Sunday Scripture for Easter 2025

 

Years ago (2014) I did a "Why Easter Matters" study from Good Morning Girls and have written only a few posts from that study -- one in 2014 , two in 2022, and one in 2024.  Since today is Easter Sunday, and since it really does matter tremendously to us, I felt it was important to take a break from our regular Sunday Scripture posts and share more of my study with you.  The Scripture passage to be SOAPed today is Romans 6:8 and 14, but for clarity I will also include verse 11-13.  It is from the third week of the Easter study.  The week is titled "Why the Resurrection Matters".

S= "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him;

"Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

"Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in its lusts.

"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

"For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace."  (Romans 6:8, 11-14)

O= "If" in verse 8 " introduces a first class conditional statement which assumes the following is true and can be translated 'since' or 'in view of the fact that' (we have died with Christ)."

Wuest translates verse 8:" Now, in view of the fact that we died once for all with Christ, we believe that we shall also live by means of Him,".

John MacArthur writes: "The assurance that we shall also live with Him obviously applies to the believer’s ultimate and eternal presence with Christ in heaven. But the context, which focuses on holy living, strongly suggests that Paul is here speaking primarily about our living with Him in righteousness in this present life. In Greek, as in English, future tenses often carry the idea of certainty."

C.I. Scofield comments that we can be delivered from the power of indwelling sin: 

1) by union with Christ in death and resurrection; 

2) by counting oneself dead to the old life, and 

3) by yielding the new life to God.

In the Amplified Bible, verse 14 reads, "For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God's favor and mercy]"

We see here in verse 14 that sin need not have dominion over us, because we are not under the law, but under grace.

Charles Spurgeon writes in Faith's Checkbook: "Sin will reign if it can (READ THAT SENTENCE AGAIN!): it cannot be satisfied with any place below the throne of the heart. We sometimes fear that it will conquer us, and then we cry unto the Lord, 'Let not any iniquity have dominion over me. This is His comforting answer: 'Sin shall not have dominion over you. ' It may assail you and even wound you, but it shall never establish sovereignty over you. If we were under the law, our sin would gather strength and hold us under its power; for it is the punishment of sin that a man comes under the power of sin. "

" Grace is promised to us by which we are restored from our wanderings, cleansed from our impurities, and set free from the chains of habit ...  since we are the Lord's free men, we take courage to fight with our corruptions and temptations, being assured that sin shall never bring us under its sway again. God Himself giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

"Having by grace brought the Christian into the highest conceivable position, God ceaselessly works through grace to impart and perfect in him corresponding graces." -- Scofield

A= I need to consider myself as dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ.  I need to yield my new life to God as one who is alive from the dead (verses 11 and 13).  As God's new creation, I must not allow sin to have dominion or power over me.  I want to serve God, not sin.

I like what Spurgeon said: sin may assail me, it may even wound me, but as a believer it can never establish sovereignty over me.  Since I am no longer under the power of sin, I can take courage as he suggests, and fight against it with the assurance that it can never bring me fully under its sway again.  What a thing to celebrate on this Resurrection Day!

P= "Lord, I thank You for these powerful verses.  Help me to remember that You have made me alive in Christ -- and thus, I must see myself as dead to sin.  Help me to yield my life to You daily for Your use.  Help me to remember that sin need no longer have dominion over me, and that I am to serve You and not sin.  I praise You for all that You have done for me, and all that You will do, In Jesus' name, Amen."

Today, Mr. T and I would like to wish all of our friends a blessed and meaning-filled  day of celebrating Christ's resurrection.  "He is risen, as He said"!  (Matthew 28:7) 

Our Resurrection Day celebration will begin with a meaningful outdoor service and a bountiful breakfast with our church family.  

Later, we will enjoy a celebratory Easter dinner with our local daughter and her family.  We hope that all of you will have as lovely a day and that you will spend time pondering on what Christ's resurrection means for you personally.

Happy Easter!