June 3

“For he that is dead is freed from sin” Romans 6:7

In beautiful language of parallels, Paul teaches believers at Rome, that the death of the flesh, the ‘old man’, is a necessary part of Christian life! in days when the relationship between slave and master was still a commonplace thing, it was not difficult to understand, that upon dying, the slave was no longer under the control or dictates of his earthly master. He escaped those constraints, and was freed from them. Paul alludes to that fact by pointing out that when we are in Christ, we are ‘dead to sin’, which was our master and enslaved us, and this ‘death’ is actually a freedom from sin, and the liberty to live the resurrected life in Jesus Christ. This is one of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith - that true life is found in death! When we come to salvation, we accept through faith that being baptised is a necessary part of entering into our new life in Christ. It is by this act of faith that we identify with the burial of Jesus Christ. Clearly only ‘dead’ people are buried! When we repent of our sins, we die to self and our own ways, recognising that God’s ways are right and choose them for ourselves. Now ‘dead’, we are then ‘buried’ in water, by baptism, in the name given for salvation (Acts 4:12), which is the name of Jesus, identifying with His death and burial. The scriptures say that “we are buried with Him by baptism into death” (Rom 6:4). Finally we rise to a new life in Christ, when we are filled with His Holy Spirit, spiritually participating in His resurrection! Now cleansed and free from the sin of our past life, we stand spiritually alive in Christ, but dead to sin! As long as this status and balance exists, we remain alive in the Spirit, aligned with God and progressing towards eternal life in heaven with Christ! The entire effort of Christian life is to maintain this now holy, new and consecrated life we have in Jesus, free from sin. According to our text, our best defence against the destructive, enslaving ravages of sin is to be ‘dead’! We must then determine to remain ‘dead’ to the flesh, - this means saying no and being inert to the world and to self; ‘dead’ to sin, - this means saying no to and resisting temptation and sin; ‘dead’ in Christ, - this means yielding to Him, without our own agenda, but desiring only to fulfil His ways and will, so we can continue to be alive in Him! God’s Word makes it clear that Christian living is not for the faint hearted, cowardly or timorous, but for the obedient, determined and faithful!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

Feb 25

“Who gave himself a ransom for all…” 1 Timothy 2:6

In order to free a slave from his captivity, a redemption price or ransom had to be paid. Clearly from his enslaved position, the slave himself would never be able to pay such a price. To free such a man then, someone else would have to pay the price of his freedom, on his behalf. Such is the picture painted in our text. Like poor and hopeless captives, we too were all slaves to sin, under the hand of the tyrannical and wicked master, the devil, who cared nothing if we died. Our situation was so beyond repair because the price for our liberty could not be paid by any other human being. Everyone else was in the same condition as us, for all have sinned and as such, were in the same chains and bondage that defined and restrained us. How could such a situation be remedied? What price could possibly be paid, as a ransom for all of humanity? Jesus is the answer! This is the motto some have puzzled over. They wonder if Jesus is the answer then what was the question! The question was they, me, us, all of humanity, our sin and lost condition and the how we could ever be delivered from our slavery and the captivity of Satan – that is the question to which only Jesus is the answer! He is the True Redeemer, who didn’t just give in order to ransom, but gave Himself, His precious sinless blood, as the price and full payment for our freedom from slavery! To further expound the dimension of Christ’s redemption, consider this: He became the ransom price for ALL! Yes - all of humanity; all who have been enslaved by sin and iniquity; all who are in captivity and spiritual chains! This is a remarkable thought! The price of delivering on slave from his slavery was considerable but the price of delivering humanity from its slavery is incalculable! The praises and hymns of thanks should continually flow from the mouths and hearts of every human being on earth! Yet what is obvious is that so many remain in the bondage of their sin and enslaved by satan - why is this the case? The single and simple requirement for receiving this freedom is accepting the salvation Jesus has provided! So many remain in spiritual slavery, for several reasons. Firstly because they do not know about the Saviour and the price He paid on their behalf, and therefore cannot in faith act and partake of His salvation. This is why the task of those who are saved, is to share the ‘good news’ of the gospel of salvation and help others receive their freedom! Let’s remember that every effort is made by the powers of darkness which enslave the souls of men, to stop this process of evangelism, quench the passion and vision of Christians to share the gospel, and to adulterate the message of salvation, minimise it, compromise it or alter it, in any way possible to lessen the chances of a slave becoming free from sin. The second reason why so many are yet in chains of spiritual slavery, is that the salvation and ransom given freely on their behalf, astonishingly is rejected by them! Although it may seem unthinkable, illogical and unlikely, that a slave would reject the only means of his liberty, yet this is exactly what is happening on the spiritual plane! Either deceived in believing that is not really their spiritual condition, or that there is some other way to freedom, or worse unwilling to make Jesus their new Master and Lord and serve Him for the love He has shown to them, they reject ‘The Ransom’, and choose rather to remain in spiritual bondage and slavery, where they will die eternally for their sin! Through all this, the grand plan and message of God continues to sound out for all who will hear it, and His salvation is still available to all who will receive it – Jesus – The Ransom for all! Jesus is still the Answer!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion