You Are Not Married To Sin But You Are Married To Him!

O Heavenly Father,

Teach me to see

that if Christ has pacified thee and

satisfied divine justice

he can also deliver me from my sins;

that Christ does not desire me, now justified,

to live in self-confidence in my own strength,

but gives me the law of the Spirit of life

to enable me to obey thee;

that the Spirit of life within answers to the law without;

that if I sin not I should thank thee for it;

that if I sin I should be humbled daily under it;

that I should mourn for sin more than other

men do,

for when I see I shall die because of sin, 

that makes me mourn;

when I see how sin strikes at thee,

that makes me mourn;

that sanctification is the evidence of reconciliation,

proving that faith has truly apprehended Christ;

Thou has taught me

that faith is nothing else than receiving kindness;

that it is an adherence to Christ, a resting on him,

love clinging to him as a branch to the tree,

to seek life and vigour from him.

I thank thee for showing me the vast difference

between knowing things by reason,

and knowing them by the spirit of faith.

By reason I see a thing is so;

by faith I know it as it is.

I have seen thee by reason and have not

been amazed,

I have seen thee as thou art in the Son and have

been ravished to behold thee.

I bless thee that I am thine in my Savior,

Jesus

BELONGING TO JESUS The Valley of Vision; Puritan Prayers and Devotions

Although we live in the flesh and sin on a regular basis, sin does not have dominion over our lives.  As a matter of fact, Romans 7 addresses the tension that lies within Paul, who delighted in the law but  could not get a handle on sin.

Romans 7 brings great hope to the believer and precedes the great victorious entry into Romans 8;

There is therefore now no condemnation for this who are in Christ Jesus.  

We are released from the law as if we were  a widow, who is free to marry after her earthly husband is deceased.

Our lives are not longer regulated or dictated by that old dead husband of sin, although we are not perfect.  Because we are buried with Christ by baptism into death,  we belong to another!

Romans 7:2-6

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.  Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive.  But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.  

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.  

But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.  

In essence, Paul is saying that we have been released from the husband that kept us in bondage by our death in Christ and just as we died in Christ we are raised into newness of life, not so that we could serve our selves but so that we may bear fruit for God!

We live in the reality of the kingdom where, we are a new creation in Christ and because we are in Him we reap the benefits of said kingdom.  We are no longer under the wrath of God but Christ Jesus took our place and was forsaken by the Father so that we don't have to be!

Jesus cried out as he breathed his last breath;

Matthew 27:46

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a  loud voice, saying,

"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, 

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Because Jesus bore the burden of our sin and died, he put to death our marriage with sin!

Isaiah 62 confirms our marriage to Christ as our bridegroom!

You shall no more be termed Forsaken,

and your land shall no more be termed

Desolate,

but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,

and your land Married;

for the LORD delights in you,

and your land shall be married.  

For as a young man marries a young

woman,

so shall your sons marry you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the 

bride,

so shall your God rejoice over you.

God takes great delight and pleasure in His people because we are in a covenantal relationship with Him through the shed blood of Christ.  He no longer sees our sin but sees Jesus' propitiation for our sin!

So does that mean we can keep on sinning?  Paul's response, as always, is;

 "By no means!"

Take heart beloved!  You are beloved of God!  He delights in you!  Its true!  You are no longer controlled by sin and can't be when you are married to another!  We are free to walk in the Spirit and NOT fulfill the lust of the flesh!

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

YOU ARE MARRIED TO CHRIST SO THAT YOU CAN BEAR FRUIT FOR GOD!