WHY SIN IS UNREASONABLE

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:1-2)

Devotion 8 of 23

HE THAT HAS SUFFERED IN THE FLESH
HAS CEASED FROM SIN

"Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God" (1 Pet 4:1-2, NASB).

Jesus came into the world to deal with sin. He came to put it "away" from the consideration of His Father, and from dominion over those who receive Him. When Jesus died, He "took away" the sin of the world. He will never again so deal with sin! His death brought a cessation to His involvement with it. He will never again die for sin. He will never again suffer because of it. The iniquities of the world will never again be placed upon Him, and He will never again be "bruised for our iniquities" (Isa 53).

When Peter says Jesus "suffered in the flesh," he means suffered unto death. The "sufferings of Christ" involved the impact of sin upon Him from His temptation until His vicarious death. That is how Peter uses the term "sufferings." "Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow" (1 Pet 1:11).

By saying "hath ceased from sin," Peter does not mean Jesus once sinned, but ceased to do so after His death. He has already asserted that Jesus suffered for sin, the "Just for the unjust" (1 Pet 3:18). His point is that Jesus ceased to deal with sin following His death. He was then lifted into a realm unaffected by transgression, where He ever lives to make intercession for us. It is totally unreasonable to expect Jesus to again die for sin; to again offer Himself to God as our Passover; to again be made sin for us; or to again be made a curse for us! It is absurd to allow such thoughts to enter our mind.

Believers are to allow "this same mind" to be in them. To involve ourselves in sin after we have died to it is as unreasonable as Jesus coming to earth to once again die for sin (Rom 6:1-2). It is as unreasonable as Jesus enduring the curse of God again (Gal 3:13). It is as absurd as God requiring Jesus to again go into the tomb and make His grave with the wicked. Sin is that unreasonable! But if we do not think in this manner, sin will look logical. It will appear to give us an advantage--to be satisfying and gratifying. Such things are a delusion, foisted upon us by the old serpent himself.

"He that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin!" The individual who dies to sin will no longer be dominated by it! That death is accomplished by our identity with Jesus Christ. It initially occurred when we were "baptized into His death" Rom 6:3-7). That death is preceded by godly sorrow and repentance. Both of these are induced when sin becomes painful to our hearts and consciences. The offensiveness of temptation and the hurt of guilt are effective deterrents to sin. These are occasioned by our death to sin, and resurrection to newness of life. Christ's death consummated in His resurrection, which placed Him beyond the realm of temptation and sin. To the degree we partake of His mind, we too come into that blessed realm. To put it another way, when sin wounds our conscience and hurts our hearts, we are not apt to become involved in it.

PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, grant me grace to live so close to you that sin becomes too painful to allow indulgence in it.

-- TOMORROW: KNOWING THE UNKNOWABLE --