10/16          Romans 7:11-13

11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. 13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes. 

EVIL

Sin is evil.  It is always evil.  The Ten Commandments and the Law of God help us to understand, identify and beware of sin.  Jesus forgives our sin and paid the price to give us His righteousness.  Jesus is the only way.  

10/15          Romans 7:7-10 

Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” 8 But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 

SIN

Sin is easy for us to get tangled up in and miss the point of a Christ-like life.  We must willingly surrender ourselves to the Lord and present ourselves usable and useful every day.  When we decide to do our thing and not God’s thing, and we know what that is, we are sinning.  Sin is destructive and separates us from the Lord.  Know God’s Word, write it upon your heart and do the next right thing.  

10/14          Romans 7:5-6

5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. 

LIFE

Life in the Spirit is real living.  I am surrendered to the Father and filled with the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus is able to lead, guide and direct me as I daily go about His work.  Shining brightly helping others is my assignment. 

10/13          Romans 7:4 

So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.

WORK
We do the work of the Kingdom in Christ.  We do those deeds that proclaim the Good News and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, king of kings, and Lord of Lords. 

10/12          Romans 7:1-3

1 Now, dear brothers and sisters —you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living?  2 For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. 3 So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries. 

DEAD

We are alive in Christ and dead to sin.  No longer are we in bondage to sin because we are free in Christ.  Jesus is Lord and He is our Lord.  

10/11          Romans 6:23 

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

GIFT

Life from the Lord is a free gift.  He is calling us back to where we were before Adam-a member of the family of God.  Now we are called sons and daughters and such we are.  Jesus enables our freedom, He paid a price we could not pay and gave us a gift of eternal life, life like the Father’s life.  

10/10          Romans 6:20-22 

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right.  21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 

SLAVE

We are a slave to Christ the Lord.  In our slavery we find perfect freedom.  Jesus is Lord.  He leads us in His triumph.  

10/09          Romans 6:19

Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

CHOICE

We choose how we will live.  We can do out own thing and not be in God’s family or we can choose to do things God’s way and be in His family.  Do the next right thing.  Serve the Lord with gladness.  

10/08          Romans 6:18 

Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. 

DIFFERENT
We serve a different master.  No slaves to sin we are slaves to Jesus Christ.  He is Lord and we follow Him.  We spend time in prayer, reading God’s Word the Bible, and listening to the Lord and doing what He tells us to do.  

10/07          Romans 6:14-17 

Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. 15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!  16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 

CHANGED

When we come into the Family of God we come as changed creatures.  Jesus paid the price for our sin and His righteousness covers us.  We are constantly, consistently being changed into His likeness.  Our goal: become more like Jesus.  He is Lord.