Romans 6:12-18 in The Message and TNIV
So, how do we “throw ourselves wholeheartedly and full-time into God’s way of doing things”? Does this mean we have to set our preset stations to KSBJ...all of them? Do we change the way we dress? Do we change where we eat, where we shop, etc.? Do we no longer go to movies? How do we keep from “running little errands that connected with that old way of life”?
If we are living in the freedom of God, can’t we just do whatever we want with an eye toward God and everything will be fine? Paul says no, but why not? Paul says that when we offer ourselves to the ways of God that freedom never quits, but is that true? It doesn’t seem to be that way. Or does it?
I liked the way Paul said "When you choose to sin, it is the last free choice you make". The way I read that is that the sin then has control over your actions. Let's say you lie. Then you have to cover up that lie. So instead of having the freedom to say one thing, you are forced to say something that will cover the lie. Your freedom in that situation is gone. But thinking in the bigger picture, life in God IS the ultimate freedom! it never ends! That's because of the death we died with Christ. Dead men shouldn't fear anything, because dead men can't die. With that knowledge, we have the freedom to say anything, go anywhere, do anything that honors God. That is amazing freedom!!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat comment Andrea. I think about the freedom that people who have bottomed-out have today. When the "worst thing that could happen" has already happened, there is a freedom to live better today. Is there a way to live in that freedom without having to experience that "worst thing that could happen"? Maybe this is the story we live in through Christ's death. He suffered that WTTCH, so that we can really live. We have now died to ourselves, and you are right, once we have died, we cannot die again.
ReplyDelete