Living Under Grace Changes Everything
Friday’s Verse:
From Romans 6:14 ESV
“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
Sin still feels like it has dominion over us. Habits remain. Temptations still come. And when we hear the gospel laid out plainly, we realize how much we don’t measure up. If we were supposed to get this on our own, sin truly would have dominion over us.
But Paul is clear here: it doesn’t. Not “should not have dominion,” but “will not have dominion.” That’s promise, folks. That’s gospel.
How can he say that?
Because you’re no longer under the law.
To be “under the law” is to conduct oneself before God as if your acceptance by God depends on your ability to obey Him. The law is good. But it cannot save. All it can do is show you your sin and declare you guilty. As long as you stand there, sin will always have victory. It will drive you to pride or reduce you to despair.
You’re not standing there anymore.
You’re under grace.
Grace says what the law could not say: Christ has already done what you were supposed to do. His death on the cross judged your sin. Your sin was forgiven. And through His resurrection, your sin has been stripped of its power over you. You will still feel temptation, but sin will never have the final say anymore.
This is why we are Lutheran: you are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Trying harder won’t keep sin from having dominion over you. But belonging to Jesus Christ will.
Next time you find yourself struggling, don’t dig around inside yourself for evidence that you’re winning the fight. Look to Jesus instead. Your position has not changed: you are still under grace.
And that, my friends, changes everything.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, thank You that I am no longer under law but under grace. When sin tempts me to think otherwise, remind me that it does not have dominion over me. Keep me in the faith, confident not in my own works but in Your perfection. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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