 So last week, we were looking at the doctorate humanity, we looked at the nature of our thoughts. Today we will look at one specific aspect of the nature of our thoughts, which will be the doctorate medicine based on a bit of a process. Okay, is it better now or is the audio still unclear? Okay, Lucy has given a thumbs up, hopefully that means it's better. All right, okay, fine. Yeah, thanks a lot. Thanks for the feedback. Yes, so we will get started. We will be looking today at the doctrine of sin. Now we all are familiar with the concept of sin. We generally think of the term sin. We generally think about actions, which are sinful. Even attitudes also can be sinful. So stealing, lying, murder, all of those would be sinful actions. What would be sinful attitudes? Greed, jealousy, pride, those would be sinful attitudes. Now what is the source of these sinful actions and attitudes? Why do human beings behave in this manner? Why do they take sinful decisions? That's because the very nature of humans is sinful. If we could have one person read out for us, Romans chapter 5 verse 8, it uses a very specific label for humans. It calls them something. If you could have someone read out Romans chapter 5 verse 8, either online or here in the class. If anyone could read out Romans 5 verse 8. Romans chapter 5 verse 8. But God demonstrate His own love towards us. In that while we were still sinners. Christ died for us. We are called sinners over here. The term that is used for humans, all humans is this term, sinners. We have been labeled as sinners. Why does the Bible refer to humans as sinners? It's because of something that is there inside us, which has made us sinners. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3, elaborates a little bit on this concept. So if we could have someone read out for us, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3. Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath just as the others. We were children of wrath. God's judgment was upon us. God's anger was against us. Why? It's because the sinner in his mind and body, he seems to have sinful cravings, desires and thoughts. Those are the terms that are used in the, you know, in the NIV version. It says that all of us, when we were, you know, before we got saved, we experienced these three things. We experienced cravings, desires and thoughts which are sinful in our flesh. That's the term that is used over there. What does it mean? Is it saying that this human flesh is sinful? You know, all of us, our skeletons are covered by this material, which we call flesh. So is the Bible saying that this flesh, this material which is covering our bones, is, you know, is that supposed to be sinful? What is the meaning of this term? In Greek, this word flesh, it's the word sars, s-a-r-x. Okay, that's the Greek term. And when Paul uses this particular Greek word, s-a-r-x, in his writings, he uses it in four different ways. Let's actually very briefly look at all the four ways in which he uses this word sars. The first way that he uses it is when he is talking about this actual material which covers our skeleton, which covers our bones, this material which we call flesh. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 39, if someone could read out for us. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 39. And Paul flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. Here the word which Paul is using is s-a-r-x. But here he's not talking about anything sinful. He's just talking about the material which covers birds, animals, humans, and he says different, you know, species have different kinds of flesh. It's just talking about the physical material which covers our bones. The second way in which Paul uses this term in his writings is found in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 1. If we could have someone read out, 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1. Before having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now here in the NIV it says, you know, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit. So here the word s-a-r-x is being used for the entire human body. It's not just talking about that flesh which covers our bones. It's just talking about the entire human body and the same word s-a-r-x is used over here. The third manner in which he uses this particular word that would be in Galatians chapter 1 verse 16. So if someone could read out, Galatians 1 verse 16. Galatians chapter 1 verse 16. To reveal his son in me that I might preach him among these entities, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood. So in the NIV, you know, which tries to explain what the term means, it says, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. So over here, the word s-a-r-x is not being used for the material which covers the bones, nor is it being used to talk about the physical human body. Here the word is being used to talk about humans, about people. You know, so in the sense that I am a SARS. Students sitting here, they are all SARS. They're all human beings. So that's the third way in which Paul uses this particular term. And if you look at all of these three places, these three contexts in which he uses the word, there's no sinful connotation. It's just the material covering you or it refers to your human body or it refers to people in general. But the fourth sense in which Paul uses this word, only in those particular passages, we have to understand the flesh as referring to sinful desires. So that could be the fourth reference. Galatians chapter 5 verse 16, if someone could read out. Galatians chapter 5 verse 16. I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So here, when he uses the term s-a-r-x, he's talking about the lust of the SARS. You know, that s-a-r-x SARS, he's talking about the lust of that SARS. So here, he's specifically talking about the sinful desires of the body and of the soul. So what exactly is this sinful desire? We referred to that earlier when we were looking at Ephesians 2-3. We saw that all human beings, before they are saved by Jesus