It's Your Decision

Without a doubt, the Book of Romans is the greatest legal document ever given to man. Not only does it reveal the condition of every person who does not know God, but it also gives a clear, concise description of the legal and vital position of everyone who confesses the Lordship of Jesus Christ and receives Him as Savior. However, once confession is made unto salvation, every person becomes responsible to act in faith and receive all that God has provided through Jesus Christ. In other words,  understanding the difference between living by law and living by grace. The reality is, many people who have been filled with the Holy Spirit, and who say that the Holy Spirit dwells in them, do not actually live in the Spirit, but live according to the flesh much of the time.

We need to see that on the cross, Jesus, by the Father's will, made Himself one with man's fallen, satanic nature, and through His death as man's substitute, had in fact executed man's fallen nature. God never had, nor does He have, any plan for the rehabilitation of man's fallen nature. In every sense of the word, God's plan for man's old fallen nature is execution. He can do nothing with man's old nature except to kill it. Therefore, our rebellious, fallen, satanic nature was executed when Christ died on the cross so that it should no longer have the power to dominate and control us.

God forgives our past sinful acts when we come to Him in Christ, but this is only the beginning. He deals with the old nature, and He brings forth a new nature in its place, which is called the new creation,  (2 Corinthians 5:17), the new man. (Ephesians 4:20-24) This is actually the nature of Jesus Christ reproduced in us by faith through the Word of God. (James 1:21; 1 Peter 1:23) The agent who produces the new birth is the Holy Spirit, who also transforms the believer into the image of Christ. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:1-2)

The Apostle Paul assumed that everyone born again is living in the grace of God, and is dead to sin, so he is saying, "If you continue to live in sin, you are contradicting yourself. If you are dead to sin, you shouldn't talk about living in sin." Paul continues, "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin." (Romans 6:3-7)

Our old man was crucified with Christ! The tense here signifies that this is an actual historical event that took place in the past. When Jesus died on the cross, our old man died in Him. It happened nearly twenty centuries ago. Why was this done?  "...that the body of sin might be done away with..." not renovated, not fixed up, but done away with, rendered ineffective, no longer able to control and dominate us, "...that we should no longer be slaves of sin." PTL!!! Next, Paul tells us, "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." (Romans 6:11-13)

Now it becomes the believers responsibility to accept by faith and act upon these wonderful liberating Words. You must refuse to accept the dominion of sin over you and the members of your physical body, but instead yield yourself, your soul (mind, will and emotions) and your body to the Holy Spirit. Although not the conclusion of the whole matter, Paul tells us, "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:14) Do you believe that? If you do not believe it, you will not experience it. If you believe that you are going to continue sinning, you will continue sinning. However, if you do believe that, then you understand the last part of this verse, "...for you are not under law but under grace." Knowing this to be true, you will indeed walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit not fulfilling the works of the flesh.  

Every believer must come to the place of a firm personal decision to no longer give into the flesh, but yield to the Holy Spirit, to be led by Him. He is the way of escape from continuing in the slavery of sin. Consider this; what good is it to have your past sinful nature and acts forgiven, if you are still controlled by the old fallen, satanic nature? The Holy Spirit will help every believer if you set your will to yielding to Him. He will not force you, it's your decision. Think about this way, every time you make a decision to do the wrong thing, you become more and more the slave of sin, but, every time you make a decision to do the right thing, you become more and more the slave of righteousness and live in the freedom that the Father has provided humanity through Jesus Christ. 

Finally, God made a proposal to Israel which I believe applies today for all believers, "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days..." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20) Jesus said it this way, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you...