You Can Do This – Romans 6

For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (v. 14)

All of us understand how hard it is to resist temptation. For years and years, we have been held captive by our flesh, and we often feel helpless in its grip. Whether we are facing an addiction, a temptation to sin, or just a temptation to eat that piece of pie that we know we shouldn’t, resisting our flesh can be tough. Our body tends to know exactly what buttons to push with our mind, so we crumble to its will. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. We do not have the power to resist in ourselves, but by His grace, we can. When His grace is at work in our lives, we can say “no” to the wrong things and say “yes” to Him. You can’t do this, but His grace at work through you can; this is what you have to lean on.

The secret, it seems, to breaking free from the tyranny of our flesh is to find a new master. In short, we cannot rule ourselves; we must be ruled by something. Those who live for themselves and think they are in control are fooling themselves. What feels like “autonomy” and “self-determination” is just your flesh ruling you and making you its slave. You think you are in control, but you are a slave to your desires. The only way to break free is to present yourself to another master, Jesus. He is the loving and caring master who gives you the grace to live your best life in Him. Paul puts it this way, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (vs. 12-13) Thus, when we come to Christ we are “freed from sin and become slaves of righteousness.” (v. 18) True freedom is not running from captivity but running to the Captain of our soul who gives us the grace to do what we could never do on our own.