Gooding, David: 7 - An Overview of Section Two

What I want to do now, gentlemen, is briefly to consider with you the effects of our justification by faith. It is a well-known passage of scripture, and we should not spend, therefore, too much time on it, important though it is. It is chapter five of Romans, verses one to eleven, And states the wonderful blessings that we enjoy through justification by faith. One, we have peace with God. It has often been noticed, it's worth repeating. It's not peace with ourselves. It is peace with God, because he has justified us, given us forgiveness, declared us to be just in his sight. His wrath has been satisfied by the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ. Therefore, we have peace with God. Secondly, we have had access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. The old theologians used to talk about our standing before God and our state, and emphasize that these are two different things. And it's worth, it seems to me, maintaining those two categories in our thinking. Our state, our progress, our present enjoyment or otherwise of the grace of God, that's one thing. But we should not confuse our enjoyment, so to speak, our present condition, with our standing before God. Our standing before God depends on our Lord Jesus Christ. It is through him that we have had, notice the tense, we have had our access. Now we're in, so to speak. He is the one through whom we got in, through whom we have our access, into this grace wherein we stand. And it is grace in which we stand. And as Paul has expounded it, it is in that sense unconditional grace. You might remember the description given in the Revelation chapter seven, When a multitude are found coming before God, crying salvation to our God. And an elder asked John, who are these? And John has told who they are. They come out of the great tribulation, and, uh, they have their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, are they before God. Therefore, they are before the throne. That is interesting, because at the end of chapter six, when the heavens are parted and mankind see the throne of God and of the Lamb, the unregenerate call upon the rocks to hide them from the face of him that sits upon the throne. These then that come in their multitude and stand before the throne of God, how do they come? And it is told John that they have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, therefore do they stand before God. This is our standing then, and it's a standing in grace, not by our merit. And let us rejoice. Here comes the word, difficult to translate. Joy, yes, but basic confidence. We put our boast in this, so to speak, our confidence in this. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. That is future. We're already justified, we have present standing, and we have a hope for the future. That is, we shall attain the glory of God. It was earlier said, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now we are justified, we stand in grace, we have access to God. We're not yet glorified, gentlemen. A long way to go, but we can be absolutely certain that we shall attain the glory of God. And not only so, but we rejoice in tribulations, or we have confidence, not joyce, I'm happy, happy, happy, happy, happy all day long. Like the hymn chorus says, I always sing it with a bad conscience, and sometimes I don't sing it, you know, about a happy, happy, happy all the day long thing. That's not me, but, uh, you'll see it's rejoice in that same sense, this basic confidence. And we're prepared to s- to face tribulation and be absolutely confident still. Why? Knowing a certain fact. Not feeling, but knowing. That tribulation works endurance. That is important. God wants us to know it. You'll see we talked about faith earlier on. But the parable of the sower reminds us that the only faith that's worth talking about is the faith that endures. It's a mark of true faith that it endures. The good seed are those that believe and bring forth fruit with endurance. Therefore, the matter of endurance, not patience in the sense of the opposite of impatient, but patient in the older sense of the word that means endurance, carrying on, stickability, so to speak. And if that is important, not a question if I once believed in nineteen hundred and four, I put my hand up in a gospel meeting and I believed and I was saved, but of course I don't believe now, but I'm nevertheless saved still. True faith endures. But what if tribulation shall come? What if tribulation should break my faith? That is a matter that Paul faces, and so does James, and so does Peter. Because of the obvious importance of it. When tribulation comes, we can be confident in the face of tribulation, knowing that where there is faith to start with, tribulation works, brings about effects. You will see. Endurance. Come sun or wind or high weather, where there's faith, tribulation will work endurance. Just to show you that I'm not telling tales or making it up, listen to what Master James says, you'll see in his epistle. