In The Word
Read: Romans 6:1-14
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Death equals life. To the natural ear, that statement sounds paradoxical. Death should equal the end of life. This is why so many people live for themselves and indulge in the pleasures of this world. For the natural mind, this life is all they have. But Paul was not writing to the natural mind, he was communicating spiritual things to spiritual people (1 Corinthians 2:13). He was not addressing the natural, but rather the supernatural.
Yet even in the realm of spiritual people, the temptation of the flesh exists, and it is this very thing that the apostle is challenging. Some believers were trying to live in both the natural world and the spiritual world. Paul declared that this should never be. If you are joined with Jesus Christ in life, you are also joined with Him in His death.
When we surrender our lives to the mastery of Jesus, we accept our death to natural desires. We commit to this death daily (1 Corinthians 15:31). If we die daily, we become alive in Christ. All shame, guilt, fear, and sin that restricted us is now powerless to hold us back.
It is this daily death to our flesh that makes us a mighty weapon of righteousness in the hand of God. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer stated, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” In essence, we become dead men and women walking in the life of Christ Jesus. We are free to live the abundant life that God has for us. Dearly beloved, your daily death will equal your eternal life!