Lesson for February 14, 2024

Dead to Sin, Alive to Christ

Romans 6:8-12, ^“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 time; 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, sin is not to reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts.”

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him is positional truth. Positional truth is how we stand before God because of our faith in Christ. Live with him refers to our eternal relationship with Christ based on our faith in Him at salvation. It is a reference to the doctrine of positional sanctification.

Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again is referring to the finality of Christ’s payment for sin; it will never happen again. His resurrection from the dead guarantees our salvation and our resurrection at the Rapture of the Church. Death no longer is master over Him means the humanity of Christ will never die again. His humanity is no longer subject to death, as confirmed by the fact that He is seated at the right hand of God the Father.

For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all begins with the Greek verb “apothnesko,” which is referring to the spiritual death of Christ when all sin was imputed to Him and judged on the Cross. The payment for sin was a one-time act that will never be repeated. The sin of the entire human race was paid for – past, present, and future. No one can add to the payment that Christ made on our behalf.

But that He lives, He lives to God. Due to the resurrection, ascension, and session of Christ, He is alive and seated at the right hand of the Father. Jesus Christ, as deity, is co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus is unique, as the God-man, and because He was raised from the dead, His humanity will also live forever.

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. The Greek word for consider is “logizomai,” which means to calculate, to take into account, to evaluate, to estimate, to think about, or to ponder. Understanding our positional sanctification and applying its meaning, causes us to live as if our sin nature has already been eradicated. This way of thinking, under the power and filling of the Holy Spirit, opens the potential for experiential sanctification (being set apart to God daily). This is the meaning of considering ourselves alive to God.

Until the day that we die, or we are raptured with Christ, our sin natures will continue to live in every cell of our bodies. The positional victory over the sin nature by applying the positional truth of Christ’s death and resurrection, sets up the experiential victory over the sin nature and the potential of Jesus Christ experientially becoming the ruler of our lives. Positionally, the power of the sin nature is broken; experientially whether this becomes a reality depends upon our attitude toward accurate Bible doctrine. 

Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body is a reference to the sin nature’s rulership in our lives, which must be dealt with in a supernatural way. The command to stop permitting the sin nature to rule our lives indicates that we have a say in the matter, that our volition is very definitely involved in who is allowed to influence and control our lives.

That you should obey its lusts recognizes that the sin nature is the source of the lust patterns in our souls. The trends of the sin nature are how it is allowed to function as the ruler of our life. Therefore, our volition must be used to allow the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to shut down the power the sin nature has in our lives. The option regarding the rulership of the sin nature is ours to make!

The potential of nullifying the sin nature’s power means that experientially there can be and should be spiritual growth for every believer. The option then, is the issue. How do we exercise our option? The option is related to experiential sanctification, not positional sanctification.

Positional sanctification occurs at salvation when a person believes that Christ died for their sin. Experiential sanctification occurs daily as a believer stays in fellowship with God which results in the filling of the Holy Spirit. By consistently using the Rebound Technique to restore our fellowship with God after we commit a personal sin, the power of the Holy Spirit is restored. 

It is the Holy Spirit’s power and the application of accurate Bible doctrine that enables us to control our sin nature and not fall prey to its pattens of lust. We should never forget the fact that God has provided everything necessary for obeying His instruction to stop permitting the sin nature to have control in our lives and to stop obeying its lust patterns.

Let’s remind ourselves that the Christian Way of Life is a life of thinking the way that Jesus Christ thought. Philippians 2:5, says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” The mind of Christ is the doctrine found in the Word of God, the only source of absolute truth. 

To have the proper thinking, we must be constantly learning, believing, and applying the Word of God to every circumstance in life. God has given all of us a command to grow spiritually, and He never gives us a command without giving us the means necessary to obey it. Therefore, God has provided His written instruction book and the filling of the Holy Spirit as our two power options. Any believer with a positive attitude towards Bible doctrine can learn, believe, and apply it accurately. However, God leaves the choice to each of us, never forcing or coercing us into a decision.

We are all commanded to grow spiritually and advance toward spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity should be the goal of every person who has trusted Christ as Savior. (Ephesians 4:14-15; II Peter 3:18) 

Spiritual maturity does not happen overnight. It takes a lifetime of persistent and consistent study to learn Bible doctrine. God’s Word likens our spiritual growth to building a house. Expressed as edification, the concept in Greek is to build or to build up. The building process occurs as we learn accurate Bible doctrine and apply its truth to our lives. The foundation for our spiritual building was established at salvation – Jesus Christ Himself. We have all been made alive in Christ, the moment we placed our faith in Him for eternal life. Now, we are to consider ourselves dead to our sin natures so that God can have complete control of our lives. (Ephesians 4:12-16)