05/04/2026
Sunday Takeaway, from Romans 7
Verses 4-13 speak of walking/living in the motions of sin – when we lived in the flesh – and we were bound, ie “held” to sin (v6), but now, when we are delivered from sin and its law that held us, we walk – and serve – in “newness of spirit, not in the oldness” of the letter/law of sin which previously guided all that we did. V. 11 says that sin “deceived me… slew me.”
Verses 15-25 speak of the tug-of-war, the battle that rages within us all, between our flesh (the old man/living in sin) and our spirit (the new man/washed in the blood of Jesus) saved from our sinful nature and all the curses that came along with that sinful nature.
Think about your relationship with Christ in this way, like a marriage…
Jesus is the bridegroom, we are the bride.
When we fall in love with Jesus, we quit fooling around, and commit ourselves to our bridegroom, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
When we meet Christ, when we become part of the family of God, ie surrender our lives to him, we give ourselves to Him and to His purposes. We quit the loose living. Why? Because we have found the One we love, the One our heart desires... like a good marriage.
Justification happens at the cross… when we bow and surrender our lives there… when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our bridegroom. Sanctification follows… it means “set apart” and it happens over time as we become more in tune with and fall more in love with our bridegroom.
There is a journey between justification and sanctification, and our witness is not only that we were justified in Christ, our witness is also that we are sanctified as we follow Him, as we mature and grow in our relationship with Him. We were not intended to remain as babes in Christ, to settle in/stop at justification and never progress on toward sanctification. Sanctification is about spiritual maturity.. it's about making progress.
So again….
The law of sin bound us to sin.
When we fall in love with Jesus, when we surrender our lives to Him, we no longer are bound by the law and bo***ge of sin. We begin a journey of sanctification.
There will always be a battle between flesh and spirit, but as we mature and grow in Christ, the tug of sin and its laws loses its grip on us. It’s like anything that you practice… the more you practice righteousness, ie right living (according to God’s holy Word), the better you get at it. The more you lean into it, the more it becomes part of you, the more it becomes instinctive, it becomes our nature.. Likewise, the more you practice sin and remain in the sinful nature of the old man, the more you lean into it, the more skilled you get at that and it remains your nature; you wind up with one foot on a firm foundation (Christ), and the other on a banana peel (sin) just waiting to bring you down. God does not intend us to live that way.
As believers we are called to “come out from among the world,” in other words to stop living in the sin(s) that once held us captive. In Christ there is life, and liberty (freedom from sin, not freedom to behave any way we wish), and the ability to crush sin.
Sin has dominion over us only as we continue to live in it, to DWELL in its unrighteous places.
Sanctification does its good work within us as we fall more and more in love with Jesus.
Where are you on your journey from justification to sanctification, remembering that sanctification is about progression... making progress. Delight in the law of God and see what good comes. Fall in love with Jesus… that is the key.
One last thing...
As a reminder, Pastor Johnny said "all you can take to heaven with you is other people." How is that possible?? Through our witness... by making progress (through sanctification) and others seeing our lives change as sin loses its grip on us. A transformed life is a powerful witness and gives GOD glory. Begin your sanctification journey and see who all you can take to heaven with you.
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Did you have some key takeaways from Sunday? Did you take any notes? (I sure did.) We would love to hear what especially spoke to you, ministered to you. Lets grow in Christ TOGETHER.
--RC
