Romans 6:14
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
The forgiveness of sins is the beginning, not the end, of the Christian life, just as the crucifixion is the beginning, not the end, of the work of Christ in the Passion. Some Christians have the notion that the goal is to “get forgiveness” and that obedience to God is optional. This is something like a prisoner in chains being satisfied with a sentence of acquittal and neglecting to bother having his chains struck off “since the old cell’s gotten to feel like home after all these years.” God will have none of it. He desires nothing less than our total liberation from sin, not merely our acquittal from a penalty. Today, ask God, not merely to forgive your sins but to free you from them so that you can walk in the fullness of grace!