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into manifold temptations, trials, testings, the word means. Which sounds a very funny thing to say. What can't it all joy when you, um, fall into, uh, various testings? I used to work in the university, as you know, for my living, and one of our duties was to invigilate examinations. It was a cruel sport. You had to come at the appropriate moment in the morning, and there was the crowd waiting outside the examination hall, you see. And some were, you know, rather too excited, laughing to brush off the... what was going to happen now, and others were sort of... Yes. And you'd open the door and let them in, and they would find their place in the examination hall and sit down, and then turn the paper over to read the questions. Their faces were a picture, you see. It was a cruel sport, I tell you. But for some, their very career depended upon it, you see. They didn't normally count it all joy when they, uh, have faced with the examination. And if we're going to do testings, through testings that test whether we are believers or not, how can you count it all joy? James says we are to count it all joy, verse three, and he's saying the exact same of P as Paul, knowing that the proof, the trying of your faith works. James says the same as Paul. And Peter says to the same effect in the first chapter of his first epistle. Uh, and endurance works approvedness, the word means. Endurance will show that a person is genuine. And genuineness becomes the source of hope. So now we have two hopes. We have the hope in verse two, hope of the glory of God. We have it from the very first time we put our faith in Christ. We can be sure that one day we shall be conformed to the image of his son. But now comes life and its experiences and its testings, and our faith is battered and sometimes wobbles. But we are told that, uh, testings for a believer will work endurance. And when we come through the en- uh, testings, we shall say yes, and I proved it now by experience to be genuine. And this hope, and hope in general, puts not to shame because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts. Notice what that means and what it doesn't mean. The love of God here does not mean our love for God, as though the holy Spirit coming into our hearts helped us to love God. That may be true, but it isn't what Paul is saying here. As the context shows, it's God's love for us that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That's a magnificent statement. It's the Holy Spirit's task so to fill our hearts with a sense of the love of God that, uh, we have assurance and confidence and glory in the hope that lies before us. He does shed abroad the heart- the love of God in our heart by a certain argument. It's not feeling, but logic. Yes. For while we were yet weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, perhaps for the good man some would even dare to die. But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Sin takes various forms in different people. We're all sinners. Some show the one symptom and some some the other to a greater degree. Here, sin takes the form of weakness, verse six, ungodliness, which means lack of respect, lack of respect for God, lack of respect for our fellow, uh, men and women, in the end, lack of respect for ourselves. The drunk who goes wobbling up the street, vomiting all over the pavement and behaving like a fool, has lost all respect for himself, hasn't he? And then it's worse, we're sinners, we come short, we're still enemies. And the point of the Holy Spirit's argument is... First of all, consider what is the greatest thing that God will ever do for you. I don't want to disappoint you. Whatever you expect God to give you when you get home to glory, a few galaxies to look after or to play with, I don't know what you're expecting. But the fact is, the biggest thing that God will ever do for any one of us, he has already done. He has given his son for us. The question, therefore, is when did he do that? Did he do it after we were somewhat improved? And only on the condition that we had improved. No, says the Holy Spirit, pray do observe that it was while we were yet weak, while we were yet, uh, uh, uh, ungodly, while we were sinners, while we were enemies, that Christ died for us. And thus we were reconciled to God through the death of his son. If that be so, then the logic of the situation is that the God who gave his son to die for you when you were still a sinner, do you think now that you have been justified by his grace, he will give you up? If he did, it would, uh, suggest an inconsistency in the character of God, would it not? He loved you while you were sin, that love so much he gave his son for you, but now you've become justified, he might let you go. That wouldn't make logical sense, would it? As to the character of God. While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son. That's an extraordinary statement. Remember the parable our Lord taught of the vineyard and the tenant farmers, and the owner sent his various servants to get the fruit, and they beat them and threw them out and sent them away without any fruit whatsoever. At last, the owner said, I have one son. I'll send my son. Surely they will reverence him. And him they murdered. And the fearful effect of sin, that we have taken the son of creator and owner of the universe and murdered him. There was any moment when the wrath of God had been likely to descend upon us. There must have been then. This is the amazing story. That it was by that death organized by the evil and rebellion of the human heart, but foreordained of God, for our salvation and the means of our reconciliation. And you perceive the wisdom of God's tactic. When people murdered his son because of their twisted notion of what God is like. And so God was their enemy to be repulsed at all costs. By the death of that son, God has shown us what God is like. How would you manage to resist and be hostile to a God that, when you were still an enemy, gave his son for you? It is a powerful argument. It is the Holy Spirit's argument. Notice it depends on logic and on the character of God, that God is not inconsistent. God commends his love towards us. That is a vivid phrase. When I was a youth, unemployment was universal almost in England, and men of ability were unemployed for months on end. They would be offered a job by the unemployment exchange, as it was called, and they had to take it. If they didn't take