Romans 6:1-6 – Sin’s Power Is Broken – “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”
Hallelujah and amen!
What a wonderful truth to renew our minds with. We are no longer slaves to sin, regardless of how we behave! The truth is that for those of us who have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior we have entered into a new covenant (a solemn and binding agreement). In other words, we are now wearing the robe of Christ Jesus so we need to act like Him. I read just this morning to “Live today like you belong to God.” Isn’t that beautiful? This reminds us that we can choose to live our new life today instead of walking as a slave to our sin (our old life).
And, even better, we will never be alone. He will walk today out right beside us. In Barb Raveling’s book, I Deserve a Donut, she echoes this truth when she says, “Transformation is messy. It feels like too much work, too much time – and too much failure. We’re bombarded by ‘I’ll never change, anyway, so why bother?’ sorts of thoughts. We want to give up. That’s why we so desperately need to go to God for help – because we can’t do it by ourselves.”
I’ll admit that I continue to work through succumbing to the lies that make me want to eat. But slowly and surely I am learning what it means to “put on” or “lay aside” my old ways and “put on” the armor of light. Romans 13:11-14 – “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”
“Thin Within is not about doing everything right or perfect but about having a teachable heart – one that is yielded to God and seeks to follow his ways. In this journey, we will trip and fall, get back up, and press forward once again – a process that will repeat itself over and over while we are learning and being guided by the Spirit rather than rules.” We are shifting our focus from expecting ourselves to “fix” a problem to trusting the Spirit to show us God’s way of living. Every time our mind and heart are attentive to the Spirit, we are making progress. When we focus on God, refresh ourselves in his Word, and surrender to the Spirit’s leading, we will be better equipped to resist temptation and move forward, one small step at a time.” (Hunger Within, pp. 92-93)
So today let’s put off the old and put on the new! Let’s rejoice in knowing we are in covenant relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who longs to walk beside us in our Thin Within journey.
What about you? Are you walking in your new life or your old life today? Are you expecting perfection? More importantly, is your heart teachable and one that is yielded to God and seeks to follows his ways? Let’s choose to “live today like we belong to God.”