Pastor Derek Berry "The Cross Changes Everything"- Sermon 3 (3/15/2026)

"The Cross Changes My Struggles" Week 3 of the series "The Cross Changes Everything." Many Christians feel trapped by recurring struggles despite knowing their sins are forgiven. The cross didn't just forgive us—it freed us from sin's control. Like a caged tiger that won't leave when the gate opens, we often live as if we're still trapped by old patterns. Romans 6 reveals that when we accepted Christ, our old self died and we rose as new creations. Sin no longer has rightful authority over us; it's merely a trespasser we can choose to reject. We don't fight for victory—we fight from victory because Christ has already won.

Transcript

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Good singing today, good time of worship. Last uh couple Sundays we've looked at a thaw. Uh the cross changes everything. The cross changes everything. Today I want to, as we journey our way to Easter Sunday and look at something week by week about what the cross changed, I want to look in Romans chapter number six and look specifically about how the cross changes my struggles. How the cross changes my struggles. See, as we look in the text and what we'll find and discover, the cross didn't just forgive us, it freed us. And I'm thankful for that freedom. You know, last Sunday we saw something incredible, as you find your spot there in Romans 6. Last Sunday, when we were opening the Word together and reading specifically in Psalms 103. If you weren't here, I'd encourage you to go back and listen to it or watch it. But Psalms 103 tells us that God removes our sins as far as the East is from the West. And we were reminded about that. We saw that. Because of the cross, we know that our sins are forgiven. Because of the cross, we know that the guilt was removed. Because of the cross, we know that our past is not held against us. We saw that last week. But once we get something as that large laid upon us and that depth, you know, honest questions sometimes can come from that. And through the years of ministry, I'll get asked certain questions. And here's one that oftentimes I'll get asked. They'll say, you know, if I'll be honest with you, preacher, you know, I wrestle with a few things. I believe that my sins are forgiven. I can read it in the text, and I believe that they are. But if my sins are forgiven, why do the same temptations can come back to me? That's a valid question that I might get asked, or you might even be thinking amongst yourself, why is it that I save? I know that my sins are forgiven. Why do the same temptations show back up? Some questions I might get asked are why do the same habits show back up? I know they're forgiven, but why do the same habits creep back in? Well, preacher, I know my sins are forgiven, and I know that Jesus said in the text that in Psalms 103 he remembers them as far as the east is from the west. But why do the same battles that I felt like are already conquered, why do I feel them all over again? Those are good questions. And I think that's exactly where Romans 6 answers. Romans 6 answers those questions because the cross didn't just forgive us, it freed us. And if you found your place in Romans 6, I invite you to begin to look in verse 14. I just want to read verse 14 as we start off. The word said, this is Paul's writings, and he's writing to believers. He's writing to people that have accepted Jesus as their Lord and as their Savior. They know that Jesus died on the cross and rose and then ascended to heaven. They know that. And he says this to us. Verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you. The word dominion means lordship, it means authority. What Paul is encouraging us and reminding of us is that for sin shall not have lordship, sin shall not have dominion, sin shall not have authority over you. And he goes on in verse 14, for you are not under the law, but under grace. He's letting you and I know that because of the cross, Jesus changed everything. Because he died and rose again, he broke the chains that sin has on us. And because of that, you and I have to realize that we don't live under the authority of sin. And sometimes that's hard to get a hold of. Sometimes it's hard to get and grasp. But I want to help you the best way that I can this morning. I was reading uh an article, and it was about this tiger at a zoo, and I think it'll help if you go with me on this for a moment. This tiger at the zoo was born there as a baby, and it was raised there. And at the time the zoo didn't have the the habitat built, so it put it in a the biggest cage that it could afford and build. And for years the tiger lived in the cage. They fed it every day, they protected it, but yet confound in that cage. And the zoo raised money. I was reading in the article, and eventually they bit a habitat, and they thought the best way for them to do that would be building it around that cage. So that way when they were finished, they would just open