“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Romans 6:1-2
August 4, 2022
A young lady who has made her profession of faith in Jesus Christ is having a difficult time forming meaningful relationships. She becomes jealous of anyone who becomes a part of her close circle of friends. This has left her isolated and depressed. What kind of biblical counsel does she need? Christians can sin, but do we have to? Does God’s grace and forgiveness give a believer a ticket to sin? We hear a lot about God’s unconditional love. But this is not a license to disobey God. Exactly how is the Christian to deal with sin in his or her life? We are at the right place to deal with this question in Romans 6. We should not go on sinning because we are in union with Christ. Mark this down. At conversion the Christian is liberated from the tyrannical rule of sin. We don’t have to disobey God. We have a new identity in Christ. We died to sin, but it did not die to us. It can be alluring and promises to make us happy and solve problems. It disguises itself. Our young lady friend who gets tied in knots by jealousy has a fight on her hands. It is winnable. But it seems to work for her, providing self-protection, and a way to control those who are around her. It has worked in a devious way. Why not use it as a sly way to hold off our rivals and get the recognition we think we deserve. The knock out blow to sin is to realize that jealousy or any sin cannot order us around. We are alive to God. We are to live that way. H