Freedom from Sin

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:1-14, NRSV)

If we have been baptized we have been baptized into Christ’s death and if we have joined him in his death then we will also join him in his resurrection. We are dead to our old self.

Does that mean we no longer sin? No, it doesn’t. but it means we have the power to resist sin because we are no longer held slave to sin. We are not under the law but under grace, that doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want. as verses 1 and 2 remind us, we shouldn’t sin more so that we get more grace. We can not run after that which we are dead to.

You have been set free to live a life of love to others so that they will see how much God loves them. Live in your freedom and share the grace you have been given with all of the world!

Gather ~ Grow ~ Go

Now is the time to GROW!

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18)

According to Charis’ seventh-grade teacher, it is past time to be planting here, “if this was a usual May.” We all know this was not a usual May…

So maybe we are behind doing what we need to be doing…

But my thoughts are to warmer days ahead and a wonderful time of vacation from school and a summer full of fun and time in the sun!

This is not a bad thing to have on the radar screen as we head into the months ahead. But it could be bad if we forget what we are about, people of St. John’s…

You see I have our mission statement at the top of this, Gather ~ Grow ~ Go.  This summer we might miss some gathering, and that is ok. We all need time away and I will be away some times during our gatherings. That is life and we need that time with our families.

We will be going this summer to many places, and hopefully being true witnesses to the love we have received.

But in the midst of all this going, we can still be growing! Now is the time to set our sights upon God and to discover how we will stay connected as we work towards being disconnected!

We need to always be seeking how we will be growing in the grace and knowledge of God. If you need some help see me before you go this summer! But I pray you will be connected to God as you disconnect to recharge in these months ahead!

The Blame Game

8They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”10He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:8-13, NRSV)

How did you know you were naked? Who told you were naked?

Who else is in the garden that could have told Adam and Eve they were naked?

And then it is the blame game, Adam says it was Eve and Eve says it was the serpent. So why did the serpent trick Eve?

This portion of the story leaves me with more questions than answers.

Forbidden Fruit

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’“ 4But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; 5for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. (Genesis 3:1-7, NRSV)

The serpent was crafty and wise and knew that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil wouldn’t actually kill them if they ate it. But in a sense it did kill them, didn’t it?

I mean they were removed from the garden because of that and the woman’s pain increased during childbirth and the man had to labor more against weeds to get food. And they were no longer able to walk the paths of the garden with God. So it was like dying.

And why that one tree? Why not 2 trees? Because if you finish off chapter 3 of Genesis you see that Adam and Eve are removed from the garden so they can’t eat from the tree of eternal life. Not because they disobeyed, but so they wouldn’t become exactly like God, because now they knew the difference between good and evil so we can not let them live forever.

Why was there only 1 forbidden fruit and why do we think it was an apple?

Eternal Life for All

20But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21, NRSV)

When the Law was made known, sin multiplied because now we knew what was against the law. Before we knew what the law was we didn’t know we were breaking it. but now that we know the law we know we are breaking it. But even though sin had increased, grace has increased all the more. Because where there is sin, God’s grace will be even more abundantly than the sin.

So how free are you?

Many will be Made Righteous

18Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19, NRSV)

By one made we are led astray and by another man we are made right.

By one man’s disobedience we are made sinners and by another man’s obedience we are made right.

By Jesus’ obedience to God to go to the cross and bear the shame and guilt we all should bear we are made right with God. Nothing for us to boast, but all for God’s glory.

The Free Gift of Justification

15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. 16And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. 17If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:15-17, NRSV)

We say that Adam is responsible for the original sin and the fact all of us are separated from God. But even more than that we are all made right with God through one man, Jesus Christ.

The grace that we receive from Jesus is way more powerful than the sin that keeps us from God.

We all need to rest in the much more grace of God that Jesus gives us.

Sin and Death

12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned—13sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. 14Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. (Romans 5:12-14, NRSV)

For all have sinned so all will die. Interesting to say it that way. Paul implies here that if Adam and Eve hadn’t sinned that they would have lived forever even without eating from the tree of eternal life.

But because they disobeyed God then they will die. And because all have sinned we will all die. So if we never sinned would we not die?

It is hard to say because we all have sinned and fall short of what God expects of us.

But God is able to lift us up and clean us off.

Would you not sin if you could? What is sin that leads to death?

Peace and Hope

28For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. 29Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.9Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.11But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 3:28-30, 5:1-11, NRSV)

We are justified by faith. But being justified does not mean we will be free from suffering, but we can take hold of peace that comes from knowing we can hold to the promises of the justification we have.

But we can boast also in our suffering for God, because as Paul tells the Romans, “suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” God has poured His love into our lives through the Holy Spirit. We are saved from the wrath that God would have given us and we deserve because while we still deserved that wrath and were not able to stand in the presence of God, Jesus came and died for each of us. Jesus reconciled us when we did not deserve reconciliation. That is how he wants each of us to live. To show His love to all of the world. not based on who deserves it because none of us did, but just give love, and the fountain will continue to fill out hearts.

Abraham’s Faith

13For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. 16For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. (Romans 4:13-17, NRSV)

Faith is what gets us our inheritance into the kingdom.

If it is us following the Law, then we can do it all on our own and we don’t need God. But we still need the Law so we have order and know our violations. But the Law and adherence to it will not save us. Only God can do that through faith, the faithfulness of Jesus to show us how to live and love.