WORD AFFIRMATION AS A LIFESTYLE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY AUGUST 25, 2023.

SUBJECT : WORD AFFIRMATION AS A LIFESTYLE!

Memory verse: "This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men." (Titus 3 vs 8.)

READ: Revelation 12 vs 11:

12:11: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to death.

INTIMATION:

Living your life in the Word involves believing, confessing and affirming the Word of God. Affirmation is the last part of the process of this living. To affirm is to make firm. An affirmation is a statement of truth that you make firm by repetition. The Scripture, in our memory verse! says, "This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly....." The bold declaration or affirmation of the Word is indicative of the inherent truth, and your trust and believe in it. 

In the first five Books of Moses, God's expression of "I am the LORD" occurred more than two thousand five hundred times, indicating the truth, and lays credence to the fact, and the value of affirmation. That should be the lifestyle of every child of God; confessing, and affirming the Word. 

You should constantly affirm to your own soul the great, and outstanding facts of redemption, reminding yourself constantly of your identity in Christ Jesus, confessing and affirming the fullness of Jesus Christ and His finished work in the presence of your enemies; in the presence of your weakness; in the presence of your adversary. 

They may not mean much the first time you repeat them, but constantly reaffirm them. By and by, the Spirit will illumine them, and your soul will be flooded with light and joy. Every time you repeat what God has said about you as an individual, about Himself—The Trinity, and the church, these truths reach down deep into your inner being with strength, courage, joy and victory. 

Our spiritual lives depend upon our constantly affirming what God has declared, what God is in Christ, what we are in Christ, and what we are before the Father in Christ. It is for this reason that the apostle Paul, in Philemon 6, says, "That the sharing of our faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus."

In the passage we read today, Satan, our accuser, was defeated when the Lamb, Jesus Christ, shed His blood for our sins. The victory is won on our behalf by that supreme sacrifice, that is, Christ's death in our place to pay the penalty of our sin, and the sacrifices we make because of our faith in Him; testifying of Him as our Lord and Savior, and affirming what He wrought for us in redemption. These good works of believe, confession, and affirmation, in faith, are all good and profitable for Christians. 

The Bible includes hundreds of passages that speak about the power of the Word. Locate as many as you can, and confess, and affirm them. They will be more effective as you speak them with volume, feeling, conviction, and enthusiasm. Words weakly spoke have minimal results. I encourage you to speak some of these affirmations as many times as you can, but at least, three to five times a day. 

Prayer: Abba Father, forever Your Word is perfect, and settled in heaven. Endue me with the spirit of bold declaration of Your Word at all times, that I may reap their manifestation in my life, in Jesus” Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

ALWAYS STRIVE TO HAVE A GOOD CONSCIENCE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2023.

SUBJECT : ALWAYS STRIVE TO HAVE A GOOD CONSCIENCE!

Memory verse: "Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.” (Hebrews 13 vs 18.)

READ: Hebrews 10 vs 22 - 24:

10:22: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

10:23: Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

10:24: And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and to good works:

INTIMATION:

Conscience is a knowing with oneself. It’s that faculty by which we apprehend the will of God, as that which is designed to govern our lives. It is that process of thought which distinguishes what is considers morally good or bad, commending the good, and condemning the bad, and so prompting to do the former, and avoid the later. Your conscience is your first judge, and imprisons you if you are not acting appropriately. We escape the gnawing accusations of our consciences by acting in love, and setting our hearts on God's love. Not by ignoring them or rationalizing our behavior. Do good, act appropriately, and you will then free yourself by having a good conscience.

Many feel guilty because they think they are not doing enough to show proper love to Christ, and others. Their conscience bother them. If they ignore their consciences, then they sin because they have compromised their faith by doing something they believe is wrong. One must not allow his faith to be led astray by a violation of what he or she conscientiously knows to be what is right. 

