“For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” Romans 6:9-12
If you haven’t read the Book of Romans recently, read it this summer. There are so many pearls of Wisdom from the Apostle Paul in this letter. Here, in the sixth chapter of Romans, Paul shares with us three ways for living by grace on this side of Paradise.
Paul tells us to KNOW that our old self was crucified with Christ, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. We are set free by the Blood of Jesus. He continues to tell us to CONSIDER ourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. We are saved by Grace. And lastly, PRESENT yourselves to God as those alive from the dead. As we follow the Great Commission, doing His work prepared for us, do your tasks as His children. That is who we are. My church has been in vacancy since September 2021 and one of our guest Pastors shared a greeting that we should always use. Pastor Tom Wirsing introduced himself; “Hi, I’m Tom and I’m a child of God!” Whenever he leads our worship service, we introduce ourselves in that manner.
One last thing about Grace. Back in the day at my home congregation in Lincoln, our DCO Phil Johnson share the acronym for Grace. God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. The Blood of Jesus has saved us and set us free. I’m sure that you have a few well-meaning Christians who teach about crucifying oneself. But there is good news for you: that has already been done. You are in Christ. You have His grace. He was crucified once for all. He died for you so you never need to die again. Stay in His Word; live in His Grace.
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay