Yesterday We focused upon the freedom that God’s grace provides to those who chose to follow Jesus. In the verses, Paul made clear that the freedom we receive is not a freedom to sin. Instead, faith in Christ is freedom from sin.
One of life’s hard truths is that, as humans, we must serve somebody. Even in Eden, Adam was the caretaker of the garden. He named the animals and understood all the various forms of life and their function. God designed people to have purpose and direction in their lives.
As people, we need purpose and function to feel useful and complete. The only real question is what the object of that service is. God designed us to be in fellowship with Him and serve Him and others selflessly. When we live that way, we experience peace; and we have our needs met. Conversely, the world’s model is based self-preservation and self- focus. In that, history has repeatedly shown that those who spend their lives in self-service are unsatisfied, miserable, and empty.
Paul teaches that as a servant one needs to serve the one that gives peace, fulfillment, and life. There is no false advertising. Only when we grasp our personal need to focus on God and others, rather than focusing on ourselves, will we truly experience the freedom that comes with our faith.
Finally, know that our service to God and others is not some spiritual employment contract that earns us a wage or bonus. Salvation is a gift. Jesus saw our need and sacrificed His deity, His position, and His life to redeem us. There is no amount of service to God or others that will ever match the deficit caused by our sin. When we begin to keep track of our performance, that is when the enemy tricks us into thinking that our selflessness is a rewardable venture that raises us to spiritual preference.
That is why Paul ended Chapter 6 with, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” We focus on God and His great redemption, and our performance naturally flows from that love and joy. If, on the other hand, we are trying to fulfill a spiritual duty, we will never attain fulfillment, and our “selfless acts” will always cause us to refocus on ourselves. Our enemy is clever!
Help me, Lord to trust you, serve you with joy, and accept your gift.
God Bless You
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.
Walking With God 