Something Every Christian Must Do!

The following verse describes a life-threatening truth for us: For the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23 We all know that each and every person has sin in their life. Somehow, we must find a way to become free from our sinful nature. The following passage describes our dilemma: So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. 1 John 3:9-10 (NLT) Most people know that God cannot tolerate sin of any kind. It is crucial that we find our way into a sinless life in order that our eternity may be lived with God. The urgent truth of sin dictates that every believer must do something extreme in their life to deal with their sins. The Scriptures can teach us, what it is that “Christians must do about sin”. We could say that Jesus is the solution and go no further. But the tenacity of the sin problem makes it a rather complex subject for us. In order to have a more complete understanding we must consider various aspects of our problem. The answer is contained in the sixth chapter of Romans.  

We know that 2000 years ago Jesus Christ won the victory over sin by giving Himself to die as our sacrifice. Romans 6:1-11 explains, in different ways, that after believing in His sacrifice, we must not continue to live in sin! Our old sinful self was put to death on the cross with Jesus if we can believe it and live it. If we will share in His death to this world then we may share in His new life. The power of sin was broken because the power of His sacrifice is so much greater than sin and death. Although, sin is more powerful than any human it is not near as powerful as the life of our Savior. At the time, the Devil did not realize that by killing Jesus he was making it possible for us to be set free from our sin and death. The last verse of this great passage says: So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11 (NLT) We of course, cannot physically die 2000 years in the past but we can as Christians “consider” ourselves dead to this world. This means that every day we should think about ourselves as if our sinful nature were no longer alive to us.

The next major section includes verses 12 through 15. It repeatedly points out that we must not continue to sin as we walk in our new life with God. Sin cannot be allowed to control our life because the Spirit of God who lives in us cannot allow it. Our new life is about being a servant of Jesus and we must not let our body serve the Devil at any time. Before being born-again we served in the world of the Devil but now we have a new master who loves righteousness. The fact is: you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Romans 6:13 (NLT) Righteousness is possible because God’s grace allows us to be free from all the laws that have a penalty of death. There is no way that we can continue to sin and at the same time be free from the resulting death. We must have the new life that God is offering to us and it starts with our death. This passage is plainly telling us that it is “our responsibility” not to sin. A Christian cannot sit back and “let nature take its course”. We must fight for righteousness to become our whole life.

In Romans 6:16 through 22, Paul tells us how that freedom from sin can be a reality in our life and it will last for eternity. He begins by telling us that the choice is ours to make. Would we like to be a slave to sin and death or do we choose to serve God and live a righteous life? The power is available for our freedom from sin but we must accept the obligation to live righteously. This is what the Bible says: Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Romans 6:18 (NLT) Because our human nature is so weak toward sinful behaviors, we need to be a slave to something, either good or bad. There are people who claim they will not be a slave to anyone. They really need to rethink their position because it is far better to choose God and His direction than to fail on our own. Here in this world many people are tricked into thinking that a sinful life is better. It will never end well for any sinner. Believe in the Scriptures: Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. Romans 6:22 (NLT) We also receive many wonderful gifts when our master is the Lord. Of course, the greatest gift of all is being a “co-heir” with Jesus, throughout eternity.

The sin problem can be completely solved by our total faith in God. This includes the fact that Jesus had victory over all sin and we must consider (reckon) ourselves to have died with Him. Also, by faith, it is our responsibility to do everything we can to remove sins from our everyday life. We must utilize our freedom from the power of sin and renounce our old worldly master. Now we should spend our time serving our new master who is good to us beyond all reasoning. If we look ahead to chapter eight of Romans we can see the wonderful conclusion to this matter: So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 8:1-2 (NLT) The Spirit has the power to live inside of us and direct our life after we renounce sin forever. It’s time to quit relying on ourselves and place our trust in the power of God. We must renounce all sin today! Can we think of anything in this world as wonderful as being free from our old sinful nature?

Taste of Salt

Sometimes a cook works very hard to prepare the greatest meal ever eaten. But when their guests take the first bite they want to spit it out. The horrified cook soon realizes that their enemy has quietly slipped in the kitchen and dumped excessive salt into the food. However, in the case of this sinful world, God has asked us to be the salt or the seasoning that is lacking. This world does not have a good taste because sin makes it taste awful where righteousness is not present. We know that salt is actually necessary to life just as godliness is necessary. It is very important that the right amount of salt be used because either excess or insufficiency will cause harm. Jesus said that Christians were to be the salt of the world. We know that the world taste so awful that it will be thrown away in the future. However, when our righteous life is used to influence others we become the seasoning that can change the flavor of life. Of course, it is the righteousness of Christ that the Spirit brings into our life when we seek it. Being the salt of the earth requires the right kind of heart in us.

In the days of old when people got together for a fellowship meal they would pass around the salt of peace. In fact, they would sometimes refer to this meal as “having salt together”. We can make the case that part of our righteous life includes bringing peace with us to all situations. Also back in those days salt was a symbol of the eternal covenant. Many of the Israelite sacrifices had to have salt applied to them before being given to God. The Old Testament symbols are important to us because we are now the salt. Jesus said; Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Luke 14:34-35 (NLT) Flavorless salt of a Christian is their own actions without the leading of the Holy Spirit. Our salt begins to lose its flavor when worldly things are mixed with it. When a believer is serving God full time the worldly things that spoil our saltiness will leave our life. Remember, if we want to be pure salt there will be a cost for it. Are we willing to pay the price?

Being salt in this world is all about the Christian life that we are leading. The Scripture says; you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring. If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. James 3:12-13 (NLT) This is a description of the life that God uses to season the world with. This verse says there are Christians that are wise and understand God’s ways but have not proved it yet. We are not salt until the actions of our life have become a seasoning in this world. Every Christian will be tested in order to find out the purity of their good deeds. Jesus said; You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden… In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. Matt 5:13-16 (NLT) When we become the salt of the earth our life will shine and it will bring glory to our Heavenly Father.

Good deeds that are done with a peaceful loving attitude are much different than the hand-out lines of the world. The seasoning of a Christian can reach deep down inside of the recipient. Our godly lives are a necessary ingredient for proper good works. Paul said; Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Col 4:5-6 (KJV) Our speech is a big thing in seasoning the world because it reflects what is inside of us. Keeping the salt pure is important to good seasoning and John knew this when he said; We do know that we will be like him,(Jesus) for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 (NLT) We have the opportunity to live the greatest life on earth. This life will cost us worldly pleasures and will include some testing. However, the rewards are beyond fantastic and our good deeds will bring glory to God. By the way, God’s salt will preserve our life for eternity.