November 28, 2021 PRESENT YOURSELVES GOD
Romans 6:11-13 “Even so consider yourselves dead to sin, once for all; but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lust, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.”
How we ‘consider’ ourselves in regards to sin is crucial. Many believers believe that even though they trust Christ as their Savior, they consider themselves as ‘sinners saved by grace-who continue to sin.’ It is true that we were sinners who were saved by the grace of God, but according to the scriptures, we should see ourselves as “dead to sin, once for all; but alive to God.” I am not saying that believers never sin; but I am saying that we have to power to say ‘no’ to sin. If and when we sin, it is because we choose to sin-or allow ourselves to sin. The good news of the gospel is that the power of sin has been broken and we are no longer slaves to sin. Not only are we to consider ourselves dead to sin, but we are to consider ourselves alive to God in Christ Jesus. Its sounds rather simple; but it is a matter of to what we present the members of our body; we make the choice whether we present our members to what is righteous, or to what is unrighteous. For example, I can choose to speak words that are righteous; words that bring peace; words that build up; and words of wisdom-EVEN when I may be tempted to speak unrighteous words. It’s not a matter of how I feel, but about presenting the members of my body to righteousness. (Our mind is also an instrument of our body-so that means that we must also present our minds to what is righteous.) We no longer have to present the members of our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness! Think of the blessings that would come if within our families, in the work place, in the class room, on the golf course, at the store, at the coffee shop-or wherever-we present the members of our bodies as instruments of righteousness. Even in the culture of church life, we need a major correction; we need more than mental agreement that the power of sin has been broken; we need to know that we are no longer bound to sin; we need to be those who, as a way of life, present our members as instruments of righteousness. Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. By considering ourselves dead to sin and alive to God and by presenting our members as instruments of righteousness, we will be light; bringing hope, encouragement, comfort and love to all. We are continually presenting our members either as instruments of unrighteousness or instruments of righteousness; let us present ourselves to God as those alive from the dead and live righteously.
2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.”
Romans 6:4 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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