READING: Psalms 32-34, Romans 6
How I wish I’d read and understood Romans 6 much better when I was a young believer. I had no close role models, and I didn’t know how to fight temptation. Nor did I know at the time that you could actually talk with other believers about your struggle—so I battled, and lost, alone. I was a genuine believer, but I didn’t yet know what the power of the gospel does for us.
Paul, though, understood that victory. Listen to how he explained the Christian life in today’s New Testament reading:
- We have “died to sin” (Rom 6:2). It isn’t that we never sin, but that our conversion frees us from the controlling power of sin.
- We “walk in a new way of life” (Rom 6:4). Baptism is that dramatic, symbolic reminder of what God has done in our lives; he has given us new life that allows us to live in His power.
- Our “old self was crucified with Him . . . so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom 6:6). All that we used to be is put to death, thus making it powerless over us.
With all of that in mind, we must stand on the truth that we’re dead to sin, choose to “not let sin reign in [our] mortal body” (Rom 6:12), and offer ourselves fully to God. Why would we want to continue in sin when Christ offers us freedom?
PRAYER: “God, remind me in every temptation that I’m free in Christ.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Psalms 35-37, Romans 7