Christ, they experience cravings of the flesh, desires and thoughts, sinful desires, thoughts and cravings. So what exactly are these sinful cravings and desires of the soul and the body? To use an example, an example of a evil desire of the body would be maybe an addiction to smoking. If a person has been smoking for many years, his body is now conditioned to that. His body is now used to smoking. So one fine day, the person becomes a believer. But even after he becomes a believer, his body continues to crave for that cigarette because it's now conditioned, it's used to it. His body is now addicted to those cigarettes. So that would become a sinful craving of the body. In the same way, even sexual immorality, if a person has been living a very immoral lifestyle and then he becomes a believer, even after becoming a believer, his body is now continuing to crave for the old lifestyle which he led. So that would be another example of the sinful desire of the body. What about sinful desires of the mind? If a person is proud, he thinks that he is superior to everyone else. So in his thinking, even though now he has become a believer, he still has the superiority complex. So that would become a sinful attitude of his soul, of his mind. In the same way, a desire for status and wealth. Some people are obsessed with making more money, becoming more famous, becoming more popular. Even after they become believers, in their mind, the mind continues to crave for those things. It continues to crave after wealth and money and becoming popular and all of those things. So you would say that those are the sinful desires of the soul, of the mind. So after salvation, a person, even though now he has become saved, in his flesh, over here that word flesh is now referring to the soul and the body. In his flesh, he continues to experience sinful desires for position and power, for wealth, for cigarettes, for immorality. Whatever might have been the habits which he has developed in the earlier years before salvation. He continues to experience those things. Why? Because from the time of birth, a person already has the sinful nature inside them. The sinful nature which they inherited from Adam is continuing to work inside each person. And different people respond to the sinful nature differently. One person may take up cigarette smoking. Another person may attend church every single day and think that he is superior to everyone else. And he may look down his nose at everyone and think, oh, these people are so inferior. They are not like me. I attend church without fail. I'm a great person. I'm better than them. So both of them are indulging in the sinful nature. It's just that one person is expressing his sinful nature by taking up smoking. The other person has gone to the other extreme of giving up everything. But it has not made him a better person. In fact, it has made him a more critical person where he thinks that he's very great and that everyone else is very, very low and inferior to him. So sinful nature expresses itself in different ways in different people. But in God's eyes, sin is sin. Whether it is cigarette smoking, whether it is the sin of pride, sin is sin. So which is why in Psalm 51, when Paul is talking about himself, this is what he says in Psalm 51. If we could have someone read out that entire chunk for us verses 4 to 10. Psalm 51, all the way from verse 4 up to verse 10, what is he saying about himself, about his sin, about his sinful nature? Even as we read out the verses, try to look for those particular phrases in this passage. Psalm 51, 4 to 10. And in the hidden part, you will make me to no wisdom. Purge me with hisso, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Yes, so here Paul and David is deeply ashamed of the sin which he has committed, you know, the sin of adultery which he committed. And so now, you know, he's looking at himself and he is very sad about what he has done. And he says, yes, Lord, you are right. You are justified in judging me and judging me of my sinfulness. But you know, this is my condition. What to do? I end up doing all these kind of sinful things because, you know, he says in verse 5, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. So he's basically talking about that time span when, you know, his mother has conceived him and is still inside the womb. He says, from that time itself I was sinful. From that time itself I had a sinful nature. And now that sinful nature of mine is expressing itself in the most horrible ways. And he says, Lord, yes, you are really justified in judging me because what I have done is really terrible. So what does he mean when he says that from the time that he was in the womb itself, from the time he was conceived itself, he was sinful. What does he mean? I mean, does the little fetus inside the womb commit sins? No, I mean, it's not in a position to still, you know, think and act sinfully. But here he's talking about the sinful nature which is already there inside that little fetus. Even before that baby is born, already the sinful nature is residing inside that little fetus. Why? Because that little fetus is a descendant of Adam and we all have inherited the sinful nature from Adam. So having understood that concept, he says, yes, from the time I was conceived, from the time I was in the womb, I was already a sinful person. Yet, you know, this is what he says about God and God's standards. He says in Psalm 51-6, yet, you know, even though I was sinful from the womb itself, yet, you desired faithfulness even in the womb. You taught me wisdom in that secret place, he says. So yes, it is true that, you know, I and all humans are sinful in nature. But Lord, even though we are in this condition, you didn't lower your standards. You didn't say, okay, these people are like this, what to do? They can't help it. So let me lower my standards. No, the Lord never said that. Even though we are sinful, his standards remain the same because his holiness always stays the same. He never, you know, he never becomes less holy just because we are unholy. So his standards continue to remain the same and he continues to desire faithfulness from us even from the womb. His standards do not come down. And the next portion he says, David says, you taught me wisdom in that secret place. So in that secret place when the baby is still inside the womb, he says, you taught me wisdom. Again, this is poetic language because God does not, you know, start giving Sunday school lessons to the little fetus inside the womb. And that would make absolutely no sense. Here, what he's saying is, you know, God has put that wisdom inside even that little unborn fetus. It already contains that, that knowing of what is right and what is wrong. Those basic principles of what is right and what is wrong is already there. It's already been planted inside that little fetus. So this is what Peter, I keep calling him fallen Peter, sorry, David, Old Testament David. So David says over here, from birth I have been sinful, even from the womb I have been sinful. But I still know what your standards are. Oh Lord, you desire faithfulness even from the womb. That is what you desired from me. And he says, when I was still there in that secret place, at that time you put your wisdom inside me. And I knew at that time itself what is right and what is wrong. So that awareness was already put inside me. And so in his helplessness, he says, what a terrible thing I have done. Lord cleanse me, clean me up, you know, wash me with his and all of those terms he uses. And then, you know, he understands, he realizes it's not enough. If God just does a cleaning on the outside, the dirt is still there inside, right? That sin in which he was conceived that is still there inside. So then he speaks words, verse 10, and he says, create in me a pure heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. He realizes that superficial outward cleaning, you know, and God saying, okay, fine, I've cleaned you, I've forgiven you, you're forgiven. But the dirt inside continues, that sinful nature is still there. So that has to be taken care of. And so in his helplessness, he cries out and he says, Lord, you create in me a pure heart because only then I will change. And he says, you renew a steadfast spirit within me. So those are the statements that he makes. This man has fully understood the source of sinfulness. What causes sinfulness? And who is the only person who can deliver us from our sinfulness? Simply God, you know, making, excusing us and saying, okay, fine, you know, you made a mistake. I forgive you. That is not enough. It doesn't take care of the deeper issue. Not only do we need the Lord to forgive our sins, we need him to change us on the inside so that we will stop doing those sins. Others will continue repeating those sins, you know, again and again. So David understands the need that we have for a savior. We can never change on our own. So John Calvin, when he was coming up with all of us, you know, doctrines, he came up with this term called total depravity. That word total depravity that he mentioned, it doesn't say that humans are completely depraved. He's not saying that humans have got no moral values at all. What he's saying by the term total depravity, he's actually talking about the total inability of humans to live a sinless life. We are completely unable to live a godly life on our own. A person can be godly in some aspects, but he will fall in other aspects. For instance, a person may be a very loving father, a most faithful husband, a most wonderful provider for his family. You know, he has those godly qualities. But then maybe when he goes to his office and that boss is a very cruel and harsh man, he may hold a grudge of unforgiveness against that man. So you see, he has sinned in that area. Even though he has been godly in some areas of his life because of circumstances, he has fallen in other areas. So all of us are sinful. We are totally depraved in this sense. We are unable to be completely righteous in all areas of our life. It is something impossible for us to do in our own ability. So this being the case, what is the fate of humans? Paul himself talks about this. He talks about his imperfection. Because if you see in Philippians 3-6, he says something very great about himself. Philippians 3-6 was 6 if someone could read out. Philippians 3-6. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. Here is a man whom a lot of people know. I mean, he, we know, was from the Pharisee background. He was a Pharisee. So all the other Pharisees would have been familiar with him. You know, he's not exactly a stranger. So when he's writing this particular letter to the Philippians, if any of those Pharisees reads what he's writing over here, they can either say that what he's writing over there is correct or wrong. So he's not lying in the letter. He's honestly telling something about himself. He says, when it came to religious zeal and passion, I was the best. I was willing to literally, you know, give up my work and go from city to city, hunting down these Christians who were saying wrong things about the Jewish faith. So his passion and zeal for the Jewish faith was so strong that, you know, unlike the other Pharisees who only gave lip service, you know, with their mouths they would say great things. But then when it came to actions, they were not really interested in spiritual things. But here was a man who was so passionate about his Jewish faith that he was willing to, you know, lay aside his work, his career and literally go from city to city, attacking these Christians because he felt that they are preaching a wrong propaganda and he wanted to get rid of them so that the Jewish faith will be safe. The mosaic faith which had been passed down to them would be preserved. So that was the level of his zeal. And this is what this man says about his righteousness. He says, as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. In the NKGV, it says blameless. A man was openly saying, you know, you can ask anybody from my past with regard to keeping the mosaic law, ask anyone. They will tell you that in the way I kept the mosaic