I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens. [1]
Sin’s power is broken
Romans 6:12-23 NRSV
Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies; to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.
When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So, what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Chrysostom
Being dead to sin means not obeying it anymore. Baptism has made us dead to sin once and for all, but we must strive to maintain this state of affairs, so that however many commands sin may give us, we no longer obey it but remain unmoved by it.[2]
Augustine
To be baptized into the death of Christ is nothing else but to die to sin, just as he died in the flesh.[3]
Oecumenius
See the goodness of God. We have died Christ’s death metaphorically, but we shall hare his resurrection truly.[4]
Basil the Great
He is set free, he is delivered, he is cleansed of all sin and not sin in word and deed only but also of all irrational movements of the mind.[5]
Warren Wiersbe
The Christian who deliberately yields himself to sin will commit sin and reap sorrow. Why should sin be our master when we have died to sin? Why must we be obedient to a master that has already been defeated by Christ? Christians who deliberately sin are people who have yielded themselves to the old nature instead of to the Holy Spirit. They are living beneath their exalted position in Christ. They are living like slaves when they could be reigning like kings.
It is important that we keep these three steps in order. We cannot yield to God and get victory over the flesh unless we first reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin and alive in Christ. But we cannot reckon ourselves dead unless we know our position in Christ. Satan does not want us to live up to our high position in Jesus Christ, so he tries to confuse us about our victory in the Son of God. It is not enough to know that Christ died for us; we must also know that we died in Christ. It is not enough to know that we have new natures within; we must also know that the old nature was dealt with on the cross. Know—reckon—yield: these three steps lead to daily victory over the flesh. These three steps lead to the throne where Christ is exalted on high, and where (with Him) we “reign in life,” servants of righteousness and not slaves of sin. We enjoy life and true freedom in Him.[6]
O God, your never-failing providence sets in order all things both in heaven and on earth: Put away from us all hurtful things and give us those things that are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.[7]
And Can It Be?
Confirm, O Lord, we pray you, the hearts of your children, and strengthen them with the power of your grace, that they may both be devout in prayer to you and sincere in love for each other; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.[8]
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Ps 89:1–2.
[2] Homilies on Romans, Ancient Christian Devotional Year A, p. 151-152.
[3] Against Julian 1.7.33, Ancient Christian Devotional Year A, p. 152.
[4] Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church, Ancient Christian Devotional Year A, p. 152.
[5] Concerning Baptism 1.2, Ancient Christian Devotional Year A, p. 152.
[6] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992), 383.
[7] Collect Proper 8, Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019, p. 617.
[8] The Leonine Sacramentary, Ancient Christian Devotional Year A, p. 155.
