Romans 6:5
"For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin." (NASB )
Paul is explaining to us that we are no longer under bondage to sin once we have been united to Christ. Let me use an analogy if I may …
You have been a prisoner for years. You live in a dungy cell. Life is miserable at best. You are under the complete control and authority of a cruel master. Through your cell window you see Christ and freedom off in the distance. You, like many who are abused, cannot seem to leave your cruel master. You have neither the will nor the ability if the will were present.
Then one day, Christ walks to your prison cell, opens the door, gives you strength in your dead legs, leads you out of the prison having paid your death penalty, and then shows you the freedom you never quite understood. WOW … you are free. No more forced labor and misery. No more can your old master control what you do. You have joy. The prison walls are behind you and life is good.
Then you notice the prison you came from. They’ve installed new billboards and neon signs. You start to think maybe you forgot how good it was in there. The prison gates stand open and your old master begins to broadcast the most appealing messages to you about what you are missing inside and why you should come in. Your new master sits beside you reminding you that you are bought with a price and that sin will never satisfy, but He will not force you to stay away.
Time after time you walk back into the prison. No one has forced you in. No one can close the gate and keep you in. You simply choose to enter, believing the appeal of the neon signs. You walk through those gates and your old master picks back up with your old slave duties. Though he cannot keep you any longer, you choose to stay. You continue to submit to his cruel hand and his evil intentions for you. You feel the anguish and the shame each time, but you continue to enter over and over. You continue to go to the old prison and the old master and you CHOOSE to be his slave day after day.
You have been a prisoner for years. You live in a dungy cell. Life is miserable at best. You are under the complete control and authority of a cruel master. Through your cell window you see Christ and freedom off in the distance. You, like many who are abused, cannot seem to leave your cruel master. You have neither the will nor the ability if the will were present.
Then one day, Christ walks to your prison cell, opens the door, gives you strength in your dead legs, leads you out of the prison having paid your death penalty, and then shows you the freedom you never quite understood. WOW … you are free. No more forced labor and misery. No more can your old master control what you do. You have joy. The prison walls are behind you and life is good.
Then you notice the prison you came from. They’ve installed new billboards and neon signs. You start to think maybe you forgot how good it was in there. The prison gates stand open and your old master begins to broadcast the most appealing messages to you about what you are missing inside and why you should come in. Your new master sits beside you reminding you that you are bought with a price and that sin will never satisfy, but He will not force you to stay away.
Time after time you walk back into the prison. No one has forced you in. No one can close the gate and keep you in. You simply choose to enter, believing the appeal of the neon signs. You walk through those gates and your old master picks back up with your old slave duties. Though he cannot keep you any longer, you choose to stay. You continue to submit to his cruel hand and his evil intentions for you. You feel the anguish and the shame each time, but you continue to enter over and over. You continue to go to the old prison and the old master and you CHOOSE to be his slave day after day.
This I believe is the message of Romans 6. YOU ARE FREE. You do NOT have to obey sin. STOP giving yourself back into slavery. It is YOUR fault if you continue to choose this. Satan can NO LONGER keep you. You are the one who is giving in. We must learn to take responsibility for our sinfulness. We are NOT able to be defeated by sin. It is simply a choice to disobey. We must remember that all sin is a choice on our part to not obey. This does not mean that the neon does not look good. But will we continue to be fooled into thinking that somehow sin has gotten better. That somehow Satan has gotten kinder. That somehow God is wrong!STOP going back to prison and begging God to help you escape. The doors are open … stop yielding to the seduction … there is NO testing too great that God has not provided a way of escape… RUN!!!! Run from sin … run from those walls. RUN to the freedom you have in Christ to not obey sin!!!
I hope this has been an encouragement to you as you face your daily struggle with the flesh. It is my prayer that you will love Christ PASSIONATELY , know Christ DEEPLY, and enjoy Christ FULLY!
I hope this has been an encouragement to you as you face your daily struggle with the flesh. It is my prayer that you will love Christ PASSIONATELY , know Christ DEEPLY, and enjoy Christ FULLY!
- Pastor Stephen
1 comment:
how great a salvation is ours through our God.
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