Jesus Christ came into this world, to show us the Way to the Father. He lived a blameless and sinless life, as the perfect example of how we should live. As long as we focus on Jesus we keep our peace and joy. Life in this depraved and evil world is a daily challenge. We, as Christians, find ourselves under constant attack and it is up to us to choose what we think and meditate about, as Paul told us in the following verse:
God's grace came through Jesus Christ to set us free from the lordship of sin.
It seems to me that we all should ask ourselves if we know that we are dead to sin or if we truly died. Jesus died for real on the cross, and His death is the only payment that our Heavenly Father accepts for the sins of all people.
The baptism “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19b), is the baptism into Jesus' death. Those of us who were baptized, have been "buried with Jesus." Our old self, our past actions and sins died and “lost their hold” over us. Also, as we were raised up from the waters of baptism, we were raised up clean and righteous. Could baptismal water have so much power? Water baptism without a sincere faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God cannot and will not save anyone. Only faith in Jesus followed then by baptism saves us. The Lord says that “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16a). True baptism, as the Lord commands us to do, is the symbol of dying to self and being raised clean to walk the sincere, new life in Jesus as we truly repented and truly give our selves to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Peter explains that baptism's role is not to cleanse us of the physical dirt, but to be the proof of a heart and conscience that was washed clean by the blood of Jesus. Conscience means “a person's moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as the guide (the moral compass) of one's behavior.”
We cannot live “a new life” according to our old ways and thinking before our conversion. A new life, means... a new life! It is a completely different life than the previous life was. Instead of getting worried and panicking when things go wrong, we pray and trust God to show us the solution; instead of running to the doctor for every little pain, first we pray to be healed in Jesus' Name, according to Isaiah 53:4-5, which ends with “by His stripes we are healed” (for more about healing you can read the article “Healing By Faith”). In this new life, we choose to forgive, instead of holding grudges and getting even. We choose to do good instead of evil to those who do us wrong, to bless and not curse etc.
The Greek word used for “freed” is “dikaióō” meaning that the believer is "made righteous/justified" by the Lord, cleared of all charges (punishment) related to their sins.(“HELPS Word-studies”).
Paul is not saying that the Christian is now perfect or sinless, but that sin has lost its lordship over him, just as the slave owner loses their rights over a dead slave. The deeper we get this truth, the harder it will be to fall into the temptation of sinning again.
When we became born-again, we did not receive a new body and a new soul (our mind, will and emotions), only our spirit was made anew by the Holy Spirit, through the seed of God's Word. It is up to us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, changing our ways of thinking. We used to think based on the worldly principles which when born-again need to be replaced by godly principles. In the beginning of our walk with God, it was not easy to fight against sin because we still had the same mindset, the same patterns of thinking and acting as we did before we were saved. We cannot change by our own strength, that is why Father God sends us the Holy Spirit, to be our helper, our guide and teacher to lead us into all truth. Only with His help can we really change and have lasting change.
When one is born-again, the Holy Spirit moves into the newborn Christian with all His godly characteristics and one's body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit.
These nine aspects listed in Galatians are the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the key to living a good and blessed life. A gift that is easily forgotten is self-control. Its definition is: “restraint exercised over one's own impulses, emotions, or desires” (Merriam-Webster dictionary).
HELPS, Word-studies shows that the original word for self-control is the Greek word, “egkráteia” – properly, dominion within, i.e. "self-control" – proceeding out from within oneself, but not by oneself. For the believer, it means "self-control, Spirit-control" and can be accomplished only by the power of the Lord. In Galatians 5:23 it is explicitly called a fruit of the Holy Spirit meaning "true mastery from within.”
According to “Strong's Concordance” - “egkrateia” means: “self-mastery, self-restraint, self-control, continence, temperance (the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites).”
By the Holy Spirit, we are able to love the unlovable, to rejoice in hard times, to be kind with those who mistreat us, to have peace in the midst of the storm, to be so patient that even we are amazed, to do good, even when it hurts, to continue to be faithful to the Lord and His principles no matter how tough our circumstances are, to keep our given word, to answer with meekness when our old self would get angry and be harsh. We desperately need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to have an increased desire for His gifts and fruit. The Holy Spirit is the part of the triune God that comes to dwell in us, that gave us new birth and helps us constantly change and grow in the Lord to become more and more like Jesus. The spiritual growth of maturity is a long-term process and the Holy Spirit makes it possible (You may read more on the subject in the article “Who The Holy Spirit Really Is”).
If we have become God's children and were transformed by our faith in Jesus Christ, it means that we have crucified our carnal nature. Only if our flesh is dead, we can truly live in the Spirit. Living in the Spirit it does not mean that we instantly “walk” in the Spirit. To be able to do so, we have to work on changing our ways of thinking. Only by learning God's ways through studying the Bible and with the leadership of the Holy Spirit, do we learn to respond correctly to life as it happens, to make godly decisions and to have the new desires and purposes according to God's Word and not to the old logic of the world we live in.
As we apply the new ways of biblical thinking, our “value system” will change and a new lifestyle will develop. We will not be driven by worldly success, popularity, materialism, cheap pleasures and will cease such bad habits as lying, cheating, grudge holding, etc.
The Christian value system is based on the love for God and the love for others. This means that we will treat others as we want to be treated, we will help those in need even if they did us wrong in the past, or if we have never met them. We will look for ways to share the Good News of the Gospel, so all those around us can be saved and make it to Heaven. We need to do all that we can, being obedient to the call that God has on our lives and developing our professional skills according to the gifts that God has placed in us. God has a unique plan for each of us with our own personal destiny and it is wonderful to fulfill it!
Maybe you have heard the story of the baby eagle that learned to fly while tied by a rope to a pole. He lived flying around the pole for years and years and he was only able to fly as far as the rope allowed him to. One day the owner cut his rope and set him free. But he continued to fly as he always did, because he did not understand he was free and could fly anywhere he wanted.
Unfortunately, many Christians continue to fall into the same old sins, because they do not realize they are free from the old sinful ways yet. Sometimes a new convert that used to get easily mad and raise their voice with ugly talk, will continue to do so, after being saved. And once this new Christian falls into “the same old sin” - the enemy will come with condemnation to make the person doubt that they are still saved.
Many hot-tempered people say they cannot help themselves from losing their temper as they were born like that. But if in the middle of losing their temper while screaming and hurting others, they hear the doorbell or phone ring, the same person calms down instantly and responds to the new circumstances as if nothing happened. If we can control our anger in front of others, it means that we can change the old behavior and resolve the unpleasant situation by praying to the Lord to help us calm down and then address the cause of our anger with a pure heart.
It is very useful to have a constant communication with God, through prayer. If we first run to Him, in any tough situation, when we feel we are loosing our patience, and we start to pour at His feet, our frustrations and anger, by telling him what we would tell to the person that aggravated us, we will avoid many bloody battles. Then we pray to the Lord to help us and the other person we deal with, to calm down. We ask Him to show us how to solve the issue. Once we are cool and collected, we'll be able to talk to the other person and resolve the issue in the right way. It is possible that after we ponder all facts with calm, to realize that we need to apologize. Our homes can be oases of peace, calm and joy, while we live the new life with Jesus. He really is the “Prince of Peace” and it is up to us to be in His peace at any moment of our lives.
Once the Holy Spirit got us born again, as long as we desire to belong to God, we will not taste the spiritual death, which actually means to be separated from God. When the earthly life in this body will end, only the natural body, will die, while our spirit and soul will live for eternity. God's children will never be separated from God, while those who lived a sinful life and rejected Jesus till they died, on the Judgment day they will be cast into the lake of fire which is the “second death”. There they will join the devil and his servants (Revelation 20:11-15). For more on the subject you can read the article "Judgment Day."
Jesus was separated from His Father, only once, while being on the cross, because He took the sins of mankind upon Himself. As Jesus will never be separated again from the Father, we will not be either. The spirits of God's children will never die.
