“But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:17-18 NKJ
How did it feel waking up in the truth that you have been liberated and made free IN Christ? I know when I came to this revelation a weight was lifted from my shoulders and I felt like dancing around my house and I felt like singing praises to God for making me free! I concentrated on learning more about what my liberation IN Christ meant so I would know how to stay in a Christ centered mindset. But shortly after my revelation I listened to a sermon that knocked me off kilter in my understanding. That sermon talked about being made a slave to righteousness and focused on Romans 6. At first I was a bit confused because becoming a slave of righteousness seemed contrary to the truth I had just learned about being liberated and made free IN Christ.
Instead of staying in a state of confusion I decided to investigate this passage of Scripture for myself so I could gain wisdom and understanding from the Holy Spirit. Let me share what I discovered so you too can grow in wisdom and understanding through the power of revelation from the Holy Spirit. In Romans 6:1-4 Paul says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
In order to better understand this let’s go back to what I talked about yesterday in regards to the person who comes to the United States in order to escape the hostile environment of their country of origin. Some of these people come to the United States and embrace their new freedom as a gift and they treat it with respect. They willingly and joyfully walk in the newness of life they have just been given. Others come to the United States and see their freedom as a license to do whatever they want, when they want, and they have no respect for the gift that has just been given to them. They take their gift for granted and misuse it.
This same scenario happens in the body of Christ and it was obviously happening with the Roman church or Paul would have never addressed this. Paul is sending a message to the Romans so they can gain a deeper understanding of the liberation that comes in salvation by grace through faith. When a person comes to fully accept the gift of righteousness, they were been given when they were saved through faith IN Christ; they will have a desire to treat that gift with respect which leads them to reign in life as a new creation IN Christ. Their minds are fixed on Christ and what He did for them on the Cross and they have a desire to honor Him as a result. They renew their minds through the Word and they begin to adopt a righteousness consciousness that leads them to walk in obedience out of great love for the One who set them free!
Others never fully embrace the gift that has been given them because they have never renewed their minds in order to cleanse it with the Word. Even though they have been liberated and made free they still live in an enslaved consciousness to the sinful nature that existed in them when they were slaves to sin. They view the Cross as a necessary act for man’s salvation, but they never fully comprehend its meaning. Because of this they never move past the Cross to fully embrace the meaning of Christ’s resurrection and what it means to them as believers!
When the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom into the deeper meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection and we realize that we have been made alive IN Him; we will fix our mind on being the righteousness of God IN Christ Jesus! This revelation opens up our understanding so we can embrace that being a slave to righteousness is actually the most freeing part of being liberated IN Christ! We no longer view slavery from a humanistic mindset, but instead, we view it with spiritual understanding. We begin to embrace our new life as an incredible gift and that leads us to honor that gift with the respect it deserves. This is truly what leads us to being obedient in our thoughts, words, and actions, because they are motivated by our love for the One who saved us from death!
We no longer have a desire to sin because we respect the gift that has been given us. And if we do sin we are quick to renew our minds in the truth of who we are as new creations in Christ, instead of taking on condemnation. These two actions of faith empower us to reign in life because we understand that Christ IN us is the hope of the glory! This is when we are able to reach others with the Gospel message in boldness because we know that we are leading people from the bondage of slavery to sin, to the liberation of slavery to righteousness! It is in coming to understand that we are held captive by the love of God IN Christ Jesus where we fully embrace the liberation that accompanies the resurrected life of Christ IN us!
Prayer: May the eyes of my understanding be opened so that I can fully embrace my liberation IN You! Help me to understand that being made free IN You and being taken captive by Your love and made a slave to righteousness is the most incredible gift I have ever or will ever receive in life! I praise You for the gift of righteousness and by faith I will renew my mind to the truth of who I am as a new creation IN You. By faith I will allow Your Word to cleanse me from a sin consciousness and I believe by faith that as my mind changes, my desires will change too. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment