“I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your member servants to righteousness unto holiness” (Romans 6:19).
Do you know that everybody will live forever? You’ll either live forever in the Lake of Fire, or you’ll live eternally in Heaven. Choices today, as you live in this natural world, matter for eternity. When speaking of the final judgment, Jesus told of judgment on those who didn’t choose to obey the laws of God.
“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).
This judgment and everlasting fire is also described in Revelation. “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).
This seems like a place where nobody would choose to spend eternity. You must understand that we choose where we spend eternity. Sin will keep you from living eternally with God in Heaven. What is sin? Sin is rebellion against God’s ways. When we are born into this world, we enter a world that is sinful. We grow and learn to make choices, but when we make choices that are opposed to God, we sin. Even the smallest sin to human thought is enough to send a person to the Lake of Fire for eternity. Does that bother you? It should. Since we have a sin nature and even our thoughts will condemn us, how can we possibly avoid the lake of fire?
Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
Is that possible? Yes, it is, but not by human effort.
God has rules, but He also loves us and doesn’t want anybody to perish. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
This verse is specifically talking about the Lord’s return, but the deep truth is God wants everybody to repent and come to Him. God has given us Scripture that clearly tells us what constitutes sin. It’s living life by our own rules instead of yielding to God’s ways.
Adam was the first to go against God’s rules. When he chose to eat the forbidden fruit, everything changed. God had warned him, but when Eve listened to the voice of deceit and ate the fruit, Adam also ate. Just as God said, death came through that disobedience. When God forbids something, there’s a good reason. When Adam ate the fruit, all of mankind is affected by his sin. God’s love for His creation is perfect, and He provided a way for us to get back into fellowship with Him. Adam found out that God doesn’t lie.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Is there any hope? If we can’t help but sin, how can we find salvation?
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
We see people who we describe as “self-righteous,” but that isn’t righteousness through the Grace of God. That’s prideful and places faith in our own actions. Only faith in Jesus Christ can impart righteousness to us. There is no sin you have committed that is bigger than His grace. As long as we live in this flesh, we will sin. If you have truly repented and asked Jesus to forgive you, you are forgiven.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Does that mean that all we have to do is say a quick “sinner’s prayer” and Jesus will forgive us? Then we can go ahead and keep on sinning, ask for forgiveness, then sin some more, etc.? “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2).
Sin will always sneak in, but if you have repented of sin, you will have changed your mind about the sin in your life. You won’t give in to the temptation to lie, cheat, and steal…or worse. You will be born again to a new life in Christ.
Understanding what Jesus did for us should make us very humble and grateful. He knew what Adam’s sin did to all of creation, and because He loves us, He chose to become one of us. Jesus Christ was fully human through his mother, Mary. She was a virgin, but the Holy Spirit came upon her, and she became pregnant. God was the father, so Adam’s sin did not taint Jesus’ blood. Jesus was fully God. Because He was fully human, he was a kinsman to humans, but because He was God, his blood was pure, so it can take our sin away. Animal sacrifices could cover sin but not take it away.
“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).
Jesus made a choice of love to become the once for all sacrifice to take our sin away. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).
That gift of love and grace is free to everybody, but it has to be accepted. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18).
You have to believe.
Faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ should change your life. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4).
Our righteousness comes only through Jesus Christ.
Understanding sin and the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross should humble you before the God of all creation. Whatever sin has held you captive should be seen in a new light. Big sins and little sins are all sins that were nailed to the cross.
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:6).
If you view your sin as just being human or something you’re entitled to do because of lust of the flesh, then your heart hasn’t been changed. We are all born with a sin nature and seem to be able to justify our own sin. There is a full month given over to the celebration of homosexuality. Some who participate say they are Christians. They have hardened their hearts and don’t understand that being born again means to repent of sin and to live a new life in Christ.
“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God” (Romans 6:8-10).
When you live unto God, you live by His rules. “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:11-14).
Grace. It is amazing. The Law of Moses has been fulfilled, but there is still God’s superior Law. We need to be obedient to God.
We don’t do God any favors by holding to sin. Even though our sin is forgiven, it is still an abomination to God. Jesus suffered a brutal and horrifying death in order to give grace to this fallen world. We cannot do anything to merit forgiveness of sin or the eternal life that only comes through faith, but we can show our gratitude for what He did for us. We can turn from sin.
“What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:15-16).
I once was lost, but now I’m found; was blind, but now I see. Sin isn’t acceptable to God. Humans will always fail, but God is always faithful to forgive. Be His servant, and don’t listen to the voice of temptation and deceit.
“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18).
It’s time to live for Him who died for you.
If you have truly given your life to Christ, then you are an ambassador for His Kingdom. That means, even though we live in a hostile land on earth, our citizenship is in Heaven, and we need to represent our true Home.
“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
This message needs to be spread to all unbelievers. Prophecy is being fulfilled quickly, and the Rapture could happen at any time. When all-out war is about to happen, a nation will call the ambassadors home to protect them from danger. God is about to call Christians, His ambassadors, Home. We need to spread the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ today.
We are only righteous through the Grace of Christ. Let’s live to please Him.
God bless you all,
Nathele Graham
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All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.
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“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).