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12 Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18 and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. 20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:12-23 NRSV)
Good day, dear Friend; may this Tuesday bring you plenty of blessings to you and yours. I pray you are well and enjoying good health. I pray we continue to take every precaution to keep us away from the coronavirus. A dear friend, Mrs. Debra Scott Brown, former worship leader at one of the churches where we worshiped has come down with the Covid-19 virus in Corpus Christi. She herself has said that she took all precautions and wore a mask, washed her hands, etc., but when things relaxed, so did she and she came down with the virus. Pray for her healing. Also, The Rev. Sterling Allen, music pastor in Houston has been tested for the virus and will know tomorrow if he has it or not. Please pray for Sterling and his wife and daughter. Pray for one another. Pray for yourselves.
Paul loved preaching and writing about the freedom he found in Jesus. Paul knew that he had been a slave under the law to the law and it was the law that dictated his actions to persecute the Christian church. But it was Jesus who freed him from the bounds of the law, and freed him to be obedient to grace. It was also Jesus who showed Paul about the power of sin and how He, Jesus, was stronger than sin, more so because He defeated sin on the cross. Paul accepted that freedom immediately and wanted the same for everyone, especially his brothers and sisters the Jews. Free is free, is what Paul is saying, yet he knew so many of us are drawn to sin like moths to the flame. Many of you commented on the dove from last week's story; it did not know freedom and was comfortable with what it knew. Paul says we should know at least this much about sin; sin kills. It is the final paycheck of this life, and once cashed, that is it. It is not a paycheck to work for.
It was temptation that led Adam and Eve to circle the forbidden tree time and time again, leading Eve to stop and touch the fruit. It was temptation that directed her mind to say, "It's not sinful to touch this as long as I don't bite it..." And finally temptation led Eve to say to herself and her husband, "Let's go back and check out that tree once again!" And once there, the tempter was able to add to the temptation by saying what the couple didn't expect to hear; a contradiction to what God said. "You will not die... Your eyes will be open and you will know the difference between good and evil..." The deal was sealed and the deed was done. Sin entered the world. And so did death.
Paul asks the logical question in verse 21, "So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death." The once nicotine addicted person; the once alcohol dependent person; the once pornography hungry person; the once drug addicted person; all can be asked that question (and you can make as long a list as you want) and with God's help answer, "I have no need of those things that were killing me! I have tasted the fullness of life and I'd rather have that!" This is the victory that Christ offered and that Christ loves to hear His children say, "Loving Savior, because of you I no longer need that any more."
Dear one, if you are still fighting that battle against the very thing that is killing, stealing, and/or destroying you, turn to Jesus and take His hand and be led away from evil and into life, and that in abundance.
PRAYER: Awesome Savior, we celebrate those who have taken Your hand and who have followed you joyfully away from death and into the fullness of life. We pray for those still hearing the loud whispers of temptation; lead them away from death, and into life. In Thy name we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be a voice of hope to those who are hopeless.
Receive my blessing of peace and love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
