What governs you? Have you pondered it? Is your life ruled by bad decisions? Do you allow the promptings to satisfy your immediate want be your guide? Have you become dead to some behavior and alive to others?
There are many different self-help programs available to us. Programs to train our way of thinking. Programs to help us be more efficient. Programs that show us how to look at things differently. We may even decide to see a psychologist.
The Apostle Paul tells the church in Rome that they are no longer ruled by sin. They are to count themselves dead to sin. Does he mean they will never sin? No. He is stating they are to put it behind them. Their sin is covered by grace.
What does Paul mean by sin is not our master? He is stating we do not need to worry about it. That doesn’t mean we don’t ask God to remove it from our lives. It means we ask God to change our hearts and minds, keep us from sinning through an attitude and desire change. But if we sin, we ask for forgiveness, and God’s grace covers it.
When we understand this concept, our anxiety lowers. We have one less thing to worry about. You know, it is something entirely different to desire to change behavior than to continually worry about whether our behavior will end in destruction. We no longer need to worry about whether we are good enough to earn God’s forgiveness. The simple answer is, we are not. The right answer is, He covers us with His grace, so we no longer need to be anxious or fear punishment.
I pray we all count ourselves dead to sin. I pray we know sin is no longer our master. I pray each one of us understand we fall under the grace of God that covers our sins through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. You are dead to sin. You are alive in Christ. Sin is not your master. Grace covers your sin. Ask God to remove your fear and anxiety. Be free under God’s Grace.
Romans 6:11, In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus…For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Marty Pressey 