The automaker Rolls Royce takes great pride in the reliability of their handcrafted automobiles. Once an owner of a Rolls was traveling across the United States on an extended trip. While traveling, the car had some mechanical problem. He called the Rolls Royce factory and asked that they send out a mechanic straightaway to fix the problem. The company responded in royal fashion. They put a mechanic on a private jet with all of the necessary tools and flew him over to make the repairs. The owner was so wealthy that he wasn't at all concerned about the cost, and he would not spare any expense to assure that his beloved Rolls Royce was properly repaired. However, after several months he realized he had not received a bill. He directed his secretary to contact the Rolls Royce factory to inquire about the bill. He received a prompt reply from the Rolls Royce Company. It said simply, "We have no recollection or record of any Rolls Royce having ever had a breakdown or being in need of repair anywhere in the United States."
That reminds me of how God treats us when He forgives us of sin. Like Rolls Royce, God says, "I have no recollection or record of any sin being committed." We have been set free from the bondage of sin, so start living like a person set free. And you can almost imagine the Apostle Paul saying something similar. “Don’t just know you are free, live as if you are free”. These words echo back what Paul wrote in Romans chapter 6. You are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:6). And these words are just as important to us today. We are no longer slaves, so live like a person set free from sin.
Paul takes his readers on a beautiful journey from sin to salvation in the book of Romans, beginning by announcing Good News. Faith in Christ results in peace with God (Romans 5:1-11), eternal life (Romans 5:12-21), and freedom from slavery (Romans 6:1-14). This is what we receive from God because of our faith in Christ. But does God’s Good News end here? Is this all there is to being a Christian – a simple understanding of our sin, God’s promise, and our confession of faith? Some people might think this is true, but Paul says absolutely not. All of this has just been the beginning. We have been granted salvation because of our faith, but the next part of the process is how we live out that salvation. In other words, how should we live now that we know we are free? Paul gives us the answer in Romans chapter 6 (Read Romans 6:15-23).
Some people who have been set free from the bondage of sin feel that grace triumphs sin, and because of grace there is no need to change their behavior. We can hear their arguments in verse 15. Since we receive grace from God, why is it necessary for us to change our behavior? Doesn't God love me even though I am a sinner? If I am saved by faith, why should there be a noticeable change in my life? In a way their arguments are true. We do not earn salvation by removing sin from our lives. Neither do we lose our salvation when we sin after we are saved. “Jesus loves me just as I am” we often hear. It is this attitude of liberty that Paul addresses in this part of chapter 6. Some have wrongly interpreted what Paul was saying in this section. We have not been set free to sin, but set free from sin.
Look closely at the end of verse 19. This is the main point Paul is trying to make. We certainly don’t earn our salvation by removing sinful behavior from our lives. But as Christians we should become more holy over time. In other words, our actions, the deeds of our hands and the words of our mouth become an offering of worship to God. Our language, the way we dress, the way we manage our money, the way we treat others, the way we treat ourselves, the way we worship God, the way we manage our time, all these things become a testimony to who our Master is.
It is through faith that we are saved, but it is through the choices of our heart that we become holy. We choose to become more like Christ by what we embrace and what we remove from our lives. We make a choice to separate ourselves from the world. Sure, the Holy Spirit gives us the ability, and God has given us the opportunity, but in the end you and I must take the responsibility. Turning away from sin once we are saved becomes an act of the will. To refuse to conform ourselves into the image of Christ is to remain in the image of sin (compare 2 Corinthians 3:18). And if we make a choice to remain in the image of sin, who then is our master? This is Paul’s argument against those who live on the extreme of liberty; claiming that they need not change because God loves them just as they are. Truthfully, if a person really loved God, they would desire to honor Him with their lives; to surrender to Him and be willing to be conformed by Him.
In my 20's, the Lord accepted this prodigal son with open arms. But bit by bit there were certain behaviors in my life that were far too much like the world. And through the Spirit's gentle nudging, I circumcised them from my life. Removing them did not earn me salvation, but cutting them off from my life became a symbol of my commitment to God. It's the same with circumcision in the Old Testament. No one was saved by doing this, but doing this became a symbol of obedience.
God does not command us to become dead to sin. He tells us that we are dead to sin and alive unto God, and then commands us to act on it. We once were slaves, but Christ has set us free. And as people set free from sin and death, we elect to become servants, giving our lives over to the One who has set us free to conform us into the image of Christ. Truthfully we become an effective witness in this world when we take the Father’s glory and reflect it out into the world by being conformed into the image of the Son. So should a Christian strive to stop sinning? Should a Christian stop acting like a person of the world? Absolutely! Not to earn salvation, but to show our identification. By our behavior the world will know who our Master is.
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