Verse 12: The Word “Let” tells us that allowing sin to reign over us is a matter of personal choice. If sin is present within us it will, like a cancer cell, eventually infect the whole person. In verse 13 we find the word “yield,” meaning that we have the power to resist or yield to Satan. We must yield to the Holy Spirit in that we in and of ourselves do not have the power to defeat Satan. We must have God’s power–His Holy Spirit–and must depend on it to resist/overcome the devil. Jesus said: “Behold I give you power over all the power of the devil” (Lk. 10:19). That power is like electricity. Though a dark room is wired, until we flip the switch it remains dark. We are dependent on God’s power/Spirit. We are not alone in our dependence on God’s power. Recall that Jesus said in John 5:30: “… I can of Myself (My own power) do NOTHING.”

In verse 14 Paul tells us that we are no longer under the sacrificial law of Moses and therefore do not need the blood of animals to take our sins away. In the next verse Paul destroys much of the church’s theology by asking: “What then, shall we sin because we are not under the law (of Moses)? GOD FORBID! (God forbids us to even think such a thing). Do you not know that the one you (choose to) obey is the one you serve, whether by sinning unto death or by obedience unto righteousness (and life)?” Note that Paul is telling the people of the church then and now that sinning will result in their death. Verses 17,18,21,22 shine more light on the subject of sin and death: “Being made free from sin (not free to sin), you became servants of righteousness.” True saints WERE SINNERS–servants of Satan–in the past but, due to having “… obeyed from the heart the doctrine (Word of God) which was delivered to them,” they will be saved by God’s grace. As servants of sin they bore bad fruit, “the end (result) of which is death. But now being made free from sin they bear the fruit of holiness, the end (result) of which is everlasting life.” Note that THE END RESULT OF HOLINESS (not faith, church membership, baptism, etc.) IS ETERNAL LIFE. Which brings us back to Romans 6:23. In the final posting I will show the “I must sin due to Adam’s sin,” “I’m just a sinner saved by grace,” “Jesus died to remove the death penalty for my sins” crowd what the Lord says about their Satanic theology.  L.J.