“Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” – Romans 6:13
Things change when we’re saved by God’s grace, or they should! When we believe in Christ, our sins are completely forgiven and we’re set free from guilt, shame, and the relentless power of sin over our lives. We don’t earn this, we don’t deserve it, and it certainly isn’t because we’re “good people”.
However, once Christ has set you free from these things, you need to live free! Living free in Christ doesn’t mean doing whatever you want and it certainly doesn’t mean continuing the very same sinful things for which you were forgiven. Living free in Christ means seeking to devote your life to God and His work in the world. Once you become a follower of Jesus, you’re called to actively resist those sins and temptations that try to call you back to your former patterns and habits of life.
Christ has made you holy – now He calls you to live holy and devoted to Him! Acceptance of Christ is no casual matter, it’s a call to practice a complete life change that reflects the complete life change Christ accomplished for you on the cross. Christian, are you using your body for righteousness or unrighteousness? Are you fighting back against the sins and temptations that you may yet enjoy, excuse, or indulge, but which Christ has called you to nail to His cross?