It is evening as I am sitting down, but You’ve been with me throughout this day, Father. The tuning is coming along. All praise to You!
Romans 6:5-11 (<<click here to read the passage)
I have to admit, as I read through this passage I was taken aback. Just as a statement of fact, I don’t even remember exactly when I accepted Christ (I just know I was very young), I’ve served in some capacity of church ministry at least since high school, I’ve served on church staff as a minister of music, youth, and children, and most recently as the pastor of two churches – one for 20 years. I’m not being boastful, but reading these verses gave me reason to pause.
I lay claim to those things, but I am far from perfect. Anyone who has read my blog with any regularity knows that I’ve said that on numerous occasions. I’ve stumbled more times than I can begin to count. I’ve fallen flat on my face frequently. I’ve totally crashed and burned more times than I’d care to admit.
That being said, what in heaven’s name do I do with verses like these?
We know that our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For the person who has died [with Christ] has been freed from [the power of] sin.
…consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus. vs6-7, 11 AMP
The power of sin over us died with Christ on the cross. Our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit], died once and for all, so we are freed from its power.
The first part of verse 10 reads,
For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner’s debt] once and for all
That “power” refers to our rebellious sin-loving nature inherited from Adam. Though we often willingly cooperate with our sinful nature, it is not us but the sin in us that is evil. And it is this power of sin at work in our life that is defeated! Paul has already stated that through faith in Christ we stand righteous before God. Here Paul emphasizes that we need no longer live under sin’s power. God does not take us out of the world or make us robots – we will still feel like sinning, and sometimes we will sin. The difference is that before we were saved we were slaves to our sinful nature, but now we can choose to live for Christ. (emphasis mine)
My Life Application Study Bible sure helped bring clarity!
And a couple more passages to drive it home!
I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 AMP
Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words! 2 Corinthians 9:15 NLT
Dec 13th, 2022, Tues, 6:03 pm
