September 7, 2024 ENSLAVED TO GOD
Romans 6:17-18, 22-23. “But thanks be to God though that you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed form sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” “ But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We take pride in our independence, but the truth is that whether we realize it or not, we are enslaved to something or to someone. Prior to becoming a believer, a follower of Christ, we were slaves to sin. We may not have been guilty of the sin of murder, theft or whatever; but we all had a sin nature from birth. We tend to grade sin as ‘big’ sin or ‘small’ sin; but in God’s sight, sin is sin. This idea of classifying some sins as small sins may actually cause us to not be alarmed by the ‘small’ sins we may be guilty of-we just allow them to continue. Anyway, we have been freed from the power of sin-and that is a big deal. It is saying that we no longer have to sin since we have been freed from the power of sin; when we sin, we do so by choice. Being freed from sin is half the story. The other half is that we have become enslaved to God. Obviously, being enslaved to God is a wonderful thing; it has many benefits in this life and the life to come. Let us not be consciously or unconsciously enslaved to the ways of the world or to our own passions and desires that are not of God. Being enslaved to God is the best thing that can happen to us; the ways of God lead to life and fulfillment and to life with no regrets. Being a slave of God means that our purpose is to do what He bids and do the things that are pleasing to Him; it means that we live for Him and not ourselves. The amazing thing is that as we live for Him, we find life. The good news is that no matter our past and no matter that we were slaves to someone or something other than God, when we receive Jesus as our Savior, we are set free from our past and the power of sin, and we are enslaved to God and His righteousness. No matter what we may think or believe and no matter our circumstances, the fact is that only as we become enslaved to God, will we find that which satisfies our deepest longings and find our true identity.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirt who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
Blessings,
Buddy
Romans 6:17-18, 22-23. “But thanks be to God though that you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed form sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” “ But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We take pride in our independence, but the truth is that whether we realize it or not, we are enslaved to something or to someone. Prior to becoming a believer, a follower of Christ, we were slaves to sin. We may not have been guilty of the sin of murder, theft or whatever; but we all had a sin nature from birth. We tend to grade sin as ‘big’ sin or ‘small’ sin; but in God’s sight, sin is sin. This idea of classifying some sins as small sins may actually cause us to not be alarmed by the ‘small’ sins we may be guilty of-we just allow them to continue. Anyway, we have been freed from the power of sin-and that is a big deal. It is saying that we no longer have to sin since we have been freed from the power of sin; when we sin, we do so by choice. Being freed from sin is half the story. The other half is that we have become enslaved to God. Obviously, being enslaved to God is a wonderful thing; it has many benefits in this life and the life to come. Let us not be consciously or unconsciously enslaved to the ways of the world or to our own passions and desires that are not of God. Being enslaved to God is the best thing that can happen to us; the ways of God lead to life and fulfillment and to life with no regrets. Being a slave of God means that our purpose is to do what He bids and do the things that are pleasing to Him; it means that we live for Him and not ourselves. The amazing thing is that as we live for Him, we find life. The good news is that no matter our past and no matter that we were slaves to someone or something other than God, when we receive Jesus as our Savior, we are set free from our past and the power of sin, and we are enslaved to God and His righteousness. No matter what we may think or believe and no matter our circumstances, the fact is that only as we become enslaved to God, will we find that which satisfies our deepest longings and find our true identity.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirt who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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