01/31/11 SS CLASS... A CONTRAST

01/31/11 SS CLASS... A CONTRAST

Two Rulers

1- LORD

2- Devil

Two Realms

1- Light

2- Darkness

Two Realities

1- Life

2- Death

The LORD reigns in the realm of light and His reality is life.

The devil rules the realm of darkness and his reality is death.

Those who sleep in sin's night are separated from God's light, but He calls them to rise up and live righteously in the light.

I. OVERVIEW OF RULERS, REALMS & REALITIES...

Introduction
Life is the Reality of God. Those “living” without God are “living” without LIFE, they are “living” outside of the Reality of God, they are in the Reality of Death, Darkness and the Domain of the Devil.

PASSAGE...
Romans 13:11-14
(11) And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
(12) The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
(13) Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
(14) But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

NOTES...
(11) And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
DLG notes...
HIGH TIME... Today is even more pressing than when Paul wrote Romans.
SLEEP is used in several ways in NT. 1- Actual physical slumber. 2- The spiritual repose for believers, after physical death and resurrection. The physical body is abandoned at death and the spirit goes to be with God. This is not soul sleep or annihilation of the soul. 3- Separation of the soul from God, due to the presence of sin (living under Satan's domain. These passages refer to the third application.
AWAKE... Come alive, cast off spiritual slumber.
OUR SALVATION NEARER.. Corporate Salvation. Salvation comes in three tenses; Past (I was saved), Present (I am being saved), Future (I shall be saved). We are closer to our own personal encounter with death and the church is closer to its destiny than when we first believed.

(12) The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
DLG notes...
The word NIGHT is used in different ways. 1- Actual nighttime portion of a day, 2- A period of time which is typified by ignorance of the truth, 3- The time of spiritual ignorance in an individual.
Likewise, the word DAY is used in different ways.

1- Actual daytime portion of a day

2- A period of time which is typified by abundant knowledge of the truth

3- A specifically anticipated day

(The Day of the Lord).

Works of darkness...

sin, behavior done under the cloak of secrecy and in the absence of honesty.

Light...

Truth, righteousness.

(13) Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
DLG notes...
Walk...

Behave, conduct our lives in honesty, openly, orderly, soberly, modestly, without promiscuity and perversion.

(14) But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.
DLG notes...
Put on...

As in dressing for day time behavior.
Make no provision...

Structuring the life to be absent of sinful behavior.

PASSAGE...
1 Corinthians 15:34
(34) Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

NOTES...
(34) Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
DLG notes...
Awake to righteousness...

Coming to spiritual life is the same as coming from sin to righteousness.
Sin not...

How clear and simple can it be to understand?!
Some have not this knowledge...

Some people attempt to change the message of God, which is deliverance from all sin (penalty, pollution and power).

PASSAGE...
Ephesians 5:14
(14) Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

NOTES...
(14) Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
DLG notes...
Spiritual sleep is

Death,

Darkness.

Deliverance from sin and death is deliverance into

Light, the knowledge, truth and reality of God

II. THE DOMAIN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS...
PASSAGE...
Romans 6:11-14
(11) Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
(13) Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
(14) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

NOTES...
(11) Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
DLG notes...
To Reckon is to Calculate, not guess, just as 2+2 reckons to be 4. God never tells us to reckon something that is either impossible or unrealistic.
We can reckon ourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God.
We are alive because of new birth in Christ. Life in Christ comes before death to sin. Having been born again, we then must choose to be dead to sin.

(12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
DLG notes...
Living in the reality of God requires the surrender of our own lives to the authority of God. We choose to not let sin reign in our mortal body. Life is only given to those who yield to God and resist, reject temptation.

(13) Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
DLG notes...
We choose to either serve sin with our bodies or serve God with our bodies. Those who are alive from the dead choose God.

(14) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
DLG notes...
The Christian life is a life dominated by God and His grace.