the gate. And they built a very nice habitat that the uh the tiger couldn't escape from, but had the freedom to kind of mosey around. And the eventually they got finished with it. They opened the doors to the cage, and something crazy happened. They were not expecting this. The gate for the cage is wide open, but the tiger didn't leave. The tiger stayed put. And every day they monitored the tiger and watched the tiger sort of stay in the corner where he used to stay, and he would get up and walk around, but never actually leave the cage, although the gate was open. And it sort of mesmerized them because it would stay in the corner and it would run and pace back and forth just like it already had, even though the cage was gone. The tiger was still living its life as it was trapped in a cage, although it was free to roam the entire habitat. And as I was reading that article, I began to think that's true for many Christians. Many Christians live exactly the way I just described that tiger. I can read Romans 6 and know that not only my sins are forgiven, I am freed, but yet I still lived as if I'm trapped. I still live as if I can only stay here and mosey around, but yet I have to realize that I think that's why Paul was reminding them in verse 14, for your sins shall not have dominion. We live as if our sin has trapped us, and I don't know where to go. The cross has broken the chains. I want to remind you this morning. Everything that Jesus did, it broke the chains. There's no gate holding us in. But yet I believe that believers still walk back and forth struggling just like that tiger did. We don't know how to accept it or how to process it. We still live with the struggle. We still go by the same habits, we still let the same patterns that we once controlled us continue to control us. And I want to encourage you this morning in Romans chapter number six, because I think that there's a lot of important questions that are answered. Romans 6 may say, hey man, if the cross forgives me, why do I still struggle? I know somebody else in the house has asked that question. If the cross forgave me, then why do I still have struggles, preacher? And more importantly, why do I feel free? Although I am free, why do I still feel like I'm trapped on certain days? I want to show you three things this morning that I hope will help you as much as they help me because Paul delivered them in such a clear way. First thing I want to show you is right here in verse number one, the cross breaks the power of sin. And what I love about the Apostle Paul is he makes us think. He asks questions in the text, and when he asks the questions, if your mind is wired like my mine is, it begins me to begin to think about the answer even before he gives the answer. And he asks a question, actually, two questions right there in verse number one. He says, What shall we say then? Now he's remember writing this to believers. He's writing this to us. He's writing this to people that have accepted Jesus as their Lord and as their Savior. And he says in verse number one, right off the bat, What shall we say then? Then he goes on to another question. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Paul is saying, man, if grace is sufficient, why does it matter if I continue in sin or not? What a great question that Paul is asking. Now, the good thing about Paul is he answers the question, so you and I don't have to go very far for the answer. But it's a very practical question that many people might struggle with from time to time, thinking, man, if Jesus died on the cross for all the sins that will ever have been committed, then what would matter if I committed another sin or not? His grace will cover it. So the question is in verse number one, what shall we are shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Paul so elegantly answers this in verse number two, certainly not. He's letting you and I know, no, with a capital N-O-T, essentially, no, we shouldn't continue to sin just because his grace is sufficient. Then he asks another question. See, I'll let me and Paul get along. Man, I'll ask, I listen, I'll ask two or three questions before y'all. You've got a chance to answer the first one. You ever taught me one-on-one? I've got five questions and you're still trying to answer one, I'm on to the fifth one. Just the way I'm wired, guys. My mind moves fast, so does Paul's. Look what he said. He answered his own question, verse number two, certainly not. Then he asked another question. