Tag: Avoid Sin

Thanks to Jesus the Law is Righteous

I should finish with “in us”. God’s Law is righteous as it comes from Him. It is our now new understanding of what His Law provides that we now sin. It is Jesus, who was sent to die for our sin that brings God’s Law back to righteousness in us.

“3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” – Romans 8:3-4 (ESV)

I need help each day with my sin. I am predisposed to sinning and “NEED” help with it. I know God’s Law as I read and study each day to ensure of it. But, as noted, knowing the law only drives me to sin. I ask God each day to help me with my sin. I as for His guiding hand through my day to keep me busy with His work so that I can avoid the sin that is surely to come.

I do not have it in my own self to avoid sin. Sin I of the flesh and I am of the flesh. Thanks be to Jesus for taking my sin. Thanks be to Him for giving me the chance to avoid sin. Thanks to Jesus, I have the Word of God to keep me looking to Him that I might be able to avoid the sin. Thanks be to the LORD for providing the Holy Spirit to walk with me.

The Law of God is righteous yet, as I am of the flesh there was a need for the Law to be shown as righteous to me. Jesus was sent to do just that. He took my sin and offered me grace. The Law was demonstrated to be righteous through His actions. As such, I was brought to the righteousness of the Law so that I could use it as the guide it is.

Where do you attribute the righteousness in the Law of God? Are you looking to yourself to avoid sin? What if you were to recognize that the Law of God is righteous thanks to Jesus and you can use it to guide you to avoid sin?

Sin and the Mortal Body

It is easy to speak of sin and the body when we are speaking metaphorically. Jesus died so that my sins have been atoned. This gives me the sense that I can still sin and that is okay as that sin has already been taken care of by Jesus. Well, I am writing this morning to declare that not to be the case.

“12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” – Romans 6:12-13 (ESV)

Yes, my sin has been atoned through the death and resurrection of Jesus in my place. Yes, even if/when I sin, those have also already been forgiven. Still, that does not give me carte blanche to just go around sinning without consequence. I am still responsible for following the teaching of God and the example of Jesus. I still have to work to avoid sin. As Paul notes above that we should “not present your member to sin”, I have to remember not o subject my mortal body to sin.

I am not immune to consequences. When I do wrong, I am still responsible to pay for those wrongs. Just as in this world, when I break the law of man, I pay the price for the breaking of that law. With sin it is the same. If I subject myself to committing of sin, I am forgiven for that sin thanks to the blood of Christ, yet I am still responsible for the punishment that comes with the committing of that sin. When I lie and get caught, I am forgiven for lying, yet I am held to the truth as a consequence.

The best approach, as Paul indicates I to not subject myself to sin. I have to work to avoid the conscious committing of sin. I have to stay away, where I can, from sin, and subject myself to righteousness. My writing in the mornings is an example of me avoiding sin and subjecting myself to God and His will in my life. I am filling myself with the study of His Word and as a result am more easily able to avoid the temptations of sin that are all around.

It is great to be a follower of Christ and saved by His grace and free from the burden of sin. I am so relieved to know that my sins, past, present, and future are forgiven. This relief of sin allows me to progress forward, knowing that whatever I do, I am loved and accepted by God into His kingdom. Yet, I have to still do my part and work to avoid sin where I can. I have to remember to not subject myself to the consequences of sin where I am aware. I have to fill myself and my body with the Word, work, and will of God so that sin is rooted out.

What is your approach to sin? Are you progressing as though you have carte blanche to do as you please? What if you worked to avoid sin and instead filled yourself with the Word, work and will of God?