SCRIPTURE: Romans 6
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” [John 8:34-36]
Am I a slave to sin, or a slave to God?
I can’t be both.
Of course both sin and God are present in our lives (God is active in every sinners life, sin is active in every child of God’s life), but which one is our main identity?
Either I’m a slave to sin and alienated from God, or I am a slave to God and alienated from sin.
Paul makes this either/or very plain.
We need to develop this kind of mindset to help us deal with the lingering effect of sin in our lives.

Who do you want to be a slave to – God or sin?
(If you say ‘no one’, that’s sin since anyone or anything other than God is sin).
If you repent and surrender to Jesus, we are identified with Him in His death for sin (the death penalty we deserve) and in His victory over death (the victory we need).
Symbolized by baptism, we are symbolically by faith identified with His death and resurrection – dead to sin and alive to God!
We are free indeed!

This has nothing to do with whether elements of the old self remain.
Of course they do.
But if in our heart we hate them, and dedicate ourselves to avoiding them, then they will slowly be weeded out.
God sees us as sinless in principle, and then helps become sinless in practice.
This is a process that takes time, but one that we must cooperate with.

We need to count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God.
The person who says, ‘I can sin because I know God forgives me’, shows that they have not died to sin, they still love it and cling to it.
If they hate it, they will reject it.
They will fail many times, but they will keep at it, because in their being they see that old lifestyle as contrary to who they are now in Christ.

How do you see yourself?
Which direction is my heart and life leaning?
Do I hate all that is contrary to God, do I desire to overcome those old attitudes and behaviours with His help – not in order to be forgiven but because I already am forgiven?
Freedom begins with a frame of mind.
I affirm in my mind what God says that I am – dead to sin, alive in Christ.
From there it works itself out in practice – putting sin to death and bringing the Jesus lifestyle to life.
The direction of our life (towards God or away from Him, towards sin or away from sin) determines the outcome of our life.

PRAYER:
Lord, I hate the lingering elements of sin in my life. I choose again today to crucify that stuff… with Your help!