A Place Where People No Longer Sin: Romans 6:5-11
“5) 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, 6) knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7) for he who has died is freed from sin.” Romans 6:5-7
I no longer recall who the speaker was, but I remember being hit over the head with a point that radically changed my thinking. He said, “I can take you to a place where people are no longer sinning. I can show you men who no longer lust. You can walk a group of beautiful cheerleaders past them and they will not so much as blink!”
He had my attention. The idea of being immune to sin or temptation was preposterous to me. I even Remember laughing to myself, but my scorn was short lived.
It was almost like he looked right at me and said; “So you don’t believe me. Ok, get in my car and let’s drive through a cemetery! I guarantee you, those people are dead to sin!” I sat for a moment absolutely stunned by the truth of his observation.
He then went on and explained the principle Paul was talking about in this text. When we consider ourselves as dead in Christ, it immediately takes the sting out of sin and temptation.
I have learned the value of two questions when in the face of temptation: 1) How would this affect Jesus? 2) What response would this temptation get in a cemetery? The truth of those answers can suck the life out of sin and temptation.
The impact of this reasoning is the backdrop of Romans 6:5-11. Notice verse 11 says; “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” God wants us to consciously consider ourselves as dead to the master of sin and temptation, but alive to Jesus as our Master.
It is up to each one of us to wrestle through this principle and use it as a weapon in the face of sin. What you resolve yourself as being dead too no longer has power over you. You need to apply this specifically to your pet sins and temptations. It takes time, but it works. My list may be different from yours, but we all need to conduct sin funerals in our life and crucify our flesh.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global