Romans - Week 13

To Become Holy

READ

Romans 6:19

19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

Paul explains why he was using a physical example of slavery to teach believers a spiritual lesson. Before salvation they had been slaves to impurity and lawlessness that led them further into sin. Just as they had given themselves to lustful desires, they now needed to commit themselves to being slaves to the kind of living that pleases the Lord.

REFLECT

Think about the spiritual change in life you have experienced by trusting Jesus as your Savior.

RESPOND

Thank Jesus for what He has done for you in breaking the power of sin over you. Help others know the victory they also possess. Ask your disciple about the changes she or he has noticed.

Things You Used to Do

READ

Romans 6:20-21

20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.

Paul reminds the believers what it was like when they were slaves to sin. They felt no obligation to do right. Now they were ashamed of the things they did in that state. Had they continued in that condition it would have led to their eternal doom. This must have been sobering for them to realize they would have been eternally separated from God had they continued rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ.

REFLECT

It’s one thing to think about what others have experienced after salvation, but think of what you have experienced.

RESPOND

Don’t keep secret the changes you have noticed in your life as a believer. One of the best testimonies for Jesus is a changed life. Let others know how you have changed, both in your actions and thinking.

The Wages of Sin

READ

Romans 6:22-23

22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

It would be devastating to be a slave of another person, but the believer has the privilege of being a slave to the merciful, loving God. That gives freedom to do those things that please Him. To have continued being a slave of sin would have led to spiritual death. Paul here contrasts wages and gifts. Sin pays wages that lead to death; God gives a gift that provides eternal life through Jesus Christ.

REFLECT

Think about the differences between something earned and a gift. The wages of sin is eternal death but God’s gift is eternal life.

RESPOND

With your disciple, discuss how you can point out to others the difference of something earned and a gift. Use Ephesians 2:8-9 as you seek to explain the difference.

Laws for the Living

READ

Romans 7:1-3

1 Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? 2 For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. 3 So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.

Paul used another example from life that his readers would quickly grasp. The law has effect over a person’s life, but once the person dies, the law no longer has any effect. The point he is making to his readers is that they have died with Christ and the power of sin has been broken. They are no longer under the law now that they have died with Jesus. They are no longer slaves of sin but slaves of God.

REFLECT

Paul wanted his readers—and you—to think about how wonderful it is that you are now free from the Old Testament law system.

RESPOND

By common Jewish count there are 613 laws. Those who want to live their lives by the Old Testament law need to read what James 2:10 says. If you’ve broken one; it’s the same as if you’ve broken them all. Help others understand this.

A Harvest of Good Deeds

READ

Romans 7:4

4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.

Paul clinches his point with believers; they died to the power of the law over them when they died with Christ. That is in the past for them and now they are united with Him who was raised from the dead. Now is the time for good works, and they can produce a “harvest of good deeds for God.”

REFLECT

Are you producing good works now that you are united with Christ who was raised from the dead?

RESPOND

Read a passage that has been mentioned previously, Ephesians 2:8-10. Verses 8-9 tell everyone that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus. Then verse 10 reveals after one has been saved that is the time for good works. Help your disciple to understand this.