Greetings and Blessings, Health to the whole family of steemcghurch!
My reflection of this day is based on the book of Romans chapter 6: 1-11, where we read:
Romans 6: 1-11
6 What, then, will we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 In any way. Because those of us who have died to sin, how will we still live in it?
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized in Christ Jesus have been baptized at his death?
4 For we are buried together with him to death by baptism, so that as Christ rose from the dead for the glory of the Father, so we walk in new life.
5 For if we were planted together with him in the likeness of his death, so shall we be planted in his resurrection;
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified together with him, so that the body of sin may be destroyed, so that we no longer serve sin.
7 For he who has died has been justified from sin.
8 And if we die with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him;
9 knowing that Christ, having risen from the dead, no longer dies; Death does not rule over him.
10 For as soon as he died, he died once and for all; But as long as he lives, he lives for God.
11 So also you consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Reina-Valera 1960 (RVR1960).
Source
Many people have misunderstood Paul's teaching that "the greater the sin the more abundant the grace," they have taken these words to justify the sin deliberately, which is incorrect because this was not exactly what Paul meant. For example in verse 6 Paul says: What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? and in verse 2 he answers: 2 In no way. Because those of us who have died to sin, how will we still live in it?
In this way it is demonstrated that he who lives in Christ has died to sin, for He has raised us up by giving us new life and he who has new life dies to sin by the grace of God, it is not that we will sin by the grace that is he has given us.
A person who claims to be a Christian is someone who seeks to live a life different from the world and renounces sin by seeking day by day the grace of God to live in freedom.
Dead to sin and alive to God means to walk in a new life, to understand that we have been crucified together with him so that the sin we practiced before knowing him is destroyed so that we can no longer serve sin.
The Bible determines that we are a new creature 2 Corinthians 5:17 New International Version (NIV)
17 So if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things happened; Behold, they are all made new.
In that order of ideas I deduce that there is no reason to say that we can sin because God's grace abounds in us. It is true that God's grace abounds in us but to help us live a new life not to sin.
We can say that we are blessed because we have the grace of God in abundance and this grace makes us rather strong and firm in our life to live in freedom.
It is for this reason that when someone perseveres in sin they are dishonoring God, it must be understood that God hates sin because sin destroys humanity.
If you live for God it is because you have died to sin but if you continue deliberately practicing sin it is because you do not have the slightest idea of what it means to live for God in freedom and in new life.
BLESSINGS!
