Give up sin’s pleasure in exchange for Christ’s power

Misapplied Learning Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 6:11 After a 4-year-old got into trouble at preschool, his mom asked him what he had done wrong. He explained, “I was angry with a playmate. But you told me that I should not hit anyone, so I asked my friend to do it for me!”
	Where does someone so young learn that? The Bible tells us he did not have to be taught — he was born with it! It is part of the fallen nature that all of us have at birth. But the Christian does not have to respond according to his fallen nature. Paul reminds us that “our old man was crucified with [Christ], ... that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Rom. 6:6). We are “a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17) and have been set free and have become “slaves of God” (Rom. 6:22).
Yet, as Christians we do still struggle with our flesh and its sinful desires (Rom. 7:18-19). But now that “we are alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” we can respond in a God-honoring way (Rom. 6:11). Instead of being like the young boy who tried to get revenge, we can obey the instructions of Romans 6:13, “Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God ... as instruments of righteousness.” O help us, Lord, to heed Your Word, Its precepts to obey; And give us strength to quench the urge To do things our own way. — Sper We gain the victory when we give up sin’s pleasure in exchange for Christ’s power. PRAISE GOD BLESSED BE THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD