WEEK 26 – DAY 2

FREE TO BE HIS

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. Romans 7:4-6

In Romans 7:1-3, we are reminded that the law only applies to living people. The example given is the law binding a woman to her husband no longer applies if the man dies. She is now free to marry and bear children for another man. Because Christ bore our sins on the cross, we can choose to die to sin and no longer be married to our sinful nature. That makes us free to bear fruit for the Lord. We bear fruit in the sense of exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit because we are living by the Spirit rather than following the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:22-25). We also bear fruit by giving birth to spiritual progeny. We lead people to Christ and/or disciple them. These become our spiritual children just as Timothy was Paul’s “true son in the faith” (I Timothy 1:2a). Dawson Trotman, who began the Navigators had the goal of “knowing Christ and making Him known.” As we know more of the Lord, we are better able to bear fruit by living godly lives and leading others into a closer relationship with Jesus.

Father, we pray that we will be so filled with Your Holy Spirit that Your character will shine out through our attitudes and actions. Lord, we want to know more of You in order to be able to lead others to know You. Thank You for revealing Yourself to us!