Dead to Sin

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

One of the most troubling things I experience as a pastor is to see people who profess faith in Christ [what I like to call Christ followers], who are living in constant, unrepentant sin. Paul must have experienced this too. He asked a rhetorical question in his letter to the Roman Christ followers, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” What’s your answer to the question? Paul’s was the strongest negative in the Greek language, anathema [Romans 6:1-2]. Anathema, “God forbid!” “Absolutely not!” One commentator said that Paul’s answer to Romans 6:1 expressed his horror and outrage at the very thought that a Christ follower could live in a constant state of sinfulness.

The reason for Paul’s outrage is that, as Christ followers, we have died to sin. It’s impossible to be both dead and alive to sin at the same time. Here is the theological truth to our ongoing holiness: Unbelievers are “dead in [their] trespasses and sins” [Ephesians 2:1], because they keep walking the path of the world. Christ followers, on the other hand, have been “delivered from the kingdom of darkness” [Colossians 1:13] to live in a new place, the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. In other words, Christ followers no longer live under the dominion of sin, all though, from time to time, they still may commit sins. 

Because the realm of sin is no longer the Christ follower's home, he is repulsed by sin. He is no longer “at home” in sin. Therefore he repudiates, renounces, and repents of his sin. He just can’t stand to be there. Understanding this is the foundation to our progression in holiness. 

Be encouraged today in the knowledge that Christ followers don’t live in the realm of sin. In Christ, we are dead to sin.

How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Romans 6:2