OVERCOMING THE POWER OF SIN IN OUR LIVES

I’ve been known to go down to my office to work and then get distracted. Later, Toni will ask me about a call I was supposed to make, which I had forgotten to do. It’s not that I didn’t want to call that person or that I chose not to punch in their number.  It’s just that in my distraction, I simply forgot to make the call. It’s not even a matter of desire or priority, it’s a matter of memory. It’s a matter of focus. 

Perhaps the greatest struggle in our spiritual walk is our memory. I know that I tend to forget and revert.  I forget what I know to be true about my new identity in Christ and revert to behaving like my old identity in Adam.  Romans 5-8 is one of the most theologically significant sections of the New Testament. Chapter 5 teaches us about justification by faith that transforms us from our old identity in Adam into our new identity in Christ. The contrasts could not be starker. Adam’s one act of sin brought condemnation and death to all mankind. Jesus’ one act of righteousness brought grace and life to all who believe. Faith in Jesus changes everything.  Grace overcomes sin. Every. Single. Time. This is the foundation of Paul’s message in Romans 6:

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?  May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be rendered inoperative, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for the one who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  So, you too, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 

Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.” Romans 6:1-14

Paul’s basic thought in Romans 6 is that we cannot continue to live the way we used to live because, in Christ, we are no longer who we used to be. Our identity has changed. Since we are in Christ and have died to sin, it is incongruent to continue to be controlled by sin. 

So how do we overcome the control of sin in our lives? Do we just “buck it up” and do right?  No. The key involves something we know, something we consider and something we present.

We must know who we are in Christ. (Romans 6:1-11) 

This involves knowing that, as believers, we have a new identity. The word knowing refers to a deep intimate knowledge of something or someone. We are no longer identified in Adam because we now have been identified with Christ Jesus’ death and resurrection. This means that when Christ died, all we were in Adam died with Him. We share His death. This also means that when Christ was raised from the dead, we were also raised with Him and therefore share His resurrected life. The two truths are inexorably linked. Our identity with Christ’s death must logically be followed by our identity with Christ’s resurrection. This is a necessary connection. Paul insists that we must know this. 

We also must know that we are now dead to sin and alive to God and, as a result, we have the fruit of His death: freedom from the dominion of sin. Paul’s use of the word sin here refers to the principle of sin as a ruling power as opposed to the individual sins it produces in us.  Notice the logical progression in verse 6: our old self was crucified with Christ so that our body would be “rendered inoperative” when it comes to sin so that we are no longer slaves to sin. Sin’s authority over us was broken when our identity transferred from Adam to Christ. Since we have the fruit of Christ’s death, it necessarily follows that we also have the fruit of Christ’s resurrection. We shared His death, we also share His life. We are free from sin because of Christ’s death and now free to live Christ’s life because we have His resurrection. Christ’s triumphant power over death gives us triumphant power in life. 

“He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

Sin no longer identifies us, Grace does. Death is no longer our destiny, Life is. Sometimes we need to be reminded that we know this to be true. 

Not only do we have to know these things, but we need to consider them to be true. We must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11)

Not only do we have to know these things, but we need to consider them to be true. The word “consider” means to reckon, to take into account, to believe to the point of confident action. It is to act in such a way that reveals you believe what you know. The word translated “consider” is an accounting term and it’s the first imperative in the book of Romans. It is significant to me that Paul’s first command in his “theological treatise of the New Testament'' is not something we are to do, but rather something we are to consider. Paul is instructing us to actively believe what we know. 

Let’s say you need something that costs $1000.00.  After balancing your checking account, you determine that your balance is $10,000.00. Considering that to be true You now confidently write the check because you believe you have sufficient funds. Paul is commanding us to stop thinking of ourselves as we were in Adam and start considering ourselves as we now are in Christ. 

Once we choose to believe what we know, we must stop presenting ourselves as instruments to sin and present ourselves to God as His instruments of righteousness. (Romans 6:12-14) 

We must rebel against sin’s rule and embrace God’s rule. Since sin no longer has the right to rule over us, we are now to stop doing its bidding and start yielding ourselves to God’s use. The word translated present means to place beside, to put at one’s disposal, to present. It’s a military term of a soldier placed under the authority of a superior officer. In a 21 Gun Salute, a line of seven soldiers raises their rifles at the command “Present arms!”. In so doing, the soldiers were presenting their weapons to the discretion of their superior officer. While a soldier is under his superior officer’s authority, he is obligated to follow the commands of said officer. But if the soldier is transferred to another branch of service, the authority of the previous commander is overridden by the new commanding officer. He is responsible to stop reporting to the old command center for instructions but instead report to the new commander to receive his new marching orders.

“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of [His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14

We are free from sin’s control! As we actively believe that, in Christ, we have been set free from its authority, we realize that we are now free to serve God. This involves a double turning: Turning away from sin and turning to God. It’s saying NO to Sin and YES to God. It is actively allowing God to work His righteousness in us.  

Overcoming sin really is profoundly simple:

Know who you are in Christ.

Consider yourself to be dead to sin and alive to God.

Present yourself to God as His servant of righteousness.

Bill Lawrence, my mentor from Seminary, summarized this way: “Stop looking at the holes in your flesh and start looking at your wholeness in Christ.” I encourage you to remember what you know and make K-C-P your go-to mindset. When Sin rears its ugly head and demands that you obey, remind yourself who you are in Christ, consider it to be absolutely true, and then turn and present yourself to your gracious Father to be used for His glory. Isn’t it such good news that we don’t have to live like we used to live because we are not who we used to be?!