March 3, 2016 ENSLAVED TO GOD
Romans 6:22: “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”
In the book of Romans, Paul goes to great length pointing out the great contrast of living according to the flesh verses living according to the Spirit. At any given moment, we are either living according to the flesh, which leads to death, or according to the Spirit, which leads to life. Preceding the coming of Jesus, man was enslaved to sin and thus sacrifices were required in order to receive forgiveness for his sins. In chapter seven of Romans, Paul makes it clear that we are no longer live under the Law-that we were made to die to the Law-and that the members of our body can now bear fruit for God. It is impossible to over emphasize the blessing of being set free form the law of sin and death and being able to live according to the Spirit. Paul points out that we are still slaves-but to another master. Some may misunderstand the freedom we have in Christ, thinking that we are free to do what we please. On the contrary, we have been joined to God-we now belong to Him-we are not our own. (Romans 7:4). We are now to live according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh-it’s a new ball game! It is possible for us to revert back to living according to the flesh-but we do so at a great cost and we grieve the Spirit of God. The idea that we are “not our own” (1 Corinthians 6:19) may be a stumbling block for some as our culture tells us that we are our own-do whatever we want to do. At the heart of living according to the Spirit is knowing that God has set us free from the domain of sin, that we have now been joined to Him and we now have as our ambition a desire to “bear fruit for God.” Even though Jesus fulfilled the Law, and God gifted the believers with His Spirit, Paul was well aware of the fact that believers could live according to the flesh-either because they did not understand their new identity, or they simple choose to revert back to living according to the flesh. I can imagine that if Paul was speaking today, he would say it this way: “Why in the world do you want to live according to who you use to be, and not according to the new person that God has made you?” Paul made it abundantly clear that the admonition to live according to the Spirit was not just a lofty thought or theory; but that living according to the Spirit would be expressed by the words we speak, by the thoughts we have, and by our actions. In Romans 6:19b we read: “so now, present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.” At the risk of sounding over simplistic; living according to the flesh, always produces bad fruit, and living according to the Spirit, always produces good fruit. May we never lose the joy of having been freed from sin and being enslaved to God. Being a slave is a blessing beyond our imagination-if God is our Master.
Romans 7:6: “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.”
Blessings,
Buddy
NOTE: Apparently, the “comment” section on this blog site is not functioning as it should; so if you have made comments and I have not responded, I apologize. I hope to have this corrected soon. I appreciate any comments or input you may have.
Romans 6:22: “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”
In the book of Romans, Paul goes to great length pointing out the great contrast of living according to the flesh verses living according to the Spirit. At any given moment, we are either living according to the flesh, which leads to death, or according to the Spirit, which leads to life. Preceding the coming of Jesus, man was enslaved to sin and thus sacrifices were required in order to receive forgiveness for his sins. In chapter seven of Romans, Paul makes it clear that we are no longer live under the Law-that we were made to die to the Law-and that the members of our body can now bear fruit for God. It is impossible to over emphasize the blessing of being set free form the law of sin and death and being able to live according to the Spirit. Paul points out that we are still slaves-but to another master. Some may misunderstand the freedom we have in Christ, thinking that we are free to do what we please. On the contrary, we have been joined to God-we now belong to Him-we are not our own. (Romans 7:4). We are now to live according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh-it’s a new ball game! It is possible for us to revert back to living according to the flesh-but we do so at a great cost and we grieve the Spirit of God. The idea that we are “not our own” (1 Corinthians 6:19) may be a stumbling block for some as our culture tells us that we are our own-do whatever we want to do. At the heart of living according to the Spirit is knowing that God has set us free from the domain of sin, that we have now been joined to Him and we now have as our ambition a desire to “bear fruit for God.” Even though Jesus fulfilled the Law, and God gifted the believers with His Spirit, Paul was well aware of the fact that believers could live according to the flesh-either because they did not understand their new identity, or they simple choose to revert back to living according to the flesh. I can imagine that if Paul was speaking today, he would say it this way: “Why in the world do you want to live according to who you use to be, and not according to the new person that God has made you?” Paul made it abundantly clear that the admonition to live according to the Spirit was not just a lofty thought or theory; but that living according to the Spirit would be expressed by the words we speak, by the thoughts we have, and by our actions. In Romans 6:19b we read: “so now, present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.” At the risk of sounding over simplistic; living according to the flesh, always produces bad fruit, and living according to the Spirit, always produces good fruit. May we never lose the joy of having been freed from sin and being enslaved to God. Being a slave is a blessing beyond our imagination-if God is our Master.
Romans 7:6: “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.”
Blessings,
Buddy
NOTE: Apparently, the “comment” section on this blog site is not functioning as it should; so if you have made comments and I have not responded, I apologize. I hope to have this corrected soon. I appreciate any comments or input you may have.
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