Pastor's Blog

Born Again Under Grace

“For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under
grace.” Romans 6:14
A father took his little girl to the park. She was free to slide, swing, and skip
through the playground. But her father wanted her not to go near a certain
bush along the fence. When he turned his back, that’s right where she headed,
and as a result, she found herself covered in poison ivy. Genesis Two tells us
that God created man and woman and placed them in the Garden of Eden to
enjoy it (including the food)! And the truth is, the creator originally placed two
clean souls in the garden! Their only restriction to eating freely from any tree in
the garden was God’s command they not eat from the tree of knowledge of
good and evil for in the day they eat of it, they would surely die.
Well, we know what they did. Like the little girl at the playground, they freely
and by choice listened to the tempter, and ate of the forbidden fruit! (Note the
context and you will see how God’s command not to eat of the fruit was given
to Adam, Genesis 2:16). So, all people are born diseased; covered in spiritual
poison ivy-the kind that kills!
God knew we needed a healing that only He could provide, and the cleansing
agent He provided Paul proclaims in Romans 6:14 as the grace of God found
God’s only Son: the Person, the Savior, Jesus Christ! When Jesus died on the
cross, He took our poison ivy onto His spotless skin so that we could be made
clean now and forever in the sight and favor of our loving God! Paul is right!
Sin, death, and the grave no longer have mastery over the Christian because
he/she has been born again (See John 3) by the Spirit of God in Christ! And
therefore, we are no longer under the law of the of the Old Testament days
which proved that we are sinners separated from God, but beloved, we are now
under the grace of God. Hallelujah, we are released, free to need and to love
our God and one another!
(See Romans 7:1-7 and Ephesians 2:8-10; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:8).
Pastor Louie