Lesson 6: Victory over Sin

Romans 6 is about deliverance from the power of sin. To understand repentance and victory, we must understand what sin is.

► What is sin?

The Bible usually speaks of sinful actions as willful (1 John 3:4-9, James 4:17). When a person purposely and knowingly chooses to disobey God, that is willful sin.

There are unconscious or accidental violations of God’s absolute law that do not affect our relationship with God as deliberate sin does. As we walk in the light (live according to the truth we know), we are cleansed from all sin (1 John 1:7) and do not need to be in fear that unknown violations will separate us from God.

This passage is speaking primarily of willful sin, which destroys faith and harms one’s relationship with God.

Part 4 of Romans (Romans 6-8) is about the sanctification of those who have been justified.

Up to this point, Paul has been talking about imputed righteousness. This is righteousness that is credited to the believer in place of his past sins. Now he begins to describe imparted righteousness. Imparted righteousness is also given by grace at the moment of justification and means that the believer becomes actually righteous by being freed from sin’s power and assisted by the Holy Spirit to live a holy life. Therefore, the believer is not only counted holy, but he is made holy; this is called sanctification.

In this lesson we will study Romans 6, which is about victory over sin.

Main Point of Chapter 6

The believer is free from the bondage of sin and must choose to live victoriously over sin and in obedience to God, lest he come back under sin's control.

Summary of Chapter 6

Romans 6 is Paul’s response to a wrong idea many people have: The wrong idea is that because of grace, believers do not need to live in obedience to God’s laws. This error is based on a wrong understanding of grace. Paul responds to this error by asking and answering two hypothetical questions (6:1, 15).

When some people read 5:20, they reason that we should continue in sin, so that we can have more grace (6:1). They seem to think that since our record of sin is replaced by imputed righteousness, it does not matter if we keep sinning.

There is another reason some people think that believers do not need to live in obedience to God’s laws. We are accepted by grace and not by our actions. That is the reason they mistakenly think it does not matter what we do (6:15).

Paul strongly rejected the reasoning of both hypothetical questions. He responded with an explanation of why victory over sin is so important.

► A student should read Romans 6 for the group.

Notes Verse-by-Verse

(6:1) Here the apostle asked a question that someone might ask after hearing that grace has abounded more than sin. Someone might think that sin is actually good in its results because it makes a way for more grace. This idea would be that we are free to live carelessly in sin.

(6:2) The apostle reacted to the question as outrageous. He then explained that it is not possible for us to continue living in sin, because we are dead to sin.

(6:3-5) We do not continue in sin because we are united with Christ in his death and resurrection. As Romans 5:15-19 explains, Jesus accomplished the work of salvation for all of us. By faith we connect with him, so that the favor of God is extended to us as it is to Christ.

Jesus died to sin once, and then lives for God. Jesus' death was for our sin and not for his own, but the point is that the issue of sin was finished. By faith, we have died and have risen with him; so that we also are finished with sin.

Baptism is a reenactment of Jesus' death and resurrection, symbolizing our participation.

(6:6) The old self represents the sinful life before conversion. (A later section in this lesson explains the concept of the old self.) The life of sin is ended completely, so that we are not servants of sin any longer.

Notice the terms used in this passage about what has happened to sin: it is dead, crucified, and destroyed. The terms communicate total victory over sin.

(6:7-11) The emphasis of these verses is that the control of sin ends for the believer. The illustration is death. A person who is dead is free from sin, and we are to have a spiritual experience that is like death.

After the resurrection, Jesus did not die again and does not continue to die. He finished with death. We are to die completely to sin and be finished with it and free from it. Death to sin is to be finished, then we live for God.