it, they got no more benefit. So they had to come round the door offering this, that, and the other. I remember one fellow came, he was trying to persuade my parents to become subscribers to a newspaper called the News Chronicle. Because we didn't want the News Chronicle. And the householder would shut the door on his face. No, I don't need that. And the man would put his foot in the door. He wanted the chance to explain how good this was. What a concept it is for God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. To have to come down and recommend his love to us, and put his foot in the door, so to speak, to gain a hearing. And argue the case for his love and character. Vivid terms, aren't they, what? And the final result of our being justified, as given here, of course, there's more to be said later on, but as given here, not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. That is, we're not merely saved, not merely justified, but do perceive that this justification by faith and what it involves has changed our attitude to God himself. Now it's not joy merely in the sense of, uh, rejoicing, in the sense of being glad and happy, but our basic confidence. In that sense, we glory in what? In God, of course. We're glad that God is the God he is. My salvation depends on him being the God he is. And my confidence is in him. That's right. Genesis one and two and three tell us where mankind went astray. It was not that Adam began an unhappy ha- habit of um, uh, uh, of uh, uh, bashing his wife every day before breakfast. Things went awry, fundamentally went awry, when Adam and Eve were induced by the serpent not to believe God and his word. That's all. As God said, don't take any notice of that, said Satan. That is a fundamental thing in the universe. You couldn't live in a house with somebody you didn't trust. That would be very difficult. You'll not live with God in his heaven if you don't trust him. That would be frightful. But God still is omnipotent, you know. And if we would be right in the side of God, it means that that fundamental thing must be put right. Not our works, but our faith and confidence in God. That is redemption performed. Our faith is in God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to leave it there, gentlemen, because, uh, for time's sake, I must move on. And for the rest of this session, I want to talk now about the second major part of the Epistle to the Romans. And first of all, let's do a survey of its contents. If I can find the same just for a moment. By now you all have got used to it, to my contention, that there are four major parts to the Epistle to the Romans. We have surveyed, in superficial fashion, the first part that told us why we needed to be saved, because of the wrath of God against our sin. And now we have studied God's way of salvation, justification by faith, and notice that it comes, that whole section, that whole part, the first part of Romans, comes to its glorious conclusion with a triumphal statement, we shall be saved from the wrath through him. And we have hope of the glory of God. And that triumphal statement given in context of a expression and a preaching exposition of the love of God. But now we are to move into the second major part of Romans, and I have suggested to you that this gives us a second reason why we need to be saved. This time it's not the wrath of God, but the wreckage caused by Adam's sin. And if you say, where do you get that from? I get it from the verses of chapter five, verse twelve onwards. As by one man's disobedience, sin entered the world, and death by sin. So death passed upon all, for that all have sinned. The consequences of Adam's one act of disobedience, the wreckage brought upon the human race by that initial disobedience. That too is going to end up with a tremendous statement of salvation. We are saved in hope. It will then come to its conclusion with a marvelous statement of the love of God. What shall separate us from the love of God. Having noticed that, let us notice at once some superficial differences. In the first part we've just studied, we're told of a righteousness of God that is apart from the works of the law. We're justified by faith, not by the works of the law. The law cannot justify us. It is said many times over. Now notice the difference in this second part of Romans. Now we are righteous apart from the law. This is going to tell us of God's purpose in our salvation, namely that the righteous requirement of the law shall be fulfilled in us. Romans eight, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Notice that both these sections are going to talk to us at great length about the death of Christ. The first, uh, part tells us that Christ died for us. And it stresses the propitiation that he there affected by dying for. But in this second major part, not only tell us about Christ died for us, it will inform us that we died with Christ and were buried with him. And raised with him. So both parts are going to talk about the death of Christ, but now you notice the difference, don't you? And noticing the difference is a very important part in getting the exposition of scripture right. When two passages have very similar ideas, then it's important to ask what is the difference between them. So the first one, Christ died for us, but the second one is we died with Christ. So we, in the first, rejoice in hope of the glory of God. In the second part, those he justified, them also he glorified. And what that glory will be is then spelled out, conformed to the image of his son, and so forth and so on. It is that second part now that we begin to think about. Let us then go a little bit more deeply. And have a survey of the contents. And notice how the contents differ. First of all, in the