Daily Bible Reading (Wednesday, June 21st)

5

Romans 6(ESV)

 

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

 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? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self[a] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free[b]from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves,[c] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Footnotes:

  1. Romans 6:6 Greek man
  2. Romans 6:7 Greek has been justified
  3. Romans 6:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; twice in this verse; also verses 1719 (twice), 20

5 Comments

Elder John...you said that the day was full of good righteous choices or sin. Then you asked which one shall be in our hands at the end of this day. I believe what we will be left with in our hands is already what we are holding in our heart.

So much rich theology to meditate on! The commentary on verse 13 in my MacArthur Study Bible really stood out to me. It speaks of the word "present" and how it "refers to a decision of the will." Then it states, "Before sin can have power over a believer, it must first pass through his will." How weak I still am in my flesh! Praying for continual sanctification and a stronger will to resist sinful temptations.

Even more so why we need the fellowship amongst each other, His church, iron sharpening iron, bearing one another's burdens in order to fulfill Christ's law, Galatians 6:2. Preach it brother Paul...eager to keep attending scriptural teaching. Grateful for His ministers, men of the Word...

Verse 22 says we have been set free from sin and are now slaves of God. I believe that along with being set free from sin's hold on us, God draws us to Himself and we now desire to obey Him. Talk about a drastic change!

This is my third attempt to share my thought for this morning passage. How often do I wake up and say, "What a wonderful morning. Today I think I will dedicate my day to sin." Then I commence to bumble about the day not giving any thought to the results of my actions. (This bumbling about behavior may be closer to reality than we want to confess.) Assuming the best to our commitment to Christ, of course we don't say that. But I must realize that I must make my daily and moment by moment choices to serve righteousness. Today I woke up. Today I say what a wonderful day to serve the one who loves me. I am alive in him to serve righteousness. Today is full of good righteous choices or sin. Which one shall be in our hands at the end of this day?

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