August 12, 2025

”For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (rom 6:14 nkjv)  Who would not want to thrive in the sin free condition of Yahweh’s [God’s] divinely provided state of the redeemed… which the blood of Yeshua [Jesus] has paid for our “grace” status? The Apostle Paul says a lot about this subject in Romans chapter 6, here is a part of it:

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” rom 6:12-14 nkjv

I look at my own life’s experiences, and I find that with honest analysis, that sin’s afflictions that I’ve experienced, have nearly always fit into the meaning of the above verses. In other words, we either render just affection and faithfulness to Yeshua’s leading, or we are drawn off righteous pathways by our own mischievousness:

“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” jam 1:12-15 nkjv

In the fifteenth chapter of Luke, Yeshua teaches with several parables, responding to religious minded Pharisees concerning Yeshua’s keeping company with sinners… He tells a story of a shepherd that left his flock to seek one lost sheep (us); and of the woman who lost one of her valuable silver coins (us)… in both cases, He said the “found possession” included joy in Heaven by angles because of the lost being found… Then He tells of the prodigal son who ask his father for his inheritance, which he squandered, in a far country, with sinful and scandalous folly, until it was gone, and he ended up a hired servant feeding and slopping hogs, and eating at their trough as well. This last parable can be seen as us falling away from the provision and estate of our Heavenly Father and languishing in sinful calamity, and finally understanding that our condition is because of our own choices and careless living. But, I want to tell you the really important part of the parable…

When the wayward son was heading home [from the “far country,” to his father’s estate] to seek his father’s forgiveness and to ask to be given a place among his father’s servants… we notice the father recognized his son coming back from a far distance… the father ran to the son, delighted with his return, had a celebration in thankfulness and rejoiced, and brought him into “restored” son-ship. The father said, “for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” luk 15:24 nkjv

This is the Heavenly picture for each one of us who were “redeemed,” from the swine pit of earthly squalor, the estate of sin and ungodly conduct, when we got saved… or perhaps of us, if we, like the prodigal son, decided to foolishly depart, our estate, the Lordship of Yeshua, tried to shipwreck our lives, and then decided to return to the watching and waiting gracious Father that was, and always is, looking for our return. If this message is speaking to you… you know what to do, right?

Another point I want to make… what does it mean, ”For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”? Yeshua said the Law [Torah], Yahweh's instructions for living that He gave Moses in the first five books of your Bible, would not ever cease  mat 5:18…  I think then, that if one uses grace for a license for careless living, that such a decision would bring down the weight of the Law upon that lifestyle… most likely, it is Yahweh’s longsuffering and love for us to let us get educated at the hog trough, so that we can “wake up” and come back and get hosed down by His mercy and grace to restore us… I don’t think we should tinker with the forever settled word… better we join the celebration of restoration and clean up our act before something worse comes upon us. You think?

“Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” jn 5:14 nkjv

Shalom, John