Dead To Sin

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. 

Romans 6:11-12 

How shall we view ourselves in the light of the Person and work of Christ? Paul has spent chapters establishing first our condemnation, then our justification, and is now discussing our sanctification. Because sanctification is a work of God’s free grace it has an ongoing quality to it. If we were by nature the children of wrath, as Paul describes us in Ephesians, and we have received grace, so that we are no longer slaves to sin, how do we view ourselves? We consider ourselves dead to sin. If we are going to talk about that, we should discuss the practical nature of sin and its effects. All that God calls sin has the foundational element of selfishness. If I steal, I want and take something for myself that rightfully belongs to someone else. If I lie, I am misrepresenting something or someone because it puts me in a better position as far as I am concerned. If Christ has redeemed me, I now look to Him not only as Savior but also as the Grand Template for my life. He was not selfish, therefore because He has fundamentally changed me, I live as He did. Thus my life of selfishness of which sin is the practical outgrowth, becomes more like His. I may go so far as to count myself dead to sin. This is a totally new type of life, full of Christ.    

Our Good and Loving God, 
we rejoice that through Christ, You have saved us from our sin. 
We praise You that You will continue to work in us, 
until You fully conform us to His Image. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning