#DailyDevotion In Christ You Are No Longer Slaves To Sin

Rom. 6:19-23 ¹⁹I talk in a human way because you are naturally weak. But just as you once let uncleanness and wickedness use the parts of your body as slaves to do wrong, so now let righteousness use the parts of your body as slaves in order to live holy. ²⁰When you were slaves of sin, you weren’t free to serve righteousness as your master. ²¹What was your advantage then in doing the things that make you blush now? For they end in death. ²²But now that you’ve been made free from sin and have been made slaves of God, your advantage is that you live in a holy way and finally have everlasting life. ²³The wages paid by sin is death, but the gift given freely by God in Christ Jesus our Lord is everlasting life.

Sometimes may think because our flesh is utterly corrupt and we are 100% sinner according to the flesh, such that our flesh is always sinning because it can do no other. When were not saints, we let uncleanness and lawlessness rule our bodies. We gave into it’s whims and desires. However, even rank pagans control themselves at times not giving into the desires of the flesh. We even see them doing outwardly good deeds at times thought at times they too let sin rule over them. If this is true among unbelievers how much more true is it with people in whom the Holy Spirit dwells? Before our regeneration we were not free to let righteousness serve as our master. That is to say, faith in Christ did not rule our hearts and minds.

Now that we have been given faith in Christ and have received the promised Holy Spirit, we as Christians should not let sin, uncleanness and lawlessness rule our bodies. Christ is our master now. We have been free from these taskmasters. We don’t have let them tell us what to do any longer. True, they are always there clinging to our flesh, hating God, wanting to sin and making even the good things we do imperfect. But we live by faith now, faith in Christ and in love towards God and our neighbor.

It is no advantage Paul says to do the things we formerly did. Those things end in death. We avoid them so we don’t get entangled with them again and lose the Holy Spirit and our faith. Should we fall into some sin we confess it and turn to Christ who is our advocate with the Father and our sin will be forgiven. Through the forgiveness of sins we are made free from sin and slaves to God. Now we live in a holy way. We have holy fruits of faith i.e. we do good things produced by faith and the Holy Spirit. Being slaves to God is that which ends in having everlasting life. As Paul says elsewhere, “It is no longer I who live but Christ” and in another place, “It is God who wills and works good in you.” So it is to our advantage to listen to the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and avoid uncleanness and lawlessness and give ourselves unto letting faith rule our lives with love and good works.

Lest we think our good works born of faith earn us salvation Paul is quick to tell us, “The wages paid by sin is death, but the gift given freely by God in Christ Jesus our Lord is everlasting life.” So while we earn death by voluntarily giving our bodies to sin, everlasting life is not the result of our good works born of faith and love but rather it is the gift freely given by God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because this eternal life is free given to us by God, we submit to his love and do his will.

Heavenly Father, always give us your Holy Spirit so we may not give ourselves to wickedness but rather to the righteousness of faith, loving you and our neighbor. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.