Many of us are familiar with the quote, “With freedom comes responsibility.” And most of us would agree with this statement. Yet throughout our lives, we look for the day when we can be free to do exactly as we wish.
Most of us in our adolescence probably thought or made the comment: “I can’t wait to be out of this house. I’ll be able to do what I want. I won’t have to answer to anyone but myself.” Then, when we are adults, we may find ourselves saying: “I can’t wait to be my own boss or to be retired. I’ll be able to do what I want, as I see fit. I won’t have to answer to anyone but myself.”
Still, even when we are living on our own or are self-employed or are retired, we always find ourselves answering to someone else such as the electric company or our spouse. When it comes to the freedom we gain from our faith in Christ, we find here, too, we have responsibility.
When we accept Christ into our lives and receive forgiveness for our sins, this does not mean we can go about life doing as we please. Isaiah 53:5-6 reminds us Jesus’ sacrifice paid the penalty for our sin. However, in our passage today, the Apostle Paul takes that even further—salvation frees us from slavery to sin.
Romans 6:11 states, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Paul says we are “dead to sin,” meaning we are no longer slaves to it. But Paul also tells us we are “alive to God in Christ Jesus.” If we are dead to sin, this implies we cannot go back to it. Death implies that it is done with. Therefore, once we have committed our life to Christ and been made alive in him, we cannot go back to our old sinful life because it is dead.
How exciting is it that we are born again and made alive through Christ? Our sinful identity is gone, and we get to embrace our new identity as a child of God. This points us to a new responsibility.
When we embrace this new identity and accept this freedom, we are then faced with the responsibility of fighting sin. Even though we are dead to sin, Satan remains determined to tempt us to fall back into sin. However, the difference between our life before Christ and after Christ is this: we now have the Spirit within us to help us fight sin.
The idea of fighting sin can seem like a daunting task, but if we are walking with Jesus, Scripture tells us he will give us the strength to fight. So, how do we continually walk with God? God tells us we are to read his word and spend time with him in prayer daily. Through spending time with him each day, we strengthen our relationship with him and continue to learn ways to resist and triumph over sin. Also, by spending time with our fellow Christian brothers and sisters, we are able to strengthen, encourage and teach each other ways to resist sin.
As we fight sin, we also seek righteousness. This is another responsibility we have as Christians. It is not enough to say “no” to sin; we must also say “yes” to living in righteousness. Christ calls us to be witnesses to his kingdom and to share the good news. By living in righteousness, others can see Christ in us, and we can point others to him.
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As we discussed in the past weeks, Christ’s love compels us to live as he teaches. While living in righteousness is a responsibility, it should not feel like an obligation but rather a joy and privilege to honor Christ by living a life that pleases him. That really is good news.
And the good news continues. We do not bear this new responsibility alone. Jesus serves as our example of how to live out our responsibility. He paid the price for our freedom to live it. He calls us to it. And, vital for us to remember is that he promises to help us bear it. As the old song goes, “I cannot bear these burdens alone. … Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.”
Questions for discussion
• Think back to before you were saved. What was your life like before salvation? Was it harder to fight sin? Are people able to see a difference in your life now as compared to before Christ entered your life?
• How do you resist sin and defeat temptation? What has worked in the past? What can you try in the future?
• In what ways are you living in righteousness? Are you striving to live in righteousness or are you only fighting sin?
• How can and should you rely more on Jesus to live out your responsibilities as a Christian? How will you?
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