How can you keep your conscience good? Treasure your faith in Christ more than anything else and do what you know is right. Each time you deliberately ignore your conscience, you are hardening your heart. Over a period of time your capacity to tell right from wrong will diminish. As you walk with God, He will speak to you through your conscience, letting you know the difference between right and wrong. Be sure to act on those inner tugs so that you do what is right—then your conscience will remain clear. Do not ignore those inner tugs nor rationalize your behavior, but set your heart on God’s love. 

When you come to God with a good or clear conscience, you are coming to Him without fear, confident that your requests will be heard. When you say, "God you know that I am walking in the light of love, I am doing Your Word," then persuade your heart. If you go into His presence for intercession, your heart is not fearful; your heart does not condemn you. Your heart is in perfect fellowship with the Living Word and you have boldness in His presence, conscious that you are welcome. You make your petition in the name of Jesus, and you know that the Father hears you and that you have the petition of your heart.

We try to steer clear of actions forbidden by Scripture, of course, but sometimes Scripture is silent. Then we should follow our consciences, and be faithful in your doings. “Whatever is not from faith is sin” means that to go against a conviction will leave a person with a guilty conscience. When God shows us that something is wrong for us, we should avoid it. 

Job said, “My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go. My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.” (Job 27 vs 6.) In the midst of all accusations, Job was able to declare that his conscience was clear. Only God’s forgiveness and the determination to live right before God can bring a good or clear conscience. How important Job’s record became as he was being accused. Like Job, we can’t claim sinless lives, but we can claim forgiven lives. When we confess our sins to God, He forgives us. Then we can live with good or clear consciences (First John 1 vs 9.) 

Sometimes after confessing our sins, we still feel guilty. However, when such guilt feeling rise up in our hearts, we should remind ourselves that God knows our motives as well as our actions. His voice of assurance is stronger than the accusing voice of our conscience. If we are in Christ, He will not condemn us (Romans 8 vs 1; Hebrews 9 vs 14 - 15). So if you are living for the Lord but feeling that you are not good enough, remind yourself that God is greater than your conscience. 

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of obedience to Your Word; hearing and doing Your Word, that my conscience may be good in all things, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

OUR SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN CHRIST!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 23, 2023.

SUBJECT: OUR SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN CHRIST! 

Memory verse: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1 vs 3.)

READ: Ephesians 1 vs 3 - 6, 11 - 14:

1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, 

1:4: just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:

1:5: Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

1:6: to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

1:11: In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will:

1:12: that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

1:13: In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

1:14: who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory.

INTIMATION:

God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1 vs 3). You are blessed with everything that you need to live for Him. His very fullness is yours. His love is yours. Yes, He Himself is yours. In Christ we have all the benefits of knowing God—being chosen for salvation, being adopted as His children, forgiveness, insight, the gifts of the Spirit, power to do God’s will, the hope of living forever with Christ. 

Because we have an intimate relationship with Christ, we can enjoy these blessings now. The “heavenly places” means that these blessings are eternal, not temporal. The blessings come from Christ’s spiritual realm. His righteousness and all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places was given to us in Christ with the intent that we bear fruit with them. We become the disciples of Christ in utilizing the blessings to bear fruit. 

God is making His grace to come leaping toward you in all its fullness, and that grace has within it His all sufficiency for every good work, and in every emergency. Do you understand what He means by "fruits of your righteousness?" It means all the gracious things you are able to do with these heavenly blessings at your disposal, just as Jesus did in His earth walk. All the gracious words that Jesus said and all the mighty acts that He performed were the fruits of His righteousness. I wonder if you have ever thought of it. In our fruit of righteousness God the Father is glorified. And He promised to increase and multiply whatever we do to bear fruit. (John 15 vs 😎. 

How little we have appreciated this, that His very sufficiency and ability—all the heavenly blessings—are all at our disposal. How ashamed we ought to be that we have ever talked about our weakness and our lack when the measureless ability of God is ours. You see when He took us over and came into us in the person of the Holy Spirit, and began to build His Word into us, He was building His sufficiency and His ability into us. He was enriching us liberally in everything, no restrictions. Why then do we restrict ourselves? Now, take note of this fact carefully; He is not only our ability, but He is also our sufficiency. 

The apostle Paul beautifully put it in First Corinthians 2 vs 12 thus, "Now we have received, not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." These things that are given to us are in the finished work of Christ. We have access to all the riches of His grace unveiled in that finished work of Christ. Jesus, in His benevolence, and knowing our inabilities, came in His Spirit form to abide with us, and be our Helper (John 14 vs 18), and also, primarily to reveal God and Himself to us, and also our inheritance in Him. 

That great, mighty Holy Spirit who has come to make His home in our body is guiding us into all the reality of the wealth that has been given to us in Christ. He is making us know what the resurrection means to us: that if we were raised together with Christ, we are masters of the forces that operated in slaying Jesus; that we are now taking Jesus' place in this earth walk. 

Take for instance, the Word of God created this universe; created this earth with all its richness; the flowers and fruits, its wealth of minerals, chemicals, and oils etc. His efficiency in that living Word created these things. Now He is building into us that living Word with its supernatural efficiency. Now, a prayer life of the believer, backed with this whole knowledge, becomes invincible. All we need to do now is to take our place and act our part for it is God who is at work within us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2 vs 13). Not only is He building Himself into us, but He is there to work through us.

Jesus was fearless in the presence of the enemy in every place. He had no fear of a storm at sea. He had no fear of lack. He wasn't afraid of death. He raised Lazarus who had been dead four days. He wasn't afraid of a mob. He exercised power over nature and its forces. Those were some of the fruits of His righteousness. When these fruits abound in us they will make us like Jesus, and these fruits can abound in us. Therefore, build yourself up in His Word, submit to the Holy Spirit do His great works of reminding and revealing the truth in the Word that you may be a true disciple of Christ, abounding in every good work.

Prayer: Abba Father, You have given everything I need to be sufficient in all things, and have made Your grace to overflow toward me that I should efficiently abound in good work in Your vineyard. May Your Spirit build me up in Your Word that I may abound in wisdom and knowledge of You, and my inheritance in Christ, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

BUILD UP YOURSELF IN THE WORD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY AUGUST 22, 2023.

SUBJECT: BUILD UP YOURSELF IN THE WORD! 

Memory verse: "So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." (Acts 20 vs 32.)

READ: Second Timothy 3 vs 16 - 17:

3:16: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

3:17: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished to all good works.

INTIMATION:

The word of God is not simply a collection of words from God, a vehicle for communicating ideas; it is living, life-changing, and dynamic as it works in us. It is the means by which God instructs those who seek to be His children. One cannot be a disciple of Jesus unless he is guided in life by the inspired Word of God. 

God’s Word is profitable for motivating repentance in one’s life and direction of his behavior. No realm of the human life escapes its penetrating power and judgements. It penetrates the core of our moral and spiritual life. Obedience to the Word of God will deter one from the wrong direction of life. Study of, and meditation, on the Word of God will mold one’s mind for correct thinking and behavior. 

Our conquest is ensured in our building up ourselves in the Word of God by doing all that is required of us in the Word. Today’s memory verse was the apostle Paul’s recommendation to the believers when he was leaving the church at Ephesus. He may never see them again and he commended them to the Father. He turned them over into the hands of love, and he said, ‘I not only do this, but I commend you to the word of His grace.’ The apostle Paul's epistles are the words of His grace, and so the whole New Testament makes up the Book of the Word of the Father's grace.

If the apostle Paul is to be here with us now, he would say, "I want you to study it. I want you to prove yourself capable of doing the Word." There will be ability in the Word as you study it to put you over and make you a conqueror. To merely know the Word has no real value in it unless it becomes a part of your life in practicing it. As you begin to live the Word, then it becomes a part of your very being—enters into your blood, into your very system. Consequently, the strength and ability of God becomes a part of you, and you would be overwhelmed by “the exceeding greatness of His power toward you who believe, according to working of His mighty power.” 

