“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:11-14
Paul commands Christians to reckon (consider) ourselves dead to sin but alive to God through Christ’s death on the cross and our belief in Him. To reckon means “to put to one’s account”. It means to believe that what God says in His Word is really true. We have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18). Therefore, we have the power to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). As Christians, whenever we sin it is because we willfully choose to do so when we allow ourselves to be drawn away by our own lusts (James 1:14).
Paul, in the passage above, did not tell his readers to feel as if they were dead to sin but to act on God’s word and claim it for themselves through faith. God does not command us to become dead to sin. He tells us that we are dead to sin and then commands us to act on it. Even if we do not act on it the facts are still true.
One day Augustine was accosted by a woman who had been his mistress before his conversion. When he turned and walked away quickly, she called after him, “Augustine, it’s me! it’s me!” Quickening his pace, he called back over his shoulder, “Yes, I know, but it’s no longer me!” This is the way we should respond to temptation to sin as someone who is dead to sin.
It is wonderful to contemplate that not only has God saved us from the eternal consequences of our sins but also destroyed the power sin has over us in this life along with all of its miserable consequences. The reason we Christians still sin as much as we do is because of a lack of faith in what God has clearly proclaimed in His Word. Christians are dead to sin whether we believe it fully or not. Sin does not have dominion over us so we should not let it reign in our mortal body. Oh God, help our unbelief!
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