Saturday July 19, 2014

Read: Romans 6:13-14, Romans 6:19-23

Paul’s exhortation to not allow sin to reign over us but to fight it with every effort  is only half the picture. The Christian faith and life is about far more than merely avoiding sin. In fact avoiding sin is the lesser half of the picture. The bigger, more important, eternal part of the picture is living life for God. Notice the way that Paul describes this as the alternative to being a slave to sin in verse 13:

“Do 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.”

Dealing with sin in our lives is vitally important, but even more important is giving ourselves to God and striving to live lives for Him. Because He has brought us from death to live, from slavery to sin and death to freedom in Christ, we are to give ourselves entirely to Him.

This is also Paul’s point in the second half of chapter 6 where he uses the metaphor of slavery. Before we put our faith in Christ we used to offer ourselves as slaves to sin, a slavery which would lead to ever increasing acts of wickedness and impurity. This is the kind of downward spiral that Paul described in the second half of chapter 1. We see the evidence of this kind of slavery all around us. One merely needs to turn on the television to see the way that people are enslaved to sin and spiral downwards in brokenness and impurity. A downward spiral that only ends in death (vs 21).

Instead, we are to offer ourselves as slaves to God. The death of Christ frees us from slavery to sin but does not set us free to do whatever we please, we would only end up back in sin. Instead Christ’s sacrifice transfers us from being slaves to sin and death to being slaves to God. It is transferring us from a terrible and abusive master to the only good and kind master there is.

Notice the way that Paul talks about the results of this kind of slavery. Where slavery to sin leads to ever-increasing wickedness slavery to righteousness leads to holiness (vs 19). Where slavery to sin leads to shame and death (vs 21) slavery to God leads to holiness which leads to eternal life in Christ Jesus (vs 22-23). There’s simply no comparison, slavery to God is infinitely superior to slavery to sin.

Also notice that slavery to God is the means by which we grow in holiness. In verse 13 Paul tells us that instead of offering ourselves as slaves to sin we are to offer ourselves to God. We don’t just try to avoid sin. We actively give ourselves to God instead.

Don’t just try to avoid sin, focussing on all the things that you shouldn’t be doing. Instead, focus on God, offer yourself entirely to Him and strive to grow in righteousness and holiness. By the power of the Holy Spirit working in you and the freedom that Christ has purchased for us by His death we are sure to grow in holiness and righteousness and to inherit eternal life.

Prayer:

Use the Bible passage from today and the reading notes to write down your prayer points before you pray.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

¥ Pray for the gathering of your church tomorrow. Pray that God would be working to prepare your heart and the hearts of all in the congregation to be changed by His word. Pray that God’s Word would be faithfully and boldly preached and that many would be deeply and forever changed. Pray that all in the church would lovingly serve one another as they gather.

 Worship Moment:

Romans 12 tells us that offering ourselves as living sacrifice is pleasing and acceptable worship to God. When we offer ourselves to God entirely every moment of our lives becomes acceptable and pleasing worship to Him.

 Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. How could you refocus yourself on God every day so that you might be able to grow in Him?

2. How could you encourage one another as a group to do this?

3. Do you think there is a difference between avoiding sin and pursuing righteousness? Why or why not?

 Discipleship Moment For Girls

Intro: A servant is someone who works for someone else and obeys them no matter what. They do things to help them.
Share: What sort of things do you think a servant might do? 
Read: Romans 6:18. Paul says that we used to be servants of sin. What things would we do if we were servants of sin? Paul tells us that we have now been set free from being slaves to sin and are slaves to God. Isn’t that great! What things would we do now that we are slaves to God? Should we obey God if we are His slaves?
Pray Together: Thank God that He has set us free from being slaves to sin. Pray that He would help us to obey Him.

 Discipleship Moment For Boys

Intro: A servant is someone who works for someone else and obeys them no matter what. They do things to help them.
Share: What sort of things do you think a servant might do? 
Read: Romans 6:18. Paul says that we used to be servants of sin. What things would we do if we were servants of sin? Paul tells us that we have now been set free from being slaves to sin and are slaves to God. Isn’t that great! What things would we do now that we are slaves to God? Should we obey God if we are His slaves?
Pray Together: Thank God that He has set us free from being slaves to sin. Pray that He would help us to obey Him.