The union of the Christian with Christ’s death to sin, his burial, and subsequent resurrection which Paul described in Romans 6:1-23 sets the Christian free from the power and slavery of sin. He is declared to be dead to sin (Romans 6:2) and freed from it (Romans 6:7). To be dead to sin is to no longer be under sin’s power or control. By faith, a believer must consider himself to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:11). This means the Christian is to put into personal experience that which God declares is true about him. He is not to let sin reign any longer in his body (Romans 6:12), nor is he to use the members of his body as instruments of unrighteousness (Romans 6:13a). Rather, he is to present himself as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God (Romans 12:1), and to use the members of his body as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13, 19).[1]

In Romans 6:11, consider is an accounting term. It is to affirm what is true. It is not a statement of pretense. The apostle is not telling believers to say something that is not true. A believer should realize that he is completely delivered from sin as if he is dead, and he should choose to live in complete freedom from the power of sin.

► What does it mean to consider yourself dead to sin?

The remainder of this chapter explains another reason that victory over sin is important. We are not slaves to sin, but slaves of God. You cannot serve both. When you were the slave of sin, you did no righteousness (6:20). Now you are free from sin and the slave of God; therefore, you live in holiness (6:22).

(6:12-13) Here we see a contrast. If we do not have victory over sin, sin will rule us. Believers are not controlled by sinful desires. To use your body for wrong actions is yielding it to sin’s authority. Instead, your body belongs to God and should be used for him.

(6:14) To be under the law means to be depending on obedience to the law for God’s acceptance. That person is without saving grace and, therefore, is judged on the basis of works. Because nobody without grace can be victorious over sin, to be under the law means to be condemned and under the power of sin. To be under grace means to be depending on grace for God’s acceptance. The person under grace is not under the power of sin. To be either under the law or under grace does not refer to being either in the Old Testament or the New Testament.

► Ask students to explain again in their own words what it means to be under the law.

(6:15) Here the apostle asked a question that someone might ask after hearing that we are not under the law: “Can we sin, because we are not under the law?” The person is thinking that if our acceptance before God is not accomplished by our obedience, then obedience is not necessary. Paul reacts to the question strongly.

Paul did not directly explain why grace does not automatically cover continued sin. Instead, he explained that a person cannot be the servant of God if he is under the power of sin.

(6:16) It is impossible to serve both God and sin because you are a slave to the one you obey. If you obey sin, sin is your master, which means that God is not your master. As the Apostle Peter said that whatever overcomes a person brings him into bondage (2 Peter 2:19). You cannot yield to sin without becoming a slave to sin.

(6:17-18) Believers have been delivered from the power of sin and now serve righteousness. They experienced this deliverance by obeying the gospel. Again, it is stated that to serve righteousness it was necessary for them to be delivered from sin.

The whole chapter presents a total contrast between being bound by sin and living in victory. There is never any implication that it is possible for a believer to be under the power of sin or for a sinner to be righteous while continuing to sin. It would be difficult to find a way that Paul could have said it more definitely.

(6:19) He said that he is explaining it in human terms so that they can understand it. They previously yielded to sin, which led them deeper into sin. Now, they are to be righteous in their actions, which is necessary for holiness. A person does not become holy by doing right things, but he is not holy if he is not doing right.

► How would you explain the impossibility of serving God and living in sin at the same time?

(6:21-23) Sin produces no good but ends naturally in death. The sinner earns death; death is the wages of sin. The believer does not earn eternal life, because he cannot possibly earn it; he receives it as a gift of grace.

[1] This paragraph was written by Dr. Allan Brown.

Some think that once an individual has accepted Christ his salvation is secure even when his lifestyle completely contradicts the claim.[1] Even when the claim of salvation hasn’t translated into life transformation; even when no fruit of repentance and conversion can be seen; and even when the person refuses to become a true disciple of Jesus, he may falsely claim salvation. This is a deadly deception and is contradicted by many scriptures.

"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:22)."

"Who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:5)."

From these passages we learn that biblical assurance of salvation is dependent on faith:

• Assurance of salvation is dependent on faith which understands – “full assurance.” Assurance begins with a clear understanding of the gospel
  (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). This is the “full assurance of understanding” also spoken of in Colossians 2:2. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith in the substitutionary death of Christ on our behalf (Ephesians 2:8-9). The requirement for salvation is not sinless perfection (none would qualify) or feeling saved all the time, but rather constant trust in Christ’s merit and completed work of redemption even when we fail. A passion for faithfulness will follow genuine saving faith.
• Assurance of salvation is dependent on sincere faith – “a true heart.” A sincere convert is one whose heart has been “sprinkled clean from an evil conscience” (Hebrews 10:22). The guilt and shame have been removed and replaced with peace and love. A sincere convert is also one whose body has been “washed with pure water”, for old things have passed away and all things have been made new
  (2 Corinthians 5:17). A sincere convert is also one who acknowledges and confesses his faults and sins in order to be forgiven and freed from them (Matthew 6:12, James 5:16).
• Assurance is conditioned on living faith – “by God's power are being guarded through faith” The idea is the same as the defense of a castle or fortress. God’s divine power defends, preserves, and will ultimately lead us to triumph. It is the power of Christ’s cleansing blood and the power of his resurrection which we appropriate by faith that preserves our souls unto eternal life. The only real saving faith is faith which perseveres; faith which constantly trusts in Christ and in his finished work on the cross. Faith is not a work, but it is a condition for salvation. The Hebrew writer put it like this: “Without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Many people believe that to attach any requirements to salvation is legalism, but Jesus and every New Testament writer plainly taught the necessity of continuing faith.

"If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples (John 8:31)."

"If … you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard (Colossians 1:23)."

"My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him (Hebrews 10:38)."

"Holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith (1 Timothy 1:19)."

Describing the assurance of salvation, John Wesley said,

"My comfort stands, not on any opinion, either that a believer can, or cannot fall away, not on the remembrance of anything wrought in me yesterday; but on what is today, on my present knowledge of God in Christ, reconciling me to himself; on my now beholding the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; walking in the light as he is in the light, and having fellowship with the Father and with the Son. My comfort is that through grace I can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit doth bear witness with my Spirit that I am a child of God."[2]

► From the concepts in the preceding section, how would you explain that a Christian can have an assurance of salvation based on a living faith?

[1] This section was written by Tim Keep.

[2] John Wesley, “Serious Thoughts Upon the Perseverance of the Saints”, in The Works of John Wesley: Letters, Essays, Dialogs and Addresses Vol. X, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan) 295. Also available online at: https://archive.org/details/worksofjohnwesle0010wesl/

The term old self occurs three times in the Epistles. All three times it was used by Paul. By comparing these three occurrences in their contexts we can see what the term means.

Colossians 3:9

Colossians 3:9-10a says, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self” Paul said that these believers had already put off the old self. He did not mean that they were already completely holy, because much of Colossians 3 is calling them to holiness.

Previously he said to the Colossian believers, “Seek the things that are above... Set your minds on things that are above... For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3). He went on to say, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion…” (3:5). 3:6 says such sins will bring about the judgment of God, and 3:7 says that these believers formerly did these things. Paul demanded that they not tolerate such things in their lives at all. This is implied by the statement that they should put to death all such things.

He then called them to put off some things: anger, malice, filthy talk, and others (3:8). These are incompatible with life in Christ.

Then we come to the statement that they should do all of this because they had already put off the old self with his deeds.

He called them to advance in their Christian faith by describing holy traits (3:12), then by urging Christlikeness in relationships (3:13), then by telling them to put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony (3:14).

It seems evident that in this context the old self was the old life that had been put off at conversion. Because they had done that, Paul believed they could advance into complete holiness.

Ephesians 4:22

This verse comes in a passage that is parallel with the one in Colossians. In 4:17-19, he described the lifestyle of the heathen; then in 4:20 he contrasted it with the life of a believer. 4:21-24 describes what it means to have “learned Christ” (4:20) and to have heard him and been taught by him (4:21). These things include putting off the old self and putting on the new self. This was part of what had happened when they were converted.

This passage in Ephesians follows a pattern similar to Colossians 3. After the statement that putting off the old self is part of the gospel they have already learned, Paul's first command is that they put away lying. He went on to mention anger, corrupt talk, and malice. He told them to be kind and forgiving. All of these things were also mentioned in Colossians after the statement that the old self was already put off.