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? If that's the case, if I should not continue in my sin just because his grace is sufficient, then how should I live, verse number two, then how should I live if I'm dead to that? Verse three, or do you not know that as many as us are baptized, uh verse number three, or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ, Jesus, were baptized into his death? Another question. These first three verses let you and I realize the cross broke the power that sin has over us. That's why he said in verse number 14 that sin shall no longer have dominion, never have lordship, never have authority over you and I as believers any longer. So he goes on to show us some thoughts in these three verses. I want to give them to you. Remember, verse one, he began with a question. I think Paul is trying to address any level of misunderstanding right off the bat. Has anybody ever misunderstood anybody before? Some of you, I try to speak as clear as possible. And listen to me, I know that I can butcher the English language, and oftentimes my prayer is that God, if I butchered it, please let them process it correctly, because I can butcher it at times, but I'm only human. So yes, you've all misunderstood somebody before. I've misunderstood somebody before. I may have even butchered a word or two before. And I think Paul was trying to clear the air if there was any level of misunderstanding ever out there in verse number one. So he begins by this question of man, if your grace is good and your grace is sufficient, if you're good, your grace is good enough to cover every sin, why can't I just continue in sin any longer? What a great question. But yet he follows it up with a very powerful answer. Certainly not. See, I believe that some believers may even think, man, if God can forgive sins, then I'll just sin and it doesn't matter. I'll just continue in my sin because it wouldn't matter any bit. I'll just seek forgiveness and he'll forgive me, then I'll just move on about my day. But Paul says, no, certainly not. You should not continue in your sin just because he has forgiven you of your sin. So let me show you some stuff, some help that I've got from verse number one, two, and three here. It's grace does not excuse sin. I should not, as a human being, trying to follow Jesus, shouldn't just sin as an excuse because I can seek God for forgiveness. No, that's no way to be. And he goes in depth over the next probably 10 verses, and I'll give them to you to help you and I understand why we shouldn't, because grace does not give us permission to live however we would like. And sometimes that's difficult to get. Grace does not give me permission to do what I will and what I want. No, that's not what grace was for. I think grace gives you and I the power to live differently. It's a change of perspective. Grace gives you and I the power to live differently than the world would have you and I to live. Listen, the world is in a place far worse than I've ever seen it. And you and I are subject to that because you and I live in the world. But the grace of God should empower me to live different from the world so that I can be different, so that I can point people to Jesus. I'll give you an example. I I love to find examples within scripture to help us get a hold of what we're trying to learn. And I can't help but to go to Zacchaeus. In Luke chapter number 19, Zacchaeus is a wee little man. I'm not going to sing the song from children's church, but I thought about it just to let you know. But we know that Zacchaeus was a wee little man. We know that Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. And I know that Zacchaeus was a tax collector, then nobody liked him, because he took advantage of people and made people pay more than they should have paid, and he kept the difference. But yet he had something that he wanted to see, and God pressed it upon his heart. So when Jesus was coming to town, what did Zacchaeus do? He climbed the top of the tree and looked for Jesus. And if you ever read Luke chapter number 19, you'll read the story that I'm speaking about. Zacchaeus sees Jesus and made eye contact with him, and they had a somewhat of a conversation. And in that conversation, you get to verse number eight, and Zacchaeus essentially gets saved just like that. He sells Jesus that he will make right all that he had messed up, and all of a sudden, everything changed. Now, I understand you and I, especially, you start thinking, I want to get saved, I want to make sure I get this prayer right. I want to lead somebody properly. But what we find in the story of Zacchaeus that he saw Jesus, and in their brief conversation, something radically changed, and in Zacchaeus' heart, he knew that he had failed, and he knew that Jesus had it all, and he looked to Jesus and he said, Jesus, I'm sorry. Jesus, I will make right whatever I've messed up, and Jesus knew it because you get to verse number nine, and Jesus responded back to Zacchaeus and said, You have been saved. You can read it. I know I paraphrased a few verses there, but verse number nine simply says, Jesus said, Today salvation has come to you, Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus done got saved. Why? Because Zacchaeus' heart changed just like that. Now, after that conversation in verse number 10, you may tell you what Zacchaeus does not say. Zacchaeus doesn't say, hey, I'm saved now, Jesus. I'm going to go back to cheating, folks, because I