“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” – Romans 6:1–2

Scripture reading: Romans 6

Over two thousand years have passed since Christ promised the Kingdom of God. Does it affect our lives today? According to Romans 6, the Kingdom of God has everything to do with the Christian life. In Romans 5, Paul explains how the gospel of the Kingdom has delivered us from the penalty of sin. Now in Romans 6, we learn how the gospel of the Kingdom saves us from sin’s power.

In Adam, sin stormed into the world bringing with it destruction and death. Now, in Christ, grace has destroyed sin’s control. Christ has overcome this destruction and death with a grace greater than sin. The greatness of grace effects our justification and affects our sanctification. We live godly and quiet lives because we live in Christ.

I’m not talking about perfection. Our lives are still messy. We are justified sinners. Evil still lies close at hand. How close? Too close, danger close, not beside, but in us, all around us, contacting and influencing our daily lives. We have carried into the Kingdom of God old baggage. We live with old habits that need to be broken – no, no, no, that need to be destroyed.

Already sin is defeated, yet we must be killing sin or it will be killing us. We must put sin to death in our sanctification, not by our might or power but by the Spirit of the Lord.

Suggestions for prayer

Pray for continued victory over your sin and temptation. Here the Lord’s Prayer in helpful, “lead me not into temptation.”

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. Jared Beairdis the church planter and pastor of Covenant Reformed Church (URCNA) in Missoula, Montana, USA.