July 26. Romans 6. Morgan Holland
Two Masters
God's grace to us is the most amazing gift that we will ever receive in our lifetimes. Take a few moments to reflect: how incredible is it that we serve a perfect God who constantly forgives us for each and every way (intentional and unintentional) that we mess up against him and the people that he loves? His love crosses boundaries that our own hearts often refuse to cross. The more we sin, more and more grace is given to us.
Paul is talking to the Roman church here about not taking this incredible gift for granted. We aren't to continue sinning in order to win more grace - how can we keep on sinning if we have followed Jesus to the cross through the waters of baptism?
Death is the only way to be free from the debt of sin that we owe our creator. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. Every sin earns us death. Death is unavoidable. However, the FREE GIFT of Jesus is the opportunity to participate in His death, burial, and resurrection in order that our penalty may be paid for us. As disciples, we no longer earn death, but rather eternal life!
When you are baptized into Christ, you are baptized into his death and then raised into his resurrection. This is so we may live new lives, free from the entangled chains of sin we were once shackled to. Thanks to Jesus, we are set free from being slaves to sin.
How then can we repay such an incredible and undeserving gift? We can't! But one thing is for sure - that those of us who have died to sin have become slaves to righteousness. We are creatures of worship, and our natures are knit together in such a way that we are always obeying something. What will you choose to worship/obey? This is a question we must ask ourselves every day.
I once heard a story about an old man and his grandson. The old man said to the grandson, "Boy, there is a battle between two wolves inside of us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth." The boy thought about what his grandfather had said, and after a moment asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?" The old man quietly replied, "The one you feed."
In the same way, we must choose what master we will serve. We have a choice of who we will obey. Should we choose to obey sin, we will be led to death. Should we choose to obey righteousness, we will grow fruit that leads to sanctification, which in turn leads us to eternal life.
What would it look like for you to become a slave to righteousness?