READ: Romans 8:1-10
I was working with a petroleum company in Singapore when an inspector from another country visited. He came to check on a cargo of oil destined for his country, which was at war. When he heard the shriek of fighter planes overhead, he instinctively ran for cover. Embarrassed, he explained, “Sorry, I thought I was back home.” He did what he would have done had he been in his war-torn country.
For the Christian, it’s easy to dive back into old ways of sin out of sheer habit because of the many temptations in this world. Even though we are “in Christ Jesus” as Romans 8:1 says, we sometimes live as if we are “in sin.”
God paid a very heavy price to take us out of the realm of sin. He did so by “sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering” (v.3 niv). We are now to be governed by “the law of the Spirit of life,” not by “the law of sin and death” (v.2). The apostle Paul urges us to “set” our mind according to “the things of the Spirit” (v.5). This means that we take our direction from God’s Word as guided by His Spirit.
When you’re tempted to dive back into old sinful ways, will you instead allow the Holy Spirit who resides in you to help you live more consistently with your standing “in Christ”?
Then born of the Spirit, new life to begin;
I’ve been washed in Christ’s blood and this will suffice,
Praise God I’m His child, I’ve been born twice! —Brandt
Bible in One Year: Zechariah 9-12; Revelation 20
