Only the One Doing God's Will

Romans 6:1-6 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.

 

“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.”

 

The subject of God’s grace is one that is being talked about much in today’s institutional churches, but the grace that most of them are teaching is not the true gospel of grace but a cheap substitute. So what is God’s grace to us? Yes, it involves Jesus Christ, God the Son, dying on a cross for our sins and him being resurrected from the dead. But why did he die? What did he accomplish in that death and in his resurrection? Well, he who knew no sin became sin for us on that cross that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). So, what does that mean?

 

Well, it tells us right here that our faith in Jesus Christ involves us dying with Christ to sin and being raised with him to walk in newness of life in him. Yes, this is the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but we must cooperate with God in that work or it doesn’t happen. By faith 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. So, we are not to continue in sin. We are to now walk in the new lives God provided for us in freedom from slavery to sin and in walks of holiness and righteousness, in obedience to our Lord.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 4:17-32; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14]

 

Romans 6:12-16 ESV

 

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

 

“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?”

 

Now, most preachers today are not teaching this. They are teaching a gospel of grace that only forgives the sinner so that he can be free from the punishment of sin and so he can go to heaven when he dies, regardless of how he lives his life on this earth. But that is not the gospel Jesus taught. That is not the gospel the New Testament apostles taught. They all taught that we must die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, and that sin must no longer be our practice, but that righteousness and obedience to our Lord must now be our practice (habit, lifestyle).

 

But since so many people are convinced that they can be saved from their sins and guaranteed heaven when they die, and that they are not required to repent of their sins and to obey the Lord, many people professing faith in Jesus Christ are still living in habitual and addictive sin. They are still slaves to sin, and so they will die in their sins. They will not have eternal life with God regardless of whatever faith they professed with their lips.

 

But even if you tell them the truth, most of them are ignoring the truth and they are following after the lies. And since they are resisting God and denying Jesus by their lifestyles, their hearts have not changed. And so we have many professers of Christianity who are mean-spirited, hateful, cruel, spiteful, resentful, malicious and full of lust and greed and pride and self-indulgence. And they are immovable no matter what you try to tell them. They are persisting in their deliberate and habitual sin regardless of the truth, and regardless of who all they hurt in the process, too.

 

So, they are senseless, not engaging their brains, but following the lusts of the flesh and their sinful passions, instead. They are foolish and their hearts are darkened to the truth. Their hearts and lives are void of honor, integrity, and uprightness, and they are full of wickedness, evil, lying, deceiving, manipulating, tricking, and being hypocritical, underhanded, sneaky, and abusive. And they have the character traits of a narcissist. But they can be one thing one day and another a different day, and they can appear righteous and kind and then turn right around and be malicious.

 

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.”

 

Now, we need to interpret these words in the context of the whole of the book of Romans and in the full context of Romans 6 to get what this is saying. This is not saying that the gift of eternal life is just handed to us on a silver platter. The Greek, according to the interlinear, does not say “free gift.” It is assumed, but that can be deceiving. For, yes, we do nothing to earn or to deserve it. But the gift requires us to obey our Lord and to walk in his holiness and righteousness or we do not have eternal life with God.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 15:1-11; Matt 7:21-23; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

So, please pay close attention to what this is saying here. Jesus died to free us from our slavery to sin, but if we remain slaves (addicted) to sin, we will die in our sins. The end of those things is death, not life. We will not inherit eternal life with God if we continue to live as slaves to sin, deliberately and habitually engaged in sinful practices. We are not righteous in the eyes of God if we are still enslaved to sin. But if we are living as those who have been set free from slavery to sin, and if we are walking in righteousness, that leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life.

 

So, when this says here that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, it is telling us that if we continue living in deliberate and habitual sin, and if we do not repent of our sins and follow Jesus in obedience, and if righteousness is not our practice, but if sin is what we practice, the end result is death, not life. So you are not just handed eternal life with God because you made some verbal confession of him as your Lord and Savior. Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only the one DOING God’s will.

 

‘Til The Storm Passes By

 

By Thomas Mosie Lister

 

In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face

While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place

'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

 

Many times Satan whispered

There is no use to try

For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by

But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise

Where the storms never darken the skies

 

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

 

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

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