Freed from sin, a slave to Christ

Freed from sin, a slave to Christ
S -  Romans 6:3=7, 22-23 (NASB)
³ Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?⁴ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk innewness of life. ⁵ For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our oldself was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ⁷ for he who has died is freed from sin.
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²² But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.


O - Even slaves have a freedom of sorts,  the freedom to chose to obey their masters and be obedient to their commands.  It is the same with God, who has offered us freedom from sin which results in death, in exchange for slavery in Christ, which offers eternal life.   Following a benevolent God who cares for us deeply is not like being a slave of an evil landowner who takes advantage of their slaves, and treats them as less than.  Following God leads us in His righteousness and protects us from our own misgivings.   Paul writes to us these reminders of what it means to to be a follower of Christ, because he understands that even after understanding and accepting Christ, we will face temptations and fall short, and even at times turn away from God, but Paul reminds us of our hope.  First off in this new covenant we belong to God, we are his slaves, and only He can release, as long a he is our master,  sin may never be.   Second, we are going to be sanctified along the way to eternal life, meaning,  the closer we walk with God, following his directions to us, the closer we will be to leading a life that is simply not possible without God.


A - The application for me is to recognize that I am not to be discouraged even in seasons where I allow other, but especially myself to make me feel not worthy of eternal life, or make me question my own salvation and commitment to following God.   I am to embrace the fact that I am a slave to Christ, and that if I will be a good slave and follow his commands and prompting, he is good a faithful to lead me in ways of eternal life.  I must trust in his perfect leadership of my surrendered life.   


P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your daily faithfulness to leading me in my own sanctification process.  I trust in you, to lead me, and pray that you remind me and strengthen me when I fall short of hearing your guidance, and obeying it.  Help me to repent and correct back toward you, and to do so with the joyful heart that comes from knowing you care for me and have my best in mind.