux of the issue is, is this question of what did Jesus die for? And I think that a lot of people professing Christians have this idea that Jesus died so that they could have a get out of hell free card. I know that sounds silly, but I really think that that's what a lot of people are believing. And it just breaks my heart because it's so much more than that. And putting your faith in God is so much deeper and richer and just more amazing than that. Something that I can't even describe and no one can fully understand until they surrender to God. But that's what we're going to talk about a little bit today. So let's talk about what did Jesus die for? So did Jesus just die so that we could be in heaven one day? That's definitely part of it, but that's not all of it. So Jesus died on the cross, a gruesome death, paid the price for our sins and rose again, conquering sin and death, so that we could have relationship with him. That we could have relationship with the father, deep, intimate relationship, not just, oh, thanks, you're the guy who gives me good things and you're the guy who saved me from hell. Not just that. That's a very service level relationship. I mean, even from a worldly understanding, from an earthly understanding of what a relationship is, you wouldn't consider yourself to have a good relationship with someone who you only talk to once a year and you just ask them for things all the time. That's not a real relationship. Anyone could acknowledge that. So talking about the reason, one of the reasons that Christ died is so that we could have deep, intimate relationship with God. So another reason that Christ died and the one that we're going to be talking the most about today is so that we could overcome sin, so that we would no longer be under the reign of sin. So that's the thing that we're going to talk about the most today. Scripture talks all over the place about this idea that Christ died so that we could be free from sin. And it's not just so that he would wash us of the sins we had already committed. Of course, he did that as well. But now, after we put our faith in Christ, we now have the option, we have the power to say no to sin. That's something we didn't have before. And we're going to talk a lot more about that later. But let me read you a verse. 1 John 3, verse 8. So very clearly right there, it talks about what the purpose of Christ coming to earth was for. And the purpose is that he might destroy the works of the devil. What are the works of the devil? It just said in the beginning, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. So sin, the works of the devil is sin. So Christ came so that he could destroy sin and the power that it has on us. So that's really, I think, where the rest of what we're going to be talking about and everything else, that's where it all stems from, is the fact that Christ didn't just come to give us a get out of hell free card. He didn't just come to allow us to get into heaven, but he came to overcome sin so that we can have an option now. And you know what, let's just talk more about that. I was going to save that for later, but I really think it's time for us to go into that. So let's see. Ephesians 2, 1 through 8. Let's read. Let's go there. Let's see. Okay. Ephesians 2, 1 through 8. I don't know if I said 2 or if I said 3, but let's go ahead and read that. 1 And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath just as the others. 2 But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. I just love that so much. But I want to specifically emphasize that first verse, and you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin. So, before we put our faith in Christ, before we became Christians, we were dead in our trespasses. We had no way of overcoming sin, of overcoming the hold that sin had on us. But because Christ came and died for us and paid the ultimate sacrifice and rose again, overcoming sin and death, we now have an option. We now have a choice to sin or not to sin. Before, we were dead in our trespasses. We just, all we knew was sin. We were by nature children of wrath. That's how each one of us comes straight out of the womb. We are children of wrath until we put our faith in Christ. But now that we have put our faith in Christ, we get to choose. And it's still a choice because we have free will, praise God, and we get to choose what kind of life we want to live. But his hope, his desire, and the thing that he died for is so that we could, that we would choose righteousness instead of sin. So I think that's really important for us to know is that we, now we have a choice. We can say no to sin. We can choose to submit ourselves to righteousness rather than to sin and disobedience. Another lie that I see a lot, which kind of, it goes hand in hand with the first lie that we were talking about. But it's this idea that sin is just who we are. It's just a part of us. And most people don't see it that way. But let me give you some examples of something that you might have heard before. Let's see, for example, oh, I can't help it. I just have anxiety. And so sometimes I just lash out at people. Or let's see, like some, a lot of times people will say, oh, like, I just have an addictive personality. And so I just can't help it. I just always drink alcohol. And that's just a part of who I am. I just have addiction. I am an addict. And there's