The story is told of a man who found a wallet filled with cash. He was tempted to keep the money for himself. As a Christian, he knew he should return the wallet to its owner. But he began to reason with himself: I’m in need of cash right now. So “finders keepers!” I’ll keep the cash, but I’ll confess my sin and ask God to forgive me. If you were that man, what would you have done? Would you have rationalized your wrong behavior?
Paul once asked a timeless, practical question: “Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace?” (Romans 6:1). We can almost hear Paul shouting, “No! Of course not!” (Romans 6:2).
And he tells us why.
As non-Christians, we were a slave to sin (Romans 6:6,14,17). We had to sin because we had to do what sin demands (Romans 6:16,20). But when we believed in Jesus as Savior, everything changed. We “died to sin,” so we can’t “continue to live in it” (Romans 6:2). Christ’s death broke the power of sin, setting us free from slavery to sin (Romans 6:5-10). It no longer has power over us (Romans 6:22). We have a new life (Romans 6:4,13), serving a new Master. We’ve become slaves of God (Romans 6:22) and slaves “to righteous living” (Romans 6:18). We can now become holy (Romans 6:19).
To be holy is a choice. It’s something to be lived out. Say “No” to sin by saying “Yes” to God (Romans 6:12-13). If you sin, it’s because you’ve chosen to obey sin as your master. But to do so is to presume on God’s grace, abusing His mercy and forgiveness (Romans 6:1,15).
You are not sinless yet—but as a believer in Jesus you must sin less (1 John 1:6-10). —K.T. Sim
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Matthew 2:1-12
More:
What did Jesus say about slavery and sonship in John 8:34-36? What did Jesus mean when He said, “A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever”? (v.35).
Next:
How can you become a true “slave of God”? (Romans 6:22). What is a key characteristic of someone who is God’s slave?
yemiks1 on June 8, 2012 at 1:04 pm
In Christ we’re made perfect, (can’t cite the actual bible verse). Though we can’t say we’re sinless but we can be perfect and sin less
mike wittmer on June 9, 2012 at 12:14 pm
eduardo:
I think that holiness, or sanctification, is both a state that is given by God and a choice, empowered by the Spirit, to grow into that new identity. So maybe you are both right?