davidbowerkingwood

In Romans 6:6 Paul tells us some important information about our sin nature which he refers to as “our old man.” “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.”

A key, really important word used by Paul is the word knowing; nowhere in the 6th chapter does Paul refer to feeling. All is based on knowing; knowledge of the Bible’s revelation to us. Feelings are ephemeral, unpredictable and undependable; the knowledge of God’s word is unfailing and eternal. This alone is the truth that shall set us free.

Our old man, aka our sin nature, was crucified with Christ on the cross “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 that he liveth, he liveth unto God.” Romans 6:9-10

Since this is the case with Christ, it should also be the case with us: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Romans 6:11. In this case the word reckon is used in an accounting sense as in calculate or compute, count or count over.

Paul goes on to urge us not to let sin rule us that we should obey it in its lusts and present our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but to present ourselves to God as instruments of His righteousness.

We now have that option; we can choose to serve sin and receive the consequences or serve God and reap the rewards as one alive from the dead. We have the freedom to choose, but we do not have the freedom to escape the consequences of our choices. Although from an eternal perspective all of our sins have been forgiven; from a temporal perspective the choices we make will have consequences which will inevitably play out in our lives.

Paul elaborated on the ongoing problem of the sin nature in Romans chapter 7 and described his feelings of frustration as he struggled with the power of sin. Although sin is still with us, it no longer has dominion over us because we are no longer under the law but under grace. Paul urges us to deliberately choose to serve God rather than sin.

It is this concept of crucifixion which Paul had in mind when he wrote Galatians 2:20 which starts with “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live.” If we would live the successful Christian life the daily starting point is to see ourselves as crucified and our living out the life of Christ. Christ is the driver, we are the passenger.

If we maintain this perspective everything else falls into place in the proper order; the world, the flesh, and the devil are relegated to their proper place and Christ becomes all things to us, the alpha and omega of our lives.