Romans 6: 15-23
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A Thought
Paul teaches us that when we offer ourselves to sin, sin is our master; we are controlled by evil desires that leads to impurity, that leads to wickedness, that leads to eternal death. God has provided grace through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ to set us free from the law of sin and death. Therefore, now we can be set free from sin by accepting Jesus Christ as our master. When we receive his grace, we also receive the power of the Holy Spirit that will lead to obedience, that will lead to righteousness, that will lead to holiness, that will lead us to eternal life. There are only two choices: we can do nothing and be controlled by sin that leads to death or we can accept the gift of God through Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life in him.
Our Prayer
Father open the eyes of our hearts to see that until we receive you, we are controlled by sin. We desire to fully submit ourselves to your word that we might be obedient to you. Awaken us by the power of your Holy Spirit to give this gift of eternal life to those whom we meet in our daily lives. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen.