The apostle Paul entrusted the Ephesians elders to the guidance of the revealed Word of God. It would spiritually build them up if they allowed God to work in their lives through the Word. If they remained faithful to the Word of God, they would receive the result of their faith which was the salvation of their souls in heaven. God’s people must be entirely dependent on the Word of God for direction. Neither subjective emotional experiences nor traditions should be allowed to be the foundation upon which disciples of Christ base their faith. 

Since the Word of God will be our only standard by which we will be judged, then it is imperative that we direct our lives according to what is written. One must come to the Scriptures with the attitude that within them lies wisdom and answers to all problems of life. With such an attitude toward the Scriptures, one will benefit from his study of God’s Word. The fact that the Scriptures are sufficient to guide one to eternal dwelling, implies that one must trust in God’s speaking to him through the revealed Word of God.

The Bible, in Hebrews 4 vs 12 says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart.” In this context, the passage refers to the stability of God’s Word of promise. Christians must walk in faith in the Word of God’s promise. In one trusts in the promise of God, then God’s Word is able to transform his life. 

God’s word is living because God lives. It’s metaphorically illustrated as two-edged sword that is able to cut both ways in correcting one’s behavior. With the incisiveness of a surgeon’s knife, God’s Word reveals who we are and what we are not. It discerns what is within us, both good and evil. The demands of God’s Word require decisions. We must not only listen to the Word; we must also let it shape our lives. 

The effectiveness of its power is illustrated every day by the transformed lives of formerly hardened sinners who have yielded to God’s promise of an eternal rest to come. Transformed lives that are revealed in the gentle and humble servants of God are a continual testimony to the awesome power of God’s Word upon a meek and subjective heart.

Prayer: Abba Father, build me up in Your Word, and endue me with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You in Your Word, and my understanding of the hope of Your calling and the riches of Your inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of Your mighty working power toward those who put their trust in You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

BE NOTHING AND LET GOD BE ALL!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY AUGUST 21, 2023.

SUBJECT: BE NOTHING AND LET GOD BE ALL! 

Memory verse: "Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11 vs 29.)

READ: John 5 vs 19, 30; 6 vs 38; 7 vs 16; 8 vs 28, 50; 14 vs 10, 24, 

5:19: The Son can do nothing of Himself. 

5:30: I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the Will of the Father who sent Me.

6:38: For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own Will, but the Will of Him who sent Me. 

7:16: Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but who sent Me.

8:28: Then Jesus said to them, “......I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.

8:50: And I do not seek My own glory, there is One who seeks and judges.

14:10: “...The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.”

14:24: “.....The word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”

INTIMATION:

The Gospel of John, the apostle closest to Jesus, have the inner life of our Lord laid open to us. Jesus speaks frequently of His relation to the Father, of the motives by which He is guided, of His consciousness of the power and spirit in which He acts. The words He spoke clearly showed wherein His humility consisted. In His humility, He simply consented to let God be all, and He surrendered Himself to God's working alone. 

The passages we read today reveal the words in which Jesus speaks of His relation to the Father, and shows how unceasingly He uses the words 'not,' and 'nothing,' of Himself. "Not I," is the very spirit of what Christ says of His relation to the Father. These words open to us the deepest roots of Christ's life and work. They tell us how it was that the Almighty God was able to work His mighty redemption work through Him. They show Christ's state of heart which makes Him the Son of the Father. They teach us the essential nature, and life of that redemption which Christ accomplished and now communicates. And It is this: “He was nothing, that God might be all.”

He entirely laid aside His Will and His powers for the Father to work in Him of His own power, His own Will, and His own glory. Jesus, of His whole mission, with all His works, and His teaching, and of all this He said; "It is not I,” "I am nothing,” "I have given Myself to the Father to work,” "the Father is all." What a humble heart! It is in this life of entire self-denial—of absolute submission and dependence upon the Father's will—that Christ found perfect peace and joy, and calls us to do the same. And this should be first and the chief of the marks of the Christ within us, and that which Jesus must give us if we are to have any part with Him. 

