Sin’s Power is Broken (Day 12)

Read Romans 6:1-14
 
   If God loves to forgive, why not give Him more to forgive? If forgiveness is guaranteed, do we have the freedom to sin as much as we want to? Paul’s forceful answer is “Of course not!” Such an attitude, deciding ahead of time to try and take advantage of God, shows that a person does not understand the seriousness of sin. God’s forgiveness does not make sin less serious; His Son’s death for sin shows us the dreadful seriousness of sin. Jesus paid with His life so we could be forgiven. The availability of God’s mercy must not become an excuse for careless living and moral laxness. 
   In the church of Paul’s day, immersion was the usual form of baptism; that is, new Christians were completely “buried” in water. They understood baptism to symbolize the death and burial of the old way of life. Coming up out of the water symbolized resurrection to new life with Christ. If we think of our old, sinful life as dead and buried, we have a powerful motive to resist sin. We can consciously choose to treat the desires and temptations of the old nature as if they were dead. Then we can continue to enjoy our wonderful new life with Jesus (Galatians 3; Colossians 2-3). 
 
   The power of sin over us died with Christ on the cross. Our old sinful selves, our sinful nature, died once and for all, so we are freed from its power. The power of sin refers to our rebellious sin-loving nature inherited from Adam. Though we often willingly cooperate with our sinful nature, it is not us but the sin at work in our life that is defeated. Paul has already stated that through faith in Christ we stand acquitted, not guilty before God. Here Paul emphasizes that we need no longer live under sin’s power. God does not take us out of the world or make us robots: we will still feel like sinning, and sometimes we will sin. The difference is that before we were saved we were slaves to our sinful nature, but now we can choose to live for Christ (Galatians 2). 
 
   Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, His followers need never fear death. That assurance frees us to enjoy fellowship with Him and to do His will. This will affect all our attitudes: work and worship, play, Bible study, quiet times, and times of caring for others. When you know that you don’t have to fear death, you will experience a new vigor in life. 
 
   Consider yourselves dead to sin means that we should regard our old sinful nature as dead and unresponsive to sin. Because of our union and identification with Christ, we no longer want to pursue our old plans, desires, and goals. Now we want to live for the glory of God. As we start this new life, the Holy Spirit will help us become all that Christ wants us to be. 
 
   Because we are united with Christ in His death, our evil desires and bondage to sin died with Him. Now, united by faith with Him in His resurrection life, we have unbroken fellowship with God and freedom from sin’s hold on us (Ephesians 4; Colossians 3). 
   If we’re no longer under the law but under grace, are we now free to sin and disregard the Ten Commandments? Paul says, “Of course not!” When we were under the law, sin was our master: the law does not justify us or help us overcome sin. But now that we are bound to Christ, He is our Master, and He gives us power to do good rather than evil.