Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him (Jesus) that the body might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof. Romans 6.
There is much confusion in the “Church World” about sin and righteousness. It is so sad that most preachers teach and preach so much condemnation and keep their people under such hard taskmasters which we do not really deserve. Today I hope to shed some light into those dark places we all have in our lives.
In Romans 7 we see that even Paul had his own problems with the body of sin in his new life and it troubled him greatly. Read Romans 6-8 and see where he goes with this thought that we are looking at today. Chapter 8 will be his answer to us.
When we are born again as new believers we are instantly given a new spirit born of God (read John’s letters to the church) but our soul and body are still the same. I want to use a few words from The Bible Knowledge Commentary as my learned helper today as they comment on Romans 6: 6-12. “The Bible does not teach that the sin nature was eradicated at salvation or is ever eradicated in this life.”
Our old man or spirit was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be made powerless. This means that ones physical body is used to being controlled by sin, but at salvation the power it had over you has been broken and made powerless and ineffective. In our former state a person was enslaved by sin, but as new creations, as believers, this power of sin no longer has the legal right to enforce it’s control over you, for as a believer you have in effect died with Christ to it’s power to control and enslave.
The attitude of mind that a believer has died to sin must be translated into “action” in their experience. This is why Paul reminds us therefore do not let sin reign (Romans 6:12) or in other words do not let sin continue to reign as it did before salvation. When sin reigns? Just what does this word mean to us modern day Christians? Mr. Webster explains it as to possess or exercise sovereign power, to be predominate, to exercise authority or hold sway in the manner of a monarch.
So then it is up to us after we are born again as a believer in Jesus, to not let sin continue to reign as it did before salvation. When sin reigns in peoples lives and bodies they obey its carnal desires. To put it even more bluntly sin enslaves. We as Christians are not to give in to sin because we are dead to its power and we are no longer slaves to it’s commands.
It is one thing for a believer to understand that his identification with Jesus Christ means that he has died to sin and to count or reckon that to be true. But, it is something else for us to deal with the sin nature that remains within and its efforts to express itself in our thoughts and actions.
This is a problem common to all believers. In chapter 7 we see Paul asking this question, who will deliver me from this body of death? He recognized that as long as he was alive in his physical body he would face this conflict or war with the indwelling sin principle, and as long as he tried to defeat it in his own strength he would fail. His answer to this problem of being defeated in his own strength was to look to Jesus. In chapter 8 Paul gives hope to the struggling Christian.
An unbeliever is only concerned about what his body and mind desire. Whereas a believer who is mindful of who they are and to whom they belong, lives out of their spirit to please God. They will aspire to have their minds set on what Holy Spirit desires for them. So then we can have a sinful mindset or carnal mind or we can have a renewed mind by reading the Bible and doing what God says in it. Then our minds can be controlled by Holy Spirit as we will then have the mind of Christ within us.
The unsaved lead lives that are controlled by their sin nature and cannot please God. Their lives are totally void of spiritual life and ability. When a believer gives into their sin nature they are acting like the unsaved. Totally out of character with their own nature as a child of God.
The conclusion that Paul came to is that each believer has the responsibility to live each day in the control and power of the Holy Spirit. Each Christian is to refuse to follow the inclinations and desires of their sin nature which has been crucified with Christ and has become powerless to control their lives unless they allow it.
We all have the choices daily to live uprightly but if we do not study and renew our carnal way of thinking we will not be able to run our race of life without falling and getting sidetracked in our race. It’s hard but very doable if we just follow the manual of life that so many people before us wrote by Gods leading and control. Remember you will make it, just don’t give up. See you next time as we study Gods word together.
In His Service As Kilted Priest
The Kilted Priest 