Devotion's by Deborah

Devotion 4-15-24, Romans 6:22- "But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life." How does one become free from sin? Salvation comes as a result of accepting the free gift of forgiveness of sin; it comes by believing, in faith, that Jesus died for your sin and that He rose again for your justification.(Romans 5:1). You are no longer bound by sin; you are "freed from sin." But are you enslaved to God? Scripture indicates this as a separate action. Is God your Lord? Have you consciously, intentionally, given your life away to God? Only as He is given full sway is He Lord. Only as you acknowledge you are not your own, you are bought with the price of Jesus' blood, will you be entirely free of sins control and entirely owned by God. We may choose sin or God. We choose. We "derive our benefit, resulting in sanctification." If we are intentionally in God's camp, we do things His way and we receive the benefit, "eternal life." There must be a noticeable difference in our lives. We were slaves to sin; now we are to be slaves to God. We were ignorantly following the world; now we must intelligently follow God. We did not know God's word; now we must know ALL He says about what we must say, think and do. If we choose not to know for ourselves, we are still obeying sin. We must know God. If eternal life is our goal, then we must be and do what is required to attain it. Obedience to God's way is essential. Do you understand what Jesus meant when He answered- Mark 12:29-31- “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Your whole life must be His!