40 Days of GRACE - 18
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of GRACE
Day 18 | NO WAY JOSE
40 Days of GRACE
Day 18 | NO WAY JOSE
NO WAY JOSE
Romans 6:1-2
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
In Paul’s writings, we regularly see him talking about GRACE. But then, when you think about Paul’s life – as Saul, when he persecuted the churches and Christians and now, after he came to Christ – he is SOOOO thankful and appreciative for GRACE (definition again: God giving us what we don’t deserve).
So, as he writes to the various churches – in this case, the church at Rome – he is emphasizing the fallacy that some in the early church might have had… that being they could live any way they wanted to and do anything, and it was OK because of the Grace of God. In other words, some thought they could continue to live sinfully and it would be OK.
Paul nixes that idea in these two verses, emphasizing that we should realize that coming to Christ means we died to sin and need not live there any longer.
Now you might wonder, does that mean for me to be a truly Born-Again Christian, I should NEVER sin again? Well, that would be nice, but that’s not what Paul is teaching here. In fact, another verse by Paul to the church at Phillipi says, “I am confident of this, that He who began a good work in you WILL complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Meaning… once you invite Jesus into your life, the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside of you and HE will continue to clean you up from the inside out and make you – day by day, by month by month, year by year – more like Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. And by the way, for all those times when the Holy Spirit reminds you of something that “missed the mark” (aka sin), 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sin, He is faith and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I call this the Christians “Bar of Soap” – use as often as needed.
Heavenly Father, help me day by day to live a life that is pleasing in Your sight. Amen.
Romans 6:1-2
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
In Paul’s writings, we regularly see him talking about GRACE. But then, when you think about Paul’s life – as Saul, when he persecuted the churches and Christians and now, after he came to Christ – he is SOOOO thankful and appreciative for GRACE (definition again: God giving us what we don’t deserve).
So, as he writes to the various churches – in this case, the church at Rome – he is emphasizing the fallacy that some in the early church might have had… that being they could live any way they wanted to and do anything, and it was OK because of the Grace of God. In other words, some thought they could continue to live sinfully and it would be OK.
Paul nixes that idea in these two verses, emphasizing that we should realize that coming to Christ means we died to sin and need not live there any longer.
Now you might wonder, does that mean for me to be a truly Born-Again Christian, I should NEVER sin again? Well, that would be nice, but that’s not what Paul is teaching here. In fact, another verse by Paul to the church at Phillipi says, “I am confident of this, that He who began a good work in you WILL complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Meaning… once you invite Jesus into your life, the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside of you and HE will continue to clean you up from the inside out and make you – day by day, by month by month, year by year – more like Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. And by the way, for all those times when the Holy Spirit reminds you of something that “missed the mark” (aka sin), 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sin, He is faith and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I call this the Christians “Bar of Soap” – use as often as needed.
Heavenly Father, help me day by day to live a life that is pleasing in Your sight. Amen.
Posted in GRACE