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The Rabbi had just written that as people sinned more, God’s grace became more abundant.
Paul anticipated a response to this: Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his grace?
The answer? Of course not!
The reason? Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?
We have died to sin? How? In what way?
The Rabbi explained: Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Messiah Yeshua in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Messiah by baptism. And just as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
Those who are born again are united to the Messiah, and the great things that happened to Him, like His death and resurrection, happen to us.
Yeshua died. We die – that is, our old sinful nature with its corrupt desires, dies.
Yeshua was raised from the dead and lives a new and different kind of life than the life He lived on Earth – and we die and we receive new life. The death of our old nature and our new life are realities. They really happened when we were saved.
More about our death and new life: Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.
We will be raised to life as Yeshua was – in the future when we will be resurrected. But, being raised to life as He was raised to life is not limited to the resurrection. Being raised to live a new life is meant to be experienced in the present. We are to live a new kind of life now, a life that is like the life that Yeshua is living now – a righteous life, a life lived for the glory of God.
We can live that new life now because our relationship to sin has changed. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Messiah so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Messiah we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Messiah, we know we will also live with him.
Sin is a real thing. It’s like a wild animal wanting to kill us. The Lord said to Cain: Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.
Before we become followers of the Messiah, we are slaves to sin. Sin is our master. It controls us, dominates us, enslaves us. That is the human condition – we are slaves to sin.
However, when we become followers of Messiah, our relationship to sin changes – radically. Our old sinful selves die. Sin is dethroned. It’s no longer our master. We are set free from its power. That frees us to live a new life, the same kind of life that Messiah is now living – a life dedicated to serving God, a life of holiness, a life of righteousness.
How can we be sure that we can die to our old, sinful selves and live a new and holy life? Because when we are united to the Lord Yeshua, the great things that happened to Him, like His death and resurrection, happen to us.
We are sure of this because Messiah was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Messiah Yeshua.
Messiah died to atone for sin, to overcome sin, to break the power of sin. And He was successful. How do we know He was successful? Because death is the consequence of sin, and death no longer has any power over Him. He will never die again.
Yeshua is alive now, and forever, living to bring glory to His Father.
And we can live the same way – alive to God, overcoming sin, living for the glory of God.
How can we live that way? By understanding that like Yeshua, we are dead to the power of sin. It no longer enslaves us. It no longer controls us so that we do what it wants. Now we are able to believe the right things and consistently do the right things.
We died to sin. Sin is no longer our master. We have a new master – the Lord Yeshua. And we have a new nature. And we have the Spirit of Yeshua living in us. Greater is the power of the one living in us than the power of sin. Greater is the power of the one living in us than the power of Satan and the fallen angels.
When we are saved, our old nature died and our relationship to sin died. We are dead to the power of sin and alive to God – aware of Him, thinking about Him, wanting to please Him with righteous living, wanting to serve Him, praise Him, proclaim His Gospel, build His Community.
Sin doesn’t control us like it did before, like it controls the non-born-agains. They don’t believe the right things and don’t consistently do the right things. We now have the ability to control the way we live and not yield to sinful desires. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin.
Unlike before we were saved, we now have the choice to not let sin control the way we live. We have the choice to not give in to sinful desires.
We have the choice to not let any part of our body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. We can choose to use our eyes to look at what is good and avoid looking at what is bad. We can choose to use our ears to listen to what is right and not listen to what is wrong. We can choose to use our hands to do what is good and our feet to walk on the right path. We can choose to use our bodies to honor God, not dishonor Him.
Unlike before we were born again, and our old nature died and we received a new nature, we have the ability to choose to give ourselves to serve God and do what is right. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
Why do we have the ability to choose to give ourselves to serve God and do what is right? Because our religion is now God-centered, not law-centered; and our religion is full of grace. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
There are religious people whose focus is not on God, and having a relationship with God, and nurturing a relationship with God, but on Torah-observance, mitzvot, doing the law, keeping the law. Their religion is focused on meeting a set of requirements, following a list of dos and don’ts.
Sin will always master those whose focus is on external actions and not focused on being in a right relationship with the living God and cultivating a close relationship Him.
Why? It’s the wrong approach to right living and pleasing God. It ignores the essence of religion – having a personal relationship with God, getting into a right relationship with God that comes from faith.
Right living comes from the grace which results in being saved, being born again, being in a right relationship with the righteous God. And when we are made right with God, we receive even more grace! We receive a new love for God, and a desire to please Him, and do the right things.
From our new relationship with God and our new nature comes a dislike for sin and sinful living. We naturally resist temptation and turn away from sin and sinful living.
The Rabbi from Tarsus anticipated another response about grace and law and sin: Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! And here’s why:
Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.
Here’s the principle: human beings will serve someone greater than they are.
Bob Dylan understood this. Here’s some of the lyrics from his song, Gotta Serve Somebody.
You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody
You might be a rock ’n’ roll addict prancing on the stage
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage
You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody
Each one of us will serve the devil – which results in believing the wrong things and doing the wrong things – which results death. Or we will choose to serve the Lord and righteous living – which results in eternal life.
Whom do you serve? Who is your master? God or the devil? Sin or righteous living?
What we believe and the way we invest our time, talent and treasure will reveal who our true master is.
Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.
How do we do that? How do we give ourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that we will become holy?
It’s simple. We walk in the Spirit. If we walk in the Spirit we will not carry out the sinful desires of the old nature. If we walk in the Spirit, we will be slaves to righteous living.
What is walking in the Spirit? It’s being spiritually alive. It’s being aware of God. It’s focusing your mind on Him. It’s praying throughout the day, talking to the Lord, thanking Him, praising Him, serving Him. The result of walking in the Spirit is avoidance of sin and holy living.
Are you walking in the Spirit?
When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Messiah Yeshua our Lord.
There are two kinds of people. The first are those who are slaves to sin. They naturally do things that are sinful. They believe the wrong things and do the wrong things. They are unable to live righteous lives. Their end is eternal doom.
Then second kind of people are those who were slaves of sin, but because the grace of God and their faith in Messiah, they have been freed from the power of sin. They are slaves of God and righteous living. They believe the right things. They consistently do the right things. They will live forever.
What does it mean to be a slave of God? It means that you understand that God bought you with the death of His Son. You are no longer your own. God owns you. You belong to Him. He has the right to use you the way He wants.
You understand that you live to serve God, not yourself; you choose to put His interests above your interests, His will above your will. You choose to live the way He wants you to live.
Are you a slave to God and righteous living? Or a slave to Satan and sinful living?
Let’s pray:
Lord God, help us to die to our old self and its sinful desires and be alive to You, aware of You, thinking of You, talking to You, serving You.
Help us focus on You and nurturing our relationship with You.
Help us walk in the Spirit – each and every day.
Help us be slaves to You and righteous living, holy men and holy women.