We have been set free from sin to serve righteousness |
We died to sin to live for Christ
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Paul says:
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans |
Brothers
in the Lord, since the death that Jesus Christ died, “He died to sin once for
all” (Romans 6:10 – NKJV) and “the life that He lives, He lives to God” (Romans
6:10 – NKJV), we also ought to count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God,
which means that we must no longer serve sin having been made alive together
with Christ to live for Him, who died for us and rose again. Sin no longer has
dominion over us, who are under the grace of God, because we have been set
free from it. Now we are free, however we are not free to do whatever we want
because we became “slaves of righteousness” (Romans |
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Your reasonable service
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For many
years you used your feet to go to places full of demons, such as dance halls,
gambling houses, cinemas, theatres, so called ‘christian basilicas’ (which
are full of idols), and you took pleasure in walking with perverse people to
do evil things. But now you must use your feet to go to the true places of
worship to worship God in spirit and truth with other believers, to go to the
houses of believers to visit them, to the hospital to visit the sick and to
the prison to visit those who are in prison for the Gospel’s sake. Your
favourite destinations must be those destinations you hated while you were slaves
of sin. You now must not walk in the crooked ways in which you once walked
and must not take pleasure in going to the tents of the wicked nor in standing in the path of sinners. Your feet must not
be swift to do evil things but must be swift to proclaim the Gospel to this
lost world. Our feet now are slaves of righteousness and they must serve righteousness
until the end. |
You once
used your hands to steal and strike other people and make angry gestures, but
now you must use them to work, doing something useful with your own hands;
you must extend them to the poor and reach out them to the needy; you must
lift them up to praise God and must not beat people any longer. Beloved,
serve righteousness through your hands. |
You once
used your mouth to speak all kinds of malicious gossips, impure words and all
kinds of foolish, vain and perverse words; but now you must use your mouth to
sing to God, to give thanks to Him, to speak to one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, to testify to the Word of grace, to comfort the
fainthearted, to uphold the weak, to bless those who curse you, to pray for
one another and for those who are outside. Your mouth, which was full of
perversion, must be now full of the wisdom that comes from God. |
You once used
your eyes to watch evil things, but now you must use them to see right and
true things. You must not fix your eyes on vanity any longer, that is to say,
you must not fix your eyes on high and luxurious things, because now you are
called to set your mind on humble and modest things. You must not be haughty
any longer, because you have been set free from haughtiness to serve humility. |
You once
used your ears to listen to diabolic music, worldly songs and perverse
speeches; but now you must use them to listen to spiritual songs addressed to
God, wise speeches and all things which help to edify you spiritually. |
Brothers
in the Lord, do not deceive yourselves: your body does not belong to you,
because it is “the |
Brothers,
I want you to know that by denying ungodliness and worldly lusts and living a
holy life we worship God because we glorify and honour Him with our body. Do
you think perhaps that we ought to glorify God only with our lips and only when
we gather together in the place of worship? If you have thought such things
so far, stop believing them. The Scripture teaches us that we ought
continually to glorify God with all our body and not only with our mouth,
therefore with all the members of it because the body is not one member. This
means that we can’t see nor do nor say nor buy whatever we want. If we use
the liberty, to which we were called, as an opportunity for the flesh, we will
cease walking in the Spirit and we will fulfil the lusts of the flesh, and thus
we will cease presenting our members (which are Christ’s members) as slaves
of righteousness to holiness, which is the fruit we must bear to the glory of
God, as it is written: “But now having been set free from sin, and having
become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end,
everlasting life” (Romans 6:22 – NKJV). Therefore, brethren, keep in mind not
only that one day you will inherit eternal life but also that your fruit is
holiness and you can bear this fruit only if you do the will of God. What is
the will of God? “This is the will of God, your sanctification; that you
should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to
possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust,
like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of
and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of
all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to
uncleanness, but in holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 - NKJV). Brothers, serve
God with the members of your body because this is what God wants all of us to
do. |