We died with Christ. We rose with Christ. We ascend with Christ. We reign with Christ.

It is impossible for a person to continue in the same relationship to sin that he had before that,

because he has been fused with Jesus Christ to his eternally holy.

One theologian has said that holiness starts where justification ends,

and if holiness doesn't start, we can suspect that justification never started either.

What that means for you and me, if you don't see holiness in a professing believer,

it could well be that that person really isn't a Christian.

So the question for you is, does holiness characterize your life? Have you experienced freedom from sin?

John MacArthur brings us face to face with that issue today on Grace to you,

as he continues a penetrating study from Romans called simply Freedom from Sin,

and now here's John with the lesson.

The foundation for Paul's teaching on holiness is laid down in the opening of this marvelous chapter.

Let me just give you three elements to open up the first 14 verses, the antagonist, the answer, and the argument.

Just a little three point thing. We'll look at the beginning of those significant points.

Let's look at the argument, and it begins to unfold in verse three, and we'll just get a brief start.

Watch out on false. Here's how he explains what he means when he talks about dying to sin.

What do you really mean by that? Here's his explanation.

And he does it in a series of logical statements. This is very logical.

You really got to think with Paul. He's really in his legal mode here.

He's taking this as if it were a legal argument. It's very logical.

It's very fluid in terms of the flow of thought.

But he works his way from verse three to 14 with a series of truths, just one by one,

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