January 26 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Romans 6:11-23:

¹¹Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
¹²Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
¹³Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
¹⁴For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
¹⁵What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
¹⁶Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
¹⁷But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
¹⁸Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
¹⁹I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
²⁰For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
²¹What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
²²But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
²³For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Devotional

All men by nature are dead in trespasses and sin. They are incapable of leading spiritual lives. Only God can make the dead alive. He does this through his Spirit. "When we were dead in sin, God quickened us together with Christ." And being raised up with him by the glory of the everlasting Father, we should walk in newness of life. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth." "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." It is the Spirit that transforms our lives. God says, "I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." If the Spirit of God dwells in us, we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and we are not our own. "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." It is the Spirit that makes the great difference. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." What a terrible thing it is to grieve the Spirit, and to quench the Spirit! And what, if God would take his Holy Spirit from us? — He did not take him from David, who had greviously sinned, but repented. He will not take him from us, if we truly repent and confess our sins. Then the Spirit will bear witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

Prayer

O Lord God, cause Thy Spirit to dwell in our hearts. May He lead us into all truth. May He comfort us in all sorrow and tribulation. May He assure us of eternal life, bearing witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. May He abide with us for ever. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Eph. 2:5,9; Rom. 6:4; Col. 3:1,2; Gal. 5:16; Ezek. 36:27; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; Rom. 8:9, 14; Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19; Rom. 8:16.

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