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)
A couple of years ago I received a significant insight during my quiet time that has always stuck with me. There I was – reading my Bible, saying my prayers, writing down thoughts as they came to mind – when it struck me: The vast majority of my quiet time has been spent on myself! I was horrified. Instead of spending my time focused on the Lord, or on my family, or on my church, or ministry, or any of the many other things I should be praying about, I was confessing sin to God, asking Him to forgive me, begging him to give me strength to overcome this, that, or the other. Not that there’s anything wrong with praying these things when they’re needed, but what became clear to me this particular day was the sheer spiritual self-absorption of sin.
Paul argues in Romans that the salvation God offers us through Christ in the Spirit frees us from not only the penalty of sin, but even from its power. We exchange our slavery to ourselves – including the evil lusts and passions of our fallen nature – for a slavery unto God. He becomes the Master of our hearts, directing them according to His own true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). This slavery, however, is not a bondage – at least not in the sense that we were slaves to sin. A slave to sin is not free from its clutches on our will (cf. Romans 7:14-25). Even if we want to do that which pleases the Lord we are powerless to do so, but a life filled with the Spirit is empowered to deny one’s own will and embrace the will of Another. We become free and empowered to actually “do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life,” that is, good works that flow from a heart curved out in love toward God and others. One whose heart has been set free from sin will soon discover that even his own devotional time will be about others and not himself.
This is the secret benefit of sanctification: Your spiritual life will be lived with a focus on others and not yourself. It is the difference between praying for 25 minutes for the Lord to forgive you for a litany of sins verses praying for 25 minutes for the needs of others. A heart wholly devoted to Jesus, that is totally His, will be free from the spiritual self-absorption of sin and be free to live with a perpetual focus on others.
Take an inventory of your spiritual life. Is it spent reflecting solely on your own needs or is it spent primarily on petitioning God on behalf of others? Ask the Lord to free you from yourself and to empower you to be solely focused on His own heart and will.
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