know that you'll forgive me all over again. Did Zacchaeus say that? Nah. That ain't in my Bible. You know what Zacchaeus did? When he left that conversation with Christ, he realized that his grace was sufficient. And because of his grace being sufficient, Zacchaeus said, you know what? I no longer, this grace just empowered me to live different. I'm going to make right what I had made wrong, what I'd done wrong, and I'm going to live my life differently for the rest of my life. Did sin keep coming in? I'm sure. Did he keep getting tempted? Oh, I'm sure he did. Did things begin to work out perfectly for him for the rest of his life? I'm sure it didn't. But he knew without a shadow of a doubt that if he were to die, he was going to heaven, and he knew that because of the grace that God gave him, it changed his behavior to live differently. Verse number one of our text starts with a question. Man, I'm saved. Can I live any old way I like? Verse number two answers it. Certainly not. No, you can't. What grace does is empower you to live differently so that you and I have something to point the world to. If we truly understand the cross, we will not want to keep living in what nailed Jesus to it. That's what changes. Let me give you something before we move to our next verses. Grace doesn't make sin acceptable. You know what it does? It makes freedom possible. And that right there is a change of perspective that we need to have to realize as a believer, I am free in Christ. Grace doesn't make sin acceptable. No, it just makes freedom possible. Let's go on to verse number four. Verse number four gives us another thought. We're answering some questions here. The first few verses showed us that the cross breaks the power of sin. The next few verses are going to show you and I, the cross gave you and I a new life. The cross gave us a new life. And we find that in verse number four through verse number 10. Look at verse number four with me. Therefore, remember he's saying, therefore, because of everything I just said in the first three verses, because of all of that, we were buried with him, talking about Jesus there. And again, he's speaking spiritually. Therefore, because of everything I just stated, we were buried with him through baptism in the death, that just as uh Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also walk in the newness of life. Now, spiritually speaking, what Paul is reminding you and I is the second that I got saved, I spiritually died and rose all over again. Just like when we uh give baptism right here, and I'm baptizing somebody. What do I think? We we buried with Christ, raised to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? It shows the world what Jesus did on the inside. Spiritually speaking, the second I got saved, I died on the cross with him, and I rose on the third day, and because of that I'm dead to sin. And that's what he's going to continue to show us. Verse 6. Paul says, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him. I just explained that. What's the old man? Flesh. What's the old man before salvation? What's the old man? You know, we were born spiritually dead. That's why when I got saved, Paul said in Ephesians, quicken, he made me alive. So what he's saying in verse number six is knowing this, that our old man, our old self, was crucified with him, when was Jesus crucified on Calvary's Hill? That the body of sin may be done away with. You know what that means, done away with? That means reckon inoperable, meaning it doesn't work any longer. Verse number six, he says the sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Verse number seven, it's a good verse here. For he who has died has been freed from sin. That word free means cleared. Now, verse eight, if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live in him. So if I died with him, I must still live with him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over him. Death no longer controls him. Death no longer has authority over him. Why was that? Because on the third day he got up and he moved the rock out the way so you and I can look in. You understand that? That's where you show it. He is bigger than death. He conquered it. Verse 10. For the death that he died, he died to sin. Once for all, praise the Lord. Highlight, circle, exclamation point right there. It only took one death, praise God. But the life that he lives, he lives to God. And remember, I'm in him, therefore I should as well. What is he talking about here? The cross gave us a new life. The cross gave us a new life. You know what Paul just explains in verses 4 through 10? He explains that salvation not only just forgives you and I, you know what he just explained? That salvation transforms us. And I liked, when I was a kid, I played with transformers. I'm talking, I like transformers. Why it changed around? I could turn them into a car to a monster, just like that. It was something kind of neat. Listen to me, the text just showed you and I that Jesus