'We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as [being] dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:9-14).'
Christ’s death was a unique event where he died to sin even though he, “Did not know sin (2 Cor. 5:21)” and that salvific even will never be repeated. Christ now lives a glorified life with God and has promised us a place in one of his Father’s mansions. He again shares the relationship he had with his Father before the beginning of time (Jn. 1:2). We must continually deepen our faith so that we can become more aware of his presence. Jesus said, “Remain in me, as I remain in you (Jn. 15:4).” If we remain in Christ, we will not be tempted by sin and choose to sin thereby damaging our relationship with him. We must be God’s instruments for righteousness and not be obedient to our cravings towards what is sinful.
Almighty God, the weakness of our flesh draws us away from the good that we want to do and brings forth the sin that dwells in us. Help us to delight in your word and the teachings of Christ our savior so that our minds and bodies may be transformed into weapons of righteousness in the battle against sin. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References:
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, & Roland E. Murphy, (Eds.). (1990, 1968). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentis Hall, Inc.
Jose M. Casciaro, Santiago Ausin, Gonzalo Aranda, Claudio Basevi, Vincente Balaguer, Francisco Varo, James Gavigan, Brian McCarthy & Thomas McGovern (Eds.). (2017). The Navarre Bible - New Testament. Dublin 8, Ireland: Four Courts Press.
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