first section, the diagnosis. What's wrong with us? Why do we need to be saved? Well, all are personally guilty. All without excuse. Every mouth shut. We deserve God's judgment. Why? Because we have sinned. And sinned against the light that God has given us. Whether that light is his law written on our hearts, whether it's the light of creation, or whether it is God's revealed law in, in the Bible, in the Ten Commandments and so forth. We have sinned against the evidence that God has given us. We have sinned knowing it was wrong. We are personally guilty and without excuse. It's our fault. Uh, notice the diagnosis in the second part. That asks the deeper question. Certainly we have done these sinful things, but how did we c- become sinners to start with? And here the answer is, it's not our fault that we were born sinners. And when I say that, I'm aware that there are serious theologians who love the Lord better than I do, probably, who would hold it is our fault, because when Adam sinned, we sinned, and we are guilty of Adam's sin. It is our fault. For the moment, I want to say what I personally believe, and then you may argue the case with me, if not today, then our next sessions in a fortnight's time, if God will. But I refer for the moment to Romans five verse nineteen. as through the one man's disobedience, the many were constituted sinners. It's not our fault. We were born sinners. It was by one man's disobedience that the many were constituted sinners. This is the Christian doctrine of the fall. Adam was not born in sin, but he disobeyed God, and as the founder and first member of the human race, from whom all others have come, the human race was in that sense perverted in Adam, and all who have been born since have been born sinners. By his one act of disobedience constituted sinners. It's not our fault, therefore. The gospel, the f- the doctrine of the fall, gentlemen, is in one sense a very glad, I almost said happy, doctrine. People who say, I don't see why I should be condemned because of what Adam did, can be answered with the assurance nobody will ever be condemned because of what Adam did. People will be condemned for what they've done themselves, but not for what Adam did. We shall not be condemned because we were born sinners. That wasn't our fault. We shall be condemned for rejecting salvation, and salvation is on these terms, as that verse expresses it. Romans five nineteen: For as through the one man's disobedience the many were constituted, were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous. If we were born sinners by what somebody else did, we can be made righteous by what somebody else did. God ways, God's ways are fair, aren't they? What? This is a very merciful doctrine. Men are guilty. We all are guilty, and to that extent it's our fault. But all gentlemen have compassion on people. They were born sinners, you know. Wasn't their fault they were born sinners. They didn't ask to be born... and to be born of a fallen race. In that sense, it's not their fault they were born. And God's ways being just and more than just. If they were born sinners by what somebody else did, namely Adam, they can be saved by what somebody else did. By the obedience of the one, the many shall be constituted righteous. Now, we have to be careful, do we not, in applying these things. Notice that in the diagnosis of sin that we find in this gospel, first comes the thing that we are responsible for before God. We deserve his wrath. We are guilty sinners. You see, in modern psychology, let me say, modern psychology has often influenced the courts in Britain. Somebody is brought before the court, he's done some horrible deed, but then it is pleaded on his behalf that, well, look at his poor childhood and look at this and look at that, and he, he didn't, uh, he couldn't really help it and, uh, and so on and so forth. And so he's let off. But wait a minute. If the judge knows his business, he will ask, when the man actually did what he did, did he know it was wrong. A little child could have put a pencil through your eye and blind you, but a little child wouldn't know what it was doing. The question with an adult is, did they know they were doing wrong when they did it? And if they did it, it is their fault, and they are guilty that they have done something knowing it to be wrong. That is the force of the first major section of Romans. It is our fault. Oh, but when the man who did it, some outrageous deed, and and has been sentenced and he's gone to his prison or whatever the penalty is, then, sir, do have compassion on him. Because the other thing is true. He were born a sinner. Not his fault he was born a sinner. And he probably has all sorts of them, unfortunate things that happened to him in early childhood, beaten up by parents and things of that order. Have compassion on him. And this is the gospel for him. Ruined because of Adam's sin, and of course his own sinning. But he can be put right. He can be saved. Not by what, uh, not, uh, by what he does himself, but what Christ has done. Beautiful that, isn't it? That's both sides of salvation. Yeah? And so the death of Christ. Notice this, the different, significantly different phraseology. Theology. The first part of Romans says that Christ died for us while we were still sinners, ungodly, enemies, and weak. He died for us. Yes. The second part is going to tell us of the death of Christ. We died, were crucified with Christ, buried, raised with him. Then how shall we continue in sin? Yes, that's the other side of the story. And then, as we know full well, the first part of Romans discusses the law in regard to salvation, in relation to righteousness and inheritance, and says that justification is apart from the works of the law. And the inheritance is