Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good day, dear ones.

Four of our grandkids are here for a few days while Andy and Delaine attend a business workshop up near Olympia. They, incidentally, had a mishap when thieves broke into their car the first night—stealing some valuables and smashing out a window. Not good. I now have most of the kids working at processing firewood—cutting, splitting, hauling, and stacking. They are particularly fond of the old Polaris ATV—which I’m happy to use as bait/motivation.

Before the day is out, I think we will have every one of our West Coast grandkids here at once—six of them. It should be interesting.

Oh no! I can’t believe this! Yet I guess I have to. I failed to send out the devo for yesterday!—when I thought I had that covered. If anyone wants it dropped on them, I can comply. Yesterday did become rather congested with extra-curricular grandkid stuff. We actually took them to Multnomah Falls and did the hike to the top of the falls. The day stayed pretty crazy from there.

Blessings on your day. Love, Dad/Ray.

Imagine a man who was notorious in your community as a drunkard and womanizer—addicted to both booze and pornography. He finally dies. There he is on the floor—cold and motionless. Now, set beside him a bottle of Jack Daniels and say, “Here you go, Mack, have a drink.” How would he respond? Nothing. Now have a beautiful suggestively-dressed model walk past him—or maybe show him a perverse porn picture (Although, best you not even have one to show.) “Hey, Mack, did you see that?” Nothing. I’d say that’s pretty good convincing evidence to support Paul’s thesis that “anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

To be sure, you will never be absolutely free from sin and its impulses during your period of living this side of the grave—in this fallen world. However you can reduce actual sin to virtually zero by properly managing your brain and body in submission to Christ and His Holy Spirit. How? By understanding that your sin nature has vicariously died with Christ (That’s what the ceremony of Baptism is all about!) and by continually regarding (reckoning, viewing, affirming) yourself as though you were DEAD—DEAD to SIN but ALIVE to GOD. And if I understand correctly how this works, this very discipline actually releases Divine assistance (the Holy Spirit) that allows you to truly achieve what you could not successfully achieve entirely on your own.

This passage from verses 11 through 14 is probably the most practical recipe for Christian victory you will ever find. Let’s read it again from the NIV. “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”

Whatever version we use for processing these principles of life, this is extremely valuable GOOD NEWS.