ALIVE IN CHRIST
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Opening Prayer
Father, please use your Word to keep me on the path you have prepared for me—one that serves you and brings you glory.
Read ROMANS 6:1—14
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Romans
Romans 6
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Reflect
‘… God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.’1
It seems as if some of Paul’s audience were missing the point of God’s gift of grace. Surely, if grace deals with all sin, you might as well go on sinning so that God’s grace might increase (v. 1)! It’s a cynical view— but, surprisingly, we might find ourselves guilty of exploiting God’s grace in this way. Do we think that habitual sin doesn’t matter, if no one else notices (God will forgive me)? Do we try to justify our anger or revenge—they deserved it (God will forgive me)? No, that’s not the way, says Paul. Instead, remember again what Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has done for you.
Baptism recognizes that we have died with Christ (v. 3). Sin, and its mastery over us, is ‘done away with’ (v. 6). In Christ, we have new life and will also share in his resurrection (v. 4). Paul doesn’t mean that we will all live perfect lives in the present time. Our bodies have been ruled by sin—but this no longer has mastery over us (v. 9). It is God in Christ who reigns now.
As we struggle with many sinful behaviors offered by our world, how can we live in God’s way? Paul offers some guidelines. Recognize and embrace that you are ‘dead to sin’ and have been made ‘alive’ in Christ (v. 11). Take action! Don’t let sinful ways reign in your life (v. 12). ‘Do not offer any part of yourself to sin’ (v. 13)—your words, your body, your mind, your talents. Instead, deliberately offer yourself to God to live according to his good will. The good news is that sin doesn’t rule. In Christ, we are freed to live under his grace (v. 14).
Apply
Contemplate what faces you today—decisions, responses to others and the world. Offer yourself to God, that he may use you as ‘an instrument of righteousness’ (v. 13).
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I am thankful that, in you, there is not only forgiveness, but victory. Thank you that I am increasingly being transformed by your Spirit.2
1 Eph 2:4, 5 2 2 Corinthians 3:18.
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