not given to us on the ground that we have kept the law. It's apart from the works of the law that we are justified. It is by the grace of God and being in Christ that we inherit the inheritance. It's not by keeping the law. The law then in relation to righteousness, justification, if you like, and inheritance. Now on this second part of Romans, chapter seven raises the relation- the question of the relation of the law to our sanctification. The law couldn't produce our justification. Now we're going to be, uh, talked to about our sanctification, the process of becoming holy. What is the relation of the law to the process of sanctification? That's a very important topic, isn't it? That is the topic that has Paul confessing, oh, wretched man that I am, the the good thing that I would do, I don't do, and the bad thing I don't want to do, that I go and do, what a stupid fool I am. And confessing that just as the law as law could not justify anybody, so law as law cannot sanctify anybody. That is a very important thing to get hold of. But notice the difference between the two. Then notice what is said about the Holy Spirit. The implications of justification by faith. In the first part, as we saw, the Holy Spirit pours out the love of God in our heart to make real to us our hope of glory. Mm-hmm. The role of the Holy Spirit when it comes to the question of justification by faith. But in the second part of Romans, the role of the Holy Spirit, the implications of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, spelled out in chapter eight at great length. Here it is the Holy Spirit that gives us life, who guides us, who leads us, who intercedes for us in the furtherance of God's purposes for our glorification, and so strengthens our hope. Parallel messages then, but we do well to notice the, uh, differences, uh, between them. And two, I s- here I set out briefly the main stages in the argument of this second part of Romans. It is good to get a drift, uh, get a hang of the drift and the contents of the main arguments before we come down to the detail, and how those main arguments fit together, why they come in the order that they do, and what each of the main arguments contributes to the meaning of the whole. So first comes the paragraph, Romans five twelve to twenty one, which tells us of the root of our ruin and our hope of recovery. The one man, Adam, for whose disobedience the many were constituted sinners. The secret of our recovery, by the obedience of the one that is Jesus Christ, the many shall be constituted righteous. Righteous. Second, if this is going to be about our sanctification, how we can be made holy, how eventually the righteous requirement of the law is going to be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. Then it is exceedingly important to notice that the next big argument, chapter six, one to fourteen, tells us about the legal basis of our sanctification. And you say, what do you mean by the legal basis of our sanctification? You've, uh... know quite well about the legal basis of our justification. We were guilty sinners who deserved the penalty of our sins from the wrath of God, but Christ died for us, offered the propitiatory sacrifice. That is the legal basis of our justification. It's not always apparent to believers that there has to be a legal basis of the process of our sanctification. But there has to be, of course. And to establish it, I appeal now to Romans chapter six. Romans six and fourteen. For sin shall not have dominion over you. Why not? And how not? I once, many, many years ago, was conducting a Bible study for some of my younger brothers and sisters who had asked for it. It wasn't my fault. They'd asked for it, you see, huh? And they wanted Romans, and uh, in particular this part of Romans. So I set them a little study to get on with, and I, I, I went away and left them for a while. And I said here in this verse fourteen, Romans six, sin shall not have dominion over you. I'd like you to study that phrase and tell me when I come back, what is the reason why sin shall not have dominion over you? What is the secret of breaking the dominion of sin? H- h- how is it to be explained? On what grounds and how are we delivered from the dominion of sin? And having set the question, I went away and came back after a suitable length of time to hear their answers. Now, what is the secret that sin shall not have dominion over us? Oh, they said, yes, because we found it in chapter eight, you see, that the Holy Spirit has set us free from the law of sin and death. It's the Holy Spirit within that gives us victory over sin. I said, that's glorious. That isn't what the verse says. Oh, yeah, but that is so anyway. I mean, it is the Holy Spirit that gives us victory over sin. I said, well, yes, but that isn't what the verse says, is it? What do you mean it isn't what the verse says? Well, the verse I ask you to study. Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. That is what I meant by asking what the reason for it was, and how it is that sin shall have not have dominion over you. Here is the reason that, um, you are not under law but under grace. And they said, oh, I don't see the point of that. That's no reason at all. Happens to be Holy Scripture. You'll see. Yes, it's giving us the legal basis of our sanctification. So is chapter fi- six from start to f- uh, down to that point. What do you mean the legal basis for sanctification? Well, gentlemen, I don't know what you propose, or what you propose to God, the day or moment that you were justified by faith. Perhaps you can remember it, can you? And you saw clearly that now you were justified and you wanted to live a holy life, yes? Did you undertake to be holy, absolutely, completely holy sinners from that point