Freedom from Sin
Freedom from Sin
Christian Running, College and Young Adults Minister
Hello Cornerstone family! My name is Christian Running, and I am the minister to college and young adults here at Cornerstone. This Resurrection Week, I have been given the privilege of taking us through a devotional, particularly on our freedom from sin that we receive in Christ. The chapter that God put on my heart, and has used mightily in my life, that I want to take us through is Romans 8. It is a well-known chapter that speaks on the freedom from sin and the call for believers to mortify the flesh or put to death the deeds of the body. Romans 8:1-4 contains this grand statement that many of us who have been in the church already know.
1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[a] 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you[b] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,[c] he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, we know that Jesus’s death and resurrection grants us salvation after we die, but we also have the freedom from sin in this life. We have been set free from the Law, and Christ has given us the power to live a godly and holy life now by His Spirit. As the Spirit raised Christ from the dead, so he will also give life to you as well.
10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus[d] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.12 So then, brothers,[e] we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons[f] of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
We can live a holy life now! You have the freedom and power through Christ Jesus by the Spirit to do these things. But this is such a rich passage, let’s not stop there! Did we see how Paul laid out what this holy life was for? The Christian life is not about moral reform, it’s not about getting your act together so you can be accepted by God. You have been bought at a price and loved and accepted! So then, why is Paul calling us to live a holy life worthy of the calling to which we have been called? Some have said it is good and that we all ought to strive to contribute and live well in society. That is not what Paul is getting at here. Our obedience and mortification of our bodies comes from our love for Christ and the Father. You have been made into children of God and are being conformed into the image of Christ daily. To live in obedience to the word, mortify the flesh, and be holy in your conduct is to live into your deepest identity. We live into the reality of being children of God, delighting in our Father as He delights in us. I live out what I see in the word, not to earn salvation, but that I might love God well as He has loved us perfectly. We do this in the body. We need the body. We need our brothers and sisters to encourage us, correct us, pray for us, and so on. I hope this time has encouraged you to live these things out.