Dropping the Dope

As we have entered Lent, for the first Sunday, we will consider Romans 6:1-14. Both our Bible Studies and our sermons in the run up to Easter will align with material in Paul Tripp's Journey to the Cross, available at: https://store.paultripp.com/products/journey-to-the-cross-ebook.  Because we have been united with Christ in his death (v. 5), we are to count ourselves dead to sin (v. 11). We can fall into the thinking that God's grace means we can simply live in sin (vv. 1-2) - that it makes for more grace. But, in truth, we see that sin is a slave master that we ought to drop (vv. 6 and 14) and not feed. And, in Christ, we have been brought from death to life (v. 13), and so we offer ourselves to God. The wages of sin is death. But, even when justified by faith and receiving life, sin in our lives still debilitates and destroys. As such, these realities, for us in union with Christ in his death and resurrection, should set the stage for our repentance and reliance upon God, a Lenten focus that should also be a regular practice.