Life - In Sin Or In Jesus

Romans 6:2 "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"

A born-again Christian is constitutionally unable to live in sin. This does not mean that we are perfect, or that we no longer sin. Rather is means we cannot, will not 'live' in sin, that is our manner of living and acting will not be characterized by sin.

For a Christian, sin should be a one-off mistake, not a way of life. If it has become a habit, it will be a miserable one. The Bible tells us that there is pleasure in sin, however it only lasts for a fleeting, vain second before the misery returns.

Once a Christian has experienced walking with Christ Jesus, nothing can compare. We may still try to meet a need here and there with sin instead of Christ, but it is quickly revealed to be merely a mirage of happiness that disappoints every single time. This will motivate a return to the One Who can satisfy.

Where am I living today? Is sin a way of life? A habit? Or a occasional hated mistake? Have I experienced walking closely with Christ? Write down how walking intimately with Jesus makes you feel and compare that to the aftermath of your feelings after the fleeting, meaningless 'pleasure' of sin has passed.

The Reign of Grace

Romans 5:21-22 "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

Grace: "good will, loving-kindness, favour." The merciful kindness of God to us. This grace is what reigns.

When we think of reigning, we generally think of a king or monarch. As a reigning king, that person possesses complete control. The king is the highest authority.

For a long time, sin was that king, reigning with a terrible tyranny that ended in death. However, that king has been dethroned, cast off forever, conquered! A new king is sitting on that throne - Grace.

The reign of grace came through Jesus' righteousness. And its blessed reign leads to live eternal.

If I picture grace as a king, what would that look like practically in my life today?Do I feel like I am living under the reign of grace today?

Adam's Sin

Romans 5:18-19 "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."

I have spent a fair bit of time trying to get the best understanding of this passage. At first read, it might seem unfair - Adam's one sin caused judgement to come upon all men. However, after reading it many times and much prayer, I can see it's not like that at all.

God created a world that was very good. There was but one law that man had to follow. Man broke that law, and as God warned, in that day, man died spiritually. Adam's action opened the door for sin to enter God's "very good" world. Now that sin is ever lurking, and man is ever failing.

Adam may have sinned, but why does that lead to my condemnation? The answer is - Adam's disobedience introduced sin into this world, yet it is our own sin that followed that condemns us. We know that there is nothing good in our flesh. Each human chooses sin as soon as they are able to make that choice. But praise God, that's not the end of the story. There is salvation in Jesus Christ.

Yet Sinners

Romans 5:7-8 "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

The word "sinners" here means: "devoted to sin...pre-eminently sinful, especially wicked." We weren't even close to being lovable. Sin was our defining characteristic. And we must understand what that truly means.

I think often we look at sin as something we do, we know we're not supposed to, but often it's "not that big of a deal." However, we must view it from God's perspective. He is perfectly righteous and holy. Even our good works are "as filthy rags" in comparison to His perfection. Sin is so repulsive, so disgusting to His holiness, that all it takes is one offense to condemn the unrepentant to Hell for eternity.

And it wasn't that we had sinned once. It was that we were "sinners". But even so, God's love is so great, so enormous, so fathomless, that He still commended ("show, prove, establish, exhibit") it to us in that especially wicked state.

What kind of love must that be to overcome our pitiful state. Do I view my sin with a heavenly perspective? Am I seeking to understand the raw power of God's love?

It Starts With Love

Romans 5:3-5 "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

It's amazing how God designed the world. It all comes back to one thing - love.

Committed Christ followers are able to willingly suffer tribulations because of their understanding of God's love. Our love for God leads us to obey Him which, we know, often leads to the world hating us and thus persecution.

During that tribulation, we are to patiently endure with grace. This can only be done by understanding God's love for us and that because of this love we will become more like Him through patient suffering.

These times of patiently suffering create a history of experiencing God's love in a whole new way.

It's because of these experiences in our past, that we have hope in the future. Because we've seen God work in the past, we know what He is capable of in our future. This creates a stronger faith & and stronger love. This hope will not be disappointed, because now we know God's love in such an intimate, personal way.