The old self is not something that the believer still needs to get rid of, but something that was put off at conversion. They were not yet completely holy, and Paul called them to complete holiness in their lives that would be consistent with the start they had made when they got rid of the old self.

Romans 6:6

In this passage Paul drew a great contrast between the unbeliever and the believer. The main point of the chapter is to assure the follower of Jesus that he has victory over sin. One reason he gave to prove that the believer can live victoriously over sin is that the old self is crucified. “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” He is obviously saying that the believer can be free from sin because of something that has already happened at conversion.

Conclusion

So what does the term old self mean? The old self is the self-centered life of sin that a person leaves when he is converted.

The newly converted person still has behaviors and attitudes that are more consistent with the old self than with the new. That is why Paul told believers to make further corrections in their lives which would be consistent with their rejection of the old self. He was saying, “Because you left the old life of sin, you need to stop any behavior that does not fit with the new life of righteousness.”

In Romans 6:1-10 we are told about Jesus’ provisions for our personal sanctification.[1] When we were born again, we were placed into Christ. All that he died and rose again to accomplish becomes ours in him. This means that in Christ we have the resources for total victory over sin.

Because of our union with Christ, whatever happened to him has happened to me. When he died, I died. When he arose, I arose in him. Because of this living union with Christ, the believer has a totally new relationship to sin. We are now dead to sin. We are dead to both the acts of sin as well as the principle of sin. This is our positional relationship to sin.

Due to our union with Christ, we now walk in newness of life because we share his resurrected life.

Due to our union with Christ, his crucifixion becomes my crucifixion. Because his death defeated the power of sin, we are no longer held by its grip on our life.

What is the meaning of consider? (Romans 6:11). In this case, it is a bookkeeping term. It means to take account of what is. The Greek word is used 11 times in the New Testament, though in different passages, it is translated into different words. Here it refers to “the appropriation by faith of the freedom from sin and union with God provided in the atonement and resurrection of Christ.”[2] The verb implies that we are to believe what is already true: we are dead to sin.

What must I do to account for the truth that I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus? By faith I receive the Word of God as truth for my heart. I declare on the authority of God’s infallible and inerrant Word that I am set free from all sin and made fully alive to God in Christ Jesus my Lord.

As a voluntary love slave to Jesus Christ, I willingly abandon those attitudes and actions that were characteristic of the old life. A full surrender to Jesus is a joy! And as a result of my relationship with Christ, I have everlasting life.

Conclusion

We have seen it is our blood bought privilege to have complete freedom from the controlling power of sin. But more than that, it is God’s command that we be victorious.

[3]

Perhaps you have never realized this truth before. God has saved you and you are walking in newness of life; but you find that sin still keeps appearing in your life. You don’t want it to! But there is something inside that wants to do things its own way. If this be the case, follow Paul’s commands to consider yourself to be dead indeed unto sin (6:11) and to yield yourself to God (6:13).

Give him complete control! If you do this, he promises to enable you to live a life free from sin’s controlling power. Believe what God says and claim by faith your liberty from sin.

► What does union with Christ mean? What should you expect of your life because you are united with Christ?

[1] This section was written by Dr. Allan Brown.

[2] W.T. Purkiser, Exploring Christian Holiness, Vol. 1, (Kansas City, Beacon Hill Press), 138

[3] “As we study Romans 6-8 we shall discover that the conditions of living the normal Christian life are fourfold. They are (1) knowing, (2) reckoning, (3) presenting ourselves to God, and (4) walking in the Spirit, and they are set forth in that order.”
- Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life

Did you ever wonder if it is really possible to live in victory over sin? God has promised enabling grace that more than compensates for our weakness in temptation:

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13)."

This verse tells us several important things.

1. Every temptation is common to humanity. It comes because of our humanity and aims at some human weakness. That means that your struggles are not really unique to you.
2. God knows our limits. He understands how much we can endure. We don't really know how much we can endure, but he does.
3. God limits the temptations that come to us because he wants us to live in victory. Some people assume that temptation will often be beyond our capacity because we are human. They assume that consistent victory is impossible, but according to this verse it is not.
4. God provides what we need to live in victory. He provides a way to escape.

