March 1

Read: Romans 6:14-15

Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace (Romans 6:14).

Shall We Sin?

We have been made free from the guilt of past sins by divine forgiveness. We are to be made free from the pollution of sin by the crucifixion of the carnal nature. Now may we reasonably expect to remain free from further specific sins? Will this new life of God in the soul be powerful enough to banish sin in every particular case? This is Paul’s question in our scripture study for today. After the sin principle has been destroyed, should we expect to commit individual acts of sin? Paul vehemently shouts, “God forbid.”

In entire sanctification God’s Holy Spirit has been given to us and carnality has been destroyed. This work of grace is provided in order to save us from our former weakness of soul that let us so easily fall into sin. The law demanded obedience but it offered no power to help us avoid sin. Under the plan of grace we are still required to conform to the will of God, but it is a workable conformity, and God supplies the necessary power.

By the sanctifying grace of God we need not “sin daily in thought, word, and deed.” Our Lord prayed for His followers to be kept from evil while they were in the world here and now. To this end He prayed that they might be sanctified. If the Bible teaches anything, it teaches that sin is not a necessity in the life of the Christian.

Prayer For Today

My foes are ever near me, Around me and within; But Jesus, draw Thou nearer, And shield my soul from sin.

— John E. Bode