REV. TIMOTHY L. MELTON, PASTOR
CHEROKEE PENTECOSTAL HOLINESS CHURCH
“Well then, should we keep on sinning so God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?
“Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?
“Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in death.
“For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
“Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.
“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”
Romans 6:1-5 (NLT)
“We are new creations with a new life!” explained Pastor Melton. “Accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, means we have chosen to die to our old, selfish, sinful lives.” We are no longer to be living as slaves of sin—as dead men walking. Dead men should not even be tempted by sin. We are now joined to Him and raised with Him in His resurrection. He has restored us to live this new life, so we can begin living it while still here on the earth.
“The church must now be different. True repentance is not just saying, “I’m sorry. I apologize”—not demonstrating any of the inward changes made and shown in our outward living. Quit falling into that pit of sin. It causes so much pain in our lives. Avoid it, take the holiness path around that hole. By the completed work of Jesus, God already has taken away the power of sin. ‘I am dead to sin,’ should really mean to us that we now understand, ‘if we sin, it is because we have chosen again to sin, not because we have to sin anymore.’ We still may choose to sin, but with Jesus, we no longer have to sin.
“Jesus’ death was applied to my life,’ he added. ‘He died and gave me His Righteousness as a gift. It was put on my account. Do we understand this? He has made you a brand new ‘you’! Bury that old ‘you’ daily until it dies. Go deeper with Him, into Him, until all those old, dead things are finally buried for real. Keep saying ‘no’ to sin. We now have the Helper—the ’Holy Spirit, to help us in saying ‘NO’. Planted in our hearts with the Holy Spirit, together we should produce good fruit.
“By Jesus’ death, and now, in His resurrection, that new life in Him is living there in Him and together is within me. I can legally say, ‘I am the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus,’ for it is the Truth. Say ‘no’ to sin right now! Sin has lost its grip—its hold, on you! We can say, ‘I’m free! Free indeed!’
“Use the Sword of the Spirit, now living within you and Him, to resist the devil’s evil suggestions! Sin and death have no more dominion over you. Jesus took away all of our sin. Remember, He never sinned. We live unto God through Jesus now. We can say, ‘I died to the old life and am risen to my new life in Him!’ Quit doing that sin now. No half-hearted attempts. You have died to sin.
“It is not easy to kill something. Even Paul had to say, ‘I die daily.’ Kill that old man! It is painful, hard work, so just kill it until it remains dead. No longer yield to sin. Yield only to God. We still have the ability to choose righteousness or unrighteousness. We must choose daily, so we must answer the question each time, ‘Is Jesus your God or not?’
“Father God cannot expect anything less from us. ‘We must live up to the Father’s standard’. The question could be, ‘are you saved?’ The old, fleshly man should have died. The spirit man should be alive with new life. Change should be from faith to faith. Live a holy life, a powerful life, a chaste life, walking and talking with and in Him. ‘Not I, but Christ lives in me’. Our true commitment allows Him to pour His Anointing over us enabling us to change. He calls us back to holiness, to the basics. Revival comes as we choose to change,” he concluded.
