But now being made free from sin, and become servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Romans 6:22
There are some people who claim that after a person is saved, that person can never sin again, and they even use today’s text to ‘prove’ their point. Oh that it were true! What would it be like if you and I were incapable of telling a lie or uttering an unkind word? What would it be like of every believer were perfectly honest in all his dealings with everybody? What would it be like if we never had any temptation from the world’s devices and attractions that seize upon our lusts and weaknesses? Sadly true, we still sin, and will until we reach the Glory. So what is Paul referring to here when he speaks of being free from sin?
A young man who had only a short time before trusted Christ was speaking to me of his new life. ‘I used to be a sinner,’ he said. ‘But now I am a saint who sometimes sins.’ This young man had the right idea. We who have been saved have a freedom from sin that the unredeemed cannot know. The unsaved are under the total domination of sin, and can do nothing about it. They are helpless to do anything to please God or to obey His laws. But we who have been saved are set free from that slavery. We have dwelling within us the Divine nature, the Person of the Holy Spirit. He enables us to be and do what we of ourselves could never be or do. If we follow His direction, we will produce fruit unto holiness.
There is a Vatican man who is referred to as his holiness. But I have read some of the things that the pope has said, and I have serious doubts whether he is saved. Oh, for sure Francis knows a lot about his religion and his church’s doctrines, and he is able to speak great and stirring sermons and make powerful proclamations. But if he has never trusted Christ as his saviour, there is nothing holy about the pope, nor anything the pope says or does. Holiness is not a title conferred by any organization; holiness is fruit that grows in the life of a believer. And only in the life of a believer.
Holiness is the nature of God. As those who are partakers of this nature, let us cultivate a good crop. Live as Saints, not as sinners. -Jim MacIntosh