Romans 6
6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 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.
5 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. 6 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—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 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. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master,because you are not under the law, but under grace.
I think there is no other clear indication of God’s will regarding our lifestyle than this chapter in Romans 6. It is God’s will that we be Christlike. That the grace bestowed upon us gives us the power to say no to SIN.
Too often we make it an excuse to sin when we study the topic of grace.
“I could sin because God has forgiven me”
“I could continue getting drunk since God has forgiven me”
“I could actually have two wives since I am going to heaven”
When we experience the grace of God there is a supernatural miracle that happens that we would not want to live in sin anymore because we have tasted that God is good. We are no longer slaves to sin. We can in some supernatural way say no to sin. You yourselves would be shocked why there is a distaste to sin. Mind you, there will still be temptations and moments of weakness but as gospel saturated people, we will declare in those moments that when we are weak God is strong.
Grace is not a license to continue living your life now. Grace is having new life in Christ. And the transformation that happens is us is something that should give glory to God and not to us. We have counted ourselves dead to sin. That means I should also no longer dwell in defeat with my sin. And we are made alive in Christ which means I will only boast of Christ’s work at the cross and not my good works. His grace alone is the reason that enables me to live a Christlike life.
Prayer: Lord thank you that I am under grace and not under law. It means I can tap into the glorious riches and power of Christ to overcome sin. Lord may I always be reminded of my dependency on you alone. In Jesus name, amen.