Romans 6:14 Sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the law but under grace.
There are a number of Christians that for some reason become very cautious, even fearful about preaching grace thinking that it gives people a license or liberty to sin even more.
But today’s scripture clearly communicates the opposite. Being under grace actually gives you dominion over sin. Preaching the law is what causes sin to have dominion over you!
What is “the law”? Technically it is the Old Testament Law of Moses delivered to the people of Israel. It's a system of rules and regulations e.g. Ten Commandments that you must strictly follow to be called righteous. For you and I today, even though we are no longer under the Old Testament Law, we are by default if we think our righteousness comes through our own efforts or behaviors.
Yes, we might acknowledge we have been justified by grace, through faith and therefore our righteousness is through faith not our own efforts. But if we think we need to behave a certain way to be deemed righteous or holy, that is called falling back into the law.
Colossians 2:21-23 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
Focusing on rules and a morality code to bring your behavior under control is nothing more than “behavior modification” which is practiced by the world. If the world can live out whatever we preach on a Sunday, then that does away with the need for Jesus.
But we need Jesus because we need His righteousness. His righteousness is what makes you accepted, beloved and highly favored of the Lord. It's not a righteousness that comes through your own abilities that even an unbeliever can achieve.
So Pastor, are you saying our behavior and lifestyle is irrelevant. Obviously not! What I am saying is our behavior and lifestyle needs to flow out of our revelation of the grace of Jesus and His gift of righteousness in our lives and not our own self-efforts.
The more a Believer focuses on their righteousness coming through Christ, the more conscious they become of that righteousness, the more conscious they become of their position in Christ and the more conscious they become of the life of Christ in them, which is the power of the Holy Spirit to transform them!
The Holy Spirit transforms you as you simply become more and more conscious of Jesus and what He has done for you. It's as you behold and glorify what Jesus has done for you (2 Corinthians 3:18) and not beholding and glorifying yourself through your own self-efforts.
Here’s the spiritual exchange - the more conscious you are of your righteousness in Christ, the more dominion you will have over sin.