Verse of the Day 8/18

 

Romans 6:11-12  Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.

¹² Let not sin therefore rule as king in your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies, to make you yield to its cravings and be subject to its lusts and evil passions. Amplified Bible (AMP)

 

Continuing in the book of Romans we move to chapter 6.  In today's passage there are two words that "jump out" as you read it.  They are "consider" and "present" (v.13).   On a regular, perhaps daily basis we should consider who we are and what we have through Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice.  We have been delivered from sin, forgiven of trespasses, freed from its addictions, the bond with sin has been broken  and we have a new relationship with the living God through Jesus and the power of the Spirit living in us.

 

Because of this we are not to let, to allow sin to reign to rule, to have dominion over the course of our lives.  We've been delivered from it, why would we want to go back to its slavery.  That is not to mean that we won't be faced with the temptation to go back, but through His grace we have the power to stand, to turn or even to flee from them.  Instead, because of what Jesus has done for us we are to "present" (v.13), offer ourselves, commit ourselves to God as instruments for good, for His purposes and His glory.

 

Our church will be conducting a baptism service next week.  The symbolism of these verses is seen in that ceremony.  Dead to sin and alive in Christ.  May that be represented in our lives day by day, "living in the freedom of God" (v.14 The Message).

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

Romans 6:10-14

The Message (MSG)

^6-11 Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did.

^12-14 That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God.