Romans 6:9-11 - Christ rose from the dead
and will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. He died once for all to end sin’s power, but now he
lives forever in unbroken fellowship with God. So look upon your old sin nature as dead and
unresponsive to sin, and instead be alive to God, alert to him, through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Paul begins to explain the power we have as
Christians to resist the natural tendency of our flesh to sin. When we accept
Christ into our heart…His power to control sin is placed there. It should replace the old sin nature…letting
it die…just as Christ died on the cross. And we don’t even have to wait 3 days
to rise again to new life in God….we can live in Christ’s power immediately
after believing in Him.
It’s one of the hardest concepts of
Christianity to grasp. How can we be as
powerful as Christ….warding off satan with memorized scripture….always choosing
God’s will over our own. Paul gives us just a bit more details later in
Galatians 2:20…. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Perhaps the problem is that we never truly die
completely with Christ…we take our sins to the cross….but we don’t leave them
there completely. We carry a portion of our sins to the cross…but some of it
never gets nailed to the cross with us when we die to our sins. Or perhaps death …even if it is our sins….is
too scary a concept…so we go to the cross and never really let God have
complete control. I admit that I am a
combination of these scenarios. I resemble the words that Paul uses in the next
chapter … Romans 7:15 says…. “ I don’t really understand
myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I
hate.”
What Paul is telling us here is that we
need to sanctify our new life in Christ.
It is the growth in Him that helps give us the power we need over sin in
our life. God sets us apart to be His…holy…complete…. strong… alive and passionate
about the purpose God has for our life. I admit once again that it isn’t always
easy to identify that purpose…sometimes we have to wait on His timing to see
it. That’s where faith comes in…and pure obedience helps to fill the time gap
while we wait on Him to reveal what He sent us here to do for Him.
Father…thank you for the reminder that you
want all of me to die to sin…so you can fill me up completely with your purpose
and plan for my life. Forgive me for the
times that I have held back…even subconsciously… and not allowed you to control
everything in my life. Help me take all my sins to the cross this morning…and
leave them there for you to deal with. And while I am at your feet….allow me to
soak in so much of your presence that life doesn’t keep me from seeing the
purpose you have for me. Amen.
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