Which master do you serve? (Romans 6)

1. A misinterpretation of the text.
Many often misinterpret the 1st and 15th verse of Romans 6 to mean that Paul is calling out the church in Rome for following this idea that if you sin more grace will increase, therefore sin is good. What was actually going on here is that Paul was addressing his Jewish opponents that were saying, according to Paul's gospel people would take this philosophy and thus sin more in the name of grace. This is ridiculous and if we have that mindset, we need to stop it, it is sinful.

2. You can only serve one of two masters, there is no middle ground.
We are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. There is no middle ground. There has been an unbiblical concept creep into the church that there is a middle person. This person has backslid and is not living for Christ, but professed faith at some point in their life. Romans 6 says that this person is either saved or not, no middle ground.

3. What the text is not saying.
We may quickly say that than people that sin lose their salvation. No. That is not what the text is saying. Sin still exists in the life of Christians, if they say otherwise than you just caught them in sin. That is why Paul says in verse 19 that our salvation leads to sanctification. Sanctification is a lifelong process of becoming more like Christ.

4. Practical Application
The application is seen right in the text. Present ourselves as slaves to righteousness. (6:13) Live our lives for God. (6:10) Understand the parallels between Christ's life and death and our salvation presented in 5-11.

Romans 6 is a good chunk of meat, but is a refreshing break from the tension so far found in Romans. Read it. Memorize it. Live it.

Sanctification

Sanctification, a process, lifelong, a hard road, but one that is blessed by our Lord and Savior. The transliterated word, hagiasmos, means consecrated or purified. As I stated before, I find that the 3cu view on this aspect of the christian life is incorrect. Sanctification is a process, not an event that occurs later in life as I quoted from the belief section of the 3cu website.

Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may know what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Paul's urgent plea is that the Romans die daily to there flesh, renew themselves in scripture and live pleasing to the Lord. Paul uses many key words that I believe reveal the doctrine of sanctification, conformed, transformed, renewal and testing. All of these words indicate a period of time, not a single event. Sanctification therefore is a process, a walk with God, a striving for our true love, our Savior and Lord. We all go through periods of time when we are tested by temptation, put through trials, and fall victim to the luster of sin and our fleshly desires. Often times we fall, turn away, and indulge in those sinful desires. However, there are times when the Holy Spirit grips our heart, drives us from the temptation, points our eyes to God and makes the love of Jesus more lovely than anything this earth would have to offer. This is the sanctification process, God purifying us more and more each day. Yes, there will be rough days, sometimes we can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, but God is still working, He is still there, loving us and working together all things for our good.

This process is hard, we must die to our flesh daily, we must be most satisfied in Christ. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and gives us the strength and power to live in a way pleasing to Christ. The important thing to remember is that God is gracious with us, His mercies are never ceasing, His work on the cross paid our sins, past, present, and future. In the hard times we must keep our eyes focused on the cross, the prize, Jesus. We must be most satisfied in Him, not the temporary pleasures that we so often put Jesus aside for. Sanctification is a beautiful process that every christian goes through. What a honor to live day by day for the God of the universe!!!!