So a conclusion we can draw from this verse is that God intends for us to live in victory. Grace for victorious living is given in response to faith.

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith (1 John 5:4)."

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him (James 1:12)."

If we understand how it has happened that believers have been defeated by temptation, maybe we can understand how to prevent it. A person who falls to temptation has usually allowed himself to go through a certain process.

The process is described in James 1:14-15: “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin…”

John Wesley observed that the steps to willful sin usually occur as follows.

1. A temptation arises (from the world, the flesh, or the devil).
2. The Spirit warns the believer to be watchful.
3. The person gives attention to the temptation and its attraction increases. (This is where the person makes his first mistake in this process.)
4. The Spirit is grieved, the person's faith is weakened, and his love for God grows cold.
5. The Spirit reproves sharply.
6. The person turns from the painful voice of the Spirit and listens to the attractive voice of the tempter.
7. Evil desire begins and fills his heart; faith and love vanish; he is ready to commit outward sin.

We should not assume that every person’s experience always matches this pattern. Sometimes people yield to a temptation suddenly, without seeming to go through any process.

Since temptation increases its power while holding our attention, the believer who is serious about maintaining victory over sin must have his heart established so that he can reject temptation immediately. The person who recognizes the temptation to sin but hesitates to resist it puts himself in greater danger. By hesitating, he demonstrates that his heart is not fully determined to please God.

Temptation is a challenge to our faith, for temptation gives us the opportunity to doubt that obedience to God is the best way at that moment.

► If a believer seems unable to live in victory over sin, what is the reason for that?

It is probably because of one or more of the following problems.

1. He doesn’t see that God requires obedience.
2. He doesn’t see or believe God’s promise of enabling grace.
3. He doesn’t depend on God’s enabling grace instead of personal strength.
4. He serves God with selective obedience, instead of complete, unconditional obedience.
5. He hasn’t sought by grace to have a single motive to do the will of God (Philippians 3:13-15).
6. He doesn’t maintain spiritual disciplines that keep strong his faith-building relationship with God.
7. He does not maintain spiritual accountability in a local church.
8. He does not regularly meditate on the Word of God.
9. He has not developed a sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit in his life.

Three men applied for a job as chauffeur. The first one, wanting to impress the prospective employer, said, “I’m such a skilled driver that if I drove at high speed within a few feet of a cliff you wouldn’t have to worry.” The second didn’t want to be outdone, so he said, “I could drive at high speed within a few inches of a cliff without going over it.” The third applicant hesitated, then said to the employer, “I wouldn’t risk your life by going near the cliff.” Which one do you think got hired?

We shouldn’t be trying to see how close we can get to temptation. God wants to give us personal guidelines that will guard us from our areas of weakness. We should learn what is dangerous, such as certain entertainments, and stay away from those things.

If a believer has not maintained his relationship with God, he should repent immediately and be restored through our advocate, Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1-2). He should not wait for any future time that he thinks would be more convenient. If he wants to be restored, the Holy Spirit is giving him that desire and drawing him back to his relationship with God. If his repentance is real, he can be restored immediately.

God has already made the supreme investment for our salvation, in the sacrifice of Jesus. He is not going to let that investment be wasted by failing to give us the grace we need to continue.

[1] Victory over acts of sin is the normal experience of a Christian because he has been set free from the enslavement of sin by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.Continued sin results from ignorance of God’s grace, the failure to remain in union with Christ, the failure to continually consider oneself dead to sin and alive to God, and the failure to fully and decisively present one’s body to God as an instrument of righteousness.

Every true believer desires to experience victory over sin. This is so because of the awful price Jesus paid to save us from sin. This is so because of the destructive nature of sin. Paul’s answer to those who would argue that “since grace abounds for sin, why not keep sinning?” is very strong. “Certainly not!” he declares (Romans 6:1-2). For one to adopt a careless attitude toward the disease of sin just because God has provided a cure for it would be like becoming careless about HIV/AIDS, or cancer simply because a medical cure had been discovered. The cure wouldn’t spare one from the period of pain and sickness. Neither would it spare one from the scars. No one in his right mind would say, “Let’s get sick so that we can receive the cure.” No one who has been awakened to sin’s horror, sin’s offensiveness to a holy God, and the awful price paid for sin’s cure will say, “Let’s sin since grace will cover it!”