Glory to Jesus Christ our Lord! His sacrifice was enough to pay in full for all past, present and future sins of all men. Our Lord did His part for our salvation. When we truly understand that we are forgiven, it is up to us to know that we are dead to sin and alive for Christ and that we live for God and no longer for sin. We are to choose what we are using our bodies for. If we continued to live in sin, we would continue to serve the devil, but by living according to God's direction and His biblical principles, we will serve God and will bring glory to His Holy Name. It is up to us to choose continuously to live right and produce the good fruits of righteousness.
As long as we are aware and convinced that we are saved and forgiven by God's grace and not by our efforts to keep the commands of the Law, then sin will not have dominion over us.
This does not mean that grace is giving us the right to sin.
Slaves obey their masters, as they are literally owned by them. Slaves no longer have their own rights. If we choose Jesus to be our Lord, it means that we are no longer ruling our own selves, but are asking His opinion as we make decisions. We cannot continue to obey the lusts and desires of our flesh, as we did while being sinners. As Christians, we are followers of Jesus Christ, so we have to obey our Lord. Our true master is the one whom we listen to. Only if we give God all our heart, we renounce to our “ownership rights” and choose to obey the Holy Spirit, can we become holy. Why? Because as we read above, “we are the one’s slaves to whom we obey.”
We cannot serve two masters at the same time, as Jesus said:
The evidence of our faith (the fruit) is visible in everyone's life. The results of a life lived in obedience to God are the opposite of what a sinful life produces. Jesus is the source of peace, joy, balance, security, safety, prosperity, wisdom and all that is good. The sin produces destruction, lack of integrity, decadence, fear, worry, anxiety, sickness and all that is evil.
The one who chooses to serve sin, cannot live right, The end of a life lived in worldly pleasures and iniquity is spiritual death. Those who chose to live separated from God, will not be forced to live an eternity in Heaven, in the presence of God. Each one of us will spend eternity together with the one we served during our lives of this planet.
- Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praise worthy—meditate on these things.”
God's grace came through Jesus Christ to set us free from the lordship of sin.
- Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
It seems to me that we all should ask ourselves if we know that we are dead to sin or if we truly died. Jesus died for real on the cross, and His death is the only payment that our Heavenly Father accepts for the sins of all people.
The baptism “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19b), is the baptism into Jesus' death. Those of us who were baptized, have been "buried with Jesus." Our old self, our past actions and sins died and “lost their hold” over us. Also, as we were raised up from the waters of baptism, we were raised up clean and righteous. Could baptismal water have so much power? Water baptism without a sincere faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God cannot and will not save anyone. Only faith in Jesus followed then by baptism saves us. The Lord says that “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16a). True baptism, as the Lord commands us to do, is the symbol of dying to self and being raised clean to walk the sincere, new life in Jesus as we truly repented and truly give our selves to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
- 1 Peter 3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ...
The Apostle Peter explains that baptism's role is not to cleanse us of the physical dirt, but to be the proof of a heart and conscience that was washed clean by the blood of Jesus. Conscience means “a person's moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as the guide (the moral compass) of one's behavior.”
- Romans 6:4b-5 ... just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection...
We cannot live “a new life” according to our old ways and thinking before our conversion. A new life, means... a new life! It is a completely different life than the previous life was. Instead of getting worried and panicking when things go wrong, we pray and trust God to show us the solution; instead of running to the doctor for every little pain, first we pray to be healed in Jesus' Name, according to Isaiah 53:4-5, which ends with “by His stripes we are healed” (for more about healing you can read the article “Healing By Faith”). In this new life, we choose to forgive, instead of holding grudges and getting even. We choose to do good instead of evil to those who do us wrong, to bless and not curse etc.
- Romans 6:6-7 ... knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
The Greek word used for “freed” is “dikaióō” meaning that the believer is "made righteous/justified" by the Lord, cleared of all charges (punishment) related to their sins.(“HELPS Word-studies”).
Paul is not saying that the Christian is now perfect or sinless, but that sin has lost its lordship over him, just as the slave owner loses their rights over a dead slave. The deeper we get this truth, the harder it will be to fall into the temptation of sinning again.
When we became born-again, we did not receive a new body and a new soul (our mind, will and emotions), only our spirit was made anew by the Holy Spirit, through the seed of God's Word. It is up to us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, changing our ways of thinking. We used to think based on the worldly principles which when born-again need to be replaced by godly principles. In the beginning of our walk with God, it was not easy to fight against sin because we still had the same mindset, the same patterns of thinking and acting as we did before we were saved. We cannot change by our own strength, that is why Father God sends us the Holy Spirit, to be our helper, our guide and teacher to lead us into all truth. Only with His help can we really change and have lasting change.
When one is born-again, the Holy Spirit moves into the newborn Christian with all His godly characteristics and one's body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
- Galatians 5: 22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no Law.
These nine aspects listed in Galatians are the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the key to living a good and blessed life. A gift that is easily forgotten is self-control. Its definition is: “restraint exercised over one's own impulses, emotions, or desires” (Merriam-Webster dictionary).
HELPS, Word-studies shows that the original word for self-control is the Greek word, “egkráteia” – properly, dominion within, i.e. "self-control" – proceeding out from within oneself, but not by oneself. For the believer, it means "self-control, Spirit-control" and can be accomplished only by the power of the Lord. In Galatians 5:23 it is explicitly called a fruit of the Holy Spirit meaning "true mastery from within.”
According to “Strong's Concordance” - “egkrateia” means: “self-mastery, self-restraint, self-control, continence, temperance (the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites).”
By the Holy Spirit, we are able to love the unlovable, to rejoice in hard times, to be kind with those who mistreat us, to have peace in the midst of the storm, to be so patient that even we are amazed, to do good, even when it hurts, to continue to be faithful to the Lord and His principles no matter how tough our circumstances are, to keep our given word, to answer with meekness when our old self would get angry and be harsh. We desperately need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to have an increased desire for His gifts and fruit. The Holy Spirit is the part of the triune God that comes to dwell in us, that gave us new birth and helps us constantly change and grow in the Lord to become more and more like Jesus. The spiritual growth of maturity is a long-term process and the Holy Spirit makes it possible (You may read more on the subject in the article “Who The Holy Spirit Really Is”).
- Galatians 5:24-25 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
If we have become God's children and were transformed by our faith in Jesus Christ, it means that we have crucified our carnal nature. Only if our flesh is dead, we can truly live in the Spirit. Living in the Spirit it does not mean that we instantly “walk” in the Spirit. To be able to do so, we have to work on changing our ways of thinking. Only by learning God's ways through studying the Bible and with the leadership of the Holy Spirit, do we learn to respond correctly to life as it happens, to make godly decisions and to have the new desires and purposes according to God's Word and not to the old logic of the world we live in.
As we apply the new ways of biblical thinking, our “value system” will change and a new lifestyle will develop. We will not be driven by worldly success, popularity, materialism, cheap pleasures and will cease such bad habits as lying, cheating, grudge holding, etc.
The Christian value system is based on the love for God and the love for others. This means that we will treat others as we want to be treated, we will help those in need even if they did us wrong in the past, or if we have never met them. We will look for ways to share the Good News of the Gospel, so all those around us can be saved and make it to Heaven. We need to do all that we can, being obedient to the call that God has on our lives and developing our professional skills according to the gifts that God has placed in us. God has a unique plan for each of us with our own personal destiny and it is wonderful to fulfill it!
Maybe you have heard the story of the baby eagle that learned to fly while tied by a rope to a pole. He lived flying around the pole for years and years and he was only able to fly as far as the rope allowed him to. One day the owner cut his rope and set him free. But he continued to fly as he always did, because he did not understand he was free and could fly anywhere he wanted.
Unfortunately, many Christians continue to fall into the same old sins, because they do not realize they are free from the old sinful ways yet. Sometimes a new convert that used to get easily mad and raise their voice with ugly talk, will continue to do so, after being saved. And once this new Christian falls into “the same old sin” - the enemy will come with condemnation to make the person doubt that they are still saved.
Many hot-tempered people say they cannot help themselves from losing their temper as they were born like that. But if in the middle of losing their temper while screaming and hurting others, they hear the doorbell or phone ring, the same person calms down instantly and responds to the new circumstances as if nothing happened. If we can control our anger in front of others, it means that we can change the old behavior and resolve the unpleasant situation by praying to the Lord to help us calm down and then address the cause of our anger with a pure heart.
It is very useful to have a constant communication with God, through prayer. If we first run to Him, in any tough situation, when we feel we are loosing our patience, and we start to pour at His feet, our frustrations and anger, by telling him what we would tell to the person that aggravated us, we will avoid many bloody battles. Then we pray to the Lord to help us and the other person we deal with, to calm down. We ask Him to show us how to solve the issue. Once we are cool and collected, we'll be able to talk to the other person and resolve the issue in the right way. It is possible that after we ponder all facts with calm, to realize that we need to apologize. Our homes can be oases of peace, calm and joy, while we live the new life with Jesus. He really is the “Prince of Peace” and it is up to us to be in His peace at any moment of our lives.
- Romans 6:8-9 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
Once the Holy Spirit got us born again, as long as we desire to belong to God, we will not taste the spiritual death, which actually means to be separated from God. When the earthly life in this body will end, only the natural body, will die, while our spirit and soul will live for eternity. God's children will never be separated from God, while those who lived a sinful life and rejected Jesus till they died, on the Judgment day they will be cast into the lake of fire which is the “second death”. There they will join the devil and his servants (Revelation 20:11-15). For more on the subject you can read the article "Judgment Day."
Jesus was separated from His Father, only once, while being on the cross, because He took the sins of mankind upon Himself. As Jesus will never be separated again from the Father, we will not be either. The spirits of God's children will never die.
- Romans 6:10-14 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Glory to Jesus Christ our Lord! His sacrifice was enough to pay in full for all past, present and future sins of all men. Our Lord did His part for our salvation. When we truly understand that we are forgiven, it is up to us to know that we are dead to sin and alive for Christ and that we live for God and no longer for sin. We are to choose what we are using our bodies for. If we continued to live in sin, we would continue to serve the devil, but by living according to God's direction and His biblical principles, we will serve God and will bring glory to His Holy Name. It is up to us to choose continuously to live right and produce the good fruits of righteousness.
As long as we are aware and convinced that we are saved and forgiven by God's grace and not by our efforts to keep the commands of the Law, then sin will not have dominion over us.
This does not mean that grace is giving us the right to sin.
- Romans 6:15-19 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
Slaves obey their masters, as they are literally owned by them. Slaves no longer have their own rights. If we choose Jesus to be our Lord, it means that we are no longer ruling our own selves, but are asking His opinion as we make decisions. We cannot continue to obey the lusts and desires of our flesh, as we did while being sinners. As Christians, we are followers of Jesus Christ, so we have to obey our Lord. Our true master is the one whom we listen to. Only if we give God all our heart, we renounce to our “ownership rights” and choose to obey the Holy Spirit, can we become holy. Why? Because as we read above, “we are the one’s slaves to whom we obey.”
- Romans 6:20-23 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
We cannot serve two masters at the same time, as Jesus said:
- Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
The evidence of our faith (the fruit) is visible in everyone's life. The results of a life lived in obedience to God are the opposite of what a sinful life produces. Jesus is the source of peace, joy, balance, security, safety, prosperity, wisdom and all that is good. The sin produces destruction, lack of integrity, decadence, fear, worry, anxiety, sickness and all that is evil.
The one who chooses to serve sin, cannot live right, The end of a life lived in worldly pleasures and iniquity is spiritual death. Those who chose to live separated from God, will not be forced to live an eternity in Heaven, in the presence of God. Each one of us will spend eternity together with the one we served during our lives of this planet.
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Eternal life, is God's free gift, through Jesus Christ, that is received by all who choose to renounce sin and choose His Lordship for the rest of their lives. |
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