"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:1,2)

It's funny how we can excuse something so severe as sin while not tolerating ourselves to fall backwards in our life advancements. Once a person becomes a millionaire, it's hard to fall back to being just middle class. It is deemed as shameful and self-degrading. One would start to avoid the topic with the group of elite friends. However, how long can one keep that up when one cannot afford to dine at a five-star restaurant anymore?

Have we never considered that we might be in that elite class? We are the children of the Kings of kings and Lord of lords. We are part of the top elite class. 'We were buried with Him through baptism,' (Rm 6:4) 'united together in the likeness of His death,' (5) 'our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin' (6). God has taken us out of that life in the dump into His kingdom. We are transformed from dirt to refined gold in Christ.

Now that we are part of the elite class, why go back to the old life in the slum? Do we feel no shame associating with sin that we would've easily avoided if it were a rundown filthy house in the ghettos? Would we have chosen to live in the dirty house when we can live in a nice neighborhood? Why choose to present ourselves 'as instruments of unrighteousness to sin' when we can present our 'members as instruments of righteousness to God' (13)? Why is it ok to let 'sin have dominion over [us]' (14), when it's unheard of to have our subordinates order us around? Are we above sin or does sin reign over us? We know the right answer, but do we live for the true benefits?

The 'benefits' of living in the slum are unheard of, unless of course you consider filthy places a benefit. The benefits of being in high society are many. It gets us things that our hearts desire. It gives us a sense of accomplishment. It gives us something to be proud of. Hence, we pursue a comfortable life. The reward of sin is death. However, A life with God will give us 'fruit to holiness' and 'the end, everlasting life' (22). Why don't we pursue that gift from God that's even better than a comfortable life on earth? Who would want to trade a piece of diamond for a glop of mud? Who would want to trade everlasting life for death? When are we going to live a non-contradictory life to show where our heart truly lies? We cannot hate filth and love it at the same time. 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord' (23). So, what's it gonna be?