lots of other examples. I don't know if those were the best ones to use. But all the time I hear people making these excuses and identifying with these things that they struggle with rather than identifying in who they are in Christ. And let me read you a verse, Galatians 2.20. Let's see. Galatians 2.20 says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So Galatians 2.20 tells us kind of rebuking this idea that we are our sin. We are our struggles. And it says, it's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So that's what your identity is in. It's not in your sins or your struggles. Those things have been crucified along with Christ on the cross. And your old self has been crucified. Let me read Romans 6.6. Let's see. Where did it go? Ephesians, Galatians, Romans. There we go. All right. Chapter 6, verse 6. Let's do 5 and 6 because they're connected. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. So that word, those words that he uses, our old man was crucified with him. So that's talking about your past self. That's talking about you before you came to Christ. And we are no longer that person. That old man has been crucified with Christ. And we, the reason it says that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. So that body of sin, of filth, of wickedness that was dead and trespasses, that's no longer us. We are a new creation in Christ. And I think that's so important to realize is that I know so many Christians who still identify with the sins and struggles that they used to identify with before Christ. And they still are trying to hold on to those labels and those identifiers when Christ says, no, you're a new creation. I have made you new. You're dead to your old ways. You're dead to your old self. You're dead to sin. And now you walk in newness of life, scripture says. So this idea that it's just a part of who you are and that's just who you are and you should just express who you are. Well, no, that's not who you are. Not if you're in Christ. If you're in Christ, your identity should be in Christ, in Christ alone. You shouldn't identify with your struggles because even from a worldly lens, the more that you say something and the more that you affirm something about yourself, the more that you believe it and the more that you act upon it. So if you're over here saying I am an addict, I have anxiety, I am so anxious, all of these things, the more that you say those things, the more that they start to, you start to act on them and you start to live those things out. But if you say I am a child of God, yes, I have struggles, but first and foremost, I am a servant of Christ, then you start to act in accordance with those beliefs. And so it's really important that we believe what Christ has told us about ourselves, which is that we are a child of God, that we are his servants, that we are just so loved by him and that he has set us free from our sin and from our wicked ways. So we don't have to identify with those things anymore. We can identify with Christ and Christ alone. So that's something that I think is really important for being able to say no to sin, because how hard is it to say no to something that you believe is your identity? Like, it's really, really hard when you believe that you are something, then you're so much more likely to behave in a way that affirms that belief. And so I believe that I am a servant of Christ, child of God, beloved, made in his image, and therefore I live my life accordingly. And I do my best every single day to be obedient to God and to have so much desire to read his word and to have relationship with him. So that is something to think about. Then let's go to Romans chapter six. By the way, I don't think I'm going to read through all of Romans chapter six, but it goes into so much more detail about what I'm talking about right now. So I highly recommend reading that if you haven't. But let me read verses 15 through 23. Says what then shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not. Do you not know that to whom you present yourself slaves to obey? You are that one slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves. Excuse me, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh for just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness. So now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed for the end of those things is death. But now, having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life for the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So I love that section so much. But the part that I specifically wanted to point out is what is it that I wanted to point out? Oh, yeah. Is this idea that everyone is a slave to something, as it says here, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. So and it talks about how whatever you are obedient to, that is what you are enslaved to. So if you are consistently giving over, giving yourself over to sin, that means that you're obedient to sin and you are a slave to sin. If you are consistently striving to be right with God and coming to him day in and day out and confessing to him and yearning to grow deeper and deeper in your faith, then you are a slave to righteousness. So what I wanted to point out about that is that I think this really is going to really help a lot of people. Is this idea that instead of looking at sin as something like, oh, I'm