What Does It Mean to be Dead to Sin but Alive In Christ? (Rom. 6:1-5)
Illustration:Sin, its effects: How does a worm get inside an apple? Perhaps you think the worm burrows in from the outside. No, scientists have discovered that the worm comes from inside. But how does he get in there? Simple! An insect lays an egg in the apple blossom. Sometime later, the worm hatches in the heart of the apple, then eats his way out. Sin, like the worn, begins in the heart and works out through a person’s thoughts, words, and actions.
Heaven and Home Hour Radio Bulletin.
1. Have you ever tried to explain to someone what it means to be dead to sin but alive in Christ? So many Christians are confused by the fact that they are dead to sin, but still overcome by its desires. Too many people allow their ignorance of the facts of the Bible to result in personal failure. The lack of knowledge limits many from utilizing the power of truth. Three times in this passage Paul emphasizes the word know. He writes, "KNOW that our old self was crucified with Christ." (vs 5) Paul teaches us that we are identifying ourselves with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection to a new spiritual life. Most Christians fail to consider or reckon themselves dead to sin. They still entertain all kinds of sinful possibilities in their mind. Paul wrote, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me." (Gal. 2:20) Believers must consider themselves as dead to sin but alive to Christ’s purposes, priorities and plans.
Most believers fail to work from Paul’s assumptions about being dead to sin and alive in Christ. They continue to succumb to sinful desires because they wrongly assume they are helpless to overcome them. Fear can be seen as an acrostic: Faulty – Expectations – Assumptions – Reality.
Ask the Lord to help you live in the resurrected and overcoming power of Jesus Christ.
2. Paul teaches that when a person truly believes in Christ, God takes his faith and counts him dead in Christ. The Lord frees us from sin and its power as well as from its consequences and penalty. Therefore, a believer is to discipline oneself for the purpose of Godliness and be empowered by the Holy Spirit. We are not forced to just rely on the power of positive thinking, but He is at work in us both to will and do of His good pleasure. He is energizing and creating in us the power and desire to accomplish His will. (Phil. 2:13,14)
Stop living a life of depression, defeat or discouragement. Live your life with the full cognizance of your powerful position in Christ. You do not have to negotiate from a position of weakness. Ask the Lord to help you live more as one who appropriates the fact that you are a conqueror in Christ.
3. Paul teaches that the power of death is broken, and the root of bondage, the fear of death is severed and we can be freed to live for eternal purposes. We no longer have to live in fear of what lies beyond the grave since we are fully identified with Christ in His resurrected life. I taught in a seminary in Africa for twenty years where most people are extremely afraid of death. Many fear what will happen to them when they die. Let us live more as victors than people who live in fear, worry or hording our human assets.
4. Paul teaches that there is no ultimate risk in the cause of truth and love since nothing can defeat a Spirit filled Christian. Paul wrote, "For when a man dies, he is freed (loosed, delivered) from the power of sin (among men)." (vs 7) Spend less time investing in worries about the negative things that drag you down. Let us give more of our time, energy and resources to the propagation of Christ’s truth and love.
5. Paul teaches us that our faith in Christ does not just pardon us but engages us in an uncompromising war with all that is opposed to Christ and His kingdom. It is not enough to just know the facts, but we are expected to use the sword of truth to help push forward the borders of His kingdom and righteousness. Spiritual baptism is your license to wage warfare in a way that extends Christ’s influence qualitatively and quantitatively. Essentially, Paul urges Christians to press forward with the kingdom’s qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. The problem with most Christians is that they are too involved with defensive activities that they do little to concentrate on the offensive aspects of spiritual warfare. If Paul the apostle were in your shoes, what do you suppose he would do? I know that Paul would do everything he could to see more people won to Christ, more disciples made and more churches multiplying the Christ’s in them to their communities.
Ask the Lord to help you adopt not only Paul’s theories but his practical ministries, new relationships and new personal perspectives.
Conclusion: Why would Christians choose to sin rather than choose what they know God wants them to do? Four answers are commonly given today.
1. Some would point to Romans 8:16 and explain that Christians who willfully sin have forgotten their true identity as "children of God." While it is true that Christians can forget who they are and sin as a result, Christians can also be well aware of who they are and sin anyway.
2. Some say Christians choose to sin because they have lost sight of what God has done for them. 2 Peter 1:9 indicates that Christians can be "blind or short-sighted, having forgotten [their] purification from [their] former sins."
3. Some wisely state that Christians consciously choose to sin because they have forgotten that God will severely discipline disobedient believers.
4. Some have said that Christians who consciously sin have lost their focus on the future. These Christians have forgotten that God will reward in heaven only those who have lived faithfully for Him here on earth (1 Cor 9:24). Christians who fail to keep eternity in mind often sin in the here and now.
J.Kirk Johnston, Why Christians Sin, Discovery House, 1992, p. 31.
