We
inherit a sin nature from our father Adam; however, once we come to Christ, that
sin nature dies with Christ on the cross, and we are now hidden with Christ in
God (Galatians 2:20). Our body of sin is dead and we are free not to sin.
We
are no longer slaves to carnal lusts and desires (Roman 6:6-7, 8:2). We are not
only dead to sin, but we are alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:5; Romans 6:4). God's
Trinity dwells in our body now, and sin no longer has dominion over us.
The
law of the Spirit of life in Christ set us permanently free from the law of sin
and death (Romans 8:2). We live in our body, but it is Christ who lives in and
through us (Romans 6:6). We walk in the Spirit and do not fulfill the lusts of
the flesh (Galatians 5:15-25).
Daily,
we are renewed according to the image of the One who created us (Colossians
3:10). We are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), in the likeness of Christ,
and we now live in righteous, holiness and truth (Ephesians 4:24).
We
grasp the revelation that we are baptized into Christ's death, and redeemed by
the blood of the Lamb (Romans 6:3). Even as Jesus overcame sin and death
through His life and death, we are freed in Him from sin and death, which are
no longer controlling our life (Romans 6:6-9).
We
must believe in the reality of what happened on the cross, not just
positionally, but experientially as well, because God's Spirit transforms us through
His sanctifying power (James 1:21). We are actually dead to sin and alive to
God through Christ in us (Romans 6:11).
If
we are tempted, and drawn away by human lust, it is because we have not fully
surrendered that part of our self to God. We are choosing to allow that human
tendency to retain power over us (Romans 6:12).
In
truth, we are no longer obliged to obey the lusts of our flesh, or the
temptations of the world and the devil. We do not present our body and soul as
instruments of sin and unholiness (Romans 6:13); but we walk in the Spirit,
which guarantees that we will not walk in the flesh (Galatians 5:15-25).
Prayer:
Father
God, through Christ, who is our whole reason for living, we present our self to
You as one alive from the dead (Colossians 3:3-4). We are a living sacrifice
and want to be acceptable to You (Romans 12:1). We cooperate with Your Spirit's
sanctifying work in our life, and we disengage from this world and focus on
Your Kingdom instead.
Teach
us, through the power of the resurrection in us through Christ, to live as
slaves of righteousness rather than as slaves to Satan, the world and sin.
Jesus already overcame the world, and we overcome the world through His
redeeming work in us. Remind us of the reality of the truth that the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ sets us free from the law of sin and death.
Thought
for the Day:
Jesus
only did what He saw our Father doing; and this can be our focus in life as
well, because we decrease so that He may increase - walking in the Spirit and
not fulfilling the desires of sin that formerly dominated our life.
-
Romans 5:15-25
