“But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.”
Romans 6:22 (NLT)
Paul reminds the Romans that they were once slaves to sin and free from the expectation of righteousness. What fruit did those sins, of which they are now ashamed, produce in their lives? Paul answers his own question. The end result of these things they used to do is death.
But when we have been set free from sin, when we receive the Holy Spirit through a relationship with Jesus Christ, we begin to see the world differently. Our faith in God creates a love of God in us that makes us slaves of God and leads us to do what God wants us to do. By putting our faith in God through Jesus Christ, Jesus’s blood has washed us clean. Hebrews 10:14 says we have been made perfect yet we are being made holy.
The freedom Jesus has bought for us gives us the opportunity to produce fruit. Our obedience to God, which comes from gratitude for the salvation Jesus has already paid for, makes us more and more holy, perfect, and complete in Christ. This sanctification process is preparation for eternity, for everlasting life in heaven.
Being set free from sin isn’t freedom to sin. It is freedom from the power of sin, which enables us to surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit. When you plant a Christian tree, you get Christian fruit. In John 8, Jesus said we need to not only hear what He has to say, but put it into practice. When we continue in Jesus’s way, we will receive the freedom and the fruit that His way brings. Today I pray that those of us who have been freed from the power of sin would fully surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit and allow God to work through us by His Spirit to produce fruit.