Righteousness
Sometimes (far too often, frankly) you get the idea from people that being "saved" by Jesus means they are free to do whatever they want. "I sinned today, I'll sin tomorrow. God forgives me."
Oh. I get it. You are the same filthy, rotten, disgusting evil piece of human filth as everyone else. Only difference is, you've said the magic words, so God won't hold it against you.
Well, in the spirit of our new approach to deeper Bible Studies, I just want to look at some passages from Romans 6.
Astounding stuff, really. Incredibly exciting.
The Holy Bible, New International Version
Romans 6
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?1
2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you
know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we
too may live a new life.
5
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly alsobe united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was
crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we
should no longer be slaves to sin—7because anyone who has died has been freed
from sin.
8
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9Forwe know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death
no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all;
but the life he lives, he lives to God.
The idea is quite clear. So clear it shouldn't even need comment. Christ's Passion becomes OUR Life's story, the center of all existence. We "tap into" His experience through associating ourselves with Him (which we do through faith and baptism.)
And example? Just look at the professional sports teams that wins championships....The "fans" tear down the city. Why? Because it wasn't those 5 obscenely overpaid multi-millionaires who won, WE DID! It's almost as though the fans themselves won the trophy.
Just a personal note here, but could you IMAGINE what this world would be like if we could generate even 2% as much enthusiasm for the Kingdom of God as we do for a STUPID, F***ING BALL GAME??!?!??!?! Could you just imagine what this society would be like?
(Oh dearest YHWH...I know I am not perfect...But I do spend my time, talent & treasure attempting to help others catch a glimpse of the glory of life in the Kingdom. Please show me the best ways to do this? What, exactly, you would have me do?") And now back to our regularly scheduled program...
In a more religious setting, that's the idea here....Just believing that Jesus did anything, even if He did it for you, ultimately does you no good. We UNITE with Him, his life becomes ours, he lives in us....we die to our old self, and rise to our new self.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.11
Memorize this. Live by it. It will change your life.
I will be writing about this more very soon. For now, this is the key: We would do well to translate Paul's statement as "Stop thinking about yourself as a sinner. Start thinking about yourself as Christ in the Flesh!" And yes, the Greek language will support that. The translators are just shy about anything that will really change lives.
You should say to yourself regularly, "I can't do that sin....I'm the Resurrected Christ!"
Quite different from the endless sinner getting forgiven because she's said those magic words, huh?
12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its
evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of
wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought
from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of
righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law,
but under grace.15
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By
no means! 16Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey
him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves
to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But
thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly
obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18You have been set
free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Set free from sin!
You need never do it again!!
EVER!!!!!!!
I + WILL = BEING.
And that "new you", has the Divine Will, YHWH Himself in you, and HE WILLS PERFECT LOVE, Pease, Joy, and so on.
And if you fall, OK, fine, you are already forgiven....Just remember the 4 "r"s that unlock God's forgiveness for you:
- Remorse (the pain we feel when we recognize what we've done wrong)
- Repent (to change our thinking, and lead a new course)
- Resolve (not just a little bit, but as a full, strong, new direction)
- Reparation (to fix any harm we may have done.)
But folks....You are a new creature......ALIVE TO GOD....He lives IN YOU......Weekly and daily pounding your hearts on the proverbial rocks because you are disgusting, evil-filled sinners simply means that your religion IS NOT TEACHING YOU THAT THE TRUE RELIGION IS ABOUT PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION.
Dead to sin.
Alive to God.
This could get very exciting, people.