He lost nothing by giving all to God. God honored His trust, and did all for Him, and then exalted Him to His own right hand in glory. And because Christ had thus humbled Himself, God was ever before Him, He found it possible to humble Himself before men too, and to be the Servant of all. His humility was simply the surrender of Himself to God, to allow Him to do in Him what He pleased, not minding whatever men around might say of Him, or do to Him. It is in this state of mind, in this spirit and disposition, that the redemption of Christ has its virtue and efficacy. And It is to bring us to this disposition that we are made partakers of Christ. 

It is to this self-denial that our Savior calls us, to acknowledgment that self has nothing good in it, except as an empty vessel which God must fill, and therefore, its claim to be or do anything may not for a moment be allowed. And this, above and before everything, is in which the conformity to Jesus consists—the being and doing nothing of ourselves, that God may be all. We must learn of Jesus, how He is meek and lowly of heart. He teaches us that true humility takes its rise, and finds its strength in the knowledge that it is God who works all in all, and that our place is to yield to Him in perfect resignation and dependence, in full consent to do nothing of ourselves. 

Until Christians understand the humility of Jesus as the very essence of His redemption, the very blessedness of the life of the Son of God, and the only true relation to the Father, our thirst and aspiration to manifest heavenly bound humility will become a burden, and a far cry.

Prayer: Abba Father, by You all things consist. Endue me with the spirit of self-denial, heavenly bound humility, and total commitment to Your Will, that I may be a partaker of Christ’s nature, and You be all in all in my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE MYSTERY OF LAWLESSNESS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY AUGUST 20, 2023.

SUBJECT: THE MYSTERY OF LAWLESSNESS!

Memory verse: "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” (Second Thessalonians 2 vs 7.) 

READ: Second Thessalonians 2 vs 6 - 12: 

2:6: And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.

2:7: For the mystery of lawlessness is already work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

2:8: And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming:

2:9: The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders,

2:10: and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

2:11: And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,

2:12: that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

INTIMATION:

“Lawlessness” is lack of respect for the law; illegality, anarchy, wildness, unruliness, lack of restraint. It is the hidden, subtle, underlying force from which all sin springs. “Mystery” means something no one can discover but something God will reveal. Today the world is being ravaged by lawlessness which is going on to a certain extent, but the man of sin—the Antichrist—has  not yet been revealed.  “The mystery of lawlessness,”  the Scripture notes, is already at work. This means that the work that this AntiChrist will do is already going on.

However, the movements of lawlessness are usually not the result of one individual. Individuals only become the instigators of a mood that prevails in a particular society. 

We are in the last days—the time between Christ’s first and second comings. The Scriptures warn us about the happenings that will dominate the world before the second coming of Christ. A new world order that will be headed by the Antichrist; Satan’s tool for his final battle. However, throughout history there have been individuals who epitomized evil and who were hostile to everything Christ stands for. These antiChrists have lived in every generation and will continue to work their evil. Then just before Christ’s second coming, “the man of sin....the son of perdition,” a completely evil man, will arise. He will be Satan’s tool, equipped with Satan’s power. The lawless man will be the Antichrist.

Civilization which still has a veneer of decency through law enforcement, education, science, and reason, has not been able to contain the lawlessness. Instead it has, through science, assisted in sophisticating the lawlessness. Today we have seen the conspiracy theory in high places occasioning the manufacturing of viruses in laboratories and released into the air to attack human population. This is what the Bible called “spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6 vs 12.) Although we are horrified by these lawlessness and criminal acts, we have yet to see the real horror of complete lawlessness. This will happen when the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 

Why will God allow this to happen? To show people and nations their own sinfulness, and to show them by bitter experience the true alternative to the lordship of Christ. People totally without God can act no better than vicious animals. The Bible reveals a God who hates evil and will one day do away with it completely and forever (Revelation 20 vs 10 - 15). We don’t need to understand every detail of how God works in order to have perfect confidence in His absolute power over evil and His total goodness toward us. 

