Saturday, April 05,
2014, 4:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Give Me Jesus.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Romans 6 (NIV).
A New Life
What
shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no
means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or
don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in
order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father, we too may live a new life.
For
if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be
united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was
crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that
we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set
free from sin.
To baptize literally means to dip under, immerse, to sink and/or
to submerge. Another meaning is “to make clean with water” (Source: http://biblehub.com/greek/907.htm).
To immerse means to engross, engage, occupy and/or to throw yourself into or to
absorb yourself in something. To “dip under,” in this context, means: “to immerse
yourself into a condition of subjection” (enslavement; under the control of
another). [Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary] In other words, to be “baptized”
into Christ involves so much more than just to follow his example of water
baptism as a symbol of our faith in Christ, but rather it also carries with it
the idea of willingly bringing ourselves underneath his authority, dying to and
immersing ourselves in death to sin, so that we may live a new life in Christ Jesus.
So, coming to faith in Jesus Christ means so much more than
just the promise of eternity with God in heaven. It means so much more than
just the receiving of spiritual blessings from above – joy, peace, etc. It also
means so much more than just the promise of Christ’s enduring love, mercy,
grace, forgiveness and kindness towards us; and his continued presence,
counsel, strength and power abiding within us. True faith in Jesus Christ means
death to sin, willingly submitting ourselves to God’s work of grace in our
lives in crucifying the sinful nature so that we can live for God in his
righteousness and holiness. This is not optional! This is what our salvation is
all about. We are not saved just so we can go to heaven one day. We are saved
so we can be set free from slavery (bondage) to sin while we still walk the
face of this earth. Jesus died so that our bodies (lives) which were once given
over to sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to
sin.
Alive to God
Now
if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know
that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer
has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the
life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin
but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Something jumped out at me in these verses that had not
stood out to me before. In verse ten it says, “The death he died, he died to
sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.” What stood out to me
is how verse ten fits with the next verse which says, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in
Christ Jesus.”
Jesus Christ not only made the way possible for us to be
saved, but he set the example for us to show us what his salvation entails for
us. In other words, he died to sin, so we are also to die to sin. Now he was
sinless, yet when he died he took upon himself the sins of the entire world so
that he could put our sins to death. Yet, it doesn’t end there. We are saved,
not only by his grace, but by faith, which he gives us, but which we must
willingly appropriate to our lives. This faith is not just an experience, a
religion, an emotion, thought or a feeling. True faith willingly dies with
Christ to sin, and it willingly lives to God; alive to God in Christ Jesus (cf.
Lu. 9:23-25; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; Gal. 2:20; 1 Jn. 1-5).
Slaves to
Righteousness
Therefore
do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do
not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but
rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to
life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but
under grace.
What
then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no
means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves,
you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads
to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God
that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your
heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have
been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
I
am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just
as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing
wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to
holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of
righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are
now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set
free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to
holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A slave is “someone who is legally owned by another person
and is forced to work for that person without pay; a person who is strongly
influenced and controlled by something” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). A slave,
in this Biblical context, is also “properly, someone who belongs to another; a
bond-slave, without any ownership rights of their own; …used with the highest
dignity in the NT – namely, of believers who willingly live under Christ's
authority as His devoted followers” (Source: http://biblehub.com/greek/1401.htm).
So, what does this mean for us? Well, for one it means that
when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, not only do we willingly die with Christ
to our old lives of sin, and not only do we willingly choose to live for God in
his power and strength and his Spirit within us, but we also willingly submit
ourselves to his Lordship (mastery) over our lives, with us as his slaves. What
this means for us is that coming to faith in Jesus Christ involves us now
coming under the ownership of Christ with us now no longer having ownership
rights of our own, but we willingly live under his authority as his devoted
followers. Wow! I pray that I would daily live my life as though Christ is
truly my master, that I belong now to him, and that I no longer have ownership
rights of my own over my own life. I pray that I will daily submit myself to
his will and purposes for my life, and that I would live to please him.
Give Me Jesus
Oh, What Gladness!
An Original Work / December 2, 2013
Give me Jesus. He’s my
Savior.
I’ll walk with Him in
His favor.
I’ll abide in His love
always;
Follow His ways to the
end.
Jesus is the Son of
God.
He died upon a cruel
cross.
He’s forgiven all my
failures
By His mercy and His
love.
Give me Jesus – His
compassion,
And His mercy; loving
kindness.
Let Him teach me how
to love Him,
And to please Him.
He’s my friend.
Jesus died for all our
sin
So we could have
eternal life.
He will free you from
your bondage
If you trust Him with
your life.
Give me Jesus. Let me
trust Him.
May I listen to His
teachings.
May I follow where He
leads me
In His service. He’s
my Lord.
Jesus Christ will come
again
To take His bride to
be with Him.
Oh, what gladness;
free from sadness
When I meet Him in the
air.
No comments:
Post a Comment