A Christian’s experience of freedom from sin depends on his knowledge (Romans 6:3, 6, 9) and use of these truths:

(1) As a sinful person I died.

The old self, the old sinful person we used to be, spiritually died with Jesus on the cross and was buried with him in his tomb. Since a dead person can no longer serve as a slave, sin’s mastery over us has been broken. This death has already happened. The death of our old sinful life happened the moment we believed in Christ’s death for us, repented of our sins, and received his gift of eternal life.

Notice these statements from Romans 6:

• “…How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (6:2).
• “…All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (6:3).
• “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death…” (6:4).
• “For if we have been united with him in a death like his…” (6:5).
• “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” (6:6).
• “For one who has died has been set free from sin” (6:7).

The problem with too many believers today is that they live below their potential. Many believers have been conditioned to accept failure as normal. They think that a victorious Christian life is not possible and that continued sin must be expected. Other believers think there is no tolerance of human failure. This teaching is also devastating to faith and has led many to either despair or hypocrisy. Paul makes it clear that victory is ours through sharing in Christ’s victory at the cross.

(2) God resurrected me with Jesus to be a new person.

Jesus overcame all sin by his resurrection. It is this resurrected life that we have come to share by faith. By faith, sin no longer has the power to weigh us down, humiliate, wound, or kill us. We have been spiritually raised with Christ to a new victorious life.

• “…Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (6:4).
• “…We shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (6:5).
• “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.” (6:9).
• “For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.” (6:10).
• “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (6:11).
• “…Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life…” (6:13).

(3) I am spiritually united with Jesus.

Not only has my old life been crucified with him, and not only have I received a new life like his; but I am dwelling in him, and he in me! (See also Galatians 2:20 and John 14-16.) This is promised by Jesus to every disciple: that God has chosen to indwell believers by the Holy Spirit. This union and indwelling is what makes victory over sin and holy living possible. This is what makes it possible for believers to receive and live the pure, loving, merciful, kind, forgiving and holy life of Jesus.

• “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (6:5).
• “…Our old self was crucified with him…” (6:6).
• “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” (6:8).

Jesus taught his disciples of this union in John 15. Spiritual union with Christ is necessary to our success in the Christian life!

(4) I must possess by faith the victory God has given me.

"So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (6:11)."

To consider is to count this as true so that we can experience it in our own lives.

Here is an illustration from the Old Testament that will be helpful. We remember that God had not only promised the Israelites the Promised Land, but had given it to them long before they actually possessed it. For 40 years they wandered in the wilderness, living below their potential, because they gave into fear and failed to believe God. But God loved them and led them into their inheritance.

Joshua 1:3 reads, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.” A few verses later God commands, “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess’” (Joshua 1:11).

God’s people had to, by faith, possess the land God had given. While victory over Canaan’s inhabitants was provided for, and in a very real sense already completed, Israel would only experience this victory through obedient faith. New Testament believers overcome in just the same way; by considering, by faith, the victory Christ Jesus has wrought for us and possessing the promises.

(5) I must present my body to God.

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness (Romans 6:12-13)."

[1] This section was written by Tim Keep.

► Various students should explain the significance of the five truths in the preceding article.

"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)."

"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)."

(1) Why is it important to understand what sin is?
(2) What is the definition of willful sin?
(3) What wrong idea is Paul responding to in Romans 6?
(4) What does it mean to be dead to sin?
(5) What does it mean to be under grace?
(6) What does it mean to be under the law?
(7) Why is it impossible to serve both God and sin?
(8) What does the term old self mean?

(1) Write a page (450 words) explaining what victory over sin is possible for the believer. Include a definition of willful sin, and explain why the definition of sin is important. Respond to objections people make to the possibility of victory over sin.

(2) You need to finish your three presentations of sermons or lessons.