law, I was faultless. No one could find fault with me. I kept the law that perfectly. I kept the law that blamelessly. This is a statement which he makes about himself. And, you know, in case he had been wrong, people would have stood up and said, what you're saying is bluff because we know the things that you did. So nobody could say that, nobody could find fault with him because that's the way this ball lived. So a man like this, he says about himself in Romans chapter, you know, 7 about how rotten he was on the inside. Outside, he was keeping the law perfectly. He was faultless in the way he was keeping the law. When it came to tithing, he was tithing every single penny, every single grain. When it came to, you know, the ceremonial cleansing, oh, he was very, very careful in the way he did all the ceremonial cleansings. When it came to making wows in the temple and, you know, fulfilling those temple rituals, he was perfect in the way he was doing those things. But the same man was going through a great battle on the inside. On the inside, he was filled with sin and rottenness and he was ashamed of the way he was living. You know, he talks about that in Romans 7, we will get to that. But just to look at a few other scriptures, even as we are talking about this, total depravity, this total inability that humans have to live righteously. You know, James chapter 2 verse 10 says this about being faultless and blameless in keeping the law. James chapter 2 verse 10. James chapter 2 verse 10, for whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point is guilty of all. So here was Paul, who was very faultless in keeping all of the law. But on the inside, when it came to the attitudes, oh, he had all kinds of sinful attitudes on the inside. And it says in James 2, 10, even if you, you know, keep all the law but you stumble in one point, it's equal to stumbling. It's equal to breaking all of the law. So if there are 613 mosaic laws and you have kept all of them but you have failed to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind, you know, it's as good as having broken all the 613. So that is the helplessness which Paul faced and that is the same helplessness which we all face. You know, we may be perfect in some areas but we fall in other areas. So what is the purpose of the law? Romans 3 20 explains Romans 3 20. Someone could read. Romans chapter 3 verse 20. Therefore by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. Yeah, you know, NIV puts that in simple English and it says, therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law rather through the law, we become conscious of our sin. So however hard we are trying to keep the law on the outside, we know that we are completely breaking it when it comes to the inside issues, the attitudes of our heart, the motives with which we are doing things. So the law makes us aware how sinful we are, how helpless we are, how totally depraved we are and unable we are to meet God's standards on our own. So that is all because of what Adam did because Romans 5 12 tells us, it says, sin entered the world through one man. And it goes on to say in the second portion of the same verse, Romans 5 12, it says, and in this way death came to all people because all sinned. So through Adam, sin entered the world and everyone inherited that sinful nature and because of that all of us sinned. So if this is the desperate bad condition of humans, what hope is there and in 1 Peter 1 20, we are assured that for God this was not a big shock to discover that humans are so helpless and unable. God already knew that this would happen. And so 1 Peter 1 20 talks about the solution which God offered. So if someone could read out for us, 1 Peter 1 verse 20. 1 Peter 1 verse 20, he was chosen before the creation of the world what was revealed in these last times before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you. Yeah, so it says that Christ was chosen before the creation of the world itself. Even before the world was created, God knew that Adam would fall into sin because of Adam the entire humanity would end up in sin. God already knew it. So God already created a redemption plan even before the creation of the world already. He created his plan and so it says in 1 Peter 1 20 that Christ was chosen before the creation of the world and then when the right time came he was revealed on the earth to pay for our sins. So Christ came to the earth to fight against our enemy. To fight against our adversary. Who is our adversary? Who is our enemy? Not just Satan, sin. Sin itself is our enemy. Sin itself is our adversary. So this is what it says about the enemy. Sin is a very powerful and a very dangerous enemy. And Satan uses this enemy to attack us. So what does the Bible say about sin? Genesis chapter 4 verse 7, where it's talking about the Cain story. So if someone could read out for us, Genesis 4, 7. Genesis chapter 4 verse 7, if you do well, we will not be accepted and if you do not do well, sin lies at the toe and its desire is for you but you should rule over it. So right there at the beginning when humans were still in the early stages of their existence, God comes to Cain and God says you are very very angry because I accepted your brother's sacrifice but I rejected your sacrifice. Why are you so upset? The reason I rejected your sacrifice is because you did wrong. So he says, if you do what is right, will you not be accepted? I love you in the same way. I love your brother. So if you do right, don't you think I'll accept you? I'll gladly accept you because God is no desire to reject anybody's sacrifice. So God is saying to Cain, if you simply do what is right, you also will be accepted. And then he says, but if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you but you must rule over it. So sin is described as this creature, there's this enemy which is literally crouching, waiting to pounce upon us. And what is our role? What is our responsibility? It's desire, the desire of sin is to have us but we must choose to rule over it. So each person has to make a decision and