Free from Sin!

Salvation is such a beautiful gift! The way that God covered all bases and made sure that no question we could think of was left unanswered is incredible to me! Every time I read the Bible I find something else about His plan that I hadn't noticed before. I discover another piece of the huge quilt God has made and called "Salvation." The other day, that piece was this passage from Romans:

Romans 6:6-11: "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in he that liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

So many times in my life I have fallen into the trap of believing that I am powerless against sin in my life. I hear Satan whispering to me in moments of temptation, "You are flesh. You were born into sin. You cannot fight this. It is your nature. There is no victory." Satan uses half-truths and forms them into complete lies. In truth, we are born in sin and shapen in iniquity. (Psalm 51:5) It is true that our flesh is naturally attracted to sinful things and that we do not have to learn to lust after evil. (Psalm 103:14) However, God did not just come to this Earth and die to cover our sins whenever we sin. His blood is not just our Bandaid. It is so much more!
When we read the passage above, we can form these equations in our mind:

Dead through repentance = dead to our sinful ways = free to live a new life

Filled with the Holy Ghost = filled with the Power to overcome sin

As Paul states above, if you are dead you are free from sin. When Adam fell, he transferred control of his desires from God to Sin. He allowed Sin to reign as king in his mind and life. The only way to be free from Sin's control is to die. You cannot do enough charity work or memorize enough Scriptures. In order for Sin to lose its grip on you, you must die.

When Jesus Christ became the Living Gospel, he showed us the way to Salvation. His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection are the pattern by which we are saved. Through repentance, we die. Through Baptism, we are buried. Through the Holy Ghost, we are resurrected. If we have followed this pattern, how can sin still reign as king in our minds and lives? It cannot. We are dead, and therefore, we are loosed from Sin's grip.

Buried deep inside each of us is the desire to do and say what is right. If we do not snuff out that conscience, as we call it, it will correct us and chastise us when we do the wrong thing. God uses that voice to help us curb our sinful appetites. We cannot, however, be free from that sinful appetite until we die. While some choose to die physically because they cannot handle their sinful appetite anymore, Christians choose to accept the death of Jesus Christ and die spiritually. As Adam transferred his desires from God to Sin, Christians make the conscious effort and choice to transfer their desires back from Sin to God. It is not an easy task. However, it is completely achievable. As Paul states in the next few verses:

Romans 6:12-13: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

In other words, don't yield that control back to Sin after you have given it to God. Believe that you are dead to those ways, and combat Satan's attacks with the Holy Ghost. Use your new life in Christ to be an instrument in the kingdom of Heaven. Idle hands are the devil's playthings. Keep busy doing things for the kingdom and don't give yourself time to obey the lusts of the sin.

Only through God's provision of Salvation can any Christian hope to make that transfer, and only though His renewed mercies are we able to get back up after we fall. I want to encourage you that you are more than just an average, sinful human formed from dust. You have been remade and reborn, and Jesus Christ lives on the inside of you! Walk in purity in His power today!