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 11 of 23

FREED FROM SIN

When we die to sin, we are no longer slaves to it. "For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that he Hied, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God" (Rom 6:7-10). The language of this declaration is important. It speaks of something that has actually occurred, not something that should, but may not, take place. Speaking of the Person in Christ, the Holy Spirit says "IS freed," and "BE dead." Regeneration involves really dying with Christ (Rom 6:3-5). That death includes the removal of our basic inclination to sin. To put it another way, in Christ sin can no more retain, us than enslavement can maintain its grip on a dead man. Death--dying with Christ, and being buried with Him--frees us "from sin."

Here is a point on which Satan promotes confusion. Freedom from sin does NOT mean we are not liable to, or capable of, sin. Rather, it means we are not under compulsion to sin. Many individuals, discovering sinful propensities within, wonder whether or not they are really joined to the Lord. Although sin is technically no longer a part of us, the principle of sin remains in us while we are in this world. Paul spoke of it in this way. "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members" (Rom 7:23). He also called this "sin that dwells in me" (Rom 7:17). By this, he does not mean transgression, but the ability to transgress.

That liability, in the form of a law or principle, remains in us. However, it is not actually a part of us, praise the Lord. That is why believers can confess, "Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me" (Rom 7:17,20). That "law" expresses itself in intrusive thoughts that we "hate" (Rom 7:15). Those thoughts are the "imaginations" of Second Corinthians 10:5, that can be "cast down" with our spiritual weaponry. They are also the "fiery darts," or "flaming arrows" that are hurled at us by the devil (Eph 6:18).

The believer is under no compulsion to obey these unwanted thoughts. We can, praise the Lord, "resist the devil," something impossible when we were "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1-2). It is lamentable that many believers have yielded to sin because they have been unaware of the power to resist the devil that is resident in the new creation (2 Cor 5:17; 1 Pet 5:8-9).

By the grace of God, we can "grow up into Christ" (Eph 4:15), "go on to perfection" (Heb 6:1-2), and "perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord" (2 Cor 7:1-2)! We have been liberated from the guilt of sin! The power of a cleansed conscience enables the justified one to confidently draw near to God and say "NO!" to the encroachments of the devil.

We are also freed from the power and dominion of sin! We are no longer the vassals of the devil! For such people to again become involved in sin is totally unreasonable! Because Jesus now lives before God, we can also.

PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, give me grace to stand fast in the freedom for which Christ has freed me. Help me to confidently and effectively occupy the place of blessing.

-- TOMORROW: DEAD INDEED UNTO SIN --