Reflections on Romans 6:15-23 - Captured by God's Love
In reading Romans 6:15-23, the words of Joshua in the Old Testament Bible comes to mind: “Choose this day whom you will serve . . . . as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). He was determined to serve the Lord with sincerity and faithfulness, because of God’s steadfast love shown by the deliverance of his people from bondage in Egypt. God performed many miracles for his people. As the Apostle Paul wrote in the New Testament, “I urge you in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). When we see the extent of God’s goodness to us, it is beyond comprehension that we would not surrender our lives to his service. Romans 6:15-23 points out that because we have been saved by the power of God in Jesus Christ, we should now be in a continual state of readiness to obey his wishes. We have been delivered from the destructive hold of sin in our lives, for we can now choose to do right rather than wrong.
An active faith is in us today, because God in the past delivered and freed us from the power of hate and evil. God has given us the ability to serve him. We can now present ourselves to God without shame, for he has forgiven and delivered us from the penalty of all the things we did wrong in the past, present and future. This memory of what God has done for us empowers us to dedicate our lives to him, and surrender to his will for our lives. This reminder of our faith in God fills us with gratitude and gives our lives direction, and hope for the future. We now desire the good of others and to glorify God for his immense gift of grace. This allows us to approach God without shame and guilt, for God himself has dealt with our sin in Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for our sinfulness. As his children of grace, we are separated unto God and from the rest of the world. Our worldview and purpose for living is different. We no longer fit into a godless world perspective. We are people with faith in who God is and what he wants us to do. We are no longer at liberty to go our own way of selfishness, for we have seen the greatness of God’s plan and our vision of what God wants for people. We now have an attitude of grace and love toward others and wondrous praise for God. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us . . . with every spiritual blessing . . . In him we have . . . the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ . . .” (Ephesians 1:4-10). This is why Paul states, “Don’t you know?” (Romans 6:3, 16). His point being that if you understand the gospel message, you are not at liberty to live as you please. Our allegiance and loyalty is to God for his great gift of eternal life with him, for we can no longer serve two masters. We must choose to serve God or to serve our worldly thinking, for we cannot be double-minded. We cannot serve two masters; the Devil or God (Matthew 6:24). If we comprehend what God has done for us, there is no way that we can now ignore his purpose for our lives. We are no longer free to act in evil ungrateful ways, for the shame of not honoring and worshiping God will be too great for us to bear. We cannot ignore God's desire for us and walk in his presence.
The Holy Spirit of God dwells in us and we are compelled to do what is right in his eyes. The goodness and love of God overwhelms our hearts. This is what Paul was talking about, when he said that “you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18). Only a wicked and callous heart could treat God with such ungraciousness as to continually follow a life of sin and self-indulgence. God’s example of love has set us on a different pathway in life. We have committed ourselves to a life of purity and love. Not a goodness from ourselves, but one that comes from God. His presence gives us understanding of how we are to live, and the power to enable us to live a life marked by goodness and love for others. We have the gift of eternal life which gives us hearts of sincerity and faithfulness to God, and gratitude for his unending provision of acceptance and loving kindness to us. His goodness to us makes us dedicate ourselves to serve our loving heavenly Father with an eternal gratitude and praise, for “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit . . . that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1Corinthians 1:9-16). This understanding through faith gives us the victory to live a life of self-sacrifice and love, for we have seen God for who he really is and we now live to please and honor his name. We now see a more excellent way to lead our lives. The way of faith, hope and love controls our lives; and “the greatest of these is love” (1Corinthians 13:13). When we see the love of God, we are wholeheartedly consumed with what is right in his eyes.
An active faith is in us today, because God in the past delivered and freed us from the power of hate and evil. God has given us the ability to serve him. We can now present ourselves to God without shame, for he has forgiven and delivered us from the penalty of all the things we did wrong in the past, present and future. This memory of what God has done for us empowers us to dedicate our lives to him, and surrender to his will for our lives. This reminder of our faith in God fills us with gratitude and gives our lives direction, and hope for the future. We now desire the good of others and to glorify God for his immense gift of grace. This allows us to approach God without shame and guilt, for God himself has dealt with our sin in Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for our sinfulness. As his children of grace, we are separated unto God and from the rest of the world. Our worldview and purpose for living is different. We no longer fit into a godless world perspective. We are people with faith in who God is and what he wants us to do. We are no longer at liberty to go our own way of selfishness, for we have seen the greatness of God’s plan and our vision of what God wants for people. We now have an attitude of grace and love toward others and wondrous praise for God. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us . . . with every spiritual blessing . . . In him we have . . . the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ . . .” (Ephesians 1:4-10). This is why Paul states, “Don’t you know?” (Romans 6:3, 16). His point being that if you understand the gospel message, you are not at liberty to live as you please. Our allegiance and loyalty is to God for his great gift of eternal life with him, for we can no longer serve two masters. We must choose to serve God or to serve our worldly thinking, for we cannot be double-minded. We cannot serve two masters; the Devil or God (Matthew 6:24). If we comprehend what God has done for us, there is no way that we can now ignore his purpose for our lives. We are no longer free to act in evil ungrateful ways, for the shame of not honoring and worshiping God will be too great for us to bear. We cannot ignore God's desire for us and walk in his presence.
The Holy Spirit of God dwells in us and we are compelled to do what is right in his eyes. The goodness and love of God overwhelms our hearts. This is what Paul was talking about, when he said that “you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18). Only a wicked and callous heart could treat God with such ungraciousness as to continually follow a life of sin and self-indulgence. God’s example of love has set us on a different pathway in life. We have committed ourselves to a life of purity and love. Not a goodness from ourselves, but one that comes from God. His presence gives us understanding of how we are to live, and the power to enable us to live a life marked by goodness and love for others. We have the gift of eternal life which gives us hearts of sincerity and faithfulness to God, and gratitude for his unending provision of acceptance and loving kindness to us. His goodness to us makes us dedicate ourselves to serve our loving heavenly Father with an eternal gratitude and praise, for “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit . . . that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1Corinthians 1:9-16). This understanding through faith gives us the victory to live a life of self-sacrifice and love, for we have seen God for who he really is and we now live to please and honor his name. We now see a more excellent way to lead our lives. The way of faith, hope and love controls our lives; and “the greatest of these is love” (1Corinthians 13:13). When we see the love of God, we are wholeheartedly consumed with what is right in his eyes.
posted by Mike McLeod | 1:20 AM
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