Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do 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. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
So much of our identity is tied up in how we present ourselves. If I present my self as a Cubs fan, soccer mom, unappreciated worker, care-free slacker, or normal average dude, my actions and personality are going to back that up. Consciously or sub-consciously, I’m going to act in the way that I want to present myself.
Jesus died for our sins so we are no longer bound by the obedience/punishment model of living with God. We are now in the child/relationship model, so all fear is blown away. We no longer offer ourselves to sin and evil as a helpless victim. We are conquerers. We are adopted children of the loving king! We offer ourselves to the King’s service out of the joy of being enlisted.
Sin no longer reigns. Jesus reigns in our lives and uses us as often as we let Him to show off His righteousness. There is no guilt or shame in the times we fail, only excitement and glory for the times that we listen and respond to Christ. We have been brought from death — living for our own temporary body, to life — living for God.
Consider your life in all of those ways.
- Under grace instead of under a law
- Under the reign of Christ instead of the reign of sin
- Presenting yourself to God instead of sin
- Brought out of death and into life
All of those things are true for those that believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for their sins, rose from the dead, and is coming again. Let the Holy Spirit use those truths to transform you and re-create your identity in the truth.
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