EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!
TUESDAY OCTOBER 06, 2026.
SUBJECT: DEAD TO SIN IN CHRIST!
Memory verse: "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6 vs 11.)
READ: Romans 6 vs 5 - 11:
6:5: For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6:6: knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slave to sin.
6:7: For he who has died has been freed from sin.
6:8: Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
6:9: knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
6:10: For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
6:11: Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
INTIMATION:
Being "dead to sin in Christ" means that a believer's old life under the control and penalty of sin has ended through union with Jesus. The power of sin over us died with Christ on the cross. Our "old man" our sinful nature, died once and for all, so we are freed from its power. Sin is no longer your master. Before following Christ, people are slaves to their sin nature. In Christ, that power is broken, meaning you do not have to obey sin anymore.
The "body of sin" refers to our rebellious sin-loving nature inherited from Adam. Because we are united with Christ in His death, our evil desires and bondage to sin died with Him. Now united by faith with Him in His resurrection life, we have unbroken fellowship with God and freedom from sin's hold on us.
When Jesus was crucified, He took all "old men" of sin with Him to the cross. But before one can go to the tomb with Jesus, he must also go with Jesus to the cross. Through repentance, the old man who desired to sin is crucified on the cross, "I have been crucified with Christ. And it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me..." (Colossians 2 vs 20.)
It is obedient faith that moves us to the cross where we can obtain a good conscience toward God. Through repentance, the old man that desired to sin and was a slave to unrighteousness is crucified, buried and resurrected a new man that desires to be slave to righteousness.
Before embracing Christ, we often willingly cooperate with our sinful nature. But now, the sin in us that is evil has been cleansed, and the power of sin at work in our life is defeated. Therefore, we should regard our old sinful nature as dead and unresponsive to sin. Because of our union and identification with Christ, we no longer want to pursue our old plans, desires, and goals. Now we want to live for the glory of God. As we start this new life, the Holy Spirit will help us become all that Christ wants us to be.
At the time of one's new birth, he dies to a life of sin. The time of conversion is a time when one makes a decision to no longer allow sin to reign in his life, and thus, he responds to the cross of Jesus by his immersion into the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Through faith in Christ we stand righteous before God. We need no longer live under sin's power. God does not take us out of the world or make us robots, we will still feel like sinning, and sometimes we will sin. The difference is that before we were saved we were slaves to our sinful nature, but now we can choose to live for Christ.
One may ask; as believers how have our old selves been crucified with Christ? Legally, God looks at us as if we had died with Christ in our conversion. Because our sins died with Him, we are no longer condemned. Relationally, we have become one with Christ, and His experience are ours. Our Christian life began when, in unity with Him, we died to our old life. In our daily life, we must regularly crucify sinful desires that keep us from following Christ. This, too, is a kind of dying with Him.
However, the focus of Christianity is not on dying but on living. Because we have been crucified with Christ, we have also been raised with Him. Legally, we have been reconciled with God and are free to grow into Christ's likeness. And in our daily life, we have Christ's resurrection power as we continue to fight sin. We are no longer alone, for Christ lives in us; He is our power for living and our hope for the future.
How can we keep this command to not let sin control the way we live, to not give in to its desires? We can take the following steps: (1) Identify our personal weaknesses, (2) recognize the things that tempt us, (3) stay away from sources of temptation, (4) practice self-restraint, (5) consciously invest our time in good habits and service, and (6) lean on God's strength and grace through the power of the Holy Spirit our Helper.
Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for the our sins, and our salvation. My identity with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection in baptism as made me to put on Christ, and now walk in the newness of life in Him. Endue with the grace to remain steadfast in my new life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.
PRAISE THE LORD!