really a slave to the risen Lord Jesus Christ. You should be available to Him, interested basically in nothing less. When we have allowed truth to come through the avenue of our minds, it is necessary for something to be done about it. The Saviour re minds us, “If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them.” In Romans 6:11-13, the Lord tells us exactly what we should do about what we know. Sin is not to reign in our mortal bodies. We are not to yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness. B asica lly , four things are required of us. In Verse 11 we are required to reckon; Verse 12 to let not; Verse 13 to yield not; and in the same verse to yield. In the original language, at the beginning of verse 13, it requires us not to go unyielding continuingly. The second time the word appears it means we are to yield ourselves once and for all. What does it mean to reckon one’s self to have died unto sin? Let us think through what God says and then come to an intelligent conclu sion. If you are in Christ, and Christ died for sin, therefore my sin gle obligation is to die to sin and to live to God. Have you really come this far in your Christian growth and maturity? The dynamic God in tends to control your life from this moment on is His power and not sin. The next thing which follows is sug gested in verse 12, pointing out that we are not to let sin reign. Have you learned to say “no” to sin? God hasn’t asked you to screw up all of your abilities so that you can say “no” to sin. He wants you to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen One, lives within you. I t is the power of His resurrection that now becomes at your disposal. He then is your ability to say “no” to sin. I t cer tainly can never be done in your own strength. Next, stop yielding your members as instruments to unrighteousness 8
Sharon Maxwell, student at Blola Colege, In the education major, has the opportunity of working with kindergarden boys and girls at the El Portal School of the Lowell District System located in nearby Whittier. Pray for the Biota students who have the privilege of serving the Lord as school teachers.
sin and have no further obligation to it. Your responsibility is to the risen Lord Jesus. Reckon yourselves to have died indeed unto sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. RECKONING LIFE PART III W e need to keep in mind con stantly that sin is the thing that keeps a believer from living victoriously and triumphantly. When we become Christians, God doesn’t take away our ability to sin, but He does give us the power not to sin. This doesn’t mean that it is impos sible for a Christian to sin. The Bible does not teach sinless perfec tion. Having been baptized into Christ, God reckons to us all that He reckons to Christ. Therefore, we can possibly know what it means to die to sin. Again, it doesn’t mean that we are incapable of sin, but rather that our relationship to sin has been terminated. We have been raised again in newness of life. This won derful experience is followed by a trem endou s obligation (Romans 6:16). We no longer have any obli gation to sin. Our new responsibility is to live unto God. A Christian is
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker