◄ What Does Romans 6:7 Mean? ►

Christ not only died for sin - for our justification, but He died unto sin - for our sanctification. He not only died for sin, by paying the penalty of sin, but He died unto sin, breaking the power of sin in our life. When He died for sin, we were born from above to free us from the bondage of our old inherited sin-nature, and He gave us new spiritual life. At salvation, we were actually imputed with Christ's resurrected life so that we could function without being under bondage to sin. What an astonishing mystery, which must quicken the hearts of all who are born from above.

The seed of the first man was riddled with sin. As Adam's offspring we inherited a sinful nature, which is why we are all sinners and condemned by God. But as spiritual offspring of the 2nd Adam, we inherited Christ's godly nature, which is why we are no longer under God's condemnation but imputed with His perfect righteousness. When Christ died we died in Him, which freed us from the law of sin and death.

This is a Biblical truth which we are to know as fact, we are to reckon on it as fact, and apply in our life as fact: We must know and reckon that our old self was crucified with Christ, in order that our old sin nature might be done away with, rendering us no longer slaves to sin, but freeing us from its power and releasing us from the curse of the Law. And the reason: "He who died has been freed from sin." The one who died with Christ has been set free from the power of sin and declared to be righteous in the eyes of God. Now, we have to reckon on this as a fact in our own life, and rejoice in this truth, which staggers the human understanding.

Reckoning ourselves dead to sin as instructed by the Word of God does not make this a fact; it already is a fact in the life of all Christians. Because we are in union with Him we are identified with His death, and reckoning ourselves dead to sin as instructed by the Word of God helps us to apply this truth in our own lives. Believers are to rest in the glorious Biblical fact of our identification with Christ Who is God's representative Man, Who set us free from the power of sin over our lives. We are to rest in this wonderful Biblical truth where we are identified with Christ's death in the same way that sinners are to rest in the equally wonderful Biblical truth that Christ died as the substitute for sinners.

Just as the sinner is to rest in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, so the saint is to rest in Christ Jesus for their deliverance from sin. Just as the wages of sin were paid by the death of Christ for the salvation of sinners, so the power of sin was broken in the life of believers when Christ died. For we died with Him and: "He who died is freed from sin."

We must reckon on the fact that: "He who has died is freed from sin." Our identification with Christ's death freed us from sin; death; the curse of the Law; the power of Satan and the influence of the world. We are now under grace; forgiven by God; accepted in the Beloved; covered in Christ's righteousness and freed from the power of sin and the curse of the Law because we died and our life is hid with Christ in God.

What blessed folk we are to be freed from the power of sin, and how foolish if we do not appropriate what is ours in Christ. We should be walking daily in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, for in Him we have been declared righteous, set apart unto God and redeemed by His blood. because Jesus took our sins upon Himself, giving His body to be nailed on the tree so that we, being dead to sin in Christ, might be raised to newness of life in Him.

We became one with Christ, in the likeness of His death and sin no longer has dominion over those that are in union with Him. As believers we are positioned in Him and spiritually seated with Him in heavenly places. Let us reckon on this truth and start to live a truly victorious life: "He who has died is freed from the power of sin."

Heavenly Father, thank You that Christ died for my sins so that I might be justified by faith in His finished work at Calvary, which paid the penalty for sins. And thank You that Christ also died unto sin so that the power of sin can be broken in my life. I pray that I may reckon on this truth and discover it to be a reality in my own Christian walk. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.