The Daily Word of Righteousness

Romans 6:10,11

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. (Romans 6:10,11)

How did Christ, who had no sin, die to sin? Christ kept the Law of Moses perfectly and then took on Himself the guilt of our sin. He bore the penalty for sin and died in one decisive act.

As far as God the Father is concerned, the penalty for sin has been paid for all people. This is part of the good news. Whoever will choose to do so can appropriate the forgiveness by asking for it in Jesus' name. God will be quick to grant forgiveness no matter how wretched the background of the petitioner.

Now Christ lives to God. His existence is God, so to speak, and God is His existence. Christ lives by the Father. The Two are One and can never be separated. Whoever has the Son has the Father and whoever has the Father has the Son of necessity. It is one Divine Life.

God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ and has given Him authority and power over all the creation of God.

We are to be an integral part of this death and this Life. We are to count that our adamic nature with all its sin died on the cross with Christ. Now we are

alive unto God in Christ Jesus.

We are free from the Law of Moses because He who kept the Law of Moses perfectly has borne the punishment of our transgressions in our place. This is how we are to view our relationship with God. We are absolutely without condemnation and can enter at any time within the holy veil and present our petitions before the Mercy Seat in Heaven.

We have a perfect conscience before God because we have died on the cross with Christ. In this sense we have died to sin and now are alive to God through Jesus Christ.

This does not mean there is no sin nature in us or that our Christian life is not to be a process of overcoming sin. According to the Scriptures we are to be putting our sins to death through the Spirit.

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Romans 8:13)

Much of the text of the New Testament is devoted to the need for us to overcome our sin nature.

What Paul is speaking of is the attitude we are to take toward sin. By considering ourselves to be dead indeed to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ we can address our sinful nature in the correct manner. Sin shall not have dominion over us because our sinful personality has died on the cross with Christ.

To be continued.