Scripture

When we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of sin.

Observation

Since God’s grace is demonstrated when we sin, it might be argued that we should sin all the more so that God’s grace can be increased. This is nonsense. When we were joined to Christ in baptism, we died and were buried with Him.

When we died in Christ we died to sin. Since we died with Christ, we will also rise to life in Him. Because He died to break the power of sin and rose for the glory of God, we must likewise consider ourselves dead to sin and alive in God.

We should not allow our bodies to become instruments for sin. Our whole bodies should be instruments for righteousness to glorify the Lord.

Application

Too often we see the story of salvation as being just about getting our sins forgiven. It is about forgiveness, but it is also about dying to our old nature and allowing God to raise us to a new life as His children.

He does forgive sins, but He also gives us the ability to live free from sin.

We have a part to play in this. We have to determine that we have died to our old nature. We have to want the righteousness, the holiness, that God has promised us. We have to decide to receive this new nature and put it on every day of the week.

When we face temptation, it is not a matter of saying, “I will not do that,” but rather, “I am a child of God, and this has no part of my new life in Christ.” We focus on our calling in Christ, not on the thing to be avoided.

None of us is perfectly conformed to God’s will all the time! This is a process of growing in grace. The Holy Spirit confronts us with our sinful desires and thoughts, and we confess them to God, and we grow in grace to overcome them.

Prayer

Lord, I thank you that I died with Christ, and that sin no longer has any power over me. Please help me to live in the strength of this reality. Amen.