Slaves of God and of His Righteousness

Romans 6:1-4 ESV

 

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

 

The Jews of the Old Covenant who believed in Jesus Christ were no longer under the Old Covenant ceremonial, liturgical, purification, and sacrificial laws. Jesus Christ did away with the Old Covenant with all its regulations when he became our sacrificial Lamb who died for our sins. And he died once for all for all sin, so no more sacrifice for sin is necessary. He fulfilled the law. And he was resurrected back to life, which he lives to God.

 

So, because of what Jesus did for us on that cross, we also must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. For just because we, as followers of Christ, are not under those ceremonial and sacrificial laws anymore, it doesn’t mean we are lawless. Just because we are now under grace does not mean we are to keep on sinning that grace may abound. For how can we who died to sin live in it any longer? Heaven forbid!

 

Romans 6:5-7 ESV

 

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.”

 

For, when we believe in Jesus Christ with genuine God-given faith we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. For we know that our old self was crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin but to God and to his righteousness.

 

For when we die with Christ to sin we are set free from sin, and this is not just freedom from the punishment of sin, but it is freedom from our slavery to sin. We no longer are to live in deliberate and habitual sin, making sin our practice, but now righteousness and godliness and obedience to our Lord are to be what we practice. We are to put sin away from our lives and now we are to follow our Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant).

 

Romans 6:15-16 ESV

 

“What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

 

So, again God’s grace to us is not free license to continue living in deliberate and habitual sin. Sin is to no longer be what we practice. God’s grace frees us from the chains of sin which once bound us so that we can now walk in holiness and righteousness in the power of God, according to the Word of God, as led by the Spirit of God. The free gift of God’s grace is not freedom to continue in sin, but it is freedom from our bondage (addiction) to sin.

 

Therefore, we must understand that if we remain as slaves to sin, doing whatever our flesh leads us to do, living in sexual immorality and adultery and in thievery and hate and the like, this will not end in eternal life for us, but it will end in eternal death. But if we are slaves of God and of his righteousness and of obedience to our Lord, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification and it ends in eternal life with God.

 

Romans 6:20-23 ESV

 

“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

We can’t be slaves to sin and be regarded as righteous in the eyes of God. Now, this is not saying that we will be sinless or perfect (1 Jn 2:1-2), but it is saying that our lives must be surrendered to Jesus Christ to walk in his ways and in his truth. Our lives of sin we must put behind us, and now we are to be walking in obedience to our Lord. He is now to be our Owner-Master (Lord) and not sin, for Jesus set us free from addiction to sin.

 

For if we remain as slaves to sin, it ends in death, not in life eternal. If we have truly been delivered from our addiction to sin and if now we have become slaves of God and of his righteousness, the fruit we get leads to sanctification and its end is eternal life with God. For the wages of living in sin, as slaves to sin, is death. But the free gift of God, which is freedom from slavery to sin, and empowerment of God to live as slaves (bondservants) of God, is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So, please take this to heart.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

Because He Lives

 

By Gloria Gaither / William J. Gaither

 

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus;

He came to love, heal and forgive;

He lived and died to buy my pardon,

An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

 

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow

Because He lives, all fear is gone

Because I know He holds the future

And life is worth a living just because He lives

 

And then one day, I'll cross that river

I'll fight life's final war with pain

And then as death gives way to victory

I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He reigns

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogg8uVRq8LM

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