13b…but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.               

Verse 14 serves as a conclusion to this section, as well as the introduction to the next section. Paul changes the imagery from baptism to slavery. If we are no longer under the bondage of sin, we are no longer the slaves of sin, or under the dominion of sin. Sin is not our master any longer. because we are not under law, but under grace.

When you read through the Bible you will discover that God never proclaimed the gospel as a means by which sinners could continue to sin, but the means to have the assurance of forgiveness and eternal life. The gospel begins with a condemnation of sin and sinners by a righteous and holy God. It offers men the solution for sin in Jesus Christ, a solution which includes both forgiveness of sin and freedom from sin. The gospel which the apostles preached did not make it easy for men to advocate living in sin as saints. Even so, some sought to pervert the gospel, even in Paul’s day.

Conversion is a radical change. It is not a man-made decision to put God on our agenda, but a divinely energized birth which tears up our agenda and rearranges our lives to conform to God’s agenda.

In our own day and time, our presentation of the gospel has become a soft sell. It is very easy for people to believe that God sent His Son to calvary so that sinners could sin and be forgiven, rather than knowing God sent His Son so that sin could be remedied and removed from this earth. Christ did not come to sanction sin, but to defeat it. When we seek to present the gospel to be appealing to men, some will play down those things which do not appeal to men. When we preach this kind of gospel, we make it easy for all kinds of error. The gospel offers deliverance from sin, not to continue in it. After you accepted Christ Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you should not live the same lifestyle you lived before you met Jesus.

Baptism is symbolic of the washing away of our sins and a new way of life. Someone compared it to a wedding ring. The ring does not make us married; it is a symbol of our commitment to our spouse. Baptism declares our public commitment to the Lord. He commanded it in the great commission in Matthew 28. Because it is the biblical way of professing faith, it should be done by believers as a profession of their saving faith.

Have you made this commitment?

Prayer:   Lord, thank You for reminding me of my baptism, knowing that through faith I have been brought from death to life.  Oh Lord I pray that in every way I will submit my members to God as instruments for righteousness so that in all, You get the Glory!   

Dale