1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your Daily Bible Verse, 2 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: the podcast that examines one verse each day to learn 3 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: more about God and as will for our lives. I'm 4 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,440 Speaker 1: your host, Kyle Norman. After a brief message from one 5 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:39,200 Speaker 1: of our sponsors, we will continue with today's verse. Today's 6 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: verse can be found in Romans six, Verse twelve. Do 7 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 1: not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that 8 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: you can obey its evil desires. I remember a heated 9 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: discussion in my university ethics class. We were discussing moral law, 10 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: whether there is a universe versal moral ethic or if 11 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: morality is more situationally. Is ethics and morality indiscriminate applied 12 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 1: to all people in all situations or does it depend 13 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: on who you are and where you are. The example 14 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: we used was stealing a loaf of bread? Is it 15 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: wrong to steal a loaf of bread all the time? 16 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: Is it wrong to steal a loaf of bread when 17 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: you have the means to buy bread, say, at the 18 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:32,319 Speaker 1: grocery store. Is it wrong to steal a loaf of 19 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: bread if you have no means to buy bread. While 20 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: this discussion centered on morality, it naturally touched on theology 21 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: and the topic of sin. What is sin? It's a 22 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: question that maybe we ask ourselves from time to time. Now, 23 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: the Bible talks about sin in two different ways. Most commonly, 24 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: we refer to sin as the things that we do 25 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: or maybe do not do, that are against God's vision 26 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: for our lives, so we steal when the Bible says 27 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 1: thou shalt not steal. But the Bible also talks about 28 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: sin in another way, and we see this most prominently 29 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: in Romans chapter six. Here Paul talks about sin not 30 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: as a misdeed or a mistake, but as a spiritual 31 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: force that oppresses our lives till Paul writes, do not 32 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you 33 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: obey its desires. The word for desire is the word 34 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: for lust. So the image that Paul puts forward is 35 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: of sin as a rival king or a rival master, 36 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: one with destructive and soul destroying lusts, one who wants 37 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: to dominate us and move us away from God. The 38 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: more that we give into this sin's rule, the more 39 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: we allow sin to exercise this damaging will in our lives, 40 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: We become enslaved to a particular way of life. Giving 41 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: into sin, therefore, is like offering ourselves in worship to 42 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: a rival master or a rival lord. This is why 43 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: we can't just do what we want and then justify it, 44 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: because well, God forgives us. And this is why my 45 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: ethics class was fundamentally wrong in its discussion about ethics 46 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: and sin, because what is at stake in our lives 47 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: isn't just whether or not we break some universal commandment. See, 48 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: sin isn't just about what we do or do not do. 49 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: It's also about who or what we serve. In worshipful obedience, 50 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: Bob Dylan wants saying, you're gonna have to serve someone. 51 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: Everybody has a spiritual direction in their lives, and so 52 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: everybody's serves someone or something at the spiritual level, and 53 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: what we serve forms who we are. Paul wants his 54 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: readers in Romans to ask themselves, who do I serve 55 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: as the Lord of my life? Whose desires and plans 56 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: do I obey? And more importantly, where does it lead me? 57 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: Scripture is very clear to follow the lusts of sin, 58 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: which moves us away from God's purpose and direction for 59 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: our life. It leads to death. Romans six sixteen says 60 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: you are slaves to the one that you obey, either sin, 61 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness. 62 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: When we give ourselves to Sin's reign, we are left destitute. 63 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: The wages of sin is death. Paul writes, death is 64 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: produced in us, which means that we feel it in 65 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: our existence today. We feel this topping of our livelihood, 66 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: with feeling of heaviness, of being weighed down, and ultimately 67 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:16,039 Speaker 1: we feel shame. So what's the solution. Do we just 68 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: try harder to perfect our lives. Do we buckle down 69 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: morally so that we avoid any and all temptations? Well, 70 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: we can, But if Sin is a spiritual force of oppression, 71 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: then what we need to do is place ourselves under 72 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: a different spiritual rule. We need to ensure that we 73 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: are offering our lives in service and obedience to Jesus Christ. 74 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: See Paul's entire discussion about Sin's rule is in the 75 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: context of Christian people being freed from this rival lord 76 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: and this oppressive rain. Sin shall not be your master, 77 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: he writes, Sin doesn't rule over us because we are 78 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:09,840 Speaker 1: blanketed under the rule of grace. Sin's spiritual mastery has 79 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 1: been completely eradicated, so why turn to it again. Because 80 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives, we can 81 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:24,239 Speaker 1: count ourselves dead to sin and dead to death because 82 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: we are alive in Jesus Christ. If death and shame 83 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: are the wage that sin pays out based on our 84 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:38,719 Speaker 1: dutiful obedience to sin's reign, then Jesus gifts us freely 85 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: the gift of eternal life. Our life can be lived 86 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: in all spiritual vibrancy. It can be a life that 87 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:50,600 Speaker 1: is infused with the joy of the Holy Spirit, upheld 88 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: in God's mercy, a life that knows that despite what 89 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:58,679 Speaker 1: this world throws at us, the love of Jesus speaks 90 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: a final word. Friends, we don't obey Jesus because we 91 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: feel afraid of divine retribution lest we break the commandments. 92 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: We don't obey Jesus because we believe in some fickle 93 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: moral principle. We obey Jesus because Jesus has given us 94 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: a freedom that'll be longed for, a freedom from sins 95 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: very rule. We obey Jesus because the shame and the 96 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: soul deep death that comes with sins rule has been 97 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 1: completely expelled, and we refuse to let sin reign over 98 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: us again, and so we actively and openly give ourselves 99 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: to the love and grace fill the rule of Jesus.