The Devotional - R022

The Devotional

Comment:

After my career in the Navy I unwittingly sought to do everything civilian in a military way, even the way I talked with people, expecting them to respond in the disciplines that I understood. The easiest way for me to get angry was to tell an employee what I wanted done (I had started a landscaping business) only to see the person’s action or effort fall short of what I normally expected. To some degree this is still (after twenty-eight years) a problem with me, I have learned to be more patient, but the same ole uneasiness of anger is a nag when I expect a reasonable response and get something less. On the outside I may come across as a silly jester, but on the inside the boiler is working overtime. We are entering into a portion of scripture where the application (obedience) of God’s Word is to sanctify you and me from our past unrighteous way of living life in the flesh, to our present position in Christ as redeemed and baptized in God’s Righteousness and BE responsible children (saints) of the Living God, as His children we should praise Him daily for His watch care and patience with us.

Challenge: Romans 6:1-14

God has a character, of course you know that but it may be that you do not know that the CHARACTER of GOD stands TALL and ABOVE the character of man. God’s call for us IS to be Holy; that is Righteous. To bring His children to a level of RIGHTEOUSNESS equal to His. In your personal pursuit of living life, you should know in your heart that you fall SHORT of God’s righteous standard of living. He has rescued us from the “domain of darkness” and placed you and me in the “kingdom of light”. The same kingdom where Christ is seated in heaven – Romans 6:4-5; Colossians 2:11-14 and my favorite; Galatians 2:20.

This action on God’s part is super-natural, a completed work of God the Holy Spirit. We have been immersed (baptized) into God’s heavenly kingdom. So the apostle Paul says under the guidance of the HOLY SPIRIT (that is; through God’s Righteousness, or Spiritual Baptism) “Shall we continue in SIN that grace may abound. CERTAINLY NOT! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” “Or do you not know that as that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?”

When God looks at His Children, He sees us as “united” joined together in the same likeness of His Resurrected Son; His Son Jesus Christ the Living Resurrected Messiah. Thus Romans 6:4 is written by God for us to literally understand: “Therefore we were buried with Him (Jesus) through baptism (immersed) into His Death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead, by the glory (Righteous Power) of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”. The mere thought of this should bring tears of overwhelming joy to our soul, so shall we continue in sin?

KNOWING this, that our old way of life was crucified (put to death and buried) that the body of sin/filled flesh might be done away with (literally, rendered in-operative) in order that we “should” no longer be a slave to that old way of life. The old flesh of our way of life is dead and useless for we who have been set free from the bondage of sin and now stand by faith in the resurrected power of God; we are standing, not based on any merit of our self but by the living and abiding Power of God. Note the following.

Romans 6:11-14 – Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Now we should be able to answer the question the apostle poses Romans 6:1 – What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? CERTAINLY NOT!