not only died for us to forgive us, but it transformed us. What does he mean he transformed us? He says we died with Christ. These verses say that if we died with Christ, we were buried with Christ. If we were dead, died with him and we were buried with him, then it says that we rose with him. That's what this text just said that he transformed you and I. That means the cross changed not only our standing before God, but it changed our relationship to sin. And how do you figure it's because he just conquered it all. So not only did it change me, it changed my relationship to sin. Am I still going to be tempted? Yes. Am I still going to have it waved in front of me? Yes. But do I have to let it control me? No. That's what he says in our text. And he even gives some practical application to this as well. Look with me a little bit in depth in verses 4, 5, and 6. The old life died with Christ. See, Paul is saying that when Christ died, the old you died as well. If you're saved this morning and you know the Lord is your Savior, he is telling us that if you when the second you got saved, you died with him, therefore the old you is dead. Now, what does that mean? This is more than behavioral modification. Now, I understand what modification means, and I understand what behavior means. This does not mean that I try to modify my behavior. What this means is that I realize my old self died, so I said trying to fix my old self and just live for the glory of the Lord. This is a spiritual breakthrough of the old life. Verse number six is why he says, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him. The old man is the person we were in Adam. In Adam that sinned. What does that mean? Adam was enslaved to sin. Adam was ruled and controlled by his sinful desires. Adam, once he sinned, lived apart from God. That's why Paul said in Galatians chapter 2, verse number 20, I have been crucified with Christ. He was explaining, we died to that. And I think, and let me just be real with you for a moment. Many believers are trying to manage the old self when God says the old man was crucified. We've got to realize if my old self is dead, why am I trying to fix my old self? If my old self is dead, my old self is gone. It'd be me trying to talk to something that was no longer here. It's over. The old man died with Christ, therefore I shouldn't try to improve upon something that's dead because it can't have life. You don't have to improve what God says is dead, ultimately, is what he's saying. Dig into verse number seven. Verse number seven is a good, good verse right here in the middle of our text when he says, For he who has died has been freed from sin. The believer has been freed from sin's rule. Does that mean sin will tempt you? It does. Does that mean sin will try to uh capture you? It does. Does that mean sin will try to trap you? It does. But it does, what it what it's saying is that you don't have to be ruled by it, controlled by it. Paul is not saying that we'll never struggle. And I'm not trying to sugarcoat anything for you. There's still gonna be struggle. I've been saved since I was eight years old, and I'm a pastor of a church, and I've been pastoring here for over 11 years. Let me tell you something. I still get faced with temptations and struggles. It's gonna happen to all of us. Listen to me. Don't try to tell yourself that you'll never have any struggles. No, you will. What he is saying in verse number seven is not that you'll never have struggle. He's saying that sin is no longer your master. And that's what I got to get a hold of. It doesn't control me like that. It doesn't, it's not, it's not ruling me. I don't have to. Now think about this. Before Jesus Christ, sin ruled you. Before Jesus Christ, sin defined you. Before Jesus Christ, sin owns you. But after Jesus, after I got saved, sin may tempt me. After I got saved, sin may attack me. After I got saved, sin may even also influence me. But you know what it's saying? But it no longer has the rightful authority over me. That's what verse number seven says. What a big difference in the text that you and I got to get a hold of. Sometimes I'll get questions like this, or some believers will struggle with trying to get a hold of this. And they may say something like, Man, preacher, I'm just the way that I am. Oh, I've heard that many times. And I just listen. I'm, you know, I talk a lot, but I've learned to listen a lot. And they'll say, preacher, I'm just, that's just, I'm never going to change. I'm the way that I am. The struggle that I struggle with is going to own me forever. Verse number seven actually says that no longer is that true for a child of God. That's what verse number seven tells me. And I think about, I go back, and I was reading this story a couple of Sundays ago, maybe even on Wednesday, I made a comparison to the Israelites leaving Exodus. And I started to think a little bit more about it. And so as they were in bondage in Egypt, and now what happened? Moses was going