It all starts with God's love being shed abroad in our heart through the Holy Spirit. Am I experiencing that today?

Therefore...We Have

Romans 5:1-2 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

The transaction of salvation imparted so many things to us. It truly is a gift. But not just one single gift, it is many gifts that are eternal, that no one can take away.

Through salvation, we have been given justification, or in other words, we have been rendered righteous. We have been given peace, but not worldly peace that comes and goes, but real, lasting peace that goes deeper than our soul. We have been given access by our faith to a new standing. Where as before we stood in condemnation, now we stand in grace. This word "grace" has such deep meaning. The word here means: "good will, loving-kindness, favour: of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues."

And if all those things weren't enough, we have joy and hope.

You read down this list and you quickly realize that these things are exactly what everyone desires, they are exactly what this lost world, what every pitiful human heart longs for. It's all waiting for them in Christ if they will only turn to Him.

It's all waiting there for you. Am I accepting this unspeakable gift today?

Faith That Glorifies

Romans 4:20 "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;"

I would venture to guess this is not how we usually look at faith, as a way of glorifying God. Typically, we view the results of faith as a way to glorify God. However, a strong faith is a primary method of giving glory to God.

Faith says that we believe His Word, we trust His promise, we rest in our God Who can do the impossible. Faith is a message broadcast to the whole world - My God Will Do This. Our faith tells those around us what we think of God. And by contrast, a lack of faith tells them Who we think He is not.

What actions am I taking today that are based in faith? Is my faith one that is apparent, that the world can see and then glorify God? What does my faith say of my perception of Who God is?tT

Righteousness Account

Romans 4:6-8 "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

The blessedness of man is a good way to describe our condition under grace. I think of a bank account. Our "Righteousness Account" is completely empty. And every work we attempt to credit that account fails miserably. However God in His love and grace imputes righteousness into that empty account. The word impute means "to pass into one's account".

If we accept His forgiveness and allow Him to cover our sins, our "Sin Account" is wiped completely, utterly clean. He then transfers righteousness to our account, the righteousness through faith.

How do I view my accounts? Do I realize that my "Sin Account" is clean? Do I live that way? Do I realize that my "Righteousness Account" is full because of Jesus? Do I live that way?

Justified Freely

Romans 3:23-24 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"

There is something fundamental that we must realize about freedom - it is not free. That may sound cliche, however no matter what kind of freedom we examine, we find that some price was necessary to secure and/or maintain that freedom.

We have been justified freely. That is such a beautiful phrase! It lifts the soul, inspires the heart with waves of gratitude. We enjoy a free justification, however we enjoy it at the expense of Jesus Christ. That freedom in our justification was paid for by Jesus. That freedom cost Him death on the cross.

Remember today the tremendous cost of your freedom.

Righteousness of Faith

Romans 3:21-22 "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:"

We typically think of righteousness as doing something. And for good reason, for the longest time righteousness was defined as righteous actions. However, Paul is introducing a "new" concept here. Righteousness, not through certain actions, but through a living faith.

I saw "new" because this concept goes all the way back at least to Abraham. Genesis 15:6 "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."

Now we believe with the faith of Jesus Christ. In other words, it is our faith and belief in His righteousness. How marvelous is God's plan! The law fulfilled by Jesus, since we could never hope to. And now it our faith in His accomplished work that justifies us. Praise God!

Every Mouth Will Be Stopped

Romans 3:9 "What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;"

Romans 3:19-20 "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

It truly is beautiful how Paul lays out his case over 3 chapters. The first 2 chapters are a bit confusing if taken on their own. But by 3:20, he has left no doubt of our hopeless, pitiful condition when it comes to our spiritual condition. He has left no doubt of our spiritual destination either.

When we come to understand the law and the law of nature, we see how far we've fallen. We see that sin is our master. Every mouth will be stopped, because truth always wins in the end. Our guilt before God is absolute and doubtless. Nothing we can do could possibly change that. The law is like a messenger, bearing bad tidings.

But thank God, there is more to the story.