just not going to do that and I'm just going to say no and I'm just going to sit here and I'm going to keep saying no, no, no. And I'm just going to abstain from it. But I'm not going to do anything else. I think that's the wrong way to look at it. So because you're going to be a slave to something. Right. And so if you're not a slave to sin, then you have to be a slave to something else, which as it lays out here, a slave to righteousness, a slave, a servant to Christ is what you should be a slave to. So to apply this, sorry, to apply this kind of practically, for example, let's say that you're trying really hard not to give in to your drinking struggles and you're struggling with just wanting to drink alcohol. So instead of just sitting there and saying, nope, I'm not going to drink alcohol, I'm not going to drink alcohol and just sitting there and just thinking about it, because if you're just sitting there, really, you're just thinking about it over and over again. And that just makes it really hard. And I mean, more power to you if you can do that and you can resist sin in that way. But it's easier and perhaps a better way to look at it as instead of picking up the bottle, why don't you pick up the Bible? Why don't you start reading God's word? Why don't you get plugged into community? Why don't you go on a prayer walk? Why don't you spend time in prayer with God and exercise? Why don't you, again, like I think community is super important in those scenarios because, I mean, the Lord has specifically set up the church as a community for you to turn to, to help you get out of patterns of sin and to help you to live holy, to live righteously. But I think that's really important is that a lot of people think, oh, I'm just going to say no. I'm just going to get through it. I'm just going to power through it. But instead, God doesn't only want you to say no to sin, but he wants you to say yes to righteousness. He wants you to pursue him. And I think that that's super important and honestly vital to spiritual growth is not just saying no to sin, but saying yes to righteousness, saying yes to the things that God wants you to walk in. And so that's something that I really, really encourage you to do is get plugged into community. And I don't just mean, oh, I go to church on Sundays and I watch the lecture and then I go home. That's not enough. You have to get plugged in with people and Christians specifically who want you to flourish, who want you to grow and become more holy. So definitely you really need to get plugged into community that's going to push you to do better, to live holy. And you need to read your word. You need to pray consistently and make a habit of those things. Instead of making a habit of sin, make a habit of righteousness. And so that is something that I think is absolutely vital. Then let's see. Oh, 1 John 3, 6 says something about this. Let's see. 3, 6. Okay. Whoever abides in him, talking about Christ, does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him. So the word that I want to emphasize from that verse is abide, which 1 John talks so much about that word of abiding, abiding in Christ, abiding in God. And I think that word is so important because the truth is, and I've seen this so much in my own life, is that if you are truly abiding in Christ, then sin is not going to be appealing to you. It's not going to have the same pull. Yes, you will still be tempted, but you will be so confident in your ability to say no to sin if you are truly abiding in Christ. And what that looks like is basically what we were talking about a second ago, getting plugged into community, reading the Bible daily, praying daily, and just really seeking God's will for your life and being obedient to him in everything. Letting him into every area of your life, not just keeping him in a box in one area of your life and then separating that from the other areas. Not at all. That is not what it looks like to truly abide in Christ. You need to let him in to every inch, every crevice of your life and put him first in all things. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you. So I think that that's extremely important to realize is that we need to be abiding in Christ. And of course it's going to feel helpless to say no to sin if you're not abiding in Christ. Where are you going to get the strength for that? You can't say no to sin out of your own strength. The strength that you need to get to say no to sin is from God. It's from abiding with him daily and seeking his will. Then you will have the strength that you need to resist sin. A lot of people think, oh, let me just figure this sin area of my life out and then I'll start abiding in Christ. No, that's not how it works. How are you going to say no to sin apart from Christ? You can't. You can't say no to sin apart from Christ. And so I think this is where a lot of people get hung up is that they will even pray and ask, like, God, help me to not give in to the sin. But they're kind of doing that as a way of putting the blame on God when they don't say no to sin. I know that sounds crazy, but I have seen this a lot where someone will pray, like, Lord, if you really want me to stop having sex outside of marriage, then remove this person from my life. Or, like, then just give me the strength and I'll just say no. But they're not abiding in Christ. They're not