say, yes, sin is waiting to pounce upon me. But from my side, I make a choice that I am going to rule over it. The irony is that we are unable to rule over it because of total depravity, total inability. We have a desire to rule over sin and keep it in check but we're unable to do it on our own. So therefore God steps into the picture and helps us to rule over sin. It is something that we cannot do on our own but God enables us to rule over sin. So now we know we have, I mean keeping this thought in mind. Let's go to Romans chapter 7 and look at the battle which was going on inside this Paul. This Paul who kept the law so faultlessly, a man who could boast openly and say, I have been blameless in the way I have kept the mosaic law. You can ask anyone, they will all tell you I have been blameless. No blame can be attached to the way I have practiced the law in my life. A man like that starts talking about what was going on inside him before his salvation experience. He's so frank and so open about what was going on inside him inside him and it's a relief to read these verses because it helps us to realize that oh okay, even Paul also went through an experience like that. So he talks about his condition before Jesus Christ saved him. He says in Romans chapter 7 verse 15 he says, what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate that I do, he says. And then in verse 17 he says, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me, the sin which is living in me, it makes me do things which I do not want to do. And then he says in verse 18 he says, for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. And then verse 19 he says, for I do not do the good I want to do, evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing, he says. And then in verse 20 he says, again he repeats and he says, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So Paul is talking about this battle that was going on inside him before his salvation experience. And then in verses 21 to 25, he talks about the solution which Jesus Christ gave him. And if we could have someone read out those verses for us, Romans chapter 7 verses 21 to 25. I find in a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good, for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members where warring against the law of my mind bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. O Richard man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. So Paul recognizes this fact that in his mind he wanted to be a good person. He wanted to be a godly person. So in his mind, he considered himself a slave to God's law, a good person who wants to keep the law of God. But in his sinful nature in his body, there seems to be something which is controlling him and not allowing him to live the way he wants to live. And so he says, in my sinful nature, I am a slave to the law of sin. So this is the condition that he was in. And he cries out and he says, what a wretched man I am. Because everyone looking at him is talking, you know, very wonderful things about him. They're praising him and saying, my goodness, this Paul, the way he lives, that is what a godly person is like. But on the inside, he knows what he is. The struggle that goes on inside him on a daily basis. And he's so ashamed. And he says, wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? And then, you know, in the next sentence, he explains that it was Jesus who did this for him. He says, thanks be to God who delivered me through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And then whoever did this, you know, these letters, the gospels, all of them, somebody added the chapters and the verses later on. So sometimes they got it right. But sometimes they made a real mess of the way they divided, you know, the letters and the gospels into chapters and verses, because here we are in the middle of an interesting story. And then, you know, they just cut off the chapter. So you got to go to the next chapter to see the continuation of what is going on. You know, Romans seven actually ends at a very wrong place. He's making a argument over there. And they just kind of cut it off and make Romans eight into a new chapter. But actually his line of thought is continuing. So he says, now, because of what Jesus Christ has done for me, he says in Romans chapter eight verse one, therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. Okay, so the point that he's making over here, you know, he's writing this letter to the Romans. The Romans are believers. It's not writing to unbelievers. He's writing to believers and he's telling them, see, this is what I went through before my salvation experience. There was something in my body, this sinful nature, which was controlling me, not allowing me to live in the way I wanted to live. And who is the one who saved this wretched person? It was God who delivered me through Jesus Christ. So now, because of what Christ Jesus has done, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because the reality that he's pointing out is that believers, after they become believers, they're continuing to have that sinful nature in their soul and body. We talked about it, right? They may be sinful urges in your body, because your body is now conditioned to living in that sinful way. So now it wants to continue doing the things which it used to do before. In the same way, in your unrenewed mind, you may still be wanting things which you wanted earlier, wrong things. You are running after money. Your status is more important than serving God. All these wrong things are continuing in the body and the mind, even though you have now become a believer. And so those are things which you need to get rid of. And yes, he goes on to explain how you can get rid of those things. But this one important point that he makes over here, he says, because of what Christ Jesus finished doing on the cross, now there is no condemnation for us believers. So yes, we have not yet become perfect. We still have those sinful desires in our soul and in our body. But because of Christ's work through which we have now been forgiven, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And then he goes on to say, you see, why are we not being condemned? Because we now have an escape route. Anyone who's interested, they can choose to set their minds on the things of God rather than the things of the flesh. So for all such people who want to use this escape route, they can come out from under the control of the sin which is in their body. They can come out of it, come out of its grip, come out of its control. So having kind of understood this, let's look at those verses. If someone could read out for us Romans chapter 8 verses 1 to 4. Romans 8, 1 to 4. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. So he's talking about what Jesus Christ did for us. He says the law was a good thing. In verse Romans 8 verse 2 he's talking about the law. He basically says the law was a good thing. He told us what good things we should do and how we should live so that we can honour God. But the law was helpless because sin was controlling us. The flesh was being controlled by the sinful nature and so even though the law was telling us what is good, it could not make us perfect because sin was controlling us. So even though the law told us what we should do, it couldn't give us the power to do those good things because the law was helpless, weak, unable to assist us because we are fully slaves of this sinful nature. So what did Jesus do? He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. He did not have sinful flesh because you see, he was not born through a descendant of Adam on the man's side. Yes, he had a human mother. Mary was his mother. Her womb was the container in which God put the little embryo. Jesus Christ was put inside a human container inside the woman. But the man's side of the DNA which is needed to make the human embryo, that God himself just manufactured. He would have manufactured it and attached it to the egg of Mary to create that human embryo, Jesus Christ. So the inherited sinfulness which has been coming down from Adam did not get inherited by Jesus. So it says he came, Jesus Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh, but he himself did not have sinful flesh. So he came in the likeness of the flesh and it says, what did he do? It says he condemned sin in the flesh. Once he was born, as he started to grow up, again and again sin was crouching at his door, attacking, attacking, but even once he never gave in to it. So it could never rule over him. He always ruled over it right up to the end, right up to the time of the cross. Even to the extent of going and allowing himself to be crucified on the cross. Even once he did not disobey God the Father. So even though sin was crouching at his door and again and again trying to bring him under its rule, it couldn't. He ruled over it throughout. And so in that way he condemned sin in the flesh. So now we who say that, yes, we want to place ourselves under the Savior. We who say, yes, Lord, I choose to come under your anointing. Now you enable me to live a holy life. Such people will be able to live, will be able to rule over sin in the same way Jesus ruled over sin, because he enables us to do that. But there's a decision which we need to make from our side. It explains very clearly in verse five. What is the decision? Simple decision that we would need to make on a daily basis. So quickly if someone could read out for us verse five. For those who live according to the flesh, send their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the spirit, the things of the spirit. So you and I will have to take a decision and say, I'm not going to set my mind on the things of the world on sinful things. I'm going to make a choice every day to set my mind on godly things. If I set my mind on godly things, the spirit of Christ who condemned sin in the flesh will enable me to rule over sin every day. Every day sin will come to me. It will crouch at my door. It will try to make me do wrong things. But by the power of this Jesus Christ who condemned sin in the flesh, I too will be able to say no to the sinful thing. So it's not something that I'll be able to do on my own. I will be able to do it through Christ who enables me. But daily there's a decision which I would have to take and say, I'm going to stop setting my mind on sinful things. So a person who continues to watch the things which they used to watch earlier will continue to have the wrong desires and priorities. Because if you look at the basic movie, it's filled with violence. It's filled the most important thing in the movies, wealth and popularity and beauty and influence. Those are the things which the world worships. So if you continue watching those things, you will continue to have those priorities. And if you continue associating with the kind of people with whom you were friends before, the same values which they have, you will also continue to have. So you will continue to set your mind on worldly things. And if your mind is set on worldly things, you will not have a desire to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. So he says on a daily basis, one simple decision you will have to take, that I'm not going to set my mind on those things, rather I'm going to set my mind on the things of God. Then the spirit of Christ who condemns sin in the flesh, he will enable me to rule over the sin which is crouching at my door. On a daily basis, I'll be able to say no to it. In the same way Jesus kept saying no to it every day of his life. So he will enable it. But I have to do a little bit of re-alignment of my mind. As long as I continue having my mind on those wrong things, that is what will attract me. That is what will continue to draw me, pull me. So I need to stop setting my mind on those things. I need to reset my mind on the things of God. So if I do that from my side, then the spirit of Christ will enable me from his side. We kind of stopping at a very important point, but it's break time. So we'll come back after the break and we'll continue with this doctrine of sin. Thank you.