Day 3 - No Longer a Slave to Sin

Being a slave is a terrible thing; you lose your freedom, you lose your ability to choose for yourself, you can lose your very identity.

Because Adam brought sin into the world, and it spread to all of us, when we are “in Adam,” we are, in a sense, “in sin.” As we said earlier, sin is more than just an act, it is a nature – a character that forms our identity. Because of this, we are slaves to sin.

But for those who receive salvation through Jesus, the sin nature is removed. In Romans 6:6(NCV), Paul says, “We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin.” Because Jesus died with our sin (our “old life,” our “sinful self”) upon Him, we are freed from that sin nature. Because of this, we are no longer slaves to sin!

This is the reality of salvation. 2Cor 5:17 puts it this way, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” The old sin nature is gone from us – it is removed. The new nature, a nature of righteousness is given to us by God.

So one of the greatest results of this is that we are no longer slaves of sin – we do not have to sin. No Christian has to sin.

This is great news, but it also leaves us wondering; “then why do I sin sometimes, even when I don’t want to?” And that’s a good question. We’ll talk about this more in the next lesson, but for now, let’s just say there are influences working against us and we need to learn how to resist those influences.

Here are 3 steps that can help you deal with temptation when it comes your way:

Confess: “Sin is not my master. I am dead to sin and alive to God.” (Rom 6:11)

Choose: Sin will not rule over me. (Rom 6:12)

Commit: Every part of my body to God. (Rom 6:13)

When we remind ourselves of these, we are doing our best to walk in grace. We were saved by grace, and we need to live by that same grace.

Consider:

If you are a Christian, why do you still face temptation?

What implications can you see to no longer being slaves to sin?