“For he that is dead is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:7). You can’t tempt a dead alcoholic with liquor. Go to a funeral home where a dead alcoholic is on display in his casket. Take a flask of Early Times or Old Grandad out of your pocket, unscrew the cap and dab a little on his lips. You will get no reaction whatsoever. Why Not? The man is dead and, thus, freed from any desire to drink ever again.
Brethren, have you been freed from sin? Do the sinful pleasures of this world still attract you. No, there is no sin in being tempted. Even Jesus Christ was tempted. (See Matthew 4:1-11). “There has no temptation taken (or confronted) you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer (permit) you to be tempted above (or more than) you are able (to bear), but will with the temptation (at that exact same moment in time) also make a way to escape (a GOD-MADE way, hence a perfect escape route) that you may be able to bear it (bear up under the temptation without ever giving in to sin)” (See I Corinthians 10:13). That’s a promise from God. A promise He will keep IF you do your part. Your part is to resist the temptation and to flee from the very appearance of evil. All too many do not resist. When confronted with a temptation to do wrong, to do evil, to sin, they might momentarily hesitate, but they don’t absent themselves from the vicinity of the temptation, and all too quickly they find themselves having given in to the temptation.
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? GOD FORBID! (And God does forbid sin in the lives of the followers of Jesus Christ). How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2). Since God is so forgiving, even instructing us to forgive those who sin against us seventy times seven times in a single day, shouldn’t we let grace abound, let God do His thing by forgiving us again and again and again as we give in to temptation and sin again and again and again? Of course not! That’s the philosophy of the world. But look once more at that last sentence in verse 2: “How shall we that are DEAD TO SIN live any longer therein?”
Are you dead to sin? Many believers are not and they know they are not. They are live wires when it comes to temptation. In fact, many believe wholeheartedly that sin is absolutely inevitable for all humanity. It matters not if one is totally surrendered to Jesus Christ and even has God’s powerful, universe-creating Holy Spirit imparted to them, many still believe one cannot consistently avoid all sin. Paul writes that baptized believers “should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4) “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (a new creation): old things are passed away, behold, ALL things are become new. AND ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD!” God now controls in the believers life. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17-18). “Our old man (the former “you”) is crucified with Him that the body of sin (our old fleshly “self”) might be destroyed” (See Romans 6:6). Then comes the statement given at the beginning of this study: “For he that is dead is freed from sin!” (Romans 6:7). If someone asked you, “Are you freed from sin?” What would be your answer? Would you say, yes, indeed, or would some sin you committed but hours ago immediately come to mind, causing you to squirm and hem and haw and sheepishly reply, “I guess not!”
“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Romans 6:8). Of course, many would argue, “I AM dead with Christ! When God sees me all He sees is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.” Brethren, you might want to read Chapters 1 through 3 of Revelation a bit more closely. Also ponder over the revelation given in Acts 5, verses 1 through 11. When you surrender your life to the Lord and are baptized, the merit of Christ’s shed blood is applied to your PAST sins – every one of them. (See Romans 3:23-25). At that moment in time when God looks at you He indeed sees the righteousness of Christ in you. But if you, like Ananias and Sapphira, tell a lie, or if you are sexually immoral, like the brother in the Corinthian assembly (See I Corinthians 5), God instantly sees that sin and counts it against YOU, not Jesus Christ, leaving you with but one option – to repent and forsake such sin.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley