Devotion #4: Believe and Repent

“For one who has died has been set free from sin.” Romans 6:7 

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:11 

My family is what you would call a dog family. Although we do not presently have a dog, we have had several through the years. They become like a family member for us. They are loved and well cared for. Yes, they are even spoiled. When one of our four-legged family members passes away, it is a sad day in our home. They are not easily replaced by just getting another puppy. If you are a dog lover or any other kind of pet lover, you understand. 

When our pet passes, everything changes. Although they are missed, we do not put food out for them. We do not schedule any vet or grooming appointments. We do not take them to the dog park. Everything changes. They are not alive anymore. 

There is a spiritual lesson here to be embraced. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are “set free from sin.” It no longer owns us. We should not feed our sin nature. We are to consider ourselves “dead to sin.” It involves repentance. We turn from serving ourselves and strive to please the Lord Jesus. 

Not only are we “dead to sin,” but we are to be “alive to God.” Salvation is not about just saying a prayer; it involves our very beings. We are called to believe and repent. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” 

Although we are saved “through faith,” it is not based on our “works,” and it is a “gift of God,” there is more. We must realize that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” One big difference between my pet analogy and the spiritual application is that we do not need to grieve the passing of the sin that mastered us. God has something better for us. 

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, we read, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”