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.”
God’s grace to us is not free license for sensuality and
immorality. His grace, which is bringing us salvation, trains (instructs,
teaches) us to renounce (say “No” to) ungodliness and fleshly passions, and to
live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s
soon return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all
lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are
zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14; cf. Ephesians 2:10).
So, we don’t make a one-time profession of faith in Jesus
Christ and now we are “saved,” done deal, and now all our sins are forgiven
(past, present, and future), and now we are guaranteed heaven as our eternal
destiny, regardless of how we live, even though this is a very popular
teaching. For when we believe in Jesus with God-given faith, we are crucified
with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with him to walk in newness of
life in him, in obedience to our Lord, in holiness and in righteousness, by God’s
grace.
So, we are not to continue living in sin once we have died
with Christ to sin and we have been raised with him to walk in newness of life
in him. For if truly we did die to sin, then how can we live in it any longer?
For by faith in Jesus Christ we were buried with Christ in a spiritual baptism
into death so that we might now walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus, our
Lord, not like our old lives of living in sin and for self, but now for the
glory and praise of God, in the power, wisdom, and strength of our Lord.
Romans 6:6-7 ESV
“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.”
Now, Jesus Christ did not die that horrible death on a cross
just to forgive us our sins and to promise us heaven when we die. He who knew
no sin became sin for us on that cross, and so our sins were put to death with
him so that, by faith in Jesus Christ, we might die with him to sin and live to
him and to his righteousness. So, when we are crucified with Christ in death to
sin, it is in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that
we will no longer be enslaved (addicted) to sin, but to God and to his
righteousness. For Jesus freed us from our slavery to sin.
Romans 6:12-13,16 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… you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness.”
So, we are not to let sin reign any longer in our mortal
bodies, to make us obey its passions. We are no longer to walk in sin, making
sin our practice. But righteousness and holiness and walks of obedience to our
Lord are to be what we practice. And we are to live our lives on this earth as
though truly we have been turned from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan to God, and from death to life. For, if sin is what we obey, it leads to
death, not to life eternal. But obedience leads to righteousness and to eternal
life.
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.”
And we need to pay attention to the wording here in the
whole chapter, but mostly on what it says here leading up to verse 23, which is
often misquoted and used in the wrong context. For if we are still enslaved to
sin, making sin our practice, and obedience to our Lord is not what we practice,
then the end of those things is death, not life eternal. But if we are living
as those who have been set free from sin, and so we have become slaves of God, the
fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
For… the wages (payment, fruit, results) of sin (deliberate
and habitual sin, the practice of sin) is death. But the gift of God, which is
our salvation from sin, is eternal life with God, for it sets us free from our
addiction to sin so that we can walk no longer as slaves of sin but as slaves
to God. It frees us from the control of sin over our lives so that we can now
come under Holy Spirit control and now walk according to the Spirit and no
longer according to the flesh. So, the gift of God is not just forgiveness of
sins. It is freedom from bondage to sin so we can walk in obedience to our
Lord.
He
Lifted Our Burdens
An
Original Work / February 15, 2014
Based
off Isaiah 9:2-7
People walk in darkness.
They abide in their sin.
It has power o’er them.
True belief escapes them.
Jesus Christ came to save them.
He gave His life up for them;
Crucified; died for our sin,
So we might be forgiven,
And have life up in heaven.
Many come to know Him.
God’s love now o’erflows them.
They rejoice in vict’ry.
Their sin is but hist’ry.
We were once bound in slav’ry.
Jesus lifted our burdens;
Set us now free from Satan,
So we now walk in freedom.
Sin has no more dominion.
Praise be to our Savior!
He showed us His favor.
He took all our burdens;
Cast them all upon Him.
He is our mediator;
The Light which shines in darkness.
Counselor in our troubles;
He gives peace now in our hearts;
Joy which is everlasting.
No comments:
Post a Comment