Good evening Steemians, it is another edition of the Sunday Bible Study and I am excited in fact, ecstatic to be here.
We will continue from where we stopped last week. Let us pray.
Lord, we come humbly before you and ask that you teach us again as you've always done. Thank you for hearing us, in Jesus name we have prayed. Amen
Last week we agreed that man's original sin was that of unbelief which led and still leads to death but the cure is to believe and this leads to live, abundant and eternal life. Now, after I've accepted this new way of living, what do I do?
I mentioned last week that we were saved by faith through GRACE. I want you to look at it like two countries: Law country and Grace country. Or Unbelief country and Belief country. One is reliant on it's ability, that's the law country while the other depends entirely on God, that's the grace country.
Every Christian that has genuinely given his life to Christ lives in the grace country
Now the question is how do I live in this new country? And it's simple, in fact during Paul's time the same question was asked
Roman's 5:20
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
Wherever sin abounded, there's much more Grace
This begs the question, should we now sin more so that grace will keep increasing? i.e because I've been saved by Grace and I'm now in a country where there's so much Grace, does that mean I can sin anyhow since God will 'always' forgive me? i.e deliberately sin since you know there's forgiveness for them. But the Bible says
Romans 6:10-11
For when he died, he died once and for all as far as sin is concerned. But now that he is alive, he lives for God.
11 In the same way, you too must continuously consider yourselves dead as far as sin is concerned, but living for God through the Messiah Jesus.
When Christ died, we died with him. The same thing when he arose. So we should always live with that consciousness
I AM DEAD TO SIN
Verse 13 says
Stop offering the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have been brought from death to life and the parts of your body as instruments of righteousness to God.
The person you give yourself to is the person you're a 'slave' of.
If you give yourself to sin, then you're a slave of sin which leads to death, likewise if you give yourself to righteousness which leads to life, then a slave of righteousness you are. Please never forget this verse of the Bible, take it as a memory verse.
Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
In essence, because you're in Grace country, sin shall not have dominion over you. Now how do we apply all this in our daily life?
The answer is in
Hebrews 4:16
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Always come boldly to the throne of Grace
The reason it said boldly is that many of us feel guilty after committing sin hence the need for us to come boldly. Look at it this way
Suppose you were climbing a mountain and you slipped and were hanging on a cliff by your fingers. You can’t hold on and you fall and break your bones. Then you cry for help. Then the ambulance comes and picks you up, takes you to the hospital, fixes your bones. That is mercy. But if you cry for help before you fall, and someone pulls you up and makes you stand on the rock, that is grace. Your real time of need is before you fall. To cry for help after falling is the second best. The best is to ask for help before you fall. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of grace and He is called the Helper. He can help you when you are slipping (tempted), before you fall. Most Christians keep on falling and keep on asking for mercy. They fall and then ask God to forgive them. They start climbing again, fall again and ask for the ambulance of mercy once again. Mercifully, the ambulance does come each time. But that is not the way God wants you to live.
The next time you are tempted, when you are tempted to be angry, or to think sexually dirty thoughts, and you find yourself slipping, cry out, “Lord, give me grace now.” You will be surprised to find that you do not fall. God’s grace will hold you up.
Romans 6:14 says, “Sin shall not rule over you because you are under grace.”
In summary, Grace is God's help i.e God helping you do what you can't do by yourself.
I pray God helps us all in Jesus name. Amen.
Let us pray.
In jesus name, eternal rock of ages we thank you for bringing us here once more into your presence, as we go into the new week i pray you lead and direct our path in jesus name. Thank you Lord for answering our prayers. In jesus name i have prayed. Amen
