ANCHOR DEVOTIONS (APRIL 30, 2012)

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Romans 6:15-23



"Don't you know that...you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?"
(ROMANS 6:16)

I can almost hear you saying, "I want to be holy; I've tried time and again, but I just can't seem to get a handle on it."

I have good news for you. I've found the "handle" for holiness. It's expressed simply in today's Bible verses: Obedience leads to righteousness, which leads to holiness (see vv. 16, 19). Obedience is the "handle" we need to take hold of.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out that righteousness refers mainly to our actions while holiness speaks of our inner state or condition. "To be holy means to be pure within, to be pure in heart, to be pure in life, to be dedicated to God, to be conformed to His divine image and character."

Before we have Jesus on the throne of our lives, Paul says our sinful actions lead to "ever-increasing wickedness." But when we are living for Christ, our righteous actions lead to ever-increasing holiness. As we obey, our character will be strengthened in holiness. Even when we lose our "handle" on holiness, our perfect Redeemer has His hold on us.

INSIGHT
"LORD, HELP ME DESIRE TO OBEY. AND THEN HELP ME TO DO IT BY THE POWER OF YOUR HOLY SPIRIT."

READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
1 Kings 19-20
Proverbs 9
Hebrews 12

Romans 6:15-23
New Living Translation (NLT)
15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.
19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

THE JESUS LENS

Does the Bible ever intimidate you? Many people want to understand its message from beginning to end, but find some parts confusing. Is there a way to make sense of it all? The answer is ... YES!