Listen: 59 Question 3

That’s a very good question.  Let’s begin by reading Romans 6:6-13, “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 that he 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. 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.”  When we trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior, our old standing before God, or our old man, was considered dead in the eyes of the Lord.  In view of that, we are told to reckon ourselves dead to sin, but realize that we now have new life in Christ Jesus.  2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  We become brand new when we are saved and now we should no longer serve sin, but yield ourselves unto the Lord.

Still, many believers seem to allow sin to reign in their lives.  This is such a dishonor to the Lord who forgave us of our sins and allowed us to become His children as we read in John 1:12 which says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”  When the Lord forgave a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery, His word to her in John 8:11 was, “…go, and sin no more.”  As we just read in Romans 6:12 we are instructed to, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body…”  We are responsible to the Lord to live lives that bring honor to Him.

Some Christians recognize the need to resist sin, but do not realize the necessity to yield ourselves to the Lord so that we can have the ability to truly resist sin.  It is useless to try to overcome sin by our own power.  As Christians, we need to continually commit ourselves to the Lord; seeking His strength and His guidance.  The Lord Jesus said in John 15:5 that, “…without me ye can do nothing.”  Unless we seek the Lord’s strength and direction, we are powerless to overcome sin in our lives.  The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  Without Christ, we can do nothing; with Christ there is nothing we cannot do.  It truly is an ‘all or nothing’ situation in the believer’s life.

Are you struggling to control the sin in your life?  As a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, you have a savior that can strengthen you and enable you to resist the urge to sin.  You cannot do it on your own, but you should realize that through Christ “…we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” as we read in Romans 8:37.  In Christ we are victorious, we are not defeated; we are overcomers, we are not helpless.

As long as we are still living here in the flesh, we will never completely overcome sin and live a sinless life.  Writing to believers, the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  Yet, John goes on to say in verse 9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

My dear fellow Christian let us no longer serve sin.  May we realize the strength we have in Christ to stop being a servant of sin.  As we read in 1 Peter 2:21-22 Christ is our example of living a life as overcomers.  It says, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.”