It is dangerous, however, to label any person as the Antichrist and try to predict Christ’s coming based on the assumption. The man of sin (lawlessness) is mentioned in the Scripture, not so that we might attempt to identify him, but so we might be ready for anything that threatens our faith. If our faith is strong, we don’t need to be afraid of what lies ahead, because we know that the lawless man had already been defeated by God, no matter how powerful he becomes or how terrible our situation seems. God is in control, and He will be victorious. Our task is to be prepared for Christ’s return and to spread the gospel so that even more people will also be prepared.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for all You wrought for us in redemption through Christ’s atonement for our sins. Satan is a defeated foe, and by our faith in Christ, we stand victorious in Him. Endue me with the spirit of faith that I may remain faithful to the end, and receive the crown of glory in eternity with You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

GRACE GIVES US FREEDOM TO OBEY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY AUGUST 19, 2023.

SUBJECT : GRACE GIVES US FREEDOM TO OBEY!

Memory verse: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:(Hebrews 12 vs 28.) 

READ: Romans 6 vs 15 - 19: 

6:15: What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Certainly not!

6:16: Do You not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slave whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

6:17: But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which you were delivered.

6:18: And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

6:19: I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

INTIMATION:

God’s grace gives freedom to obey. It does not liberate one to sin. It does not become the license to ignore the will of the One who offered grace, but rather freedom to obey Him. Those who would not respond to the grace of God are those who do not understand that God meant that grace should stir up love and thanksgiving (Second Corinthians 4 vs 15). Those who understand grace work from a heart of appreciation for the salvation he had received as a result of God’s grace. 

Christians have freedom in Christ, but the definition of freedom in the context of Christianity is more narrow than the normal use of the word in common language. Christians use freedom as a tool for a life of exuberant service. It’s the foundation that God gives to us to reach our highest potential. Because God gives us freedom from religious rules and eternal guilt, we must not seek to indulge our own desires; instead, we should reach for the best God has for us. And our freedom should sing of power, joy, and love—accountable to God, devoted to others.

We are to love because He first loved us (First John 4 vs 19). We are to have mercy because He first extended mercy to us (James 2 vs 13). We are to work more abundantly because He worked abundantly toward us (First Corinthians 15 vs 10). If there is no love, mercy, and abundant work on the part of one who has been the recipient of the grace, then he or she has misunderstood grace. God’s grace is in vain in the life of the one who manifests no response to God.

Christians have been rescued by God out of the bondage of legal justification and are now free from the necessity of justification by law-keeping and meritorious deeds. Though the Christian may be set free from justification by law-keeping, he or she is not free from the law of Christ as a standard of moral behavior. Therefore, grace establishes law of Christ in the life of the one who walks in gratitude for the grace of God. Law is established because the obedient son cries out “Abba Father” in his realization that he cannot direct his own paths. He thus cries out for the guidance of the Father. The Father responds with direction, and thus, law is brought into the life of the one who responds by faith in the grace of God.

Those who lose their thanksgiving and gratitude for their salvation, often claim that God’s grace covers all sin regardless of the moral behavior of the believer. Such is a gross misunderstanding of grace. We cannot sin so that grace may abound (Romans 6 vs 1). Though the Christian may be set free from justification by law-keeping, he or she is not free from the law of Christ as a standard of moral behavior. Under grace, one’s love of God, not law, is the motivating factor that stimulates us to be subservient to the will of God. If one is not motivated to work and serve, he or she has no appreciation for the grace of God. 

Some would seek to use their liberty from law as an occasion for sin. Some would sin in order to supposedly increase the grace of God in their lives. Even today, some Christians minimize the sinfulness of sin, believing that how they live has little to do with their faith. But what a person truly believes will show up in how he or she acts. Those who truly have faith will show it by their deep respect for God and their sincere desire to live according to the principles in His Word.

Prayer: Abba Father, make all grace abound toward me, that I will always have all sufficiency in all things, and have an abundance for every good work in doing Your will, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!