Romans 6:13-14
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
Do you ever think of enjoying sin as if it were a nice little package full of your favorite candy (chocolate covered feces as the great Christian speaker Mike Guzzardo calls it?) How about giving up your body to participate in the wicked ways of sin?
I just don't think the latter statement is necessarily true, but it serves as a hypothetical situation We don't offer ourselves to sin. It's just a matter of doing it. We are sinful. We sin without thinking about it. Either way, the consequences are the same even if we send sin a love letter with a nice little gift of our sinful body parts. In other words, a sin is a sin no matter the process or what it is. It's all equal.
Think about it though. It's time to watch our choices. Instead of writing a love letter to sin, send one to God because he freed us from a sinful death. Offer yourself to him so that he can use you to serve and bless others.
Our body is an instrument that can either serve sin (Satan) or serve God. Who have you been serving? Ask God to help you avoid wasting your life on sinful desires.
Showing posts with label Sin and Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sin and Death. Show all posts
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Want to Sin.
Romans 6:11-12
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.
So you must be wondering by now, after all the talk this week, why do we sin? Why do we struggle with it everyday and trying not to sin at the same time? You have to realize that we've been freed from the power of sin. It's not in charge of us. However, we're not free from the "want" to sin. Even though we know sin leads to death. Even though we know it's so wrong. Even though we know that Jesus died for that reason. We still want it because we like how some sin feels.
It's time to do something with our evil tendencies. The want to sin is the want for something evil, even the "littlest" of sins that don't seem to be much of anything. You're free, so don't feel obligated to be a volunteer sinner. Don't let sin be stronger than you because it's not!
"With God in your life, Satan is toothless. He is a monster that is trying to bite you. If you ask God to remind you that you never have to give in to temptation, then it won't be much of a bite."
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.
So you must be wondering by now, after all the talk this week, why do we sin? Why do we struggle with it everyday and trying not to sin at the same time? You have to realize that we've been freed from the power of sin. It's not in charge of us. However, we're not free from the "want" to sin. Even though we know sin leads to death. Even though we know it's so wrong. Even though we know that Jesus died for that reason. We still want it because we like how some sin feels.
It's time to do something with our evil tendencies. The want to sin is the want for something evil, even the "littlest" of sins that don't seem to be much of anything. You're free, so don't feel obligated to be a volunteer sinner. Don't let sin be stronger than you because it's not!
"With God in your life, Satan is toothless. He is a monster that is trying to bite you. If you ask God to remind you that you never have to give in to temptation, then it won't be much of a bite."
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Death on the Cross - One Time.
Romans 6:8-9
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.
As soon as I read this part of Romans I was reminded of what I heard someone say the other day in passing: "Every time you (knowingly) sin, you put Jesus on the cross all over again." I thought about it and wish I could have had a conversation with this person. It's a wonderful way to make someone feel guilty, that's for sure. It's as of our sin makes Jesus suffer even more on the cross...
Well, here's what I have to say about the statement: I absolutely disagree. It may be a good guilt trip, but it's also deceiving - a lie. Jesus Christ DIED. That happened once, in the past. Yes, he did experience excruciating pain during this time. However, instead of guilt washing over us, we should be overwhelmed by appreciation considering the amount of pain he faced for our selfishness and sinful decisions.
The fact of the matter is that the cross is empty just like the tomb. The suffering is long gone. Jesus doesn't feel the intense pain even though I still think he winces at some of our decisions; still, it's nothing like before. Paul tells us here that "He cannot die again." Jesus was victorious over death. Period. He's alive in spirit and is able to carry on with God's work. As Christians, our sin is also dead, and we are given the freedom to continually serve God.
I know it may be hard to believe that he died for us so long ago, but thank God. Thank God for Jesus' death on the cross and that his pain is over so that our sinful lives can be painless.
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.
As soon as I read this part of Romans I was reminded of what I heard someone say the other day in passing: "Every time you (knowingly) sin, you put Jesus on the cross all over again." I thought about it and wish I could have had a conversation with this person. It's a wonderful way to make someone feel guilty, that's for sure. It's as of our sin makes Jesus suffer even more on the cross...
Well, here's what I have to say about the statement: I absolutely disagree. It may be a good guilt trip, but it's also deceiving - a lie. Jesus Christ DIED. That happened once, in the past. Yes, he did experience excruciating pain during this time. However, instead of guilt washing over us, we should be overwhelmed by appreciation considering the amount of pain he faced for our selfishness and sinful decisions.
The fact of the matter is that the cross is empty just like the tomb. The suffering is long gone. Jesus doesn't feel the intense pain even though I still think he winces at some of our decisions; still, it's nothing like before. Paul tells us here that "He cannot die again." Jesus was victorious over death. Period. He's alive in spirit and is able to carry on with God's work. As Christians, our sin is also dead, and we are given the freedom to continually serve God.
I know it may be hard to believe that he died for us so long ago, but thank God. Thank God for Jesus' death on the cross and that his pain is over so that our sinful lives can be painless.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Power of Sin.
Romans 6:6-7
6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
Happy December! Man, that means the Holidays are getting that much closer!
I don't know about you, but this passage from Romans definitely has some meaning. It has some important concepts that you don't want to miss, so don't jump on the bandwagon and ignore them!
