I'd like to start off by saying, this introduction was an introduction made by Charles Swindoll in his commentary on Romans. This is simply my rendition reiterated for you.
Romans 6 though is now where we meet our transition from Justification to Sanctification. It's the transition between knowing the basis of our salvation, and living it out.
On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issues a proclamation, which began as follows (25 seconds):
Romans 6 though is now where we meet our transition from Justification to Sanctification. It's the transition between knowing the basis of our salvation, and living it out.
On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issues a proclamation, which began as follows (25 seconds):
The union would have to fight for many months before slaves in the South could claim their precious freedom.
Booker T. Washington was 9 when the emancipation reached his plantation in southwest Virginia, a day that he recalled in his autobiography, “Up from Slavery”
Booker T. Washington was 9 when the emancipation reached his plantation in southwest Virginia, a day that he recalled in his autobiography, “Up from Slavery”
In time, after the final surrender, the assassination of a president, and a difficult political fight, the States ratified the 13th amendment which officially abolished slavery in America.
The word was sent out: “Slaves are free…. At least they were officially free.
The practicality of this freedom was another matter. Let’s listen as Booker T. Washington continues his recounting of this day.
The word was sent out: “Slaves are free…. At least they were officially free.
The practicality of this freedom was another matter. Let’s listen as Booker T. Washington continues his recounting of this day.
After a brief celebration, many former slaves returned to fields to continue their servitude as “sharecroppers.” Though officially free to go anywhere, little changed for them in a practical sense. Legal emancipation merely presented slaves with the opportunity to live as free men and women. Turning their legal status into actual experience would require an internal transformation. Those who found this challenge too daunting chose the uncomfortable familiarity of slavery instead.
This almost seems kind of foolish to people who have never known slavery, yet, Christians, and I would say the majority of them, choose slavery over freedom every day. Having been set free, for them to live as free men and women comes neither easily or naturally. The reality of this truth is both liberating, and challenging..
One of the greatest truths in Romans 6, is that as Christians, as True believers, As those who have been justified as recorded from Chapters 3-5, we are no longer under sin's dominion.
Romans 6:14 - "For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
That's not to say Christian's wont sin, or fall. Sanctification is a process that we will continue to grow in but won't be perfected until sanctification. But that is to say, we have the power to not sin. We don't have to go back to being slaves to sin even though most Christians do. Most Christians say that "it's too challenging" or "it's too daunting" and instead they live lives under false slavery to sin instead of lives free from sin's bondage for Christ.
This almost seems kind of foolish to people who have never known slavery, yet, Christians, and I would say the majority of them, choose slavery over freedom every day. Having been set free, for them to live as free men and women comes neither easily or naturally. The reality of this truth is both liberating, and challenging..
One of the greatest truths in Romans 6, is that as Christians, as True believers, As those who have been justified as recorded from Chapters 3-5, we are no longer under sin's dominion.
Romans 6:14 - "For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
That's not to say Christian's wont sin, or fall. Sanctification is a process that we will continue to grow in but won't be perfected until sanctification. But that is to say, we have the power to not sin. We don't have to go back to being slaves to sin even though most Christians do. Most Christians say that "it's too challenging" or "it's too daunting" and instead they live lives under false slavery to sin instead of lives free from sin's bondage for Christ.