to leave the promised land. And I know what they crossed the Red Sea and they're in the wilderness. They're out of Egypt, but yet they still acted like they were in Egypt. Now think about that for just a second. They left bondage, they were crossed the Red Sea, they're in the wilderness, essentially in their mind going to the promised land. They were out of Egypt, and yet Egypt was still fully in them. And I know that because when I read Exodus, they were behaving as if they were still in bondage. Some of the conversations that they had amongst themselves were about they were implying or talking as if they were not heading to the land where the milk and the honey flow. They were not going to this place. They were acting and getting mad with each other and questioning Moses and all the struggles that they read that you can read about in the book of Exodus. Why'd you leave us to die? What are we going to drink? What are we going to eat? All this stuff happened. They were living as if they were in bondage, even though they were out of bondage. Now, why is that? Pharaoh no longer owned them, but they were still trapped like that tiger. The tiger had the gates open, but it wouldn't enjoy the habitat that was built for them. The Israelites had crossed the Red Sea, and they were now out of the cage, but they were still mentally acting as if they were locked up. Pharaoh didn't own them any longer, but they acted as if they did. They were still pacing back and forth. Why do you think they lived in the wilderness for forty years? If they would have obeyed God, they would have been in the promised land. But what did they do? They walked in circles for forty years. Because although they were out of Egypt, Egypt was not out of them. Some of us are still walking around in a cage and God's freed us. And we're not accomplishing what God would have for us. I hate that, but that's so true. Pharaoh no longer owned them. But they still thought they were slaves. Let me say this sin may still fight you. But through Christ it no longer has to own you. Listen to me, every day I wake up anticipating some sort of sin trying to get a hold of me. For one, I know as a man, if it can get a hold of me, it can affect my whole family. Me and we have that effect over our families. If it affects me, it'll affect my wife. If it affects us, it'll affect the kids. As your pastor, if it affects me, it'll affect y'all. I wake up on offense and defense every day. And I pray and seek the Lord, trying to make sure that I'm right where he would have me to be in every moment, sold out for him. Sin is still gonna fight you, but through Jesus Christ, it no longer has to own you. Let's dig in a little bit deeper in verse 8, 9, and 10 before we move on. Verse 8 follows up with this. Now, if we die with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. So verse 8 takes us a little bit further and says the new life we have in Christ is real and is permanent. So I understand the cross gave us a new life, but now he shows me in 8, 9, and 10 that this new life is a real life and it's a permanent life. Paul moves from death to the resurrected life. That's what he shows us in the text. And this gives you and I hope that you and I, we have hope to continue on. Look at verse 8. Now, if we die with Christ, we believe that we should also live with him. If we die with him, we shall also live with him. Now you think about that for a second. Our freedom is not based on willpower. Our freedom is based on our union with Jesus Christ. Now you think about willpower for just a second. You and I have some willpower over certain things. Maybe it's not going back for seconds when the roles are in front of you. Does anybody have willpower when you go to Texas Roadhouse? No. The only willpower I have if they don't bring them again. You understand? If they bring another basket, the basket's gone. Just so you know. And the butter is gone too. Okay, but I mean, I can have willpower over certain things, but the roles at Texas Roadhouse isn't one of them. You understand? But the truth of the matter is, I think as believers, I think we think that it's willpower. I can do this, I can tell myself, and really what it is, is based upon my relationship with Jesus. Better I am with him, the closer I am with him, the more I realize that I've done one. Okay, and sin don't rule me. I can continue on. I'll still struggle, but I don't have to give in. Look at verse 9. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more, praise the Lord. Death no longer has rule. Death no longer has dominion. Death no longer has authority over him. Jesus did not barely survive death. You understand that? Right? He died 100% completely. He defeated it completely. It wasn't not a barely thing. It wasn't as if he on the third day, as he's hanging out in the temple or in the tomb for three days, the borrowed tomb, he didn't need one because he wasn't going to stay there very long. He gets up on the third day, and it wasn't as if he barely got out of there. He got up as if it never happened. He didn't have a bruise. I mean, he wasn't battered. He wasn't messed up from being beat upon. Oh no, now, yes, he's still yes, he had to show that. But you understand, he fully got up. He was a hundred percent there. He defeated death also you and I, because we couldn't. And because we are in him, think about that. The life we have in him is not fragile or temporary. It's permanent, it's forever. Verse number 10, oh, I love this verse. Look what he says. For the death that he died. The death that he died. He died to sin once for all. Once and for all. But the life he lives, he lives for God. What does that mean? That's an important phrase that I want you to get a hold of in verse number 10. The phrase matters. What does it say? Once for all. He died once and for all. The work of Christ is complete. That means that he does not have to die again. It means that the victory does not have to be repeated. And it means that the freedom he provided was not partial. It was 100%. I think that many believers and some believers, just like the tiger still in the cage, wouldn't enjoy his habitat. Some believers live like victory has to be re-earned every week. I feel like we're in the, I've got to re-earn this every week. But the cross and the resurrection already had success. I don't have to do it. And when I realize and get a hold of that, I'm going to learn this. You and I don't fight for victory. We fight from victory. I want you to get a hold of that for a second because if I'm not careful, I'll be like the tiger in the cage with the open gate. And I'm thinking that every day I've got to stand up and fight to have this win, fight to have victory over a battle. But then I have to tell myself, according to Romans chapter number six, it's already been won. I can go to the end of the book and read Revelation and realize that I don't have to fight for victory. I fight from victory because Jesus has already won. He's in He died, He rose, and He ascended to heaven where He's sits at the right hand of the Father forevermore. And listen to me, he's in complete control of this place. Now it may seem as if somebody's not. Now I know the devil's the prince of the air, but whatever authority, whatever control he thinks he has, God has allowed him for God's purpose and his purpose alone. Every time we turn the TV on, I see of somebody that died. Even last night in Acton, some demonic person goes and shoots people. It's nothing but the devil. Now listen to me. We might see that as God, are you not in control? Let me just remind you, he's in charge. Now, why would a God allow that? Listen, I don't have the mind of God, but I have faith that God knows what he's doing. He allows things for our benefit and for his glory to be on shine evermore, okay? So you and I don't have to fight for victory. No, he's already won. We fight from victory. I want to remind you of that this morning. He's won it all. He's won it all. I mean, let me give you this last thought, and I'm gonna move on to my last three verses, okay? You're not called, you're not called to return to your old life. Remember, you can't modify it. You are called to walk in the new one. He gave you a new life. You're called to walk in it. Stop trying to walk in your old life, trying to modify it. It's dead. I got a new life. So the cross breaks the power of sin. We saw that in the first few verses. The cross gave you and I a new life. We saw that in verses 4 through 10. And now, verse 11, we're gonna see the cross calls you and I to choose freedom. It calls us, the cross calls us to choose freedom. Look at verse number 11. Verse number 11 says, likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin. Verse 11, likewise you also reckon yourself. Reckon means to consider, to count. Consider yourself to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And when I read verse 11, especially my study Bible, I circled that word in because I'm in him as a believer. And he says, likewise, essentially what just what he did, the verses we just read, count yourself, consider yourself to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, because of that, because of verse 11, do not let sin rule, do not let sin reign, do not let sin rule you or rule in your mortal body, your fleshly body, your old self, that you should obey it in its loss, and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourself, yield yourself to God as being alive from the dead, and your members, your bodies, as instruments of righteousness to God. Verse 14, where we started. For sin shall not have dominion, shall not have lordship, authority over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. Paul gives some truth right here about the cross, calls you and I to choose firm. Notice in the text, when Paul, the first 10 verses, 1 through 10, was more about theology, verses 11 through 14 is more about application. So he changed it from his conversation to talk about some theological