Text: Rom. 6:1-15

• Dr. Bobby Roberson illustration. He used to have Lester Roloff come and preach for him a couple of times a year. On one occasion, while riding with Bro. Roloff, he said something that could have offended Bro. Roloff. After trying to apologize, Bro. Roloff said to him, "Bro. Bobby, if I was offended, then it was my fault because I'm supposed to be a dead man." You see, dead mean can't be offended.
• We have three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil.
• Our most difficult enemy is the enemy within, self.
• I imagine the devil goes after big game and sends his imps to mess with me (that's tough enough)
• The world, while not minimizing its power and dangerousness, doesn't hold the attraction for me it once did.
• But my flesh, my self, is the biggest enemy I have. I have more trouble with it than anything.
• Paul seemed to have the same problem when he wrote in Ro. 7 "that that I would do I do not..."

1. Step One: Salvation
1. Choice of two masters: Self or God
2. Salvation means recognizing Christ as "Lord..."
1. Ro. 10:9, 13
2. You are letting Him be the master of your life rather than self
3. Too many people look on salvation as an escape from hell
1. Yes, you escape hell. But that is only a by-product.
2. Positively you are now "bought with a price..." (1 Co. 6:19-20) and therefore belong to God.
3. Salvation is more than an escape, it is a whole new way of life
3. Hindrances to salvation
1. Pride
2. Selfishness
2. Step Two: Presentation (Ro. 6:13 "Yield..."
1. Word "yield" is the same as "present" in 12:1-2
2. Act of the will
1. Every day you must "present yourself to God"
2. Just like "presenting yourself for work each day"
3. Illus. Baptism. Dead to self and alive to God
3. Areas of death
1. Pride
2. Criticism
1. How to handle criticism
1. Learn form genuine legitimate criticism
2. Consider the source
3. Let God deal with it. Don't retaliate
4. Illus. David and Shimei
2. How to be critical
1. Go to the one you disagree with personally
2. Find something good to say as well as negative
3. Be supportive of the person
3. Flesh
1. Who's in control? The flesh or God?
2. Illus. Remote control car. Who is using your remote?
3. Step Three: Dedication (1 Co. 15:31 "I die daily...")
1. Continual battle
1. Dr. Rice "You crucify self one day but he will wiggle down by the end of the day and you have to do it all over again."
2. You never really kill the flesh in this life (Ro. 6:2)
1. "dead to sin" = "died to sin"
2. We died to sin in Jesus Christ
3. As long as we are in this body, we are never completely dead to sin.
4. However, the goal is to be as if we are dead to sin
2. Overcoming sin
1. God has given you the power to overcome sin
1. In the word
2. Through the Spirit
2. Illus.

Little girl fell out of bed at night and began crying. Her mother asked her, "Why did you fall out?" "I guess I stayed too close to where I got in." That is our problem, we stay too close to where we got in and don't get far enough away from sin.

3. Discipline (1 Co. 9:27)
1. Good intentions do not make you godly. There is a relationship between discipline and godly living.
2. Develop godly habits and break sinful habits
3. Illus. Eating changes are difficult be necessary for good health. Spiritual changes are difficult be necessary for good spiritual health.
3. Being alive to God
1. Phil 1:21 "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain."
2. Dead to sin, alive to righteousness

• Dead man doesn't feel pain
• His feelings don't get hurt
• Picture a corpse

• Call him names. He doesn't move.
• I offer him a beer. He doesn't move.
• I put Playboy magazine in front of him. He won't move.

• Opposite is being alive to God energized by doing good.