Monday, April 2, 2007

Learning

I was reading Romans chapter 6 today. Paul said we are to consider ourselves dead to sin but alive to God.

In essence, Paul was saying that believers natures are now righteous because Christ is righteous and we are united with Him. "For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him" (1 Timothy 2:11). When we put our trust in Jesus Christ, that He died for our sins and was raised on the third day for our justification, we died with Him. Our sin nature died with Christ. How can we consider ourselves dead to sin, if inside, we're still sinners? We couldn't, but Thank God through Christ, we are no longer sinners. God's Word says believers are Saints. Our inner man is who we are.
(2 Corinthians 4:16) Though the flesh is still with us, we must choose to walk in the spirit. Because we are now of the spirit, not of the flesh. We must consider ourselves righteous (dead to sin) but alive to God. By this, we live by faith in Jesus Christ. We have faith that His death and resurrection has saved us from hell and the dominion of sin.
"If the Son sets you free you are free indeed." (John 8:36)

The hard part is remembering this everyday and believing this when you are tempted.
Remembering that we don't have pleasure sinning anymore when our flesh is crying out for it is very difficult sometimes. We have to keep in mind how we will feel after we sin and know that it is just the painful feeling of the flesh dying. Temptation, the cries of the flesh are only for a time. If we resist them, firm in our faith that Christ has set us free from sin, we will reap eternal life from that. Jesus said "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the One true God"
(John 17:3).


I've read Romans quite a few times and I always go back and understand things
deeper than before.

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