truths to now some application of the theology that he just laid out. And he says that you and I, we must change how we see ourselves. He's saying, you are a new person, but now you must view yourself as a new person. Change how you see yourself. That's why he said in verse 11, reckon. He says, consider, count this to be true, because you died and rose with him. Because of all that, count yourself as to be dead indeed to sin. If we must believe what God is saying, if you see yourself in a trap, you'll live in a trap. The tiger saw himself trapped in. He never would escape out. He saw himself trapped, so therefore he lived a trapped life. If you're not careful, you'll see yourself trapped and you'll live a trapped life. The cross calls us to choose freedom. He goes on in verse number 12 and says, Therefore, because of everything I just said, do not let sin reign, rule in your fleshly body. Listen to me, sin still tries to influence us. We know that. I've known that my whole life. You know that. But it no longer owns you. That's what we have to realize. Does it try to influence you? Yep. But it doesn't own you. How do you know that? Because Paul just eloquently laid it out for you and I. See, one thing that I want to illustrate to you is that before Christ, sin was your master. But after Christ, sin is a trespasser. You understand? You don't have to let it in. But all too often, we let it in. We have to view it differently than we ever did. We have to get a hold of these verses. Before Christ, sin was my master. After Christ, sin is a trespasser. If the if he knocks on the door, you don't have to let it in. Does somebody ever knock on your door that you don't want to open the door to them? Does anybody knock on doors anymore? Amazon, don't worry about it. Listen to me. Knock it on your door. These days will get you shot. Especially around Pauldon County. You understand? But you don't understand. People have knocked on my door before. But I didn't let them in. Megan could call Derek, there's somebody at the door. I say, okay, is it locked? Yes. You got the shotgun? Yes. Well, you're good. Don't worry about it. What are they gonna do? And it was somebody probably lost. I don't know. But she was a little nervous. Just because they knock on my door, doesn't mean I open the door. Just because sin knocks on my door don't mean I let it in. At some point I have to realize that I, again, remember the first question. Hey, grace, because of sin, does grace abound? Yeah, but listen, grace doesn't give me a license to sin. No. He gives me the permission to live differently. We got to remember that. Just because sin's knocking doesn't mean I have to let it in. I want to choose freedom. Verse number 13, we must surrender ourselves to God. Verse 13 says, and do not present your members, your bodies as instruments, as weapons of unrighteousness to sin, but present, yield yourself to God as being alive from the dead, and your members, your bodies as instruments, as weapons of righteousness to God. Essentially, what he's saying is that freedom grows when we are surrendered. When I surrender myself to Christ, the freedom I have in him is more visual, more real. Freedom begins when we stop living like slaves and start living like we're free. That's when freedom begins. And I want us to live a life for Jesus to bring him glory and to bring him honor. And we got to get a hold of these verses to do so. I want to say this as I get ready to close in a moment. Many believers live stuck between two truths. Many believers live stuck between two truths. Here they are. The first truth is that we believe that my sins are forgiven. I believe it without a shadow of a doubt. My sins are forgiven. But then the next truth is where I struggle, but my struggle controls me. So somewhere in the middle, I believe my sins are forgiven, but my struggle still controls me. I'm somewhere right in the middle of that. That may be you this morning. But what I love about Romans 6 is that it reminds me that the cross did more than just forgive me because the cross broke sin's authority over me. It opened the door. I can escape. The chains are gone, but I've got to step out and walk. The tiger decided to stay in. He could have left. But he was so entrapped in his mind he never thought that he could exit, even though the door is open. Many believers won't step out in freedom. We keep holding ourselves back. I want to challenge you this week to something. Ask yourself an honest question this week. Where am I still? Still living like the door is still closed. It could be your habits. It could be your mindset like the tiger. It could be temptation. It could be just a pattern of thinking. And I want to encourage you to bring that struggle straight to Jesus because Jesus didn't just die to forgive you of your sins. No, he also died to free you from sin's control. So lay it at his feet. That's my challenge for you this week. Would you pray as I pray? God, I come to you this morning thankful, excited.