Study 15

Slaves of Sin

Knowing the truth about grace sets us free, but it does not give us licence to sin. Having understood who we are in Christ, we do not take advantage of God's grace, we live in the strength of it. God has not called us out of law and into sin. He has called us to be holy – not through our own endeavours but through what He has done for us in Christ.

The quandary that most Christians seem to face seems to be not so much, 'Shall I go on sinning?' but, 'If only I could stop sinning.'

'I want to be a winner,' they say, 'but I'm fighting a losing battle. I thought that when I became a Christian I would leave behind my sinful ways. But I'm constantly living at the mercy of terrible lusts and other wrongs. I know God sees me as righteous in Christ but how can I be free from the power of sin?'

The Israelites once lived in slavery in Egypt. On the night of their deliverance God saw the blood that they had put on their door frames and passed over them. Their sins were covered by the blood of the lamb. They were saved.

But as they tried to move forward, their slave masters pursued them and the Red Sea blocked their progress into full liberty.

This is where some Christians live – between Egypt and the Red Sea. They know that they are forgiven but their slave master, Sin, is constantly in hot pursuit. They repeat and confess the same sins again and again and hang their heads in defeat. 'I'm locked into these things,' they say. 'There is no escape.'

There is an escape. The Red Sea opened up, the Israelites went through it and stood on the other side. The slave masters followed, the water flowed back and wiped them out. 'Not one of them survived' (Exod. 14:28). The Israelites were not simply forgiven, they were totally released.

Christians have been '… buried with (Christ) through baptism into death' (Rom. 6:4) like the Israelites passing through the Red Sea. They have not only been declared righteous but delivered from the power of sin. You can be free from sin.

Now you may say, 'That's very nice but you don't know the grip sin has on my life. How does this work out in practice? Should I be seeking a "death-to-sin" experience? Or should I just "let go and let God"? What must I do and what's God's part?'

To Meditate On

There is deliverance through God's power.

'And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant' (Exod. 14:31).

'(God) is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us' (Eph. 3:20).

Food For Thought

WRITE DOWN six other great deliverances in the Scriptures. Then write out Jeremiah 32:27.

If you are feeling at the mercy of sin, take courage. There is an answer.

Be Inspired

'All my life I have been seeking to climb out of the pit of my besetting sins and I cannot do it and I never will unless a hand is let down to draw me up.'

Seneca

To Consider

HOW would you describe your relationship to sin?

WHAT is your immediate response to the statement, 'You can be free from sin'?

To Question

How do you think we can overcome sin? Tick any suggestions which you think are correct:

a death-to-sin experience
letting go and letting God
will-power
ministry for deliverance
constant reconfession

If none of the above is relevant, what is your solution?