onward? Don't think you did, did you? You told the Lord you wanted to follow him, you wanted to live to please him. Now you have lived since that moment about thirty five years or forty or whatever it is you've lived since that moment. How's it gone? Are you perfect yet? I think not, perhaps. And you still do some sins. Tell me, old chap, does it matter that you still sin? Or now that you have trusted the Savior, does God say, well, never mind, you're on my side now, aren't you? So I don't mind if you sin. That's these others that aren't on my side. I crack down on them. But you, uh, now you're on my side, that doesn't matter if you sin. Hm? Of course not. Sin is still as serious as ever it was. But the process of our being sanctified and made holy is going to be a lifelong process, gentlemen. And if you get to the age of ninety nine, having made much progress by God's grace in the life of holiness, you would still confess if you were asked, but I haven't yet attained. I still come short, wouldn't you? And God is a realist. Having undertaken to launch us on the pathway of sanctification, God himself is a realist and knows that it's going to take a lot of time and that we shall stumble and fall. And therefore he has to put this business and process of our sanctification on a sound legal footing. In the far off days when I went to school, there were some masters who undertook to teach us chemistry. It was a very risky business, teaching some of us chemistry. Danger was we might blow the, uh, uh, uh, the laboratory to bits, you see, by mixing the wrong kind of stuff and so on, you see. And because of that danger in the process, parents had to pay in advance a certain fee, do you see? Uh, to cover all the expenses in case their darling little children blew up the chemistry lab and ruined it, you see. They had to pay in advance. And when God undertook to make you holy, gentlemen, knowing the process would be long, knowing what you are and how often you would come short. God has paid in advance the expenses of your education in holiness. That is a magnificent thing. You'll see, once we get involved in wanting to be holy, I can guarantee you this, we shall become more conscious of sin than we were before. I amuse myself at playing, well, that's a dignified word to use for what I do, uh, playing the piano when other people are not about. Ha. But when somebody who's a bit more expert than I am comes and plays, I shrink into the corner and don't admit I ever attempt to play the piano. And the nearer you come to Christ, the more unholy you will feel. And the more you want to be sanctified, the more God will have to teach you the seriousness of sin. And as we progress, the Holy Spirit will show us eventually that certain attitudes of ours that we thought were jolly good were in fact sinful, though we didn't know it. It will in some sense be on our part a discovery of our sinfulness, because if we're going to be made holy, we shall have to face our sinfulness and repent of it and seek the deliverance of God and his Holy Spirit. And the question of our sinning as believers, it had to be paid for before the law of God in advance, has been. And the reason why sin shall not have dominion over us is given here in chapter six. It doesn't say here because the spirit of life in Christ Jesus will set you free. That is true, but it's not said till chapter eight. Here it is said. Sin shall not have dominion over you because you are not under law, but under grace. Notice the phrase, because you're not under law as such. Didn't say not under the law, but as under law as such, but under grace. For you consider me, and I want to be holy. Yes? And suppose I wake up one Monday morning, and there's the law standing before, beside my bed, and saying, Gooding, get up. You shall not be lazy, get up. And from now on today, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And if you fail, I shall curse you. What would you do if you were me? I, I don't know about you. I think you'd get up and have a go. I shouldn't. I should say, well, if that's your terms, I've got to love the Lord. I want to, I, I confess I want to, I want to love the Lord, oh God, with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, but I know from past experience that I can't do it perfectly today, and if when I fall short, you're going to curse me, well, I might as well stay here. And the law would say, well, then I curse you for staying in bed then. God hasn't let down his standards, gentlemen. But God is a realist. And our process of sanctification says this, sin shall not have dominion over you, shall not keep you down. Why not? Because you are not under law. If as a believer I were under law as such, as a principle, then the first time I'd sinned, I'd be out. You see, the law isn't just advice, I would do this if I were you, it would be better for you, and it's a better way of living, actually, so old chap, uh, uh, you know, this is a good way to live, live like that. The law isn't that. The law is command plus penalty if you break the command. The law, law as such is a com- prohibition. You shan't do this. And if you break the prohibition, law as such curses you and demands a penalty. That's law. And if we were under law, gentlemen, the first time we, we transgressed, the first time we were, we sinned as believers, that would be it. Finished. If you were under law. The secret is we're not under law, and therefore sin shall not keep us down in that sense. Because when I sin, thank God for it. I can confess my sin. And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from our sin. If we confess our sin, we're faithful and just. He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us for all unrighteousness, and we're free to get up and have another go.