Week 6: Learning to Say No to Sin

Bush honeysuckle on an Ohio fencerow can be cut back every summer for twenty years and come back thicker each time. Most of us have handled some sin the same way. Paul's word for what we do with sin is a blunt one: put it to death. This lesson looks at why strict rules can't reach the wanting underneath, and why Paul gives that command to people who have already died with Christ. It also traces what he names, from the body inward to the heart and back out through the mouth. Romans 8:13 tells us where the strength for the fight comes from. Jesus' answer to Peter shows what saying no looks like when the temptation sounds kind.