Romans 6 & 1 John 3
(Please read these chapters before reading the
following article.)
“We know that our old life was put to
death on the cross with Christ. This happened so that our sinful selves would
have no power over us. Then we would not be slaves to sin.” –Romans 6:6 ERV
One
evening when Leon Patillo was a guest speaker at a church I attended a number
of years ago he was sharing about just what it was that could pull Christians
down and tear them apart. To make the
point he paced back and forth in front of the church saying, “What is it that
can grip the souls of believers? What is
it that is constantly pulling at them?
What is it…?” At this point a 4
year old boy in the front row exuberantly shouted out, “JESUS!” Mr. Patillo
paused for a moment, then smiled and responded, “I hear you brother, but if it
was Jesus our troubles would all be over.”
He went on to explain that it was sin.
It was when we allowed sin to rule and control us that we were pulled
away from the Lord. If only we allowed
Jesus to control us then our troubles would
be over.
“Surely you know that you become the
slaves of whatever you give yourselves to. Anything or anyone you follow will
be your master. You can follow sin, or you can obey God. Following sin brings
spiritual death, but obeying God makes you right with him.” –Romans 6:16 ERV
In
verse 16 Paul explains that whatever controls us is our master. We are slaves to whatever we allow to control
us. Is it really that simple? Yes it is.
If you pursue selfish desires (those that gratify your physical wishes
and wants) then they will control you, but if you want to be free from the
control of those sins then put God first: as your Master and as the Head of
your life.
“In the past you were slaves to
sin—sin controlled you. But thank God, you fully obeyed what you were taught. You were made free from sin, and now you are
slaves to what is right… now you are free from sin.
You have become slaves of God, and the result is that you live only for God.
This will bring you eternal life.” –Romans 6:17-18, 22 ERV
Do
not just decide to allow Him to be
your Lord and Master, but rather make it
a daily purposeful decision and establish Him as such; “…the result is
that you live only for God…” and you will
really be “free at last!”
“No one born (begotten) of God
[deliberately, knowingly, and
habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him [His principle
of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot
practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.” -1 John 3:9 AMP
