Don’t Be a Grave Digger: Romans 6:5-7
“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
This is a difficult truth to embrace experientially. Paul says we were united with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. That means we have been freed from sin because we died with Christ. We are no longer slaves. Sin is no longer our master… unless we let it rule over us by ignorance or default. We now have a new Master in Jesus Christ and we can walk in newness of life in the Holy Spirit.
But most of us are grave diggers. We go back over and over again and dig up our fleshly sinful past. We are now locked in an inner battle. Every time a temptation comes our way we rationalize and start thinking; “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” And what do sinners do? They sin! So we become grave diggers in our thinking and empower sin and our flesh. We give them life.
But that little statement is not true for a born-again Christian. The truth is: “I was a sinner that was saved by Grace, and at that moment I became a saint that can live in freedom through the Spirit; but I am still capable of sin if I decide to become a grave digger and empower my
When I discovered the truth of the above two paragraphs, my victory level radically changed, mostly because my excuses and deception were gone. Don’t get me wrong, I am far from sinless, but I am no longer powerless. I am not a slave to sin. When temptation comes, it is no longer a compulsion, rather it is a willful act of disobedience. It happens because I lose the inner battle of truth and surrender to my will and my flesh to sin.
This is part of what Jesus talked about in John 8:31-32 where He said, “you shall know truth and the truth shall make you free.” It is so easy to rationalize and explain away what Jesus said in Romans 6-8, but the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to speak the truth. It is our job to embrace the truth and reckon ourselves as dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6-8 will be a frequent part of your journey to maturity, sanctification, walking in the Spirit and practical holiness. I have come back to these chapters over and over again since 1973 when I trusted in Jesus. I no longer argue with the principles laid out in these chapters. My only goal now is to love Jesus and embrace truth. When temptation comes my way, and it often does, I now try to surrender as quickly as possible to Jesus. I want to honor Him as Master.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
