6 We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

7 For anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.

9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.

10 The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.

— Romans 6:6-10

22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.

23 But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

25 Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

— Romans 7:22-25

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

God’s work of salvation has profound results. God not only justifies and redeems, but He also sanctifies believers to do His will. Once saved, believers belong to the living Lord Jesus Christ for eternity. We no longer live for sin, which leads to condemnation and death. Instead, we step forward with Christ and live for His righteousness. This is entirely because of God’s great grace, His undeserved favor.

Human attempts to obey God’s law will ultimately fail. The Apostle Paul used his own personal struggles to prove that human efforts toward moral uprightness cannot measure up to God’s holy standard. Justification by grace through faith releases believers from the law’s demands. This does not mean God’s law lacks value. The law expresses God’s perfect, holy character and reveals sinful humanity’s need for a Savior.