(September 14th) You don’t know the half of it

Don’t think just answer: Why did Jesus die?

What’s your answer?

Odds are it will be something along the lines of “to save me from my sin.” And while that’s a totally fine answer, if you think that’s all there is to it, you don’t know the half of it.

Consider this: Now that you are saved…what now? Can you just go back to living the way you always lived? Can you re-indulge yourself in all the sins that brought about the need for Christ’s death in the first place? A lot of people teach exactly that. How sad that we would spit in the eye of our Savior. He shed His blood to take away our sins, and in return…we sin more? That’s not right. In fact it’s un-Biblical:

 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Romans 6:1-2

The Roman Christians to whom Paul wrote had the idea: “Hey, if our sins brought about God’s Grace, let’s just sin a whole lot and get a whole lot of Grace!”

Paul’s response in the King James version is “God forbid!” The actual Greek words translate to “May that thought never enter into your brain! Don’t ever think that no not one time ever never ever!” It’s a strong and emphatic statement, the force of which can not be properly translated, so the language scholars who worked on the KJV settled for the most emphatic negative statement they could think of: “God forbid!”

Listen: Jesus didn’t just die to take away your sins.

Jesus also died so that you can live a brand new life!

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:3-4

We need to daily appreciate the sacrifice of Christ for our sins, but also we need to live a life that is worthy of that sacrifice. Don’t make His death be for nothing! Live as He expects you to live, faithful to Him till death (Revelation 2:10).