So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:11-14 NET)
When we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are baptized in water a death and burial takes place, and a new life and resurrection happens. At that point we are dead to sin but alive to God. The devil's chains are broken and we can freely walk out of his prison. Jesus and the Holy Spirit give us the power to change and become new creatures in every way. God's power is available but we have to use it. This passage says that we should not let sin rule in our bodies, that we should not longer offer the parts of our bodies as instruments of evil, and should instead offer them to God as instruments of righteousness.
Because of what Jesus did on the cross, and because of the amazing power of God that resurrected Him from the dead, we can be sure that a new life is waiting for us. Sin and Satan are no longer our masters—we’ve been set free. So leave the prison, walk out of it into the freedom of Jesus. Your eyes, mind, hands, etc. that were previously used for sin, should now belong to Jesus to be used by Him. The old person who was a slave to the devil needs to die and be buried so that the new person that you are through faith in Jesus, can live by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This transformation takes place through the combined efforts of us and God. If we have no desire to leave sin behind and repent, obviously nothing will happen. But if we truly turn to God and turn away from sin, His power is guaranteed to begin its work in us.
No comments:
Post a Comment