Master Sin
"For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. " (Romans 6:6-7)
Romans 6 is like a "big ideas" parade, and it's too easy to just watch them march on by without really getting it. Don't do that! Jump up on the parade floats and experience them. Take a little time to really understand this.
First: What is your "old self" that was crucified with Christ (if you're a Christian)? It is not your "sin nature" or your "want" to sin. We've still go that, right?. Your old self is the BC version of you — "before Christ." Sin owned that version of you. You had to do whatever it said. You were powerless.
To escape sin's slavery, that old self had to die with Jesus when you believed in Him for the forgiveness of your sin. Death is the legal termination of a slave owner's contract. At that moment, sin became the powerless one. Its authority was "done away with." You are free. You never have to sin again.
So why do we still sin? Stay tuned.
Think: Do you ever think of unbelievers as slaves to sin? How is a slave different from someone who volunteers to do the same thing?
Pray: Thank God for freeing you from slavery to sin by allowing your old self to be crucified with Jesus.
Do: Spend another couple of minutes on this big idea float by carefully reading Romans 5:6-8 again.
Romans 6 is like a "big ideas" parade, and it's too easy to just watch them march on by without really getting it. Don't do that! Jump up on the parade floats and experience them. Take a little time to really understand this.
First: What is your "old self" that was crucified with Christ (if you're a Christian)? It is not your "sin nature" or your "want" to sin. We've still go that, right?. Your old self is the BC version of you — "before Christ." Sin owned that version of you. You had to do whatever it said. You were powerless.
To escape sin's slavery, that old self had to die with Jesus when you believed in Him for the forgiveness of your sin. Death is the legal termination of a slave owner's contract. At that moment, sin became the powerless one. Its authority was "done away with." You are free. You never have to sin again.
So why do we still sin? Stay tuned.
Think: Do you ever think of unbelievers as slaves to sin? How is a slave different from someone who volunteers to do the same thing?
Pray: Thank God for freeing you from slavery to sin by allowing your old self to be crucified with Jesus.
Do: Spend another couple of minutes on this big idea float by carefully reading Romans 5:6-8 again.
posted by Christopher Lyon at
12:11 PM
1 Comments:
The Effect of Sin
The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman:
"Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?" 2 The Woman said to the serpent,
"Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. 3 It's only about the tree in the middle of the garden that
God said, 'Don't eat from it; don't even touch it or you'll die.' " 4 The serpent told the Woman, YOU WON'T DIE.
Genesis 3:1-4 (The Message)
The first entrance of sin into the world was Satan's subtle suggestion to Eve that God's word might not be true and authoritative after all. Then came Satan's blatant "Ye shall not surely die" (v. 4), openly charging the Creator with falsification. Ever since that time, the basic root of every sin has been unbelief--the implicit denial of the Creator's Word.
Therefore, God's judgment on human sin will be in relation to His Word. Jesus said: "There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me" (John 5:45-46). He also said: "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day"(John 12:48). In principle, the Lord Jesus tells us that both Old Testament ("the law of Moses") and New Testament ("the law of Christ") will be witnesses against us at God's judgment throne.
In fact, at the final judgment, the "books" are specifically said to be the basis of God's condemnation of the unsaved: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened . . . And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works" (Revelation 20:12). These books surely include the books of the Bible, wherein are written the laws of God, against which men and women are to be judged. Since even one transgression makes one guilty (James 2:10), none could ever stand at the judgment by his own works. But since unbelief is the effect of sin, faith in God's Word, and in the person and work of the Savior revealed in God's Word, brings forgiveness, salvation, and righteousness.
Renew Your Mind: The child of God immediately loses the following six things upon sinning. A seventh may be lost.
1. The loss of light (1 Jn. 1:6).
2. The loss of joy (Ps. 51:12; Jn. 15:11; Gal. 5:22; 1 Jn. 1:4).
3. The loss of peace (1 Jn. 3:4-10).
4. The loss of love (1 Jn. 2:5, 15-17; 4:12).
5. The loss of fellowship (1 Jn. 1:3, 6, 7).
6. The loss of confidence (1 Jn. 3:19-22).
7. The possible loss of health and even physical life (1 Cor. 5:5; 11:30).
THE REMOVAL OF SIN: "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 10:17). In contrast to the Old Testament's yearly remembrance of sin, the New Testament believer's sin is forever forgotten. This is due to the shed blood of Christ who entered into the holiest of all to make a perfect atonement for us.
There are a number of descriptive phrases in Scripture to show just how completely God has done away with those sins that once plagued us. They are as follows:
Isaiah 44:22: "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." Sins are compared to clouds in that there are a large number of them; they cause darkness; they completely obscure heaven; they come between heaven (God) and earth (man), and they are a sign of an impending storm (judgment). Yet now, in Christ, those sins that separated us from God have once and for all been blotted out.
Psalm 103:12: "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." Because of Christ, we will never meet up with our sin again.
Micah 7:19: "He will subdue our iniquities; and cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." Iniquity has been conquered (subdued) and sin hurled (cast) into the deepest sea. It is destroyed, lost, and irrecoverable!
Isaiah 38:17: "But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." God hurls sin behind His back because it is abominable and loathsome. He will never look at it again. He has completely separated Himself from it.
The reason why all of this is true is found in II Corinthians 5:21, "For He hath made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
Genesis 4:7 "See that You Master Sin's Desire for Your Life.
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