The Remedy For Sin In A Christian’s Life

Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.
–Romans 6:6

What is the remedy for sin in a believer’s life? If you want to know how to deal with sin in your life, then Paul said you need to know that you have been baptized into Christ’s death. The first step for dealing with sin in your life is to know the condition of your sin nature.

In Galatians 5:16-17, Paul talked about this sin nature. He called it “the flesh.” He said, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” There is a civil war that goes on inside every believer between the desires of God and the desires of the remnant of the old nature within us.

It is wrong to deny the existence of the sin nature. You still have a remnant of it left inside of you. But an equally lethal mistake is to exalt your sin nature. And frankly, that is the thing we are in more danger of doing in the evangelical church. People say, “As long as you are in this world, you are going to have the old sin nature in you, and you will never be able to have victory over sin until you see Jesus one day.” No, Paul said, you do not have to wait till you get to Heaven to experience victory over your sin nature, because your sin nature has been crucified.

He said in Romans 6:6, “Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” The phrase “done away with” means “rendered powerless.” When you become a Christian, your sin nature is crucified; sin has no more power over your life than you allow it to have.

How was the power of our sin nature destroyed? Paul said in Romans 6:4, “We have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” When Paul talked about Christians being buried with Christ through baptism into death, he was not talking about water baptism. Baptism is a symbol of a spiritual reality. The spiritual reality is this: Just as Christ was crucified and buried, when we trust in Christ as our Savior, our old nature is crucified and buried. And just as Christ was raised to a new resurrection life, we are raised to a new way of living as well. This new way of living begins the moment we are truly saved.

Before we are saved, sin is the ruler of our life. Sin is our master. But after we are saved, sin becomes our slave. If you are going to have any victory over sin, Paul said, you must know the condition of your old nature. It has been crucified. It has been rendered powerless.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Christian, Thou Art Loosed” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2014.

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

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