reading their word. They're not praying. They're not having community. And so you can't just ask God to take it away from you if you're not willing to put in the work to seek him, to pursue him, and then thus get the strength to say no. It doesn't work like that. You can't just ask him to do something for you that he can only do for you if you are abiding in him. I don't know if I explained that very well, but I think that's where a lot of people get hung up is that they think that they need to figure this sin out and then start abiding in Christ. And that's not how it works at all. You can't do it alone. You need Christ, and you need to be abiding in him. And you can't just expect that you won't have temptation and that you won't give in to sin if you're not abiding in Christ. So I hope that makes sense. But that's really – I think that about sums it up of what I wanted to talk about today. I'm sure that I'm forgetting certain things, but there's always next time, so I can always come on and share anything else that I remember because there's a lot to say on this topic. And scripture talks about sin and us being set free from it so often. But, you know, I have said everything that I think needs to be said right now. But if you have any verses that I'm not mentioning or anything to add, please feel free to add it in the comments section. That's what the community of God is all about, helping each other out and filling in the gaps where someone else left the space. So please feel free to do that, and I'll definitely talk more about this in the future. And if you have questions also, please feel free to ask. But to sum it up, Christ did not die so that we could just keep on sinning, that we could just get a free get-out-of-jail, get-out-of-hell free card and then just keep going about our life as if nothing happened. Christ died so that we could have relationship with him, so that we could live righteously because we didn't have that choice before. So that's the choice that we need to make is to live righteously, to say no to sin. And how are we going to get that strength to say no to sin? From continuously abiding in Christ day in and day out and submitting yourself unto him, surrendering every area of your life unto him, then we will have the strength that we need to say no to sin. And, yes, there will be temptation. Yes, there will be struggle. But we need to, instead of making a habit of sin, make a habit of righteousness. And I think that that's the only way that we're going to be able to say no to sin is if we're abiding in Christ. So with that being said, let this be something that instead of walking away sad, instead of saying, oh, man, you're telling me I can't just keep making excuses for my sin and saying that, oh, that's just who I am and that's just a part of me and that's just the way things go. Instead of walking away sad that you no longer have that excuse, walk away rejoicing, knowing that you can say no to those sins. You aren't powerless over sin. Sin does not have power over you anymore. You can say no. And I know that some people might be frustrated about that because they want to still hang on to this excuse that they have. But the truth is that you have been set free from sin. Now, whether you choose to go back to sin, even after you've been set free from it, just like the Israelites going back to wanting to go back to Egypt, that's your choice. No one's going to force you to stay out of slavery. But it's so much better. It's so much better if you submit yourself as slaves to righteousness, as servants of Christ instead. And I've seen this in my own life. And, guys, it changes everything. Once I fully surrendered and fully submitted my life to Christ, everything changed. And I know that a lot of you, I don't know if that many of you are watching this, but a lot of people knew me back before I fully surrendered to Christ. Yes, I was still a Christian. But I was not surrendered to Christ. And I was living a really sinful life. And I was so depressed. I was so anxious. I thought that I had at least ten different mental illnesses because I was so sad. I was so misled. And I was so confused. And I didn't know that I didn't have to live that life, that I gave my life to Christ and that if I would just abide in him, then I would have the power to say no to sin, that I would have the power to live a life that pleases God. And I'm so grateful that I know that now, that everything has changed for me now, that I have peace, I have joy, I have everything that I could want. And it's not because my circumstances miraculously changed. It's the same circumstances that I had before. But now I know that my life is for Christ, that I exist to glorify Christ, that my life has purpose. And that purpose is so much bigger than anything here on earth. And that everything on earth is passing away, but the word of God remains forever. So I have that stability. I have that joy and that peace that comes from knowing that Christ is my firm foundation. So with that being said, thank you guys for watching. And please let me know if you have any questions. And yeah, thank you for listening. And I have no idea how long this was. I could have been talking for an hour or 20 minutes. Who knows? But we'll find out. Anyway, thank you guys so much for watching. And I will see you next time. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.