What is this "old self" that was "crucified with Christ" as Paul describes? Well, it's not your sinful nature or desire to sin, because quite frankly, that will always exist. Your former self is the B.C. version of you...before Christ. You may consider that to be several years ago or just a few months ago. At any rate, this was when sin controlled your life. Sin was your master and you were its slave. You had to listen to sin. Therefore, you had little or no power to conquer sin.
In order to avoid sin's slavery, your old self had to die with Jesus Christ when you accepted him as your Lord and Savior; the one who delivers you from and forgives your sins. With death, sin becomes the powerless one. It doesn't have you to unleash its power any longer. Can you say freedom?!?! The only thing is, we still sin. I'll talk about that later in the week.
Did you ever consider yourself to be enslaved to sin? Thank you God for ridding my old self and allowing me to be free from sin.
6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
Happy December! Man, that means the Holidays are getting that much closer!
I don't know about you, but this passage from Romans definitely has some meaning. It has some important concepts that you don't want to miss, so don't jump on the bandwagon and ignore them!
What is this "old self" that was "crucified with Christ" as Paul describes? Well, it's not your sinful nature or desire to sin, because quite frankly, that will always exist. Your former self is the B.C. version of you...before Christ. You may consider that to be several years ago or just a few months ago. At any rate, this was when sin controlled your life. Sin was your master and you were its slave. You had to listen to sin. Therefore, you had little or no power to conquer sin.
In order to avoid sin's slavery, your old self had to die with Jesus Christ when you accepted him as your Lord and Savior; the one who delivers you from and forgives your sins. With death, sin becomes the powerless one. It doesn't have you to unleash its power any longer. Can you say freedom?!?! The only thing is, we still sin. I'll talk about that later in the week.
Did you ever consider yourself to be enslaved to sin? Thank you God for ridding my old self and allowing me to be free from sin.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
United with Christ.
Romans 6:5
5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.
Jesus is the remedy for a brand new life. We touched on that yesterday, like when I said that we should put all of our trust in Jesus' death for salvation and accepting that our entire life is in his hands. God's grace covers us. We're spiritually taped to his grace.
This glue that bonds us with Christ carries us and sustains us from now until the time we die, including the death and the burial to the resurrection. What does that mean? Well, because we're Christians, our spirit doesn't die with our bodies. You are alive similarly to when Jesus was alive when he escaped from his tomb.
I realize that this sounds a bit morbid, but when we die, our body will be resurrected and transformed into a brand new, eternally perfect and ideal body like that of Jesus. That's because of Jesus. Because of your faith in Jesus. You are united with him until the end. As a result, you are free from the weight of sin and death.
Today, reflect on the resurrection and what value it has on your life.
5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.
Jesus is the remedy for a brand new life. We touched on that yesterday, like when I said that we should put all of our trust in Jesus' death for salvation and accepting that our entire life is in his hands. God's grace covers us. We're spiritually taped to his grace.
This glue that bonds us with Christ carries us and sustains us from now until the time we die, including the death and the burial to the resurrection. What does that mean? Well, because we're Christians, our spirit doesn't die with our bodies. You are alive similarly to when Jesus was alive when he escaped from his tomb.
I realize that this sounds a bit morbid, but when we die, our body will be resurrected and transformed into a brand new, eternally perfect and ideal body like that of Jesus. That's because of Jesus. Because of your faith in Jesus. You are united with him until the end. As a result, you are free from the weight of sin and death.
Today, reflect on the resurrection and what value it has on your life.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Grace Toward Sin.
Romans 6:1-2
1 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?
I read these first two verses of the sixth chapter of Romans a couple times to let the strength of the message sink into my mind. When Paul says, "Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase..." it strikes me as a remarkable statement. I immediately thought of God's grace being comparable to something you blow up or stretch. We've all blown up balloons to our fullest capability. Think about blowing it up infinitely. That's the equivalent of God's grace over our sin; it surrounds the uncomfortable bubble that sin causes us to live with. The more we sin, the greater God's grace is to cover our sin because of faith in Jesus' victory on the cross.
Day in and day out we sin. The good news is that no one can ever sin so much that God's grace isn't big enough to surround their bubble, so to speak. The more we sin, the greater his forgiveness and grace appears to be. Should we collect sins as if they're gold? "By no means!" We shouldn't do this because God's grace goes beyond eliminating sin. I'll talk more about this in the days to come.
What do you think? Is it strange that God's grace doesn't have limits? Or do we just take it for granted?
1 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?
I read these first two verses of the sixth chapter of Romans a couple times to let the strength of the message sink into my mind. When Paul says, "Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase..." it strikes me as a remarkable statement. I immediately thought of God's grace being comparable to something you blow up or stretch. We've all blown up balloons to our fullest capability. Think about blowing it up infinitely. That's the equivalent of God's grace over our sin; it surrounds the uncomfortable bubble that sin causes us to live with. The more we sin, the greater God's grace is to cover our sin because of faith in Jesus' victory on the cross.
Day in and day out we sin. The good news is that no one can ever sin so much that God's grace isn't big enough to surround their bubble, so to speak. The more we sin, the greater his forgiveness and grace appears to be. Should we collect sins as if they're gold? "By no means!" We shouldn't do this because God's grace goes beyond eliminating sin. I'll talk more about this in the days to come.
What do you think? Is it strange that God's grace doesn't have limits? Or do we just take it for granted?
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