Category: Devotions

Born again Christians are no longer under the bondage of sin because the old nature is crucified with Christ on the cross at Calvary. They have the power to say “no” to sin. The reason, the Apostle Paul expressed, is that we been united together with Christ in both His death and resurrection. He is helping us to understand the nature of Christian conversion. There is a complete change.

The Christian ought to be vibrant and filled with the vitality of godliness for he is walking in newness of life. And yet, it can be observed, many in the church today lose their first love and are no longer making progress spiritually. The Apostle Paul is writing to address this by helping Christians understand the great work wrought for their salvation through Jesus Christ. It is such a sad plight in the church scene. He would be addressing the heinous entanglement of sin in the believer’s life.

The Apostle Paul reasoned with us that we should not continue in sin, like a dog going back to its own vomit. Our life as a Christian, forward-looking, must not be still plagued with the ravages of sin. Just because we receive the pardon from sin by God’s grace does not mean that we should delight in sin since pardon is forthcoming each time. The Christian life ought to understand the blessing of living in the beauty of holiness. The sinning Christian is a misnomer because he is not making spiritual progress. Borrowing the Malay word “Hentak Kaki” in marching drills meaning “marching on the spot” to help us see the sad plight of the Christian making no spiritual progress, still being entangled with sin.

What a relieve to know that in coming to Jesus, we find forgiveness for our sins. A guilty conscience with sins unconfessed and unacknowledged is indeed an unbearable torment. But with Jesus, we find cleansing and forgiveness, joy and peace restored. Jesus paid for all our sins. This is the good news that the Apostle Paul is arriving at. To celebrate God’s grace in our lives. Sin and death is superseded by righteousness and eternal life. God’s wrath averted and sweet fellowship with our Creator restored. This is the great privilege we have in Christ. May we, moment by moment, cherish this blessed fellowship in abiding in the Lord. Amen.

Imagine standing before a judge and being sentenced for a crime committed. The penalty has to be paid. Whatever the punishment the criminal realized the dire consequence. How to get out? In some lands, the head of state has that power to override the court’s ruling (Matt. 27:15). Barabbas, a notable prisoner was freed by Pilate at the behest of the Jewish chief priests and elders over Jesus, who did not commit any crime.

I applaud the effort to bring about a less violent world. I submit to our readers that it is only possible in the gospel of Jesus Christ by the gift of God’s grace that man can be transformed to love one another. This love comes from God supernaturally when we repent of our sins and receive Jesus Christ into our lives. The sin nature that man inherited from Adam can only be rid of and curtailed through the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer. When our sins are forgiven through Christ, then will God give us the capacity to truly forgive others and love them with an unconditional and sacrificial love for God’s glory alone.

God’s free gift of salvation is through Jesus Christ. Sinful men bound for hell can find deliverance from spiritual and physical death. When Adam sinned, his posterity was plunged into perpetual misery. Death became a painful reality for all men. But in Jesus Christ, the curse of sin and death was lifted. All who trust in Jesus finds salvation.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” He speaks of the victory over death and sin when Jesus Christ’s rose from the dead. Because of Adam’s sin, all his posterity must die. Because of Jesus’s victory over sin, all who comes to Him in faith, repenting of their sin, receive eternal life.

Death passed upon all men as a result of one man’s sin. A grim reminder of the consequence of yielding to temptation. Adam, the first man, yielded to the lie of Satan, defying God’s warning, ate of the forbidden fruit, sinned against God! God said, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest therefore thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2:17). Satan contradicted God’s Word, “Ye shall not surely die.” (Gen. 3:4).

As I reflect upon my life before becoming a Christian and after, I felt a sense of relief. God had not left me an orphan but through His Son brought me back to Him. Christianity is a relationship. A relationship between God and man. A familial relationship. Sin is a broken relationship. Jesus Christ solved my sin problem when He shed His blood upon the cross to wash away my sins and died to carry the weight of all my sins. Three days later, He rose from the dead conquering sin and death on my behalf.

I saw my neighbour going to work. I understood he is not a believer. I saw that life for him seemed to have a sense of accomplishment. After struggling hard at work, he now has financial stability. But I could see a sense of emptiness in his life because there is still something greatly missing. I felt that lack in my heart acutely before I became a Christian.