Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to
WEEK 46
BEING EMPOWERED TO SERVE
ROMANS 6:11-23
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
HEAVENLY FATHER, how grateful we are
that the reign of sin is ended in our lives! We are no longer slaves to iniquity and unrighteousness
but we are Your slaves—slaves to righteousness. What dominates us now is no longer sin, but righteousness. Your Son shed His own blood
to purchase us out of sin's slave-market, and now we belong to You— body, soul, spirit, heart, mind, will, and affections. Use our every faculty for Your glory;
make us profitable servants; employ us as unashamed workmen— envoys and ambassadors
for the expansion of Your kingdom and glory.
O Father, our hearts overflow with joy and gratitude
because we have been regenerated. Our hearts have been totally renewed. We have been made completely new creatures in Christ. Nevertheless, in this earthly life we still face
the presence of remaining sin in our flesh. And it must be subdued.
Give us the strength and a heartfelt willingness—
by the power of Your Spirit— to mortify the sin in our members
day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment.
Give us such a love for Christ
and a devotion to virtue and holiness
that we will gladly yield ourselves
as dutiful servants to righteousness. Our desire is to participate in the full blessedness of sanctification
and to bring honor to Your name— at home, in Your church, in the workplace, in our communities, and wherever else You might send us.
Help us to do all our work with excellence,
in Your sight as well as in the eyes of others. Remind us each moment to give You glory
even in the smallest, most mundane activities of life.1
Teach us to number our days
so that we will apply our hearts to wisdom.2
Make us careful how we walk,
not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of our time— because not only do we know our time is short; but we also sense that these are evil times.3
When high unemployment and other economic,
political, or social difficulties trouble our land, help us not to fear, but to trust in Your provision. We trust that You will not only meet our needs,
but also give us enough to share with others in need. May we never close up our hearts of compassion against them.4
We know, dear Lord, that all who live faithfully in Christ
will suffer persecution.5
The occasional taunts and harassments we face
are blessedly mild by comparison
to the suffering and deaths of so many saints
who have gone before us. May we never grow complacent
or so accustomed to the comforts of our culture's apathy
that we lose our boldness. Above all, may we not yearn for worldly approval. We know that it would be the very height of infidelity
to seek accolades from the same world that hated Christ.6
Help us to be faithful, and may we (like Christ)
simply scorn worldly shame
for the sake of the joy set before us.7
We thank You, Lord, that although the wages of sin is death,
we have received salvation freely. Eternal life is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord—
at the highest imaginable cost to Him, but without money and without price to us.8
Our present and our future are secure. Our eternity is unimaginably rich
with blessings that no one can ever take from us.
Help us to honor our Savior in our worship. We bring all these prayers before You
in His holy name. Amen.
1. Ephesians 6:5-8; 1 Corinthians 10:31 2. Psalm 90:12 3. Ephesians 5:15-17 4. 1 John 3:17 5. 2 Timothy 3:12 6. John 15:18-19 7. Hebrews 12:2 8. Isaiah 55:1