What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? — Romans 6:1–2
I have always found it interesting to hear people say things like “We’re not under the law” anytime a call to live holy or the doctrine of sanctification is mentioned. I like to call this group the “hey bros,” for any mention to them of repentance or turning from sin is met with “Hey, bro, don’t judge me, man. We’re not under the law.”
What Paul is saying to us in Romans is both simple and majestic. He is saying, since God so graciously sent His own Son to die for our sins while we were yet sinners, then why wouldn’t we respond with disgust and hatred for the things that sent Jesus to the cross; namely, our own sins? Holiness is not legalism, and repentance from sin is not law. Those things are ours by God’s grace. Heaven’s radical response to humanity’s sin ought to create a radical response to sin in us. God has wiped away our sins with the blood of His Son, so how can we ignore His grace by continuing in the things He died for?
We are not under the law, to be sure, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t desire that we live differently from the way we lived before we knew Him. As 1 Peter 4:3 says, “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.”
Dear friend, you can’t earn your salvation though works, but living a sanctified and holy life is not works, but rather proof that the past lifetime is just that—past.
It has been often said that Christians are the only Bible some people will ever read. What are they reading in you? Hopefully, it is a life that reflects in every act and deed what God has done for us!
Excerpt from “Body Builders” now available on Amazon.
