Romans Part 3 - LIFEनमूना

You’re gonna serve somebody!

Slaves are owned by someone. It doesn't mean that a slave doesn’t have a modicum of freedom. It means that the slave's overall life and destiny is determined by the owner. Today's passage declares the reality of the Christian: we are no longer slaves to sin; we are slaves to righteousness. Ownership has changed for us. The evil taskmaster of sin is defeated. No longer are we bound to sin; we are bound, instead, to Jesus. Yay! The righteousness of Jesus, given to us, is now our owner and master.

So, because of this, everything I do now is righteous? Well, no. All your life and your destiny is governed by Christ’s righteousness. By the power of God, you should be growing in righteousness. This is known as sanctification. Believers WILL reap the reward of righteousness in an eternal life with Jesus, through faith in Him. This is because God’s righteousness is given to us in the “Great Exchange!” Jesus took our sins upon Himself and gave us His righteousness in the atonement. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

As we will discover later in Romans, our life is often a confusing, losing battle with sin. (Romans 7:21-24)

We know this all too well, experientially. Yet, Jesus rescues us from sin both ultimately, and in this life; he controls the outcome. (Romans 7:25-8:1)

How do we respond to the realization that we are “slaves to righteousness,” yet we do not live completely righteous lives?

What if we focused, everyday, on the truth that we, by faith, are in Christ? If so, we have His righteousness and we have His power to live a life of righteousness! What would that look like?

• We clothe ourselves in Christ and do not make provisions for our flesh (our old sinful person). (Romans 13:14)
• After we receive Him, we walk in His power and life. (Colossians 2:6)
• We walk in the light, letting the truth of the Word guide and correct us. (Ephesians 5:8)

Therefore, we can choose to live His way, a slave to Him and to His righteousness, not to live the old sinful way, slave to sin. Is there an area of your life you need to surrender to Him?

-Doug Drainville