SOMETHING TO BE THANKFUL FOR... (ROMANS 5-8)
Justified by faith and having peace with God,
I thank Him for His grace through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Christ in His obedience, made many righteous men,
And where my sin abounds, greater still is His grace then.
Round’ about and in the distance I do see,
from sin’s curse of death, man cannot break free.
But by God’s grace and righteousness,
gratefully I repent, and in Christ alone confess.
Shall I in sin continue, that grace I may further gain?
Certainly not, said the Apostle, dead are you to its ugly stain.
You must walk in newness, in the likeness of His rebirth,
your old man is now crucified, buried in the earth.
No longer slaves of sin, we are free to live for Him,
death’s dominion no longer binds me, its power grows ever dim.
Reckon yourselves to be, dead indeed to sin,
alive to God in Christ are we, tools of God for souls to win.
Let God be thanked for your liberation,
slave of righteousness is your new vocation.
Slave to sin was your previous master,
walking in your flesh, destined for disaster.
But what good are those things now, of which you are so ashamed?
The end is all but death, and at you the guilt was aimed.
Set free from sin and slaves of God, the fruit is holy and eternal.
The wages do not best the gift, for the wages are infernal.
Now, we have been delivered, from the law of sin and death,
we serve Him now in Spirit, conducted by His breath.
But His law is spiritual, and I am carnal to the core,
why do I continue to sin, when I’ve been down that road before?
Things I hate, and things God condemns, I do without delay,
but for the things I know I should do, I lack the will to stay.
So I see that in me, sin still lingers; fighting to stick around,
and in my flesh, no good thing dwells; and this is quite profound.
Good that I would, good that I don’t; and evil rules the day,
But it’s no longer I who do it, but sin that had its way.
My inward man delights in God, warring against this flesh so haughty.
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body?
I thank the Lord—through Jesus Christ, I serve the law of God,
but sometimes in this flesh I fail, to faithfully keep His word.
No more condemnation! That is the promise in which I stand,
to those who are in Christ Jesus, walk in His Spirit, reject the ways of man.
What I could not do, Christ did for me, conquering sin and the grave,
I’ll live for Him now by His Spirit, for it was my soul that He did save.
I’m so thankful for His mercy, so thankful for His grace,
I’ll set my mind on His things now, to please Him in this race.
Brethren, we are debtors—of this we can be certain,
if you live according to the flesh you’ll die, and forever close the curtain.
But if by the Spirit you wish to live, kill the old man in his stable,
God’s power he'll freely give, and you’ll dine at the master’s table.
By Glen Mustian, Happy Thanksgiving 2015
*All Scripture references taken from:
NKJV New King James Version. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN: 2000. Print.
